Accounts
A user account is ideal if you have more than one person using a PC, as it allows each user to keep their own settings and styles.

Address Book
Address Book

Administrator
The administrator can make systemwide changes to the PC and has full access to all of the computer’s accounts.

Adobe Acrobat
Part of a set of applications, developed by Adobe Systems Inc, for creating and viewing PDF files.

Adware
The term for a type of spyware that hides on your PC and inserts its own adverts on web pages, rather than the ones you are supposed to see. It can also produce unwanted pop-up adverts.

Aero
This is the new glass-effect Windows style that allows for transparent windows, menus and other visual tricks.


Analogue input
A control that gives different degrees of input, allowing for slight to extreme movements or pressure. Modern controllers tend to be analogue, allowing for fine control of whatever you take charge of in a game.

Applets
Mini applications that are designed to be run from within another application. Applets are used in interactive internet pages so that, when you click on a page, they automatically download to your computer as the page loads. Java applets run in a protected mode, called a virtual machine, and cannot affect or attack other areas of your computer or Windows.

Application
A program designed for the computer user, such as database programs, word processors, and spreadsheets.

Archive
Any file that contains one or more files which have been compressed either to save hard disk space or so that they can be copied to other media for backup purposes.

Association
The link between one file type and the program that launches when one of those files is double-clicked in its folder or launched. Associations change as new programs are added.

Attachment
A file that comes attached to an email. If you don’t know who the sender is, it could well be the source of a virus or spyware – so it would be best not to open the attachment.

AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect is a feature of Word and it replaces misspelt words as soon as you type them. It doesn’t matter whether it is a typing slip or spelling error, Word fixes it immediately. If AutoCorrect fixes words you know are correct, check the language settings.

Bandwidth
The average amount of data your Internet connection can transmit over time. Bandwidth is measured in either kilobytes per second (KB/s) or kilobits per second (Kb/s), where 1 kilobyte = 8 kilobits.

Bcc
Blind carbon copy is an email feature that allows you to send copies of an email to a number of recipients without them seeing the list of others who received the message.

BIOS
Basic Input Output System. This runs before Windows starts. It stores your computer’s settings and controls its hardware.

Bluetooth
The name of a radio technology with which you can create a personal network that your devices can use to communicate and share information at slow speeds. The radio frequency does not need to be classified or registered because it uses a low-power radio signal.

Bookmark
Another name for Favorites. If you export your Favorites they will be stored in a file called Bookmarks which can be opened in other web browsers.

Boot
A phrase used to describe a computer starting up. The different stages of booting include recognising hardware, finding an operating system and loading it.

Broadband router
A box that sits between your broadband connection and the PC, allowing other computers to share the connection.

Browser
All PCs come with Internet Explorer installed for web browsing but you can use others like Firefox or Opera.

Buffer
The data your PC stores before starting to play the streamed file.

Cache
Short-term storage. A cache is used to speed up certain computer operations by temporarily placing data, or a copy of it, in a location on your PC that can be accessed rapidly.

Cell
Each entry in a sheet is known as a cell. Cells are named by their column letter and the row number.

Character set
The complete set of characters in a font, including alphabetic, numeric and punctuation marks. It may also include symbols. Some fonts, such as Symbol, have a character set that is made up entirely of symbols.

Check box
A box that you can click to turn an option on or off. When the option is activated, an ‘X’ or a green tick appears in the check box.

Classic View
A view option in Control Panel in which all of the icons are visible on one screen. The Control Panel can be displayed in two different ways: Classic View or Category View.

Click and drag
Using a mouse to select an item on the computer screen, then moving it to another location. To click and drag, select an item; click and hold the left mouse button on the item while dragging it to a location; then release the button.

Clipart
Clipart is often provided free with your word processor and is themed across a range of subjects that can be used in any document to liven it up without resorting to photography. You can find more clipart online.

Clipboard
A temporary storage space for text, pictures, or other material that has been copied or cut from a document.

COM port
Short for communications port, this is a connection socket at the back of your PC that lets you attach a device such as a modem.

Community
Users who club together via websites or forums to discuss or support a program are called a community. Millions help contribute to Google Earth’s community.

CompactFlash
A memory card often found in top-of-the-range professional cameras. The large size of the pictures produced by such cameras means that a very fast and efficient storage system is essential.

Compression
A reduction in file size, without degrading the quality of an image.

Contact
The collective name for someone and their business or personal details.

Context menu
This is the official name for what you see when you right-click on the desktop, on an icon or when using a program. The menu can show a range of different commands, both from Windows XP and other programs that are specific to the file or folder that you right-clicked on.

Control panel
An integrated part of Windows that allows you to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls. It contains many small utilities.

Cookies
Most websites you visit create a cookie on your hard disk drive. This is a small file that can remember when you last visited and may store useful information such as your user name or which pages you visit regularly. Cookies are often classed as spyware, even though they may be useful.

CPU
Central Processing Unit. The ‘brains’ of your PC. The CPU processes instructions and manages the information flow for your system.

Crash
The point at which a hang or other error becomes critical and makes the program stop working completely.

Crop
The cropping tool allows you to remove an unwanted part of a photo by drawing a rectangle around the area you wish to keep.

Customised streaming
This is where you compile your own programme of tracks from your own customised radio station and then stream it with other online listeners.

Cut and paste
A simple way of moving parts of a document or files and folders. Commands for cutting and pasting can be found in the Edit menu of any application or file folder.