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Definition
| physical components that make up a computer system (e.g., system unit, keyboard, monitor) |
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym ALU |
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym CU |
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Definition
| type of computer used by small- and medium-sized companies to support multi-user applications, provide network access and data storage, and host websites |
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Definition
| very large, very fast, and very expensive computer used by government agencies and large corporations for specialized applications and research |
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Term
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Definition
| large circuit board inside the system case to which all of a computer system's components and devices are connected |
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Definition
| processor component responsible for performing all mathematical calculations and logical comparisons |
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Term
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Definition
| processor component that oversees and manages the movement of data between components and devices |
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Term
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Definition
| collection of 8 bits used to represent letters, numbers, and special characters |
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Term
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym RAM |
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Term
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym ROM |
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Term
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Definition
| characteristic of RAM which causes all contents to be lost when the computer is shut down or power is lost |
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Term
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Definition
| type of memory which retains its contents even when power is lost |
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Term
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Definition
| type of memory whose contents are lost when power is lost |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| collection of approximately 1,000 bytes |
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Term
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Definition
| collection of approximately 1,000,000 bytes |
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Term
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Definition
| collection of approximately 1,000,000,000 bytes |
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Term
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Definition
| collection of approximately 1,000,000,000,000 bytes |
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Term
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Definition
| describes the size and orientation of a motherboard |
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Term
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Definition
| series of steps that describes how instructions and data are moved from devices to memory to the processor, and back during program execution |
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Term
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Definition
| all instructions and data must be copied here before the processor can manipulate them |
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Term
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Definition
| machine cycle step in which the control unit obtains a program instruction or data item from RAM and copies it to the processor |
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Term
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Definition
| machine cycle step in which a program instruction or data item is translated into binary (which can be understood by the processor) |
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Term
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Definition
| machine cycle step in which the processor carries out an instruction |
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Term
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Definition
| machine cycle step in which the control unit copies a processing result from the processor back to RAM |
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Term
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Definition
| series of steps that describes how instructions and data are moved between RAM and the processor during instruction execution |
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Term
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Definition
| process of rewriting the contents of an updatable ROM chip |
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Term
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Definition
| primitive instructions that "tell" the computer how to load the operating system from the hard drive on boot |
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Term
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Definition
| type of memory chip on which the BIOS is stored |
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Term
| basic input/output system |
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym BIOS |
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Term
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Definition
| stores user-configurable BIOS settings (e.g., passwords, boot sequence) |
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Term
| RAM---with a battery backup |
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Definition
| type of chip used to store user-configurable BIOS settings (e.g., passwords, boot sequence) |
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Term
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Definition
| system of wires used to connect motherboard components |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| expansion of the acronym CPU |
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Term
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Definition
| holds the memory address of the instruction currently being executed by the processor |
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Term
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Definition
| holds a copy of the instruction currently being executed by the processor |
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Term
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Definition
| special register in the processor that holds the results of mathematical |
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Term
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Definition
| high speed memory location in the processor that hold instructions and data as they are being processed |
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Term
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Definition
| "brains" of the computer responsible for all data manipulation and instruction execution |
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