John Cletheroe's
PC And Internet Hints

PC And Internet Glossary - Including File Extensions - W

WAB

File extension. Windows Address Book. I think Outlook Express uses these files as address books but Outlook may well be different. I do not know if WAB files can contain viruses or not.

WAN

"Wan". Wide Area Network. A network operating over one or more phone lines, usually leased lines/private circuits. One or more LAN's can be connected over a WAN. The Internet is an example of a public WAN.

WAP

  1. See Wireless Application Protocol.

  2. Wireless Access Point. A wireless network interface.

Warez

"Wears" (I think). A copy of a commercial software product that has had its copyright protection system disabled so that it can be freely copied.

WAV

"Wav". File extension. Wave file. A type of sound file. The original WAV file format was uncompressed and therefore lengthy recordings required enormous WAV files. A new type of WAV file now permits MP3 compression with consequently vastly smaller files. Uncompressed WAV files can be converted to MP3 format using an MP3 encoder program such as BladeEnc. I do not know if WAV files can contain viruses or not; it seems unlikely.

Wave Table Synthesis

A means used by many sound boards to create musical notes when playing MIDI files. Sound samples of real musical instruments are stored and used as a basis for playing the required notes. An alternative system is Frequency Modulation Synthesis.

WBEM

Web Based Enterprise Management. A component of Windows ME and Windows XP.

WBK

File extension. Word 97 backup file.

WCT

File extension. WebClass HTML template. I do not know if WCT files can contain viruses or not.

WD:

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article title prefix for articles relating to Microsoft Word.

WDM

  1. Wavelength Division Multiplexing. A networking technology.

  2. Windows Driver Model. Related to the playing of sound, or modems, or possibly drivers for all types of devices.

Web Based Email Systems

A web based email system provides a means of sending and receiving email messages purely by means of a web browser. No email facility integrated into the browser or separate email program ("email client") is required.

The best known web based email system is HotMail.

Web based email systems are extremely useful for people with no fixed base, for example people who use Cybercafes or a variety of ISP's at different locations. The same web-based email service can be accessed world-wide from any PC connected to the Internet.

However, web based email systems can be slow in operation. Also, it can be very difficult or impossible to compose messages offline. Incoming messages can be saved for later reading offline but this is more complex than with a normal email program where it happens automatically. It can also be difficult or impossible to send or receive attachments.

Web Browser

A program which runs on your PC, enabling you to view web pages on Internet web sites or stored on your computer's hard disk. Some web browsers such as Netscape Navigator also handle email and news, others such as Internet Explorer have closely associated programs which handle these aspects (in IE's case, Outlook Express).

Web Log

Also weblog or blog. See Blog.

Web Ring

A web ring is a collection of related personal web sites, with links to each other. Web rings typically offer you the option of visiting the next site in sequence, the previous site, or a site within the ring at chosen at random.

Web Services

Most of the descriptions of this term that I've managed to find have been written in Microsoft's near-zero information content marketing/management language which is impossible to translate into meaningful English. The term appears to refer to accessing data in remote files via the Internet, with the aid of a program running on the server. If that is the case, then web services are very similar in concept to the CGI and ASP systems, whereby web browsers can obtain information from database programs running on servers. I think that web services always use XML format to communicate.

Web services are currently the subject of much hype. This would not appear to be justified.

WebDAV

World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning protocol.

Weblog

Also web log or blog. See Blog.

Webopedia

An extremely useful web site offering a large collection of definitions and explanations of terms used in relation to computers and the Internet. If you can't find the information you need in this glossary, Webopedia is highly recommended as an alternative.

http://webopedia.internet.com

WEE

  1. Waste Electrical and Electronics directive. An EU directive intended to control the disposal of old electrical and electronic devices. Needless to say, the UK has opted out of that part of the directive which forbids the use of smart chips in ink cartridges that prevent them being re-filled, so as to maintain the extortionate profits of these items. Nearly all of Hewlett Packard's profit now comes from the sale of ink cartridges, at an enormous mark-up.

  2. Woody's Email Essentials. A free email newsletter offering hints on the use of email. To subscribe to this and Woody's other free computer/Internet-related email newsletters, visit Woody's Watch (external link verified Sep-03).

WEP

Wired Equivalent Privacy. A security system for wireless networks. WEP is significantly less secure than WPA.

WFP

Windows File Protection, a feature of Windows XP and some other modern versions of Windows, which is intended to prevent the corruption of vital system files. Microsoft KnowledgeBase article 222193 has more information about WFP.

