Compaq 233789-371 - Manual (Page 95)

G LOSSARY 4 M Y P RESARIO —G ETTING S TARTED
search engine A programme, accessed on
the Internet, that allows you to search large
databases for information, using keywords
or phrases.
serial port A small connector on the back
of the computer (or keyboard) for plugging
in a thin cable attached to a serial device,
such as a mouse.
server A computer with a large hard disk
that serves (provides information to) other
computers connected to it by a network.
The Internet is a network of servers. When
you send or receive e-mail, it travels from
the sender’s computer to the receiver’s
computer through a a number of servers.
shortcut An icon on the Windows desktop
that you double-click to launch a
programme.
software A programme that you can
install on a computer from a diskette, CD,
DVD, Zip disk, or the Internet. See
programme.
surf To jump from place to place on the
Internet, searching for topics of interest, by
clicking hyperlinks. See hyperlink.
surge protector A device that regulates
the flow of electricity to the computer and
prevents high-voltage surges from
damaging the equipment.
U
upload To send information to another
computer on the Internet.
URL (uniform resource locator)
The address of a Web site, such as
www.compaq.com.
USB port (universal serial bus port)
A connector for plugging in multiple,
ultra-high-speed peripherals. USB ports
are gradually replacing serial ports and
parallel ports and eliminating the need for
so many connectors and cables.
V
virus A set of software instructions written
to harm computers.
W
window A screen that displays on the
Windows desktop after you select an item
or open a programme.
Windows desktop The main screen you
see when your computer completes startup.
Windows taskbar The gray bar across the
bottom of the screen when your computer
completes startup.
World Wide Web A system of Internet
servers that support documents formatted
in HTML. See HTML.
Z
zipped file A file that has been compressed
to a smaller size by compression software,
such as WinZip. It can be identified by the
file extension .zip. See file extension.