Author Topic: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"  (Read 19850 times)

Offline MysteRy

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Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« on: April 11, 2014, 07:44:09 AM »
Source : PC.net


Safe Mode

Safe Mode is a way for the Windows operating system to run with the minimum system files necessary. It uses a generic VGA display driver instead of the vendor-specific driver, which means you will likely be working with only 16 colors in a resolution of 640x480. Safe Mode also turns off all third-party drivers for other peripherals such as mice, keyboards, printers, and scanners. In basic Safe Mode, networking files and settings are not loaded, meaning you won't be able to connect to the Internet or other computers on a network.

So why would I ever want to boot in Safe Mode? Well, that's a good question. Sometimes, Windows may not fully load after an unexpected crash and the only way to get the computer to boot is to use Safe Mode. Once you have successfully booted the computer in Safe Mode, you can run a disk utility program to repair corrupted files or directories on the hard drive. You can also reboot into Safe Mode to see your display when you get a "Sync Out of Range" message on your screen.

There may also be times when your computer is performing sluggishly and becomes annoyingly slow. Booting into Safe Mode will allow you to diagnose the problem and determine which files are slowing down the computer. When calling technical support, the support person may ask you to boot into Safe Mode to begin the troubleshooting. To boot your Windows computer into Safe Mode, hold down the F8 key while the computer is starting up. Then select Safe Mode from the list of boot options.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2014, 07:45:34 AM »
Samba

Most people know of samba as a type of rhythmic dance music from Brazil that uses a 2/4 time signature. In the computer world, samba has a different meaning but is no less exciting (if you are a computer nerd).

Samba is an open-source software implementation of the SMB networking protocol used by Windows computers. (If you look closely, you can see the correlation between the two names.) Samba allows other computer platforms, such as Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, IBM System 390, and OpenVMS to interact with Windows computers on the same network. This includes sharing files and using shared devices such as printers connected to other computers within the local network.

Because SMB was developed only for Windows, without Samba, other computer platforms would be isolated from Windows machines, even if they were part of the same network. Fortunately, Samba helps different types of computers work together as if they were all based on the same platform. This gives network administrators the freedom to choose multiple types of computers systems when setting up a network. Now that's a reason to dance!

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2014, 07:46:05 AM »
Sample

A sample is a digital representation of an analog signal. Both digital video and digital audio files are created using samples. The quality of the sample is determined by the sampling rate, or the bit rate the signal is sampled at.

What we see and hear in the real world is in analog format (our bodies process analog information). Computers, on the other hand, can only understand digital information. Therefore, audio and video signals must be converted to a digital format in order to be stored on a computer or saved to a CD or DVD. The converted data is called a sample.

The term "sample" is often used to refer to short audio clips used for playing back sounds. For example, a violin sound or a bird chirp may be sampled and then played back from a digital keyboard (or synthesizer). However, samples can refer to entire songs or movies, since the information is technically one long sample. To learn more about how samples are created, view the definition of sampling, which is the process of recording and creating digital samples.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2014, 07:46:40 AM »
Sampling

Before digital recording took over the audio and video industries, everything was recorded in analog. Audio was recorded to devices like cassette tapes and records. Video was recorded to Beta and VHS tapes. The media was even edited in analog format, using multichannel audio tapes (such as 8-tracks) for music, and film reels for video recordings. This method involved a lot of rewinding and fast-forwarding, which resulted in a time-consuming process.

Fortunately, digital recording has now almost completely replaced analog recording. Digital editing can be done much more efficiently than analog editing and the media does not lose any quality in the process. However, since what humans see and hear is in analog format (linear waves of light and sound), saving audio and video in a digital format requires converting the signal from analog to digital. This process is called sampling.

Sampling involves taking snapshots of an audio or video signal at very fast intervals ? usually tens of thousands of times per second. The quality of the digital signal is determined largely by the sampling rate, or the bit rate the signal is sampled at. The higher the bit rate, the more samples are created per second, and the more realistic the resulting audio or video file will be. For example, CD-quality audio is sampled at 44.1 kHz, or 44,100 samples per second. The difference between a 44.1 kHz digital recording and the original audio signal is imperceptible to most people. However, if the audio was recorded at 22 kHz (half the CD-quality rate), most people would notice the drop in quality right away.

Samples can be created by sampling live audio and video or by sampling previously recorded analog media. Since samples estimate the analog signal, the digital representation is never as accurate as the analog data. However, if a high enough sampling rate is used, the difference is not noticeable to the human senses. Because digital information can be edited and saved using a computer and will not deteriorate like analog media, the quality/convenience tradeoff involved in sampling is well worthwhile.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2014, 07:47:11 AM »
SAN

Stands for "Storage Area Network." A SAN is a network of storage devices that can be accessed by multiple computers. Each computer on the network can access hard drives in the SAN as if they were local disks connected directly to the computer. This allows individual hard drives to be used by multiple computers, making it easy to share information between different machines.

