Toshiba Portégé M100 User Manual page 258

device driver
device driver: A program that controls
communication between a specific
peripheral device and the computer.
The CONFIG.SYS file contains device
drivers that MS-DOS loads when you
turn the computer on.
dialog box: A window that accepts
user input to make system settings or
record other information.
disk drive: The device that randomly
accesses information on a disk and
copies it to the computer's memory. It
also writes data from memory to the
disk. To accomplish these tasks, the
unit physically rotates the disk at high
speed past a read-write head.
disk storage: Storing data on mag-
netic disk. Data is arranged on
concentric tracks much like a phono-
graph record.
diskette: A removable disk that stores
magnetically encoded data used on a
microcomputer. Also called floppy
disk.
display: A CRT, plasma screen, LCD,
or other image producing device used
to view computer output.
documentation: The set of manual
and/or other instructions written for the
users of a computer system or applica-
tion. Computer system documentation
typically includes procedural and
tutorial information as well as system
functions.
DOS: Disk operating system. See
operating system.
Glossary-6
driver: A software program, generally
part of the operating system, that
controls a specific piece of hardware
(frequently a peripheral device such as
a printer or mouse).
E
echo: To send back a reflection of the
transmitted data to the sending
device. You can display the informa-
tion on the screen, or output it to the
printer, or both. When a computer
receives back data it transmitted to a
CRT (or other peripheral device) and
then retransmits the data to printer,
the printer is said to echo the CRT.
EGA: Enhanced Graphics Adaptor. A
video display protocol defined by the
IBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptor and
its associated circuitry for direct drive
TTL displays that supports 16-color/
monochrome 640x350 and 16-color
640x200 and 320x200 graphics, and 16-
color 640x350 and 320x350 text modes.
erase: See delete.
escape: 1) A code ( ASCII code 27),
signaling the computer that what
follows are commands; used with
peripheral devices such as printers and
modems. 2) A means of aborting the
task currently in progress.