Chapter 8 - Understanding System Software

Pop-up menu

A list of shortcut commands that appears when an area of the screen is right-clicked or the mouse button is held down

File Systems

In computing, a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them.

Directory

a hierarchical filing system

Pull down menus

a list of options; a list of commands when you select an item from the menu

System administrator

a person responsible for maintaining a computer system

Hibernation mode

a power state in which data from RAM is saved to the hard disk and then power is shut down

Sleep mode

a power state in which power is shut off to non-essential components but some power is used and data remains in RAM

Virus

a program whose purpose is to damage or destroy computer data, cause a computer to act in unexpected ways, or interfere with the operation of network, (while concealing and replicating itself)

BIOS

an acronym for Basic Input Output System is software that controls basic computer hardware functions. BIOS is stored on a motherboard chip.

Corrupted

describes a computer file that has been damaged

Subdirectories

folders stored within the root or other folders

Hierarchical

multi leveled

User rights

settings assigned to a user account to limit or allow access to a computer system

File format

standards used to write data to a disk

Cross platform compatibilities

the ability to share files across operating systems

File fragmentation

the allocation of a file to noncontiguous sectors on a floppy disk or hard drive.

Root directory

the main storage location in a hierarchical filing system

Power-on self-test (POST)

the series of tests a computer performs while booting up

Boot

to start up a computer

File extension

two or three letters following s period that indicate the application a file was created in. example: .docx, .pdf, .jpeg