WGA

Windows Genuine Advantage. A copyright protected system which only permits patches (updates) for recent editions of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office to be downloaded to computers which have had the software installed by an authorised manufacturer or from an original Microsoft CD.

Whidbey

Microsoft's code name for the next version of Visual Studio (Visual BASIC, etc), which is currently being developed. It will probably have a product name of Visual Studio 2005. Whidbey also includes .NET Framework 2.0. The name presumably comes from Whidbey Island, near Seattle in Washington State.

White Book

See Book.

WHM

WebHost Manager. A web-based tool used by server administrators and resellers to manage hosting accounts on a web server.

WHQL

Windows Hardware Quality Labs. Tests created by Microsoft for other hardware and software companies to use. The results are then reviewed by Microsoft and if acceptable the product can use the "Designed For Windows" logo.

Wi-Fi

See "Wireless Network".

WIA

Windows Image Acquisition. A set of drivers in Windows ME and Windows XP, and maybe other versions of Windows. Associated with scanners and digital cameras. Microsoft KnowledgeBase article 266348 has a little more information on the subject, and article 819017 on a potential problem with WIA with Windows XP.

Wiki

  1. Web server software that allows all users to create and edit web pages. Wiki can be regarded as a group communication system, or a system which allows a group of people, who quite possibly have no other contact with each other, to collaborate in the creation of a web site. The name comes from a word in the Hawaiian language, apparently.

  2. A web site created by means of the Wiki software.

  3. Wikipedia (external link verified May-04) is a very impressive attempt at producing a free online encyclopedia by inviting people to contribute and amend entries.

Wildcard Character

A character which represents "any". The name comes from the American term for the jokers in a pack of playing cards, which can be played as any card.

A question mark (?) is often used to mean "any one character", for example in DOS filenames and in search engine queries.

An asterisk (*) is often used to mean "any number of any characters", for example in DOS filenames and in search engine queries.

An x is often used to mean "any digit", for example in Intel processor numbers (80x86 means 80286, 80386 or 80486); Win9x means Windows 95 or Windows 98.

Win9x

Windows 95 or Windows 98. The x is a wild card.

WinAce

A file compression utility, very similar in concept to WinZip. See Ace for more details.

WinAmp

A very popular MP3 player program. In my experience WinAmp is considerably less liable to suffer from breakups than any other MP3 player program.

Windows 2000

The successor to Windows 95 and Windows 98. Or Windows NT Workstation. Or Windows NT Server. Who knows?

Opinion: The confusion over the meaning of the name "Windows 2000" is a marketing disaster and by all reports the first release of the product is likely to be a technical disaster. As with all new operating systems, if you intend to use the product for real work then wait for at least version 3 which should have most of the major bugs ironed out.

Windows 95

According to one source, Windows 95 is defined as "32-bit extensions and a graphical shell for a 16-bit patch to an 8-bit operating system originally coded for a 4-bit micro-processor, written by a two-bit company that can't stand one bit of competition". (I cannot claim to be the author of this definition.)

Windows 98

Very similar to Windows 95 but with the Internet Explorer V4/V5 "New Desktop" option built in. Also, Windows 98 uses FAT32 by default whereas it was only available in later versions of Windows 95 and even then only as an option. Any user familiar with Windows 95 will find Windows 98 very similar but not identical.

Windows 98SE

Windows 98 Second Edition. A bug-fix updated version of Windows 98.

Windows 9x

Windows 95 and/or Windows 98 (the "x" meaning "any digit").

Windows CE

A Windows-like operating system for hand-held computers. Never very popular, as far as I know.

Windows ME

Windows Millennium Edition. Release after Windows 98SE and before Windows XP. Windows ME has a generally dreadful reputation amongst the technical email newsletters but I suspect that this may be unfounded.

Windows Media Centre (Windows Media Center)

A version of Windows Media Player which is even more user-hostile and mysterious than the original, which is a very considerable negative achievement. Perhaps Microsoft could have considered undertaking at least a little user-testing prior to release?

Windows Media Player

A very curious combination of music and video file player program, and a few other things thrown in at random. It also combines playing local files, streaming material via the Internet, and access to some music download shops. A very strange program, with extremely vague and user-hostile controls. In addition, it is extraordinarily slow to load playlists compared with WinAmp which is almost instantaneous.

Windows Messaging

Microsoft Exchange (see that entry). Not to be confused with the very similarly named but totally different Microsoft Net Messaging chat program.

