Users Guide

Glossary 185
package may include some "generic" video drivers. Any additional video drivers
may need to match the video adapter installed in the system.
video memory
Most VGA and SVGA video adapters include memory chips in addition to your
system'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 system 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 system or network runs out of memory. The most common way that
virus programs move from one system 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 system's hard drive
• Always run a virus-checking utility on any diskettes (including commercially sold
software) before using them
VMS
Acronym for Virtual Media Server.