User's Manual

208 Glossary
VGA feature connector
On some systems with a built-in VGA video adapter, a
VGA feature connector allows you to add an
enhancement adapter, such as a video accelerator, to
your computer. A VGA feature connector can also be
called a
VGA pass-through connector .
video adapter
The logical circuitry that provides—in combination
with the monitor—your computer's video capabilities.
A video adapter may support more or fewer features
than a specific monitor offers. Typically, a video
adapter comes with video drivers for displaying popular
application programs and operating systems in a variety
of video modes.
On some Dell computers, a video adapter is integrated
into the system board. Also available are many video
adapter cards that plug into an expansion-card connector.
Video adapters often include memory separate from
RAM on the system board. The amount of video
memory, along with the adapter's video drivers, may
affect the number of colors that can be simultaneously
displayed. Video adapters can also include their own
coprocessor for faster graphics rendering.
video driver
A program that allows graphics-mode application
programs and operating systems to display at a chosen
resolution with the desired number of colors. A
software package may include some “generic” video
drivers. Any additional video drivers may need to match
the video adapter installed in the computer.
video memory
Most VGA and SVGA video adapters include memory
chips in addition to your computer's RAM. The amount
of video memory installed primarily influences the
number of colors that a program can display (with the
appropriate video drivers and monitor capabilities).
video mode
Video adapters normally support multiple text and
graphics display modes. Character-based software
displays in text modes that can be defined as
x columns
by
y rows of characters. Graphics-based software
displays in graphics modes that can be defined as
x
horizontal by
y vertical pixels by z colors.
video resolution
Video resolution—800 x 600, for example—is
expressed as the number of pixels across by the number
of pixels up and down. To display a program at a specific
graphics resolution, you must install the appropriate
video drivers and your monitor must support the
resolution.
virtual memory
A method for increasing addressable RAM by using the
hard drive. For example, in a computer with 16 MB of
RAM and 16 MB of virtual memory set up on the hard
drive, the operating system would manage the system
as though it had 32 MB of physical RAM.
virus
A self-starting program designed to inconvenience you.
Virus programs have been known to corrupt the files
stored on a hard drive or to replicate themselves until
a computer or network runs out of memory.
The most common way that virus programs move from
one computer to another is via “infected” diskettes,
from which they copy themselves to the hard drive.
To guard against virus programs, you should do the
following:
• Periodically run a virus-checking utility on your
computer's hard drive
• Always run a virus-checking utility on any diskettes
(including commercially sold software) before
using them