| A | B |
|---|
| IDE | A method of disk drive manufacturing that allocates all the required controller circuitry in the drive itself. |
| Enhanced IDE (EIDE) | Allows for 2 IDE channels that can each support 2 devices. |
| AT Attachment (ATA) | Also known as the ISA bus, 16-bit data bus. |
| ATA-33 | Extension to the ATA interface that will effectively double the top data transfer speed up to 33 Mbps. |
| SCSI | A standard data pathway used mostly for hard drives and CD-ROM drives, but also a common interface for scanners and sometimes printers. |
| Millisecond | One thousandth of a second. Usually used to measure the access speed of hard drives. |
| System Hang | When a program fails, it usually has an oppotunity to display an error or diagnostic message. |
| POST | A group of ROM BIOS diagnostic tests that are performed on the system each time it is powered up. |
| Cold Boot | To turn on a computer, or to restart a computer by turning it off, waiting a few seconds, and turning it on again. |
| Warm Boot | To restart a computer by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. |
| Boot Disk | A write-protected floppy disk that contains the computer's system and startup files. |
| Boot Sector | A portion of a disk that contains the coded instructions for the operating system to start the computer. |
| Safe Mode | Automatically loaded if Windows crashes during boot up. |
| Scanner | A device used to copy an image from a physical source into a computer. |
| LPT1 | The label used in MS-DOS assigned to parallel port 1. |
| COM1 | The label used in MS-DOS assigned to serial port 1. |
| MTBF | This is a time, given in hours, that predicts the failure of a device. |
| Drive Interface | A collection of electrical and logical connections between a hard drive and a PC. |
| LUN | Logical Unit Number is a unique identifier for sub-devices assigned to a single SCSI ID. |
| Display Adapter | A PC expansion board that converts the images created in the computer to the electronic signals required by the monitor. |
| VGA | Video Graphics Array. The minimum standard for PC video display, which originated with IBM's PS/2 models in 1987. |
| AT Commands | The modem command set developed by the Hayes company for use on its modems and now used on most modems. |
| Asynchronous | A bit synchronization transmission technique that uses start and stop bits. |
