Glossary

Sony VAIO Desktop User Guide

 

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Partition

A partition is a logical division of a computer’s hard disk. A two-partition hard drive would

 

typically contain C: and D: drives. Partitioning is particularly useful if you run more than one

 

operating system or to clearly separate your data files from your installed software.

 

 

PBX

A PBX (Private Branch Exchange) is a private telephone network within an enterprise. Under

 

this system, the calls between the enterprise members are local and the phone numbers are

 

made up of 3 or 4 digits. Companies generally choose this phone system for internal

 

communication because it is less expensive than the regular network. The users can still

 

share a number of outside lines for making calls external to the PBX.

 

 

Pixel

A pixel (Picture Element) is a part of your screen. Your screen is made up of thousands of

 

pixels, enabling you to see colours and pictures on it. The more pixels, the higher the

 

resolution and the better the image quality.

 

 

Processor

The processor is the brains of the computer; it processes the instructions of your system’s

 

programs. The processor is also known as the CPU or microprocessor and can be found on

 

the motherboard (see this word) of your computer.

 

 

Product recovery CD-ROM

The product recovery CD-ROMs include the application recovery CD-ROM and the system

 

recovery CD-ROM(s)

 

 

PS/2

A type of mouse or keyboard port.

 

 

PSTN

PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) refers to the plain old telephone service, the

 

national telecommunication networks implementing voice transmission by using analog

 

signals.

 

 

RAM

Short for Random Access Memory, the memory used to run programs and store data in

 

current use. RAM is the fastest kind of memory to read from and write to. Information stored

 

in RAM is lost when you turn off the computer. The higher the RAM capacity, the faster your

 

current data can be processed.