Glossary - HP Compaq Presario,Presario 7479 Reference Manual

Glossary-1

Glossary
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) – A private, non-profit
organization that facilitates the development of national technical standards by
establishing consensus among qualified public and private sector groups.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) – The code
used to represent the conversion of keyboard characters into binary digits that can
be processed by the computer. See American National Standards Institute.
analog – A continuous electronic current of varying frequency. Digital data from a
computer must be converted to an analog signal by a modem before it can be
transmitted over standard telephone lines. Contrast digital.
anti-virus utility – A program that detects and in many cases repairs the damage
caused by harmful program code. See virus, utility.
application – A software program that facilitates the performance of useful work,
such as a word processing program.
backup – A copy of one or more files for safekeeping.
binary – A number system that uses only the symbols 0 and 1. Used to represent
digital data.
bit – A unit of measurement used to describe the smallest possible piece of
computer information, represented as a binary digit. Eight bits is equal to one byte.
See byte; binary digit.
boot – To start up a computer. During the start up process, information necessary
for the computer to operate is loaded into the memory.
browser – A program used to access and view information. See Web browser.
bug – An error in computer program code.
bulletin board – A computerized meeting and announcement system that can be
accessed directly by dialing the bulletin board system telephone number using a
modem or through an ISP connection and the Internet.
bus – The main communication path used by the components of a computer.
byte – A unit of measurement used to describe a quantity of data, equal to eight
bits. A character is one byte in size. See bit.