Compaq Presario Internet PC - Manual (Page 125)

M Y P RESARIO —G ETTING S TARTED AND B EYOND G LOSSARY 11
newsreader A program that lets you read
and post messages to newsgroups. The
default newsreader on your Presario is
Microsoft Outlook Express.
news server A server that receives the
Usenet news feed (all the individual
messages collected from 100,000 news
servers around the world). You access the
news server through your Internet Service
Provider. See Usenet. See also newsgroup.
NIC (network interface card) A
computer circuit board or card that is
installed in a computer so that it can be
connected to a network. Personal
computers and workstations on local area
networks (LANs) typically contain a
network interface card specifically
designed for the LAN transmission
technology, such as Ethernet or Token
Ring.
O
online To be communicating with another
computer through a modem or network.
You are online when you log on and
establish a connection. You are offline
when you lose or terminate a connection.
See modem and network.
online Help A manual that is displayed on
the screen while you are actually working
in a program and need help. It can be
accessed through the Help menu at the top
of the screen. Help for the Windows
operating system can be accessed from the
Start button on the taskbar.
on the fly To write on the fly means to
write directly from source data to CD data
without first writing a disc image.
OS (operating system) The interface that
permits a person and a computer to “talk”
to one another. Microsoft Windows, the
most popular operating system, displays
icons, menus, and dialog boxes to find out
what you want. You use a mouse and
keyboard to reply. See Microsoft Windows.
See also interface.
P
packet writing A method of writing data
on a CD in small increments. Packets can
be of fixed or variable length. Adaptec’s
DirectCD software supports packet
writing. Contrast with track-at-once and
disc-at-once.
parallel port A connector on the back of
the computer for plugging in a parallel
cable attached to a parallel device, such as
a printer. Data is transferred, one byte at a
time, through eight data wires (one for
each bit in the byte). All eight bits travel
side by side and arrive at the same time. A
parallel port is faster than a serial port,
which lets data through one bit at a time.
See byte. See also serial port.
path A sequence of information that
directs the operating system to a file. For
example, C:\Windows\Clouds.bmp is the
path to a bitmap file named Clouds. It is
located in a folder named Windows, which
is located on the C drive.