Computer Glossary - Tech Terms De-Mystified

If you’re confused by all the Technical Terms, TLA’s, Technobabble, and other gobbledegook that surrounds computing you’re not alone, we have published this Computer Glossary to try and explain and de-mystify it all for you.

As always, if there’s a phrase or word you don’t understand, let us know and we’ll add it to our list.

3G HSPDA – High Speed Download Packet Access – A mobile technology that allows wireless internet access at broadband speeds.
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ADSL – Technology that allows an ordinary telephone line to carry a high speed internet signal.
ADSL2 – An updated version of ADSL that allows much faster data speeds.
AGP – Accelerated Graphics Port, a fast interface designed to house high end graphics cards, recently superseded by PCI-Express.
Applet – A small Java application that is downloaded by a web browser, which once downloaded will run on a users computers within the browser.
ASCII – An abbreviation of American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a system for converting keyboard characters into the machine language a computer can understand.
Attachment – a file such as a picture or document that is sent with an Email message.
Avatar – An icon or small graphic that is used to represent a real world person in an online game or chat room
Bandwidth – A measure of the amount of data that can be transferred over a network connection at any given time.
BIOS – A small piece of software built into a chip on a computers motherboard that helps your PC to control low level processes such as video, memory, keyboard, and disk access.
Blacklist – A list of programs, used by security software such as firewalls, that are known to be malicious.
Blog – Shortened from the phrase ‘Web Log’, a kind of electronic diary that people post on the internet for others to read.
Bluetooth – A short distance (approx 10 metres) networking system commonly found in mobile phones and handheld devices allowing devices to talk to each other.
Blu-Ray – An improved DVD format that gives approximately 18gb of data on a DVD sized disc, and is a rival to HD-DVD.
Boot – A phrase to describe starting a computer up, and comes in two types, cold boot where a machine is started up after the power is turned off, and warm boot where the machine is re-started without turning the power off
Broadband – A high speed ‘always on’ internet connection that is usually paid via a monthly subscription, and normally delivered by ADSL.
Browser – A program such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox that allow you to surf the World Wide Web.
Bug – Defect in program causing it to perform an unexpected action.
Cache – A small data storage area in fast access memory that a processor uses to store data instead of re-reading it from the original source, in an effort to increase performance.
DAB – Digital Audio Broadcast, radio transmitted as a digital signal rather than an analogue signal.
De-fragment – The process of reorganising files on a hard disk so they all data for a particular program or file is stored together, leading to improved performance
DivX – A video compression system that compresses files to a fraction of their original size with minimal loss f quality
Download – The process of transferring files from the internet to your own computer.
Driver – A piece of software that helps the operating system interact with peripherals such as printers, modems, video cards etc.
Ethernet – A cable based technology that allows computer to be connected in a network, 10/100 and Gigabit are the two most common protocols
ExpressCard – A replacement for the PCMCIA card found in laptops, that allow hot swapping and greater communication speeds.
Firewall – System that can be software, hardware, or a mixture of both, that aims to prevent unauthorised access to a computer system.
Firewire – A high speed wired connection usually used to connect digital cameras (still & video) and external hard drives to PC’s.
Firmware – Software stored on a re-writable chip inside a piece of hardware, such as CD/DVD drive, Router, or other peripheral.
Forum – An electronic web based discussion group where people of similar interests can ‘talk’ in real time.
GPS – A system of satellites, originally developed for military purposes that orbit the earth, and provide the signals that make satellite navigation possible.
Graphics Card – A part of the PC which is usually removable and replaceable that is dedicated to processing all graphics output to the monitor, thus freeing up the main processor for other tasks.
Hard Disk – A high capacity disk fitted to all computers where all the programs and data are stored.
H.264 – A video compression standard that compresses a large amount of data into a small space, making it suitable for portable media devices and transfer over the internet. Often known as MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding)
HD-DVD – High definition DVD, a format offering high definition DVD on a DVD sized disk, developed as a rival to Blu-Ray.
HDMI – Short for High Definition Multimedia Interface, a standard that allows uncompressed video and audio to be sent between DVD players, TV’s and other such devices using just one cable.
HTML – HyperText Markup Language, this is the ‘programming’ language used to create web pages. It allows a page to be created that can be loaded into different browsers and different OS’s and still look the same.
HTTP – HyperText Transfer Protocol, the data transfer technology that underpins the internet, and handles the transfer of all internet data between computers / servers etc.
IP Address – The unique number that identifies a computer on a network, or the internet.
ISP – Internet Service Provider, a company which provides Internet connections either by subscription or through call charges.
Kbits/s – Kilobits (not kilobytes) per second, a measure of internet connection speed. The average dial up connection manages around 44-48Kbs.
LCD – Liquid Crystal Display, the technology used to create small, thin, light displays, such as those found on flat screens, laptops, calculators, mobile phones etc.
Macro – A series of automated commands that repeatedly perform a particular operation, commonly seen in Microsoft Office
Megapixel – A measure of the image quality of digital cameras, the more mega pixels a camera has the better the image quality. One megapixel is one million pixels.
Memory Card – A small plastic encased computer chip used for data storage in such things as cameras and mobiles, it’s normally removable, and can be swapped between compatible devices.
Mbits/s – Megabits (not megabytes) per second, a measure of internet connection speed usually used with broadband connections.
Modem – MODulator / DEModulator, this is a device that connects between a computer and a phone line turns the digital signals into a analogue signals (and vice versa) that can be transmitted via a normal phone line.
