Neutron2K's Computing Tutorials

Basic Computer Jargon

Every heard people talking about computers and haven't had the faintest clue as to what's just been said? When people talk about computers, they usually use a lot of technical terms that you may of heard before, but never understood or known what they really meant. This guide aims to put a stop to that problem by explaining a majority of widely used computer terms.

Computer Hardware Jargon

RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM) is a temporary memory that your computer uses to hold instructions that are waiting to be passed onto the Central Processing Unit (CPU) for execution. The more RAM you have in a computer, the more instructions you can queue up, thus improving your computers performance. There are many types of RAM available, and this opens up a whole new world of terminology. Types of computer memory are: EDO, D-RAM, SD-RAM, DDR, DDR2, RDD. RAM is only a temporary storage area and it is wiped every time you turn your computer off.

CPU
Central Processing Unit. This is the heart of any computer. Everything your computer does sends instructions to the Central Processing Unit, which handles everything. Without a CPU, the Computer would not do anything.

PSU
Power Supply Unit. Simply put, this is the device that provides power to your computer, and where you plug the computer into the wall.

HDD
Hard Disk Drive. The hard disk in a computer is similar in function to that of RAM, but it is a type of permanent storage. This is where a computer holds all of its files, including your Operating System and your personal files, such as word documents.

FDD
Floppy Disk Drive. As above but a type of removable storage media. Floppy Disks are now pretty much obsolete with the introductions of various other removable storage media such as CDs, and DVD's.

Graphics Card
A Graphics card is what is responsible for 'showing' what your computer is doing on a monitor. Without a graphics card, you would not be able to see anything on your monitor.

Sound Card
As above but for sound.

ROM
Read Only Memory. Commonly applied to CD and DVD, (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM). Read Only memory is a type of memory that has data on it, but it cannot be written to. Only read.

USB
Universal Serial Bus. USB has been a buzz-word in the computer world in the last few years. USB is nothing more than a new interface type with the exception that it is extremely fast and can devices can be hot plugged (plugged in and unplugged without turning the computer off first). This allowed for the true intentions of Plug and Play technology to be realized.

VDU
Visual Display Unit. Your monitor or LCD screen. The device that shows you what your are doing on a computer.

Computer Software Jargon

OS / Operating System
An Operating System is what lets users interact and do things with the computer. The OS is installed onto the computers HDD (Hard Disk Drive) so that when your computer boots, it can find a valid OS and start it for you. Without an Operating System, your computer would be useless. An Example of an OS would be Microsoft Windows, Linux, or UNIX.

Defrag
To defragment a hard-drive. When you save files to a hard-drive, they are saved in individual segments of the hard-drives tracks and sectors. Because we often delete files, this leaves gaps in the disks file structure which are usually filled up with parts from another file so essential when you save a new file, the file is saved in broken up segments on the different parts of the hard drive. This is called fragmentation, and the more fragmented your hard drive gets, the longer it will take to open file. Defrantation is a process which will organise all the files on your hard drive into sequential order so that all parts of one file are next to one another and not spaced out.

More Jargon Coming Soon!