Boost your Technical Know-how with the TuneUp Glossary
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September 17th, 2010 written by Christoph in Behind the Scenes
Have you ever wondered what defragmentation really is? How an optimizer works or what lies behind a “Windows error code”? Tired of searching the Web for the right answer? With the TuneUp Glossary (available in English, German and French), you have a handy PC encyclopedia right at your fingertips. The TuneUp Glossary provides easy-to-understand explanations of dozens of computer terms and situations. As just a sample, we’ve provided three entries from our glossary that every PC user should know:
Autostart
Autostart refers to the Windows process that occurs when you start or restart your computer. If you’re experiencing computer issues, such as slow start-ups or a noticeable lag when switching between programs, you should identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Windows allows programs to configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they’re running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won’t noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they’ll steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer continues to run. Use TuneUp Utilities to configure your autostart programs to improve your computer’s performance.
Broadband speed
Broadband is often called “high-speed” access to the Internet because it usually involves a high rate of data transmission. To a computer user, broadband has a tremendous effect on how fast Web pages are displayed or how quickly you can upload photos and videos. Generally speaking, any connection with a speed of 256 Kbit/s (0.256 Mbit/s) or greater is given the more concise term broadband Internet access. Broadband speed can vary according to geographic location, modem and other technical aspects, but is still considered a vast improvement over a 56K dial-up connection. If you have 512K broadband speed, it’s around ten times faster than a 56K dial-up Internet connection, which means you can view Web pages instantly. With a broadband speed of 20 Mbps, you can download a full-length feature film in less than 10 minutes. Use TuneUp Utilities to keep your broadband speed optimized.
Disk space
Disk space refers to the available storage capacity on a disk. Over time, hard disk space may become cluttered with unwanted files that slow down computer performance. Unless you’re an expert in PC maintenance, you may cause more harm than good to your computer if you attempt to clean up this cluttered disk space. In addition to old files that you know you want to delete, it’s recommended that you remove temporary Internet files, downloaded program files, empty the Recycle Bin and remove Windows temporary files. Experts recommend using TuneUp Utilities to find and remove this clutter safely and effectively recover disk space.
A useful tool, don’t you think? The TuneUp Glossary is the perfect “cheat-sheet” for becoming a PC expert and is available in the following languages:
We’d also like to hear your feedback. If you have a term you’d like us to explain, don’t hesitate to make a suggestion in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing from you!
Your TuneUp Blog Team
September 17, 2010 at 5:46 pm
Oh ! Alexandra, such a fresh and a great idea for a blog post ! Highly appreciate it ! Tune Up’s own Jargon Buster ! Also love “Your TuneUp Blog Team”. Great ! How about adding the following alphabetically : Defragmentation, Startup, Superfetch, Browser, Registry, Console/Command Prompt, Partition, Solid State, Hard Disk, RAM, Processor, GPU, Cores, DVD/Blue Ray, Install/Uninstall.
Will give you more ideas as it comes
Best, Jeet.
September 17, 2010 at 6:03 pm
Hey jeet, thx for your suggestions. A couple of them can be found in the glossary, already. The above choosen
are just 3 examples. But we will consider your other suggestions for sure.
Have a great Weekend, Alexandra
September 17, 2010 at 6:29 pm
You are most welcome, Alexandra
December 14, 2011 at 6:45 pm
What people DON’T know, and what they WANT to know, is: how does TuneUp’s connection speed listed in “from 1 Mbit, from 2 Mbit” and so on, translate to the much, much more familiar download speeds such as 160 kbps? TuneUp wants users to enter their internet connection speeds as Mbit with no mention of “per second”, and that wipes out almost all users right away. Why not the speeds they see when downloading/uploading?
Thank you.
December 28, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Joe! You absolutely have a point – I will forward this to our dev department and see if we can improve this! We’ll get back to you.
Update: I believe this is due to the fact, that many ISPs tend to talk in “MBIT” with all their internet offerings instead of actual KB. So maybe users are more familiar with this. However, maybe there’s a way to display both…?
Best, Sandro