Author Topic: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"  (Read 6474 times)

Offline MysteRy

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #30 on: March 26, 2014, 04:53:16 PM »
Boot Disk

A boot disk is actually not a computer disk in the shape of a boot. If it was, most disk drives would have a difficult time reading it. Instead, a boot disk is a disk that a computer can start up or "boot" from. The most common type of boot disk is an internal hard drive, which most computers use to start up from. The operating system installed on the hard drive is loaded during the boot process.

However, most computers allow you to boot from other disks, including external Firewire hard drives, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and floppy disks. In order to function as boot disks, these disks need to have an operating system installed that is understandable by the computer. This can either be a full-blown operating system like Windows or Mac OS X, or a small utility operating system, such as Norton Utilities or DiskWarrior.

CD and DVD boot disks are often used to start up a computer when the operating system on the internal hard drive won't load. This can happen when bad data blocks or other errors occur on the disk. By running a disk repair utility from the CD or DVD, you can often fix the hard drive and restart from it, using the full operating system.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #31 on: March 26, 2014, 04:54:02 PM »
Boot Sector

Example: "The computer could not start up from the hard disk because the boot sector was damaged."

A boot sector is the first section of a hard drive or other data storage media. It contains the master boot record (MBR) which is accessed by the computer during the boot sequence. The boot sector may also include a partition map, which defines each disk partition.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #32 on: March 26, 2014, 04:54:52 PM »
Boot Sequence

Each time a computer boots up, it goes through an initial series of processes. This sequence of events is aptly named a "boot sequence." During the boot sequence, the computer activates the necessary hardware components and loads the appropriate software so that a user can interact with the machine.

The boot sequence starts by accessing the the computer's BIOS on Windows PCs or the system ROM on a Macintosh. The BIOS and ROM contain basic instructions that tell the computer how to boot up. These instructions are then passed to the computer's CPU, which begins loading information into the system RAM. Once a valid boot disk or startup disk is found, the computer begins loading the operating system into the system memory. After the operating system finishes loading, the computer is ready to be used.

The boot sequence can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, depending on the computer's configuration. If the system is booting from a CD or DVD, the boot time may be significantly longer than if the computer is booted from a hard drive. Also, if your computer was turned off unexpectedly, the boot time might increase since the system may perform some additional checks to make sure everything is OK.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #33 on: March 26, 2014, 04:55:43 PM »
Bot

This is an automated software program that can execute certain commands when it receives a specific input (like a ro-"bot"). Bots are most often seen at work in the Internet-related areas of online chat and Web searching. The online chat bots do things like greet people when they enter a chat room, advertise Web sites, and kick people out of chat rooms when they violate the chat room rules. Web searching bots, also known as spiders and crawlers, search the Web and retrieve millions of HTML documents, then record the information and links found on the pages. From there, they generate electronic catalogs of the sites that have been "spidered." These catalogs make up the index of sites that are used for search engine results.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #34 on: March 26, 2014, 04:56:27 PM »
Botnet

Example: "When he ran the antivirus software, he realized his computer had been part of a botnet."

A botnet is a network of computers that are controlled from a single source. While some botnets are used for legitimate cluster computing purposes, most botnets are created for malicious activity. Some examples include sending spam messages, spreading viruses, and attacking Internet servers.

Hackers create botnets by compromising the security of several computers and installing bots, or automated programs, on each system. This is often accomplished by exploiting a security hole in the operating system or a software program. Most users don't even realize their computers have been compromised since the botnet activity is typically hidden from the user. Therefore, it is smart to make sure your system firewall is turned on and to install antivirus software, which checks your computer for unusual activity on a regular basis.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #35 on: March 26, 2014, 04:57:21 PM »
Bounce

The term "bounce" has several different IT related meanings, yet none of them include bouncy balls. The most common definition of bounce used in the computer world refers to e-mail messages.

1. Returning E-mail
When you send an e-mail message to another person, the mail server processes the message and delivers it to the appropriate user's mailbox. For example, if you send a message to "[email protected]," the mail.com server looks for a user named "mrman" to deliver the message to. If the user does not exist, the mail server may bounce the message back to the sender, saying "Sorry, that user does not exist." These messages often come from "Mail Delivery Subsystem" and have a subject line that reads "Returned mail: see transcript for details."

If you receive a bounced message, you may want to check the e-mail address you sent the message to and make sure it was typed correctly. If the address is correct, it may help to read the body of the bounced message for more details. The transcript may say something like "User quota over limit," which means the recipient has reached his or her e-mail quota and must delete some messages and/or attachments in order to receive new mail. If this is the case, you may want to call the person or use an alternative e-mail address to let the person know he or she has some Inbox maintenance to do.

2. Restarting a Computer
The term "bounce" can also describe the process of rebooting or restarting a computer. For example, a workstation may need to be bounced after installing new software. Similarly, a Web server may be bounced if websites hosted on the server are not responding correctly.

3. Exporting Audio
"Bounce" can also describe the process of exporting several tracks in an audio mix to one mono track or two stereo tracks. This helps consolidate audio tracks after they have been mixed. Bouncing audio tracks limits the need for processing power since the computer only has to process one track instead of all the tracks individually. Digital Performer is the primary audio software program that uses bouncing to export audio.

