Toshiba 1405-S151 User Guide

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Glossary
5.375 x 8.375 ver 2.4.0
bus — An electrical circuit that connects the central processing unit 
(CPU) with other parts of the computer, such as the video 
adapter, disk drives, and ports. It is the pathway through which 
data flows from one device to another. See also bus speed
frontside bus.
bus speed — The speed at which the central processing unit (CPU) 
communicates with the other parts of the computer.
byte — A sequence of eight bits. A byte is the smallest addressable 
unit of data. See also bit, gigabyte, kilobytemegabyte.
C
cache — A section of very fast memory in which frequently used 
information is duplicated for quick access. Accessing data from 
cache is faster than accessing it from the computer’s main 
memory. See also CPU cache, L1 cache, L2 cache.
CD — An individual compact disc. See also CD-ROM.
CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) — A form of high-
capacity storage that uses laser optics instead of magnetic means 
for reading data. See also CD. Compare DVD-ROM.
central processing unit (CPU) — The chip that functions as the 
“brain” of the computer. It takes information from outside 
sources, such as memory or keyboard input, processes the 
information, and sends the results to another device that uses the 
information.
character — Any letter, number, or symbol you can use on the 
computer. Some characters are non-printing characters, such as a 
paragraph break in a word-processing program. A character 
occupies one byte of computer storage.
chip — A small piece of silicon containing computer logic and 
circuits for processing, memory, input/output, and/or control 
functions. Chips are mounted on printed circuit boards.
click — To press and release the control button or mouse button 
without moving the pointing device. In the Windows
® 
operating 
system, this refers to the left mouse button or primary control 
button, unless otherwise stated. See also double-click.