While a single server can provide a shared hard drive to multiple machines, large networks may require more storage than a single server can offer. For example, a large business may have several terabytes of data that needs to be accessible by multiple machines on a local area network (LAN). In this situation, a SAN could be setup instead of adding additional servers. Since only hard drives need to be added instead of complete computer systems, SANs are an efficient way to increase network storage.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2014, 07:47:44 AM »
SATA

Stands for "Serial Advanced Technology Attachment," or "Serial ATA." It is an interface used to connect ATA hard drives to a computer's motherboard. SATA transfer rates start at 150MBps, which is significantly faster than even the fastest 100MBps ATA/100 drives. For this and other reasons, Serial ATA is likely to replace the previous standard, Parallel ATA (PATA), which has been around since the 1980s.

Besides faster transfer rates, the SATA interface has several advantages over the PATA interface. For one, SATA drives each have their own independent bus, so there is no competition for bandwidth like there is with Parallel ATA. They also use smaller, thinner cables, which allows for better airflow inside the computer. SATA cables can be as long as one meter, while PATA cables max out at 40cm. This gives manufacturers more liberty when designing the internal layout of their computers. Finally, Serial ATA uses only 7 conductors, while Parallel ATA uses 40. This means there is less likely to be electromagnetic interference with SATA devices.

In summary, Serial ATA is a better, more efficient interface than the dated PATA standard. If you are looking to buy a computer that will support fast hard drives for years to come, make sure it comes with a SATA interface.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2014, 07:48:17 AM »
Scanner

Example: "He used a sheet-fed scanner to scan pages of the printed report into his computer."

A scanner is an input device that scans documents and images, which can be imported into a computer. They are available in flatbed or sheet-fed versions and are usually connected via a high-speed USB port. OCR software can be used to recognize text documents imported from a scanner.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2014, 07:48:51 AM »
Schema

In computing, a schema is an outline or diagram that describes the structure of a specific type of data. Schemas are most often used to describe XML files and databases, but they can describe many other types of data as well.

An XML schema includes an ordered list of elements that an XML file may contain. This specific structure ensures multiple related XML documents follow a strict syntax and do not contain unknown data. By following a specific schema, XML files can be easily parsed by a script or application.

Database schemas are often used to provide a visual representation of the tables and records contained in a database. Tables are displayed as boxes, which each include a list of fields. Lines are used to connect tables within the database and show how data flows between the tables. Database schemas often include comments that describe the tables and fields and may include labels that identify primary and unique keys within each table.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2014, 07:49:27 AM »
Screenshot

A screenshot, or screen capture, is a picture taken of your computer's desktop. This may include the desktop background, icons of files and folders, and open windows. It may also include whatever is being displayed by currently running programs. Screenshots are and easy way to save something you see on the screen, such as an open window, image, or text article. However, because screenshots are saved in an image format, the text saved in a screenshot will not be editable.

Both the Mac OS and Windows operating systems make it easy to take screenshots. Just use the following keyboard shortcuts to capture the current screen displayed on your computer:

Mac OS X:
Command-Shift-3: Saves a screenshot of the entire desktop to an image file on the desktop.
Command-Shift-4: Saves a screenshot of a selection selected with the cursor to an image file on the desktop.
Command-Control-Shift-3: Saves a screenshot of the entire desktop to the clipboard.
Command-Control-Shift-4: Saves a screenshot or a selection selected with the cursor to the clipboard.

Windows XP:
Print Screen: Saves a screenshot of the entire desktop to the clipboard.
Alt+Print Screen: Saves a screenshot of the active window to the clipboard.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2014, 07:49:59 AM »
Script

A computer script is a list of commands that are executed by a certain program or scripting engine. Scripts may be used to automate processes on a local computer or to generate Web pages on the Web. For example, DOS scripts and VB Scripts may be used to run processes on Windows machines, while AppleScript scripts can automate tasks on Macintosh computers. ASP, JSP, and PHP scripts are often run on Web servers to generate dynamic Web page content.

Script files are usually just text documents that contain instructions written in a certain scripting language. This means most scripts can be opened and edited using a basic text editor. However, when opened by the appropriate scripting engine, the commands within the script are executed. VB (Visual Basic) scripts, for example, will run when double-clicked, using Windows' built-in VB scripting support. Since VB scripts can access and modify local files, you should never run a VB script that you receive as an unknown e-mail attachment.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2014, 07:50:36 AM »
Scroll Bar

When the contents of a window are too large to be displayed entirely within the window, a scroll bar will appear. For example, if a Web page is too long to fit within a window, a scroll bar will show up on the right-hand side of the window, allowing you to scroll up and down the page. If the page is too wide for the window, another scroll bar will appear at the bottom of the window, allowing you to scroll to the left and right. If the window's contents fit within the current window size, the scroll bars will not appear.

The scroll bar contains a slider that the user can click and drag to scroll through the window. As you may have noticed, the size of the slider may change for different windows. This is because the slider's size represents what percentage of the window's content is currently being displayed within the window. For example, a slider that takes up 75% of the scroll bar means 75% of the content fits within the current window size. A slider that fills only 10% of the scroll bar means only 10% of the window's contents are being displayed within the current window size. Therefore, if two windows are the same size, the one with the smaller slider has more content than the one with the larger slider.