Motherboard – The main circuit board inside a PC that houses all the main parts of the computer such as processor, memory, sound controller, etc.
MP3 – A format for audio compression that allows music to be reduced in to about a tenth of its original size (Depending on quality). MP3 is an abbreviation of Motion Pictures Experts Group Layer 3.
Multimedia – A term used to describe technology (either hardware or software) that incorporates both sound and video.
Network – A collection of computers linked together either with cables or wirelessly to allow resources and files to be shared.
Open Source – Software that is developed, and then released to the public to use but is distributed with its source code so that the user may modify the program if required, the creator still holds the copyright. Most Open Sorce software is free to distribute, but there are chargeable programs around.
Operating System – The part of a computer that sits between the hardware and the user, and allows the user to interact with the computer. The three major PC Operating Systems are Windows, Mac OS, and Linux.
Optical Drive – A drive that uses optical media such as DVD or CD to store data.
Partition – A large hard drive can be divided into many different ‘partitions’ and each of these partitions is then treated as a separate physical hard drive by the operating system.
Patch – A software file or program that fixes a problem with and existing application or operating system.
PDF – An abbreviation for Portable Document Format, a system devised by the Adobe company to allow documents that are created and formatted on one platform to be viewed and printed out on an array of platforms and look the same.
Phishing – A term used to describe websites whose main activity is to lure users into entering personal details which are the harvested for illegal use. Many of these sites are made to look like real websites such as on line banks, E-bay, or PayPal.
Plug-In – A small program that adds extra functionality to an existing program, e.g. a streaming sound player added to a web browser.
Pop Ups – Windows that appear on screen, when browsing the internet, that usually contain adverts.
Processor – The heart of any computer, this is the chip that controls everything that happens inside your PC. Generally, the faster the processor the quicker a PC will run.
PVR – Personal Video Recorder, a device that records TV programs to a hard drive rather than tape or DVD, and can generally be used to time shift TV programs.
RAM – Random Access Memory, the chips inside the computer that hold data and programs whist the computer is being used. This is usually ‘volatile’ memory -, meaning that it will be cleared when a computer is switched off or re-started.
RAW – An image format offered by many high end digital cameras to denote that the image is stored in its uncompressed format rather than using a compression technology such as JPEG.
RFID – Radio Frequency Identification, a system that uses a tiny, low cost transmitter chip in products to prevent theft and aid in stock control and shipment tracking.
Router – A device that allows multiple computers to be connected together to form an ad hoc network.
Search Engine – A special website that allows you to locate other websites on the internet using various search criteria and keywords.
Server – A computer on a network that store information that can be shared between many different users.
Shareware – Programs that allow themselves to be installed on a trial basis so that people can evaluate them before they buy.
Soundcard – A dedicated piece of hardware (that may be built onto a PC’s motherboard) that creates, plays, records and processes all audio activity.
Spam – Unsolicited junk E-mail, an electronic equivalent of the junk mail sent via normal post.
Spyware – Software that is usually installed without the users knowledge and can be used to deliver advertisements and report on PC usage.
Terrabyte – A unit of storage equivalent to 1000GB.
TFT – The technology used to create thin, colour screens such as those found on laptops, digital cameras, and mp3 players.
Thumbnail – A small preview image of a larger image, usually seen when browsing a directory containing pictures.
Toolbar – A strip of icons found on most Windows applications that provide quick access to certain program features.
Trojan Horse – A seemingly harmless program that really hides something more sinister or malicious.
URL – Uniform Resource Locator, an address of a document, file, program etc on the internet, www.chimpytech.com is a URL.
USB – Universal Serial Bus, a PC / Mac / Peripheral connection system that allows assorted pieces of hardware to be easily attached to a wide range of computers and other devices. Originally launched as USB 1.1, a newer 40 times faster version known as USB 2 is the current standard.
Upload – The process of sending information from one computer to another directly, commonly used to publish pages on the web or transfer data to server.
Virus – A malicious program that may cause damage to a computer system, or may just be an inconvenience, or may just go undetected.
Virtual Memory – An area of the hard disk that has been set aside for Windows to use in place of RAM when RAM runs low.
VoIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol, the technical term for making telephone calls over the internet usually using a broadband connection.
Webcam – A video camera specially made to connect to a PC and commonly used to make video calls and send video messages via the internet.
WEP – Wireless Encryption Protocol, a method of scrambling data sent over wireless networks so that only those for whom the data is intended are able to read it. This is now easy to break, and has been largely superseded by WPA
Wi-Fi – Wireless Fidelity, a generic term used to describe equipment capable of talking to or forming a wireless network.
WiMax – A long distance wireless technology designed to bring broadband to remote locations
Wizard – An automated guide that steps the user through a sequence of events, such as setting up some hardware or installing software.
Worm – Similar to a virus, this is a program that transmits and copies itself to other computers either on a local network, or via the internet.
WMA – Windows Media Audio, a Microsoft developed alternative to MP3, allows music to be compressed more than MP3 but without as much loss of quality.
WPA – A far more secure and robust version of WEP, implemented in most new wireless networking equipment.
Zip File – A compressed file format devised by the ‘Winzp’ company, files that have been ‘zipped’ are considerably smaller, although versions of Windows prior to XP cannot read them, you will need the Winzip utility. Useful for keeping the size of E-mail attachments down to a minimum.

Computer Glossary – Tech Terms De-Mystified