There are thousands of abbreviations, terms, and words associated with computers. We should know: At Computer Hope, we have over 15,000 terms in our computer dictionary. Understanding every computer term would be impossible, so, understandably, many can be misused.

Below are the most commonly misunderstood and misused computer terms. We’ve created this list starting with the most common mistakes people sometimes make when talking about computers.

Memory and storage

It’s common for computer users not to know the difference between memory and storage. Both areas can store data; however, how they store data is different. Memory is volatile; if the computer loses power, any data stored in memory is lost. All storage is non-volatile, meaning the data is stored regardless of whether the computer has power. When talking about a computer’s memory, you’re most likely talking about its RAM (random access memory). When talking about computer storage, you’re talking about the HDD (hard disk drive), SSD (solid-state drive), or other storage devices.

  • Memory and storage.

  • Internet, online, and web.

  • Copy, download, move, and upload.

  • CPU, computer, and monitor.

  • Bits and bytes.

  • Data vs. information.

  • Boot, open, run, start, and install.

  • USB drive names.

  • App vs. program.

  • Download vs. streaming.

  • Hard drive and SSD.

  • Connector, jack, plug, and port.

  • Google, Chrome, and Chromebook.

  • Disc vs. disk.

  • See our memory and storage device pages for full information about these terms.

Internet, online, and web

Some people incorrectly believe that everything they do online occurs on the “Internet.” However, when you visit a website like this one, it’s occurring on the WWW (World Wide Web), which is only part of the Internet. The Internet is what connects all computers in a global network. The WWW encompasses all the websites and services on web servers connected to the Internet.

Your computer memory is always a smaller value than your computer storage. For example, you may have a 500 GB hard drive and 16 GB of memory (RAM).

Today, many also improperly think “being online” is the same as being “on the Internet.” However, being online refers to any successful connection between one or more devices on a network — but not necessarily the Internet. In other words, you’re also online when connecting to a local network or establishing a direct connection between two computers.

  • See our Internet, online, and WWW pages for full information about these terms.
  • What is the difference between the Internet and World Wide Web?
  • What is the difference between Internet, intranet, and extranet?

Copy, download, move, and upload

Today, many computer users have grown up with the Internet and use the term “download” whenever they copy a file. However, “copy,” “download,” “move,” and “upload” all have different meanings.

If you’re sending files to a different computer on a network (Internet), you’re “uploading.” If you’re getting a file from another computer, you’re “downloading.” When making copies of a file on the computer (creating a second file whose contents are the same as the first), you’re “copying” that file. When changing the location of a file on a computer, you’re “moving” that file.

For example, copying a file from a computer to a USB drive is not “downloading” or “uploading” the file, because it’s on the same computer.

  • See our copy, download, move, and upload pages for full information about these terms.

CPU, computer, and monitor

A computer is comprised of many parts and a CPU is not short for “computer” or the system unit (entire computer). CPU stands for “central processing unit” and is located inside the computer and is essential to its operation.

The actual CPU is a small chip inside the system unit. Depending on the CPU model, it can be as small as your thumbnail or as large as several postage stamps.

Below is a diagram of a desktop computer with labels showing each major external component. For information about the central processing unit, see our dedicated CPU page.

  • See our computer page for a full breakdown and information on computers.
  • What does the inside of a computer look like?

Bits and bytes

Computers have several sizes and speeds, which makes it difficult to remember everything. When dealing with computer measurements, capitalization is important. Uppercase and lowercase letters can refer to different measurement units.

For example, “MB” is a megabyte, and “Mb” (lowercase b) is a megabit. (There are eight bits in a byte and eight megabits in a megabyte.)

The size of memory or storage (e.g., RAM module or SSD drive) is usually measured in bytes, but transmission speeds (e.g., Internet connection speed) are often measured in bits.

  • How much is 1 byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, etc.?

Data vs. information

The terms “data” and “information” are similar in meaning. Although some might argue they mean the same thing, there is an important distinction between them.

See our measurements page for all computer-related measurements.

Data is a set of values collected as input (measurements or answers to questions). Those values can be binary, characters, numbers, strings containing words or phrases, or another data type. Data can be processed by a computer or a human, but until they’re processed, they don’t “inform” any conclusions and have little meaning.

