There are two ways of labelling a floppy disk. The first is to stick a paper label on it. The second is to give the disk an electronic label. This is called the volume name. If you want to give a short description to a floppy disk (which will appear in My Computer window) highlight the floppy disk icon, select its Properties window and type in the new name.

LAN

Acronym for Local Area Network. LANs are now commonplace in most businesses, allowing users to send email and share resources such as files, printers, modems, etc. Currently, most larger companies are connection their LANs to the Internet, allowing users to connect to resources within or outside the LAN.

Language

Windows 3.1 and 95 can support foreign languages. In most cases, the foreign country has a different set of accented characters and a different keyboard layout. The UK and USA use the Qwerty keyboard layout (this describes the first keys on the top left hand row). France uses the Azerty layout. If you want tp use a different language for display and printing you will have to change the language setup for the font used to support the accents and the keyboard layout for Windows. If you want to use central European or Asian languages, you'll need to buy new fonts .

Laptop

A small computer that you can carry around. A laptop normally has a 'clam shell' construction with a fold-down lid that houses the screen, a keyboard (often slightly smaller than full-size) and a floppy and a hard disk drive. An internal battery pack provides power for a few hours. Most laptop PCs now provide colour screens and as much computing power as a desktop, but with the convenience of being portable.

Laserdisc

Large, metallic-looking records about the size of 33 RPM albums (12 inches in diameter), sometimes called videodiscs. Laserdiscs can store a vast amount of information in text, sound, and images. To play a laserdisc, you need a laserdisc player and either a computer monitor or television set. Laserdiscs come in two formats. CLV (constant linear velocity) is accessed by time and CAV (constant angular velocity) is accessed by frame number.

Laserdisc player

A self-contained unit approximately the size of a videocassette recorder (VCR) that plays laserdiscs. Typically used in education for movies or interactive multimedia courseware. Their primary advantage over VCRs as a video playback unit is their ability to provide quick random access to any location on the laserdisc within seconds.

Laser printer  

Printer that produces very high quality text and graphics using a laser beam. The beam draws the characters as tiny dots- normally 300 or 600 dots per inch- on to a special drum. The drum then attracts a fine black powder (called toner) to these dots which is transferred to a sheet of paper. The final stage is to heat the toner which melts it on the paper forming a permanent image. Laser printers are more expensive than almost any other type of printer, but are generally faster and excellent quality. Other types of printer include inkjet and dot-matrix .

Launch

This is another way of saying that you are starting a program. You can launch a program by double-clicking on its icon within Windows or by typing in the program name at the DOS prompt .

LCD screen

Portable computers do not have room for a bulky monitor. Instead, they often use an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen. There are three types of LCD screen available: monochrome, DSTN (Double Super Twisted Nematic) colour and TFT (Thin Film Transistor) colour. Monochrome screens have a thin light source behind the screen that glows. This is the cheapest type of LCD screen available for laptop PCs and provides a reasonable display. The two-colour LCD screens are now a standard feature of laptops. DSTN screens are cheaper but do not have such good colour as TFT screen. Colour TFT screens are often brighter and sharper than monitors for desktop PCs.

Leased Line

A dedicated, full-time connection used to link a user or network to an Internet Service Provider or another network.

Left-handed

If you are left-handed and are trying to use a mouse, you might find it tricky. The mouse is designed for right-handed people. However, many mice come with setup software that lets you swap the way the buttone operate. You can use the Settings of Windows 95 to do the same.

Linking information                                                                  

In Windows, you can link different types of data together using its OLE function. You can include a spreadsheet inside a document, which is then automatically updated whenever the spreadsheet changes.

Listserv

An automated mailing list distribution system. Listservs exist for a multitude of professional, educational, and special interest groups. Usually, you have to send an email to a Listserver with the subject SUBSCRIBE listname or something to that effect. You are then subscribed to that mailing list and (depending on the service) will receive regular mail from a single source or from all members who send email to the Listserver. Listserv was originally designed for the Bitnet/EARN network.

Lost files

If you lose a file, or forget where you've stored it on your hard disk, use the Find feature of Windows 95 in the Start button's menu.

Log off

To stop using a network and work individually. Your computer is still physically connected to the network, but you have told the network software that you do not want to use the network features or resources. Log off can apply either to a local area network or to an online system, such as CompuServe or MSN. In the case of the latter two, you log off and disconnect by hanging up the phone line to the online service.

Log on

A command that tells the network you want to use the network resources. Normally you need to enter your user name and password which is then verified by the network software before allowing you to access the resources.

Login script  

A series of instructions that are automatically run when you log on to a network. For example, if you log on to your office network in the morning by typing your name and password, the login script might remind you of important information or just say good morning .

Long filename

A feature of Windows 95 that lets you give files a long name (up to 254 characters). Before Windows 95 was released, file names were limited to a maximum number of eight characters. For example, before Windows 95, your letter would be called something like lett27.doc. Now you can call it letter to Simon about holidays.

Lurking