Antivirus

Antivirus, or anti-virus software, is used to prevent, detect, and remove computer viruses, worms, and trojan horses. It may also prevent and remove adware, spyware, and other forms of malware. For a list of free, trusted Antivirus programs, visit Driverstorer’s free antivirus software page.

APU (Accelerated Processing Unit)

An APU is the next step of home desktop computing.  The AMD APU combines the power of discrete graphics chips and CPUs onto a single dye.

BIOS (acronym)

In IBM PC Compatible computers, the basic input/output system (BIOS), also known as the System BIOS. The BIOS software is built into the PC, and is the first code run by a PC when powered on (‘boot firmware’). The primary function of the BIOS is to load and start an operating system. When the PC starts up, the first job for the BIOS is to initialize and identify system devices such as the video display card, keyboard and mouse, hard disk, CD/DVD drive and other hardware. The BIOS then locates software held on a peripheral device (designated as a ‘boot device’), such as a hard disk or a CD, and loads and executes that software, giving it control of the PC. This process is known as booting, or booting up.

BSOD (acronym)

BSOD is an acronym for Blue Screen of Death. BSODs are commonly caused by corrupt device drivers,
malicious software, overclocking, hardware problems or another Windows related problem. BSODs are
usually accompanied with an error code, and can usually be fixed by updating device drivers or running a virus scan.  An example BSOD error code

Chipset

In computing, the term chipset is commonly used to refer to a set of specialized chips on a computer’s
motherboard or an expansion card. In personal computers the first chipset for the IBM PC AT was the NEAT chipset by Chips and Technologies for the Intel 80286 CPU.

Codecs

A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding and/or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of ‘compressor-decompressor’ or, more commonly, ‘coder-– a format is a document (the standard), a way of storing data, while a codec is a program (an implementation) which can read or write such files. In practice “codec” is sometimes used loosely to refer to formats, however. Driverstorer hosts the Web’s most popular codecs.

Device Driver

In computing, a device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer
programs to interact with a hardware device. Device Drivers tell Windows, or what ever operating system being used, what a specific device is, what the device does, and how to take advantage of the device’s unique features.  A user with a computer with corrupt device drivers may often experience computer problems and think they are associated with a virus, instead. Driverstorer has direct links to popular computer hardware device driver download centers, listed by manufacturer.

Decode

Decoding is the reverse of encoding, which is the process of transforming information from one format into another.

.DLL (file extension)

Dynamic-link library (also written without the hyphen), or DLL, is Microsoft’s implementation of the shared library concept in the Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems. These libraries usually have the file extension DLL, OCX (for libraries containing ActiveX controls), or DRV (for legacy system device drivers). The file formats for DLLs are the same as for Windows EXE files — that is, Portable Executable (PE) for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and New Executable (NE) for 16-bit Windows. As with EXEs, DLLs can contain code, data, and resources, in any combination.

Encode

In communications and information processing, encoding is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols to be communicated. Decoding is the reverse process, converting these code symbols back into information understandable by a receiver.

.INF (file extension)

An .INF file (or Setup Information file) is a plain text file used by Microsoft Windows for installation of software and device drivers. INF files are most commonly used for installing device drivers for hardware components. Windows includes IExpress.exe for the creation of INF-based installations. INF files are part of the Windows Setup API.

Malware

Malware, short for malicious software, (sometimes referred to as pestware) is a software designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner’s informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Motherboard

In personal computers, a motherboard is the central printed circuit board (PCB) in many modern computers and holds many of the crucial components of the system, while providing connectors for other peripherals. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the main board, system board, or, on Apple computers, the logic board. It is also sometimes casually shortened to mobo. All motherboards are different, and need individual device driver sets to operate properly.

Peripheral Hardware Devices

A peripheral is a device attached to a host computer, but not part of it, and is more or less dependent on the host. It expands the host’s capabilities, but does not form part of the core computer architecture. Some example of Peripheral Devices are mice, keyboards, monitors, headsets and other input and output devices. Each Peripheral hardware device has its own device driver download set.

PI (mathematical constant)

p (sometimes written pi) is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter in the Euclidean plane; this is the same value as the ratio of a circle’s area to the square of its radius. It is approximately equal to 3.14159265 in the usual decimal notation. Many formulae from mathematics, science, and engineering involve p, which makes it one of the most important mathematical constants. PI is sometimes used to generate benchmarks for computers (SuperPI) to test their speed.

Pug server (online FPS gaming Counter-Strike: Source)

A pug is a practice match, specifically related to online FPS gaming, in which players of loose clan/guild
affiliation compete in a semi-organized fashion, usually conducted in a well admined, passworded server. Some pug servers like ESEA are play to pay, others are not. See Maav’s Free Public Pug for more information.

Spyware

Spyware is a type of malware that can be installed on computers, and which collects small pieces of
information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user’s personal
computer.Driverstorer’s free antivirus/antispyware software page

Steam (software distribution system)

Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute games and related media online, from small independent developers to larger software houses. Other than the Mac App Store, it is one of the largest Macintosh-based gaming websites on the Internet. Steam also has community features, automated game updates, and in-game voice and chat functionality. Steam is the sole distributor of Counter-Strike: Source and the Counter-Strike franchise.

Trojan Horse

A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is software that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install, but (perhaps in addition to the expected function) steals information or harms the system. Driverstorer’s free antivirus/antitrojan software page

Video Card

A video card, video adapter, graphics accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an expansion card whose function is to generate output images to a display. Many video cards offer added functions, such as accelerated rendering of 3D scenes and 2D graphics, video capture, TV-tuner adapter, MPEG-2/MPEG-4 decoding, FireWire, light pen, TV output, or the ability to connect multiple monitors (multi-monitor). Other modern high performance video cards are used for more graphically demanding purposes, such as PC games. Video cards need device drivers to function properly.

Windows Control Panel

The Control Panel is a part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls via applets, such as adding hardware, adding and removing software, updating device drivers, controlling user accounts, and changing accessibility options. Additional applets can be provided by third party software.

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