4. Hiding a Network Connection
Finally, "bouncing" can also be used in networking to describe a method of hiding the source of a user's network connection. This type of bouncing is often abbreviated "BNC." Someone who bounces his network connection is called a "bouncer," though this is not the same person who checks your ID at the bar.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #36 on: March 26, 2014, 04:58:04 PM »
bps

Stands for "Bits Per Second." (The "b" is lowercase because it stands for bits, not bytes.) Bits per second is the standard way of measuring how fast data moves across a network or phone system. For example, a 56K modem can hypothetically transfer data at 56,700 bits per second.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #37 on: March 26, 2014, 04:58:51 PM »
Bridge

When a road needs to extend across a river or valley, a bridge is built to connect the two land masses. Since the average car cannot swim or fly, the bridge makes it possible for automobiles to continue driving from one land mass to another.

In computer networking, a bridge serves the same purpose. It connects two or more local area networks (LANs) together. The cars, or the data in this case, use the bridge to travel to and from different areas of the network. The device is similar to a router, but it does not analyze the data being forwarded. Because of this, bridges are typically fast at transferring data, but not as versatile as a router. For example, a bridge cannot be used as a firewall like most routers can. A bridge can transfer data between different protocols (i.e. a Token Ring and Ethernet network) and operates at the "data link layer" or level 2 of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) networking reference model.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #38 on: March 26, 2014, 04:59:27 PM »
Broadband

This refers to high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at once. The most common types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection as cable TV) and DSL modems (which use your existing phone line). Because of its multiple channel capacity, broadband has started to replace baseband, the single-channel technology originally used in most computer networks. So now when you see companies like AT&T and SBC pushing those fancy "broadband" ads in your face, you'll at least know what they are talking about.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #39 on: March 26, 2014, 05:01:04 PM »
Buffer

A buffer contains data that is stored for a short amount of time, typically in the computer's memory (RAM). The purpose of a buffer is to hold data right before it is used. For example, when you download an audio or video file from the Internet, it may load the first 20% of it into a buffer and then begin to play. While the clip plays back, the computer continually downloads the rest of the clip and stores it in the buffer. Because the clip is being played from the buffer, not directly from the Internet, there is less of a chance that the audio or video will stall or skip when there is network congestion.

Buffering is used to improve several other areas of computer performance as well. Most hard disks use a buffer to enable more efficient access to the data on the disk. Video cards send images to a buffer before they are displayed on the screen (known as a screen buffer). Computer programs use buffers to store data while they are running. If it were not for buffers, computers would run a lot less efficiently and we would be waiting around a lot more.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #40 on: March 26, 2014, 05:02:08 PM »
Bug

In the computer world, a bug is an error in a software program. It may cause a program to unexpectedly quit or behave in an unintended manner. For example, a small bug may cause a button within a program's interface not to respond when you click it. A more serious bug may cause the program to hang or crash due to an infinite calculation or memory leak.

From a developer perspective, bugs can be syntax or logic errors within the source code of a program. These errors can often be fixed using a development tool aptly named a debugger. However, if errors are not caught before the program is compiled into the final application, the bugs will be noticed by the user.

Because bugs can negatively affect the usability of a program, most programs typically go through a lot of testing before they are released to the public. For example, commercial software often goes through a beta phase, where multiple users thoroughly test all aspects of the program to make sure it functions correctly. Once the program is determined to be stable and free from errors, it is released the public.

Of course, as we all know, most programs are not completely error-free, even after they have been thoroughly tested. For this reason, software developers often release "point updates," (e.g. version 1.0.1), which include bug fixes for errors that were found after the software was released. Programs that are especially "buggy" may require multiple point updates (1.0.2, 1.0.3, etc.) to get rid of all the bugs.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #41 on: March 26, 2014, 05:03:00 PM »
Burn

When you "burn a disc," you write data on it. If you were taking an SAT test, the analogy would look something like this:

Hard Disk : Write ::
CD/DVD : Burn

The reason the term "burn" is used is because the CD-writer, or burner, literally burns the data onto a writable CD. The laser in a CD-writer can be cranked up to a more powerful level than an ordinary CD-ROM laser. This enables it to engrave thousands of 1's and 0's onto a CD.

So that is why people talk about "burning" songs or files to CDs. They could just say they are "writing" the data to a CD, and it would make sense, but people seem to think "burning" sounds cooler.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #42 on: March 26, 2014, 05:03:56 PM »
Bus

While the wheels on the bus may go "round and round," data on a computer's bus goes up and down. Each bus inside a computer consists of set of wires that allow data to be passed back and forth. Most computers have several buses that transmit data to different parts of the machine. Each bus has a certain size, measured in bits (such as 32-bit or 64-bit), that determines how much data can travel across the bus at one time. Buses also have a certain speed, measured in megahertz, which determines how fast the data can travel.

The computer's primary bus is called the frontside bus and connects the CPU to the rest of the components on the motherboard. Expansion buses, such as PCI and AGP, allow data to move to and from expansion cards, including video cards and other I/O devices. While there are several buses inside a computer, the speed of the frontside bus is the most important, as it determines how fast data can move in and out of the processor.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "B"
« Reply #43 on: March 26, 2014, 05:05:24 PM »
Byte

A byte is a set of 8 bits that represent a single character in the computer's memory. Do not confuse this term with "bite," as in taking a bite of a cookie, because that is totally different. While bits are often used to measure data transfer speeds, bytes are used to measure file sizes, hard disk space, and computer memory. Larger amounts of data are measured in units such as megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes. For example, one kilobyte is equal to 1,024 bytes.