John Cletheroe's
PC And Internet Hints

PC And Internet Glossary - Including File Extensions - F

F1, F2, F3, etc

See Function Keys.

F2P

Free To Play. Same as FTP. Some games that are free to play allow in-game advantages to be purchased with real-world money.

FAQ

"eff - ay - queue"
  1. Frequently Asked Question. A question typically asked by anyone new to a particular subject (not necessarily related to PC's or the Internet).

  2. A list of frequently asked questions and answers to them; in other words a basic introduction to any particular subject (again, not necessarily related to PC's or the Internet).
Controversy: Should you say "A FAQ" (because F is a consonant) or "An FAQ" (because the acronym is spelt out and therefore the "F" is pronounced as "eff" which starts with a vowel)? I am strongly in favour of the latter option.

FAST

  1. A well known search engine. Also called All The Web. http://alltheweb.com

  2. Federation Against Software Theft. A UK based anti-piracy body.

Fast Find

See Find Fast.

FAT

  1. File Allocation Table. That part of a disk's directory system which records which clusters have been allocated to files and which are still free for use.

  2. The directory system used in recent versions of DOS, in Windows V3.1 and in early versions of Windows 95. This system has a limit of 2GB per hard disk drive and allocates disk space to files in relatively large clusters. I think this is also called FAT16. According to one Microsoft source, floppy disks are formatted with FAT12. See also FAT32.

FAT32

The new directory system available as an option in later versions of Windows 95 and by default in Windows 98 and later. This system greatly increases the maximum possible size of hard disk drives and allocates disks space to files in relatively small clusters, meaning that less disk space is wasted. See also NTFS.

Favicons

The name commonly given to the icons which appear at the lefthand end of the address bar on some web sites, with most modern web browser programs. I think that in same cases they might also appear alongside saved favourites and bookmarks.

Favourites

See Bookmarks.

FD, FDD

  1. Floppy disk, floppy disk drive.

  2. Fixed disk, fixed disk drive.
Note that these two meanings are essentially the opposite of each other. Sometimes the meaning is made clearer by the context, for example the use of the abbreviation HD or HDD to mean hard disk or hard disk drive.

Feature Pack

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article 824684 includes the following definition of this term as used by Microsoft: "A feature pack is new product functionality that is first distributed outside the context of a product release and that is typically included in the next full product release."

Feed Reader

An RSS client program (see RSS). Also called an aggregator or a news aggregator.

FIFO

First In First Out. A method of programming which implements a simple queue or buffer. See also Buffer and LIFO.

File Type

Extension. Maximum of three characters.

Filespec

File specification. The location and name of a file. A full filespec consists of the following parts, in this order:
  1. The name of a computer, followed by two backslashes. Optional, applies to local area networks only (not the Internet - at least not when connected via a modem). Defaults to your own computer.

  2. A device name, typically a disk drive letter, such as C:. Optional, defaults to the current disk drive.

  3. A path (one or more directory/folder names), separated by single backslashes, for example \data\word\letters\. Optional, defaults to the current directory/folder.

  4. A filename. Always included. Traditionally limited to eight characters with no spaces and a very limited range of punctuation marks. In Windows 95 and later long filenames are allowed with spaces but there are still restrictions against the use of many punctuation characters.

  5. An extension (also called a file type) of up to three characters, which specifies the file type. Optional in some circumstances and then usually defaults to the file type the program expects. A full stop separates the filename and the extension.

Find Fast

Also frequently called Fast Find, but Find Fast is the official name. I think that Find Fast is probably a component of Microsoft Office 97 rather than Windows 95/98. Find Fast is a background indexing program, similar to concept to the old Lotus Magellan program. It allows the contents of files to be searched rather than just their filenames. It is said to impose a constant very heavy load on the computer, to be very buggy and to cause a number of serious problems, and so is definitely best disabled. Instead, use the option within the normal FIND FILES OR FOLDERS facility to search the contents of files (the location of this option within FIND FILES OR FOLDERS differs between Windows 95, New Desktop and Windows 98).

When Find Fast is running a number of hidden files of the format FF*.* appear in the root of each hard disk drive. The presence of these files is the best way to detect that Find Fast is operative.

When Word 97, and probably any of the other component of Microsoft Office 97, are installed or re-installed, a shortcut to run Find Fast is automatically created in the Windows 95 Startup folder. However, this may depend on whether Find Fast is selected during installation.

To prevent Find Fast starting whenever Windows 95 is started, delete the Find Fast/Fast Find shortcut from C:\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\STARTUP.

Once Find Fast has been disabled, its FF*.* files in the root of each hard disk drive can be safely and very usefully deleted.

