| Term | Description |
| Parallel Port | An input/output port on your computer that transfers data eight bits at a time. It's a female DB-25 port that is usually used to connect a printer. Also known as an LPT port. |
| Parity | A method of error checking memory in which a ninth bit is added. A computer may use Even Parity or Odd Parity. Using Even Parity, when data is put into memory, each byte is examined to determine the number of 1s. If the number of 1s in the byte are even, then a zero (0) would be put in the ninth bit. If the number of 1s in the byte are odd, then a one (1) would be put in the ninth bit to make the number even. So every byte in memory should have an even number of 1s. If a byte is found to have an odd number, then a parity error is displayed. The opposite holds true for Odd Parity. |
| Partition | A division of a hard drive. Each division is capable of containing 1 or more logical drives. Even if you're not going to divide a hard drive up, it still must be partitioned. Partitioning creates the Master Boot Record. |
| Partition Table | When a hard drive is partitioned, the Master Boot Record (MBR) is created. The Partition Table is in the MBR. The Partition Table contains information on how the disk is organized and which partition contains the operating system. The partition with the OS is considered the Active Partition and will be used to start the computer. |
| Passive-matrix Display | A type of video display (originally for notebook and laptop computers) that uses a series of criss-crossed wires with an LCD element at each intersection to produce a picture. Each element represents a pixel and can either allow light to pass or not. In contrast, an active-matrix display has a single transistor to represent each picture element (pixel). Passive-matrix displays are cheaper to produce but can't produce as sharp a picture as an active-matrix display. |
| Path Name | The filing system on a computer is a hierarchical system. The Path Name for a certain file indicates to the computer, or the user, the drive and list of directories (folders) that must be followed to find that file. This is the path needed to access, retrieve or save the file. The path D:\GAMES\WIPEOUT\WIPEOUT.EXE indicates that the file WIPEOUT.EXE, needed to start this game, is in a directory or folder called WIPEOUT, which is in a folder called GAMES, which is on the D: drive. |
| PCI | Peripheral Component Interconnect. The PCI bus is a local bus that supports both 32 and 64-bit data paths. It has a 33 MHz bus speed and is processor independent (communicates with the processor through a bridge circuit). Most PCI expansion cards are Plug and Play. |
| PCI Bus IRQ Steering | If the Operating System (Win95 OSR2 or 98) and the computer's BIOS both support it, PCI Bus IRQ Steering is a feature that allows PCI devices to share an IRQ. |
| Peripheral | Any device or piece of equipment that is attached to and used by a computer, such as a monitor, tape drive, printer, modem, speakers, etc.. |
| PGA | Pin Grid Array. A type of socket for a Central Processing Unit. The PGA Socket has all its pins lined up in even rows, as opposed to the SPGA Socket which has its rows staggered. |
| Pin Grid Array | See PGA. |
| Pixel | Pixel is a contraction for Picture Element. Everything on your computer screen is made up of thousands of tiny little dots. Each dot is called a pixel. The more pixels used to draw your screen, the higher the resolution. A resolution of 1024x768 means that your monitor is using 1024 pixels across your screen and 768 pixels down. This is a total of 786,432 pixels used to display the image. |
| Planar Board | See Motherboard. |
| Plug and Play | Plug and Play is a technology that can reduce conflicts between computer devices by automatically configuring them at startup. However, for it to work properly your BIOS and your Operating System both must support PnP, and the device being configured must be a Plug and Play device. The technology actually works pretty good but there can be problems when you mix legacy devices with PnP. |
| Polling | Polling is a routine that is constantly being performed by your computer. It checks each device individually to see if there is any new information or if the device is ready to send or receive data. |
| Port | A port is a socket or plug-in on your computer that allows you to attach an external device by connecting its cable. |
| POST | Power On Self-Test. Diagnostic programs, loaded automatically from the ROM BIOS during startup, that perform basic tests on the major system components such as the CPU, I/O devices, and RAM. If there are no problems during the POST, the computer will go on to load the Operating System. |
| Power Conditioner | A device that plugs in between the wall socket and your computer's power supply. It smoothes out the flow of electricity to your computer, filtering out surges, spikes and brownouts. |
| Power Supply | The box inside your computer that supplies it with the electricity that it needs. The Power Supply converts the house AC current to voltages the computer can use, 3.3, 5, and 12 volts DC. |
| Primary Storage | Primary Storage is the volatile or temporary storage (RAM) that the CPU uses for processing data and instructions. As opposed to Secondary Storage which is semi-permanent, and includes devices like hard drives, floppies, CD-ROMS and tape drives. When the computer is shut off or loses power, all information in Primary Storage is lost. |
| Printer | An output device attached to your computer that produces printed copies on paper (hard copies). |
| Processor Speed | The speed, or frequency, (in MHz) at which the Central Processing Unit (CPU) in a computer operates. |
| Protected Mode | Starting with Intel's 80286, the processor could work in a mode or operating state that prevents a program that is running from accessing memory that is being used by another running program. This allows support for virtual memory and multitasking (running more than one program at a time). Protected Mode programs can access addresses above 1024K and can use a 32-bit data path. Real Mode is the precursor to this in which each program needs all the memory to run and will not allow the execution of another application at the same time. |
| Protocol | A Protocol is a set of rules or configurations defined between two computers or devices so they can communicate. Some of the operations defined are error detection and correction, data format and readiness to receive or send. There are different protocols but two communicating devices must follow the same protocol in order to understand each other. |