PQFP

Plastic Quad Flat Pack. A device that is permanently attached (surface mounted) to your main system board rather than fitting into a socket designed to hold it. On your system, the processor may be surface mounted.

Processor speed

See Operating speed.

Program

A file containing coded instructions that tell the computer what to do and how to do it. See also File.

Prompt

A message displayed by the operating system or a program to request information from you or tell you what action to perform next. See also Command prompt.

RAM

Random Access Memory. The portion of the computer’s memory used to run programs and store data while you work. All data stored in RAM is erased when you turn off or reset the computer; so you must store any data you want to keep on disk.

Read

To gather data from one source (such as a disk) and transfer it to a device (such as a screen or a printer). For example, when you open a file stored on disk, the computer reads the data from the disk and displays it on the screen. See also Write.

18 Glossary