TOP: Operating System Terms and Concepts

In this article, We will know about the top Operating System Terms and Concepts with Descriptions.

Operating System Terms and Concepts:2020

S.N.	Terms	Descriptions
1.	AUTOEXEC.BAT	A special-purpose batch file that is automatically carried out by MS-DOS Operating system when the computer is started or restarted. Created by the user or by operating system installation, the file contains basic start-up command that help configure the system to installed devices and to user’s preference.
2.	Batch File	An ASCII text file containing a sequence of Operating system commands, possibly including parameters and operators supported by batch command language. When the user types a batch file name at the command prompt, the command is processed sequentially.
3.	Boot	To start or reset a computer by turning the power ON, by pressing a reset button on the computer case, or by issuing a software command or restart. Also called boot startup, boot up.
4.	Bootable	Containing the system files necessary for booting a PC and Running it.
5.	Command Prompt Window	Windows Displayed on the Desktop used to interface with MS-DOS Operating System. MS-DOS command is typed at an entry point identified by a blinking cursor.
6.	CONFIG.SYS	A special text file that controls certain aspects of Operating system behaviour in MS-DOS and OS/2.
7.	Conventional Memory	The amount of RAM addressable by an IBM pc or compatible machine in real mode. This is typical 640 KB without the use of special techniques, conventional memory is the only kind of RAM accessible to MS-DOS command.
8.	CPU	Acronym for the central processing unit. The computational and control unit of a computer. The CPU is the device that interprets and executes instructions.
9.	CUI	Character User Interface. A user interface that displays only text characters.
10.	Defragmentation	To rearrange data on the disk drive so that whole files are stored in contiguous sectors and drive heads to do not have to travel to scattered locations on the DISK in order to read or write portions of a particular file.
11.	Device	A generic term for a computer subsystem. Printers, serial ports, and disk drivers are often referred to as device: such subsystems frequently require their controlling software, called device drivers.
12.	Device Drivers	A software component that permits a computer system to communicate with the device.
13.	Device Manager	A software utility that allows viewing and changing hardware configuration settings, such as interrupts, base addresses, and serial communication parameters.
14.	Disk Partition	The alogical compartment on a physical disk drive.
15.	DOS	A text-based Operating system used by most early PCs to manage Hardware, data, and applications.
16.	Encryption	The process of encoding data to prevent unauthorized access, especially during transmissions.
17.	FAT (File Allocation Table) file system	The system used by MS-DOS to organize and manage files. The FAT is the data structure that MS-DOS creates on the disk when the disk is formatted.
18.	Hardware	The physical components of a computer system, including any peripheral equipment such as printers, modems, and mouse devices. Compare firmware, software.
19.	HPFS	Acronym of High-Performance file system. A file system available with OS/2 versions 1.2 and later.
20.	Input	Information entered into a computer or program for processing, as from a keyboard or from a file stored on a disk drive.
21.	Input Device	A peripheral Device whose purpose is to allow the user to provide input to a computer system. Examples of Input Devices are Keyboards, Mice, Mouse, etc.
22.	IO.SYS	One of two hidden system files installed on an MS-DOS startup disk
23.	Master Boot Record	The first Sector of the first Hard Disk, A physically small but critical element in the startup process on an x86-based computer.
24.	Memory	A device where information can be stored and retrieved. In a most general sense, memory can refer to external storage such as disk drives, Pen Drive, etc.
25.	NTFS	Acronyms for NT file system, an advanced file system designed for use specifically with the Windows NT Operating System.
26.	Operating System	The software that controls the allocating and usage of hardware resources such as Memory, CPU time, disk space, and peripheral devices.
27.	Output	The result of processing, whether sent to the screen or printer, stored on disk as a file, or sent to another computer in a network.
28.	Plug and Play	Generally, a reference to the ability of a computer system to configure automatically configure a device added to it.
29.	Registry	A central hierarchical database in Windows Operating System used to store information necessary to configure the system for one or more users, Applications, and Hardware devices. The registry contains information that Windows continually references during operation, such as the profile of each user, the application installed on the computer, etc.
30.	Sector	A partition of the data storage area on a disk. A disk is divided into sides, tracks and sectors. Sectors are the smallest physical storage units of Disk and are of fixed size.
31.	Software	Computer program instructions that make hardware work.
32.	System	Any collection of component elements that work together to perform a task.
33.	System Software	Types of software which controls the workings of the computers.
34.	Trojan Horse	A destructive program disguised as a game, utility, or application. When run, a Trojan horse does something harmful to the computer system while appearing to do something useful.
35.	Upper Memory Area	The Portion of DOS memory between the first 640k to 1MB.
36.	Virtual Memory	A memory that appears to an application to be larger and more uniform that it is. Virtual memory may be partially simulated by secondary storage such as a hard disk. Application access memory through virtual address, which is translated by special hardware and software onto physical addresses.
37.	Virus	An intrusive program that infects computer files by inserting into those files copies itself. The copies are usually executed when the file is loaded into memory, allowing the virus to infect still other files, and so on.
38.	Worm	A program that propagates itself across computers, usually by creating copies of itself in each computer’s memory. A worm might duplicate itself in one computer so often that it causes the computer to crash.

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