Most scroll bars also contain up and down or left and right arrows that allow the user to scroll in small increments by clicking the arrows. However, clicking and dragging the slider is much faster, so the arrow keys are typically not used as often. Also, some mice have a scroll wheel that allows the user to scroll by dragging the wheel instead of clicking and dragging within the scroll bar.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2014, 07:51:12 AM »
Scroll Wheel

Computer windows are often not large enough to display the entire contents of the window at one time. Therefore, you may need to scroll through the window to view all the contents. Traditionally, this has been done by clicking and dragging the slider within the scroll bar. However, many mice now come with scroll wheels that make the scrolling process even easier.

The scroll wheel typically sits between the left and right buttons on the top of a mouse. It is raised slightly, which allows the user to easily drag the wheel up or down using the index finger. Pulling the scroll wheel towards you scrolls down the window, while pushing it away scrolls up. Most modern mice include a scroll wheel, since it eliminates the need to move the cursor to the scroll bar in order to scroll through the window. Therefore, once you get accustomed to using a scroll wheel, it can be pretty difficult to live without.

Most scroll wheels only allow the user to scroll up and down. However, some programs allow the user to use a modifier key, such as Control or Shift, to change the scrolling input to left and right. Some mice even have a tilting scroll wheel that allows the user to scroll left and right. The Apple Mighty Mouse has a spherical scrolling mechanism (called a scroll ball) that allows the user to also scroll left and right and even diagonally. Whatever the case, any type of scroll wheel is certainly better than nothing.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #12 on: April 11, 2014, 07:51:48 AM »
Scrolling

Most computer programs display their content within a window. However, windows are often not large enough to display their entire content at once. Therefore, you may have to scroll through the window to view the rest of the contents. For example, on some monitors, a page from a word processing document may not fit within the main window when viewed at 100%. Therefore, you may have to scroll down the window to view the rest of the page. Similarly, many Web pages do not fit completely within a window and may require you to scroll both vertically and horizontally to see all the content.

To scroll up or down within a window, simply click the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the window and drag the slider up or down. If the window requires horizontal scrolling as well, click the scroll bar at the bottom of the window and drag the slider to the right or left. Some computer mice also include a scroll wheel that allows you to scroll through the window by rolling the wheel back and forth.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #13 on: April 11, 2014, 07:53:05 AM »
SCSI

Stands for "Small Computer System Interface," and is pronounced "scuzzy." SCSI is a computer interface used primarily for high-speed hard drives. This is because SCSI can support faster data transfer rates than the commonly used IDE storage interface. SCSI also supports daisy-chaining devices, which means several SCSI hard drives can be connected to single a SCSI interface, with little to no decrease in performance.

The different types of SCSI interfaces are listed below:


SCSI-1: Uses an 8-bit bus, supports data transfer speeds of 4 MBps.

SCSI-2: Uses a 50-pin connector instead of a 25-pin connector, and supports multiple devices. It is one of the most commonly used SCSI standards. Data transfer speeds are typically around 5 MBps.

Wide SCSI: Uses a wider cable (168 cable lines to 68 pins) to support 16-bit data transfers.

Fast SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, but doubles the clock rate to support data transfer speeds of 10 MBps.

Fast Wide SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus and supports data transfer speeds of 20 MBps.

Ultra SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, supports data rates of 20 MBps.

SCSI-3: Uses a 16-bit bus, supports data rates of 40 MBps. Also called Ultra Wide SCSI.

Ultra2 SCSI: Uses an 8-bit bus, supports data transfer speeds of 40 MBps.

Wide Ultra2 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus, supports data transfer speeds of 80 MBps.

Ultra3 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus, supports data transfer rates of 160 MBps. Also known as Ultra-160.

Ultra-320 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus, supports data transfer speeds of 320 MBps.

Ultra-640 SCSI: Uses a 16-bit bus, supports data transfer speeds of 640 MBps.


While SCSI is still used for some high-performance equipment, newer interfaces have largely replaced SCSI in certain applications. For example, Firewire and USB 2.0 have become commonly used for connecting external hard drives. Serial ATA, or SATA, is now used as a fast interface for internal hard drives.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "S"
« Reply #14 on: April 11, 2014, 07:53:53 AM »
SD

Stands for "Secure Digital." It is a type of memory card used for storing data in devices such as digital cameras, PDAs, mobile phones, portable music players, and digital voice recorders. The card is one of the smaller memory card formats, measuring 24mm wide by 32mm long and is just 2.1mm thick. To give the cards some orientation, the top-rght corner of each SD card is slanted. Even though the cards are extremely small, as of late 2004, they can hold up to 8GB of data.

Part of the reason the cards are called "Secure Digital" cards is because the cards have a copyright protection feature built in. The security feature, called "key revocation" means protected data on the card can only be read by specific devices. The cards can have both secured and unsecured areas on them for copyrighted and non-copyrighted data. For more information on SD cards, visit the SD Card Association.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2014, 07:55:45 AM by MysteRy »