Glossary

G

What is a General Protection Fault?

A General Protection Fault (GPF) is a Windows system error message. A GPF is not an error within an application, but an error in the Windows operating system itself.

A GPF typically occurs when the active application is reading or writing to a section of RAM that is unavailable at that time. In Windows 3.x, all of the active applications are held in one large memory partition. In Windows 95, 98, Me, NT, and 2000, well-written 32-bit applications will be allocated a protected memory area, reducing GPFs.

GPFs can vary in degree of severity. Sometimes the application can recover, but sometimes the whole system will need to be restarted. If you get GPFs only infrequently, then things are probably fine.

Here are some tips to try that should help minimize the number of GPFs you get:

• Try to keep the number of open applications to a minimum. If you have an application open but are not using it, close it.
• If you seem to get GPFs more often when you use a particular application, try using that application without any other applications open. If you must have other applications open, use as few as possible.
• Periodically restart Windows.
• Make sure you have the latest device drivers, especially video drivers, installed on your computer.

Also see:

• Where can I find support and updates for Windows 95?
• Why might my 80386, 80486, or Pentium-based PC running Windows 3.1 be crashing a lot?
• In Windows 95, why does my computer only boot up in DOS mode?
• In Microsoft Windows 3.1, what causes frequent GPFs (General Protection Faults)?

What is a GIF animation and how do I make one?

A GIF animation is a single GIF file that displays a series of images much like a cartoon. GIF animations work in most browsers and they are easy to build.

In general, there are two steps to creating an animated GIF file. The first is to create a series of images. To do this, you can use any graphics software, or you can scan hand-drawn images. The second step is to combine the images into a single GIF animation; this usually requires special software.

There are numerous applications you can use to create and work with animated GIF files.

Online

• GIFWorks 3.0
  
  This is a web-based tool that allows you to perform some simple manipulations to GIF images and to create animated text banners. Available at:

  http://www.GIFWorks.com/

For Mac OS

• Smart Dubbing
  
  Available at:

  http://www.xs4all.nl/~invaders/moreinfo.html

For Windows

• GIF Construction Set Professional
  
  Available at:

  http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/gifcon.html

Some other sites to visit

• desktopPublishing.com

  http://www.desktoppublishing.com/graphutilgifanim.html

• TUCOWS

  http://www.tucows.com/

Also see:

• What's the difference between the GIF and JPEG image formats, and why is one larger than another?
• In Mac OS, how do I make transparent GIFs?
• For Mac OS, where may I download freeware, shareware, and software updates?
• For Microsoft Windows, how can I get freeware and shareware via FTP?
• Where can I obtain OS/2 shareware and freeware on the Internet?
• Using Microsoft Image Composer, how do I save transparent images?

What is a GUI?

GUI is an acronym for "graphical user interface". In very general terms, a GUI lets you interact with your computer using pictures and symbols in addition to entering typed text. Examples of GUIs include Mac OS, Microsoft Windows, and the X Window System. The purpose of a GUI is to make a computer easier to use. Rather than having to memorize many complicated commands and type them precisely, you may point and click with an input device, usually a mouse, to run programs or manipulate files.

Files stored on the computer, such as word processing documents or programs, are usually represented by icons (small pictures) in a graphical environment. A mouse (or sometimes a trackpad, trackball, or touch screen) is used to position a cursor (small pointer) on the screen. Rather than always having to type the particular name of a file and the directory where it is stored, you can select a file by moving the mouse cursor to its position on the screen and clicking a mouse button.

Another feature of most GUIs is the use of windows, which are rectangular areas of the screen that store information. Windows may show, for example, icons that represent the files in a directory, the output of a program you are running, or the configuration of your computer. In most interfaces, you can move windows around the screen, change their size, or make them shrink down into icons. Also, most GUIs let you have many windows active at the same time. This convenient feature lets you perform several tasks concurrently. For example, you could have a word processor running in one window and a spreadsheet in another, and switch back and forth between the two and exchange information between them, if you desire.

Some other features of graphical interfaces include the following:

• Buttons: You make many selections in a GUI by clicking buttons with the mouse cursor. Sometimes these buttons appear to pop in and out like physical buttons on an appliance.
• Sliders: A slider bar consists of a narrow rectangular area and a small button that you slide with the mouse from one side to the other. You use such a bar to specify some parameter that has a continuous range of values.
• Scroll bars: Sometimes a window is not large enough to display all the information in a file or directory, such as a large text document. In this case, a special slider bar indicates the cursor's relative location in the file. To view other parts of the document, move the slider to scroll through the document.
• Menus: A menu is a list of options that lets you make choices about the operation of a program or window. Usually menus are located at the top of a window, and a menu's list of options appears when you click its top selection with the mouse. These are called pull-down or drop-down menus. Some text boxes also contain menus, which you access by clicking the arrow on the right side of the text box.

Despite the convenience of these features, a keyboard is still quite necessary to use many programs in a GUI; entering a document in a word processor with a mouse, for example, would be impossible.

Also see:

• What is the X Window System?
• What is Geos, and where can I find information about it?
• What is Mac OS?
• What is the history of Microsoft Windows?