Computer Terms

Personal Computer a computer

intended for use by one individual
user.
Motherboard The main circuit board of a
microcomputer. The motherboard contains
the connectors for attaching additional

Sound Card a device that can be slotted

into a computer to allow the use of
audio components for multimedia
applications.
Video Card A board that plugs into a
personal computer to give it display

boards.

capabilities

CPU The abbreviation for central processing

Modem A modem is a device or program

unit. The CPU is the brains or

processing part of the computer.
Random Access Memory (RAM) Refers to
the ability to access data at random. This
memory is considered temporary as it is
retrieved as needed from permanent storage
on the hard disk drive. Once the computer
is turned off, RAM is lost.
Read Only Memory computer memory on
which data has been prerecorded. Once
data has been written onto a ROM chip, it
cannot be removed and can only be
read. ROM retains its contents
even when the computer is turned off.
Back up a second copy of files you may be
choose to save to avoid file loss if your
computer were to crash.
CD-ROM The abbreviation for Compact
Disc-Read-Only Memory, a type of optical
disk capable of storing large
amounts of data. This is
permanent auxiliary storage.
DVD Short for digital versatile disc or digital
video disc, a type of permanent auxiliary
storage.

that enables a computer to transmit

data over telephone or cable lines.
Helvetica a style of a typeface, a set of
characters of the same design
USB The abbreviation for Universal
Serial Bus, a form of external
storage.
Network (of computers): A group of two or
more computer systems linked together.
There are many types of computer
networks,
Internet A global network

connecting millions of computers.

Intranet A network or linked

computers belonging to an
organization, usually a corporation,
accessible only by the organization's
members, employees, or others with
authorization, such as a school board.
World Wide Web an information system
on the Internet that allows documents to be
connected to other documents by hypertext
links (HTML), enabling the user to search
for information by moving from one
document to another.

Computer Terms
computer after the software is installed on
HTML The abbreviation for Hypertext
Markup Language; the computer language
that supports links to other documents, as
well as graphics, audio, and video files.

it.

Spyware

a type of software that is

installed on computers and collects

Adware

any software package that plays,

displays, or downloads advertisements to a

information about the users without their

knowledge. The spyware is usually hidden
from the user.