Information is processed data (into an understandable “form”), so a human can comprehend it, draw conclusions from it, and make decisions based on it.

Please see the following link for further information and examples.

  • What is the difference between data and information?

Boot, open, run, start, and install

How a computer first “starts up” and how programs are “opened” or “run” can be confusing. When a computer is turned on, it boots into the OS (operating system). After the operating system is loaded, before a program can run for the first time, it must be installed on the computer’s storage drive. After the program is installed, it can run (execute): the operating system loads it to memory (where it can run more quickly) to perform its tasks.

If the program is designed to work with a particular type of file (e.g., a spreadsheet), the program can open those files for reading and writing. “Reading” data from a file means accessing it on the disk to find out what it contains and loading that data to memory. “Writing” means saving (storing changes) to the file on disk.

  • How to turn on a computer.
  • How to install software.
  • How to run a computer software program.
  • How does a computer work?

App vs. program

When smartphones introduced apps, it caused a lot of confusion about the difference between an “app” (short for application) and a “program.”

In general, an “application” is a program with a UI (user interface) that accepts input from a human. Applications running on a standard computer or laptop may be called either “applications” or “programs.”

However, in modern usage, the abbreviated term “app’ usually refers to an application designed to run on a smartphone, tablet, or a specialized computer (e.g., Chromebook).

  • See our app and program pages for further information and examples on these terms.

USB drive names

There are over a dozen names computer users (and companies) have for a USB flash drive. These include “flash drive,” “flash stick,” “jump drive,” and “thumb drive.”

When used as a verb, “program” describes the act of a programmer creating an application.

Some applications are loaded directly from websites and run only in a web browser. These are called “web apps.”

Although all of these names mean the same thing, it’s best to use “USB flash drive” to avoid confusion.

  • See our USB flash drive page for full information about this term and related information.

Download vs. streaming

As more people get faster Internet connections, either by broadband in their home or 4G/5G data connections to their smartphone, it’s common to stream media over the Internet. Streaming is different from downloading. When you download something on the Internet, it must be completed before it can be used or viewed. However, streaming lets you view only the section of media that’s presently being downloaded.

For example, if you want to download a video clip, it must be completely transferred to your device before it can be viewed. But, when you stream a video (e.g., a YouTube video), it begins playing almost immediately, as soon as the first part of the video is downloaded.

  • See our download and stream pages for further information and examples on these terms.

Hard drive and SSD

Most modern computers come with an SSD (solid-state drive) as their primary storage device, not a traditional HDD (hard disk drive). When speaking casually, an SSD may sometimes be called a “disk drive” or “hard drive.”

When you stream anything, data is still transferred to your computer. However, it’s being done incrementally, so that you can view content in real time. Streaming technology only requires small portions of the entire file before its contents can be displayed. As the feed continues, your device continues to download the information as it is generated by the streaming source.

If your connection can’t download the media fast enough, you may encounter buffering, which pauses playback to wait for more of the media to be downloaded.

However, an SSD does not contain disks (spinning magnetic platters) like a traditional HDD. An SSD has flash memory and no moving parts; making it “solid-state.”

Therefore, refer to an SSD as an “SSD” or a “drive” instead of a “hard drive” or “disk drive.”

Connector, jack, plug, and port

Many consider the terms connector, jack, plug, and port interchangeable. However, each of these terms is different. See the following page for full information on the differences between them.

  • What is the difference between a connector, jack, plug, and port?

Google, Chrome, and Chromebook

Google is a computer company that makes the Google search engine, the Google Chrome browser, and the Chromebook, a laptop computer. Although each of these products may share the Google and Chrome names, they should be treated and called by their unique names, not only Google or Chrome.

Disc vs. disk

When describing a computer with an HDD (hard disk drive) and an optical disc drive, it’s common to confuse the spellings of disk and disc. Any magnetic media (e.g., hard drive) is spelled with a “k” (disk), and any optical media (e.g., CD or DVD) is spelled with a “c” (disc). There is no such thing as a “hard disc drive.”

  • What are the most important computer terms I should know?
  • How to learn more about computers.
  • How does a computer work?
  • Top 10 new computer user tips.
  • Computer training.