Finder

The Apple Macintosh operating system (or perhaps just its user interface).

Firebird

See Firefox.

Firefox

A web browser program. Previously called Firebird. A variant of the Mozilla browser (in turn, Mozilla is a variant of Netscape). The associated email program is called Thunderbird. Firefox and Thunderbird are free of charge, fully functional, and much more secure than Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. They are therefore very highly recommended.

Firewall

A hardware firewall is a computer which interfaces between a LAN and the Internet, controlling and restricting the flow of information in each direction. Firewalls are intended to prevent viruses passing through the gateway, to prevent hackers gaining access to the LAN, and often to control the use of the Internet by an organisation's employees.

Software firewalls are programs which run in the background on a computer, performing the same tasks. A number of software firewalls are available, some of them free.

Firewalls can also be built in to devices which connect a computer to ISDN, ADSL or some similar method of high-speed access to the Internet, or to routers which allowing a small network of computers to be connected to the Internet rather than just a single PC.

FireWire

A peripheral interfacing system for computers, very similar in concept to USB. FireWire is not compatible with USB. FireWire is also known as 1394, IEEE 1394 and iLink.

Firewire sockets are similar in size and shape to USB sockets on computers. However, unlike USB sockets, Firewire sockets have a U-shape at one end. Unlike USB sockets, Firewire sockets are the same shape on peripherals as on computers, meaning that Firewire cables are symmetrical. I do not know if it is safe to connect two computers with a Firewire cable. Firewire cables are not compatible with USB cables.

Firewire sockets (or the device connected to them) may appear in Device Manager and also in Connections as "1394 Connection", "1394 Connection 2", etc.

FIX:

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article title prefix for articles relating to problems which have (supposedly) been fixed in a later release of a program.

Fixed Font or Fixed Pitch Font

See Non-proportional font.

FLA

File extension. An Adobe Macromedia Flash development file, which holds a Flash application while it is being created and edited.

Flame

A rude or over-strongly worded opinion posted to a news group (etc). Hence flamer, flaming, etc. A flame war is an outbreak of flame messages from two or more people with opposing viewpoints. Some of the opinions expressed in this glossary might be considered as flames.

Flash (Adobe Flash)

A file format and associated freeware browser add-on/plug-in which plays such files. Initially Flash was used for animations but it is now capable of handling fairly sophisticated 2D games. Microsoft' Silverlight is a similar rival system.

Flash Memory

Electronic memory which retains its contents when the power is removed, but which can be erased (by electronic means) and overwritten. In terms of its technology, flash memory is the modern-day successor to EPROM (electronic programmable read only memory), which had to be erased by exposing it to ultra-violet light. In terms of usage, flash memory in removable packages is the modern-day successor to the traditional floppy disk. Flash memory is used on some system boards to hold the BIOS program, in a form whereby it can be upgraded if necessary. Similarly, modems with flash memory can be re-programmed for new transmission protocols, which was very useful in the period when V.90 and V.92 were becoming available. In removable packages (cards or sticks), flash memory is used for many purposes, for example with digital cameras, to hold backups, to transfer data between computers and to hold sensitive information away from a computer. Unfortunately there are a number of different standards for removable flash memory, so ensuring compatibility is essential.

FLOPS

Floating Point Operations Per Second. One measure of processor speed. However, there are many other ways of measuring processor speeds, which may be more or less relevant than FLOPS in a particular situation.

FMV

Full Motion Video, as used in graphical adventure games, etc.

Focus

The screen cursor, or the window, field or object where that cursor currently is. Not to be confused with the mouse pointer. Clicking the mouse usually moves the focus to the current position of the mouse pointer. In many cases the focus can be also moved by means of the TAB key. The object (button, window, program, etc) where the focus it is said to "have focus" or to have "got focus". The window which currently "has focus" normally has its title bar highlighted, usually in reverse video.

Folder

Directory or subdirectory - an area of a hard disk, a floppy disk or an exchangeable disk, etc, containing a set of files.

FON

File extension. A raster (bitmapped) or vector font file. I do not know whether FON files can contain viruses or not; it seems unlikely.

Fonts

See Fixed Font, Monospaced Font, Non-Proportional Font, Proportional Font, Sans Serif Font, Serif Font and TrueType Font.

Footprint

A management/marketing pseudo-technical term, meaning the width and depth of a device, in other words the amount of space it will take up on a desk. By extension, also applied to any other size, for example "Microsoft Office 2000 has a huge footprint" means that it will take up a lot of hard disk space.

Form

A term used with many modern programming languages and also with database programs. A form is a screen (i.e. a window) into which a user can input data.

