IP's Tech Guides! PT 2: Uber basic glossary

Hello! Here's my second tech-manual-guide-thing-reference!

It's a glossary assuming 0-min experience with computers. Enjoy!

Rated M for messed up formatting.

Glossary

In day-to-day computing, you may come across some terms that you might find confusing.
Here are some of the most common terms:

Malware:
The collective term for viruses, spyware and trojans.

Virus:
A program written to infect a computer, destroy files or steal data, before spreading to other computers.

Spyware:
Spyware gets onto your system via a direct connection to the internet, another PC or through a download. It is designed to steal your data, read what you are typing and take sensitive data such as your bank details.

Trojan:
A malicious program that appears to be innocent or helpful, but actually contains viruses and spyware.

Bots/Botnets:
A botnet is a network of computers infected by the same virus. Unlike a regular virus, once a system is infected by a bot, the creator of the botnet has full control of all the computers in the botnet. He can steal software and files, passwords and private data.

Link De-referer:
A referer is a piece of information sent to a site when you click on a link. It contains the name of the page/site that you came from to access the webpage.

Link Shortener:
A link shorterner is an online service where you enter or paste a long URL, (Eg: www.example.com/webpage) and turns it into a short link. (Eg: www.short/123)

SpybotS&D:
SpybotS&D (Search and Destroy) is an award winning program for removing spyware and bots.

Download:
A download is a link to a file that when clicked, saves that file to your computer.

Install:
Installing is the process of opening a downloaded file and running through a wizard to put it on the PC.

Wizard:
A series of steps used by installations to install programs.

CNet:
A popular website where you can safely and legally download thousands of files and programs.

Update:
Updating is the process where a program connects to the internet and downloads the latest version of itself.

Server:
A server is like a large online filing cabinet. Servers contain data, software and other such items.

Scan:
The process where an antivirus or similar program checks through all the files on your PC for threats.

Antivirus:
A program for blocking and deleting malware.

SpywareBlaster:
A free tool used by thousands of people for protecting your web browser and blocking malware that comes in from the internet.

Goo.gl:
A popular link shorterner made by the search engine developers, Google.
WebBrowser:
A program that you use for surfing the internet, such as Firefox and Internet Explorer.

SuperAntiSpyware:
One of the best and most popular tools for removing all kinds of malware.

Malwarebytes:
A free tool that is one of the most trusted and highly-rated malware removal tools of all time.

Real-Time Protection:
Real-Time protection is when an antivirus can detect threats on your PC without even scanning. It also blocks incoming threats.

Microsoft Security Essentials:
A free antivirus from Microsoft that offers an excellent scanning tool along with real-time protection.

Firewall:
A program that checks your network to see if anyone malicious is trying to connect to it or attack it.

PCTools Firewall Plus:
The strongest of the free firewalls. Feature-rich and reliable.

Tweaking:
The process of modifying system settings to make the computer run faster and more securely.

Firefox:
The best of the browsers. With thousands of addons, Firefox is the fastest, most secure and most customizable. It is also free.

IE:
An abbreviation of Internet Explorer, a web browser that comes with all Windows computers.

Windows:
The most popular system. It is fast, secure and tweakable.

Betterprivacy:
A Firefox addon that deletes cookies that can't normally be deleted.

Cookie:
A piece of data used by web browsers to remember settings and record data. Some cookies can infringe your privacy.

WOT (Web Of Trust):
A Firefox addon with a traffic light system to show how safe and reliable a website is.

NoScript:
A popular addon for Firefox that blocks scripts that could endanger your system.

Script:
A script is like an online mechanism. They perform actions that would normally have to be done by hand. Some scripts download viruses and can infect your system. A script that performs a repetitive task over and over again is called a macro.

Ghostery:
A simple but effective addon for Firefox that stops sites tracking your system with cookies and similar items.

About:Config:
The menu that allows you to change the internal settings of Firefox.

Geo.Enabled:
Geo.Enabled is a process that runs inside Firefox that records your location. It is reccomended that you set it to 'False' inside About:Config to stop Spyware obtaining the information it keeps.

Page Rendering:
The process of a web browser loading a page.

BleachBit:
An excellent free program for cleaning up junk inside your computer.

Advanced SystemCare:
An all-in-one PC toolkit for performing all kinds of optimizations.

Windows Updates:
The service that allows you to update critical Windows features. It is reccomended that you check for updates often.

Adobe Versions Check:
A scanner that checks to see if you have the latest Adobe software, such as Flash.

Flash Player:
An addon to browsers that allow you to view and use Flash items. These can be animations, surveys or wizards.

Trend Micro:
A major antivirus vendor.

RUBotted:
A free tool from Trend Micro that checks to see if you are on a botnet and blocks all connections to the bots.

BrowserGuard:
Another freeware tool from Trend Micro. BrowserGuard helps to secure your browser so that threats cannot come from over the internet.

Happy glossing!