Windows NT

New Technology. A Microsoft operating system (an alternative to Windows) said to be much larger, more complicated, slower, and demanding of a much more powerful computer, but more reliable (except apparently for the most modern version which is said to be highly unreliable). Most Windows and DOS games programs won't run on NT. There are no NT drivers for many less well known hardware devices. NT comes in two versions, one for servers and the other for workstations. The next version of NT will be called Windows 2000, greatly increasing the confusion between the two operating systems.

Windows Scripting

This is a term sometimes used by Microsoft to refer to their two web page scripting programming languages, Visual BASIC Script (also called Visual BASIC Scripting Edition and VBScript) and JScript (Microsoft's dialect of JavaScript).

Windows XP

The version of Windows released after Windows ME. Said to combine the user interface of Windows 9x and the internal design of Windows NT. Generally regarded as being the most stable version of Windows to date.

Windows XP Embedded

A version of Windows XP designed for use in devices such as point-of-sale terminals (cash registers).

WinFS

A new filing system, successor to NTFS, in which all of a computer's logical files are held in a single database physical file. WinFS was originally intended to be the major new feature in the next version of Windows, codenamed Longhorn. In August 2004 it was dropped from Longhorn by Microsoft, presumably due to the immense technical difficulties it presented, and adverse feedback from users. At this stage it is unclear whether WinFS will ever be resurrected in some future version of Windows. The decision to abandon WinFS reduces Longhorn to little more than another bug-fix release of Windows.

WingDings

A symbol font (see that entry).

Winipcfg.exe

A utility supplied as part of Windows 95, 98, 98SE and ME. By default there is no shortcut to Winipcfg.exe but it can be run using Start > Run. Winipcfg.exe displays information about your current IP configuration, especially if it uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to allocate IP addresses. Sygate Personal Firewall reports that Winipcfg.exe wants to send or receive data via the Internet when you log on, so presumably the program is run then as a background task to configure the IP settings.

WinModem

Contraction of "Windows Modem". A type of modem which passes most of its processing work to Windows and the computer's main hardware. Generally regarded with derision by experts, who universally very strongly advise avoiding this type of modem. Also called a HAM - Host Assisted Modem or Host Accelerated Modem.

WINS

Windows Internet Naming Service or Windows Internet Name Service. An alternative method of converting from domain names in URL's (such as www.wendys.com) to IP addresses (such as 123.45.67.89, which by the way is almost certainly not the IP address of www.wendys.com). The other alternative system is DNS (Domain Name System). WINS is compatible with DHCP (see that entry) whereas I believe DNS can only cope with fixed IP addresses.

WinSxS

Windows Side By Side. I think this refers to the facility in Windows XP to maintain multiple versions of the same DLL file, in an attempt to avoid version conflicts.

Wintel

A PC running Microsoft Windows on an Intel processor (or clone thereof).

WinZip

See Zip.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)

The means by which mobile phones can access the Internet.

Opinion: The Internet on a mobile phone, with a tiny keyboard, a tiny display and very high data error rates? A truly crazy idea which inevitably has now sunk without trace.

Wireless Broadband

See "Wireless Network".

Wireless LAN

See "Wireless Network".

Wireless Network

A local wireless connection between a computer and a wireless router in the same building or very close nearby, usually using one of the 802.11 protocols (for example 802.11n). It is possible to create a network of one wireless router and several computers, printers and possibly some other devices.

There are alternative methods of connecting a computer to the Internet via broadband, for example a USB broadband modem.

In the reasonably near future it seems likely that televisions and/or their set-top boxes will be added to the list of possible devices which can be included in a wireless network, with the possibility of television programme distribution via the Internet will make terrestrial, cable and satellite broadcasts largely obsolete, together with the concept of television channels.

Wireless networking is also called 802.11, wi-fi, wireless broadband, wireless LAN, and WLAN.

Wireless networking is different to mobile broadband. Mobile broadband refers to a connection between a computer and an ISP over a 3G mobile phone network, usually using the HSDPA or the HSUPA protocol.

Wireless Network Adaptor

A small device which plugs into a computer so as to effect a connection between the computer and a wireless router in the same building. These devices usually plug into a USB port and look very similar to USB memory sticks. It seems that modern portable computers may have a wireless network adaptor built-in as standard, but obtaining clear information on this subject is difficult.

Wireless Router

A device which connects via a cable to a phone line or cable television network, and which contains a broadband modem. The device can communicate via a wireless network connection to one or more computers in the same building. In most cases wireless routers also have one or more Ethernet sockets, allowing cabled connections between the router and computers and other devices.