Form Factor

A management/marketing pseudo-technical term, meaning size and shape. The term is often applied to PC chassis, external disk drives and their bays, and PC expansion boards.

Forum

A commonly used term for a discussion group implemented by means of one or more web pages instead of a traditional Usenet news group.

Forward slash

/ (see that entry).

FOT

File extension. TrueType Display Hint File. FOT files were required by Windows 3.1 but are not required by Windows 95 or Windows 98. I do not know whether FOT files can contain viruses or not; it seems unlikely.

Foundation Classes, Microsoft

See Class.

FP:

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article title prefix for articles relating to the Microsoft FrontPage HTML/web page editor program.

FPP

Floating Point Processor. See DX.

FPS

  1. Frames per second. The rate at which a program updates its display. In games and simulations, slow frame rates will make movement appear jerky.

  2. First Person Shoot-Em-Up. A game such as Doom and its numerous clones, in which the player moves around in a 3D world shooting everything that moves and most things that don't.

FPSE

FrontPage Server Extensions. FrontPage is an HTML editor published by Microsoft. Microsoft Security Bulletin MS03-051 contains this information: "FPSE is a set of tools that can be installed on a web site. They serve two basic functions: to allow authorized personnel to manage the server, add or change content, and perform other tasks; and to add functions that are frequently used by web pages, such as search and forms support. FPSE installs by default as part of IIS 4.0, 5.0 and 5.1. Only Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Advanced Server, and Windows 2000 Datacenter install IIS by default. IIS can be uninstalled if desired. Microsoft recommends that web administrators uninstall FPSE if not needed."

Many ISP's, including Virgin Net, do not support FrontPage Server Extensions for subscribers' web sites that they host, because of the security risk they pose. If you plan to create a web site using FrontPage, check first with your ISP for possible incompatibility problems.

FQDN

Fully Qualified Domain Name. I'm not sure of the definition of this term, but one source quotes www.microsoft.com as being an example of a fully qualified domain name.

Frames

An optional feature of web pages which divides a page into separate scrollable windows. Frames can produce very congested and confusing pages but they are very useful for creating a navigation bar which stays visible at the top of the page even when the user scrolls down the main part of the page. Be sure to click on the desired frame before saving part of a frame-based web page on your PC, or you may save the wrong frame.

Freecell

A very challenging patience (solitaire) card game, involving considerable skill. Included with most modern versions of Windows.

Freeware

Free software.

Frequency Modulation Synthesis

See Wave Table Synthesis.

FRM

File extension. A file which holds the details of a form (a window) in a Visual BASIC program. I do not know whether FRM files can contain viruses or not.

FrontPage

An HTML editor program published by Microsoft. The resulting web pages may only be readable with modern versions of Internet Explorer.

FrontPage Extensions

Software required on a web server in order for PC users to be able to utilise FrontPage. Many ISP's, including Virgin Net, refuse to install FrontPage Extensions on their web servers due to the security hazard. Therefore subscribers to such ISP's cannot use FrontPage.

FRX

File extension. Binary form file. A file associated with some Visual BASIC programs. I do not know whether FRX files can contain viruses or not.

FS:

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article title prefix for articles relating to the Microsoft Flight Simulator program.

FSB

Front Side Bus. As I understand it, the processor's external bus.

FSD

File System Driver. File system drivers include CDFS (for CD-ROM drives), NWREDIR (for network drives mapped by the Microsoft Client for NetWare Networks), UDF (for DVD-ROM drives), VDEF (for unformatted disk drives), VFAT (for floppy disk drives, hard disks, and Flash File Systems) and VREDIR (for network drives mapped by the Client for Microsoft Networks)

FTP

  1. File Transfer Protocol. A method of transferring files over the Internet. Most users will only encounter FTP when uploading web site files created on their PC to their web site. One very well known FTP program is WS_FTP.

  2. Free To Play. Same as F2P. Some games that are free to play allow in-game advantages to be purchased with real-world money.

FTS

File extension. "Full text search". A file associated with the Windows help facility. FTS files are created automatically on the first occasion that a help file is opened. They can be safely deleted but will then be automatically recreated the next time the relevant help file is opened. I do not know whether FTS files can contain viruses or not; it seems unlikely.

Function Keys

The keys marked F1, F2, F3 and so on, on the top row of the main part of the keyboard. Each program can assign its own meaning to each function key but most Windows programs use the following:

Fw:

Forwarded. A prefix in front of the subject of an email message indicating that it has been forwarded.

FXP

File extension. Visual FoxPro Compiled Program.

FYI

For your information.
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Most recently modified 7-Oct-08