WLAN

See "Wireless Network".

WMA

File extension. Windows Media Audio. A Microsoft rival format to the established and highly popular MP3 format for sound files. Since WMA incorporates a copyright system it is most unlikely to prove popular. I do not know if WMA files can contain viruses or not.

WMF

File extension. Windows Metafile. A type of clipart file. I do not know if WMF files can contain viruses or not.

WMI

Windows Management Infrastructure/Windows Management Instrumentation (Microsoft are inconsistent regarding the name, even within the same window as displayed in WMIMGMT.MSIC). I think this is an option and may only be available with some versions of Windows, for example Windows 2000 and the Professional Edition of Windows XP. It may be a scripting language. One description reads: "Provides a standard infrastructure for monitoring and managing systems", which doesn't tell us much.

WML

A scripting language.

WMP

See "Windows Media Player".

WMS

  1. Windows Media Services.

  2. Windows Messaging System.

WMV

File Extension. Windows Media File. Video and audio. By default these files are opened and played by Windows Media Player, but there may be alternative and superior choices of program. In theory WMV files can be streamed but in practice there may be very serious difficulties in doing so.

Word

  1. The unit of storage that was used in mini and mainframe computers. Words were usually 24 or 32 bits long. In PC's the unit of storage is the byte, 8 bits long.

  2. A word processing program published by Microsoft.

WordPress

A CMS (Content Management System). Mainly designed for blogging and news web sites.

WOW

  1. Windows On Windows, a component of Windows XP (and maybe other versions of Windows) which allows 16-bit programs to be run.

  2. Woody's Office Watch, one of the email newsletters published by Woody Leonhard (external link verified Feb-03).

WPA

  1. Windows Product Activation. Microsoft's highly controversial copyright protection system, used in Windows XP and Office XP. WPA collects and stores a large amount of information about the user's computer. If any of the details of the computer later fail to match (for example, if you replace a faulty CD-ROM drive) then the software will refuse to run. Another possible concern with WPA is that when Microsoft discontinues support for a WPA product after three years it may become impossible to re-install it, forcing users to purchase a newer version. For anyone in two minds about whether to upgrade to XP, WPA may well be a major deciding factor against doing so.

  2. Wi-Fi Protected Access. A security system for wireless networks. WPA is significantly more secure than WEP.

WPDNSE

Windows Portable Device Namespace Extension. This is associated with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11, although its actual purpose is unknown. A WPDNSE folder is created in the user temp folder each time Windows boots.

WPF

Windows Presentation Foundation. Something associated with modern versions of Microsoft's programming languages.

WPG

File extension. Word Perfect Graphic File. I do not know if WPG files can contain viruses or not.

WRI

File extension. Microsoft Write File (and WordPad?). I do not know if WRI files can contain viruses or not.

WRL

File extension. VRML virtual reality "world" file. An ASCII text file with VRML tags. See VRML. I don't think that WRL files can contain viruses.

WS

File extension. WS files can contain instructions which could perform undesirable operations on a computer.

WS_FTP

A shareware FTP program published by Ipswitch. For most people WS_FTP's main use will be for transferring completed web page files from their PC to their ISP's web server.

Opinion: I find WS_FTP to be by far the simplest, most user-friendly and reliable choice of FTP program for uploading web page files.

WSC

  1. File extension. Windows Script Component.

  2. Windows Security Centre. A Control Panel applet added to Windows XP by the installation of SP2. WSC monitors the computer for three security conditions: whether an antivirus program is running and has an up-to-date virus definition list, whether a firewall program is running, and whether Microsoft's Automatic Updates feature is turned on to its most aggressive setting. WSC alerts the user by means of system tray icons and pop-up messages when it considers that there is a problem with any of these security areas.

WSDL

Web Services Description Language, or Web Services Definition Language. This appears to be yet another Microsoft attempt at creating a non-standard variant of HTML, as instantly forgettable as all their other efforts.

WSF

File extension. Windows Script file.

WSH

  1. A scripting language, probably connected with VBS (Visual BASIC Script).

  2. File extension. Windows Script Host Settings file. WSH files can contain instructions which could perform undesirable operations on a computer.

WWW

  1. World Wide Web.

  2. Woody's Windows Watch, one of the email newsletters published by Woody Leonhard (external link verified Feb-03).

WYSIWYG

What You See Is What You Get. What will appear on the printer will bear a slight resemblance to what is being displayed on the screen. Sometimes. But not when you press the Print Screen key, which doesn't work as you would expect.
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