Glossary - IBM ThinkPad 310E User Manual

This glossary includes terms and definitions from the IBM
Dictionary of Computing (New York; McGraw-Hill, 1994).
ac (AC). Alternating current.
ac power. Power that is supplied to the computer through an
electrical outlet.
Advanced Power Management (APM). A facility consisting
of one or more layers of software that support power
management in computers with power manageable hardware.
The APM software interface allows applications, operating
systems, device drivers, and the APM BIOS to work together to
reduce power consumption, without reducing system
performance.
ANSI. American National Standards Institute.
APM. Advanced Power Management.
application program. A program that performs specific tasks
on your computer, such as word processing or creating
spreadsheets.
ASCII. American National Standard Code for Information
Interchange.
ATA PC Card. A PC Card with an AT attachment hard disk
drive interface such as a storage device PC Card.
AUTOEXEC.BAT. A file that that contains a startup procedure
of DOS. Each time you start your system, DOS performs the
commands that are stored in this file.
backup copy. A copy, usually of a file or group of files, that is
kept in case the original file or files are unintentionally changed
or destroyed.
batch. A process method in which a program or programs
records with little or no operator action.
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). Microcode that contains
such basic hardware operations as interactions with diskette
drives, hard disk drives, and the keyboard.
bitmap graphics. (1) A form of graphics in which all points on
the display are directly addressable, (2) In multimedia
applications, a form of graphics in an area of computer memory
or storage that can be displayed as an image.
boot. To prepare a computer system for operation by loading
an operating system.
© Copyright IBM Corp. 1997
bus. A facility for transferring data between several devices
located between two end points, only one device being able to
transmit at a given moment.
cache memory. A special memory, smaller and faster than
main memory, that is used to hold a copy of instructions and
data in main memory that is likely to be needed next by the
processor, and that have been obtained automatically from
main memory.
CD. Compact disc.
CD-I. Compact disc-interactive.
CD-ROM. Compact disc read-only memory.
combination keys. Keys that have specific functions when
you hold them down at the same time.
CONFIG.SYS. A file that contains a group of commands to
load installable device drivers and reserve space in system
memory for information processing. This file is referred to by
DOS during system startup.
configuration. (1) The manner in which hardware and
software of an information processing system are organized
and interconnected, (2) The physical and logical arrangement
of devices and programs that make up a data processing
system, (3) The devices and programs that make up a system,
subsystem, or network.
CRT. Cathode ray tube display.
device driver. A file that contains the code needed to attach
and use a device. The operating system loads device drivers
for screens, keyboards, printers, diskette drives, hard disk
drives, and auxiliary devices. The user can replace these or
add other devices by coding and loading a device driver.
DIMM. Dual inline memory module.
directory. A type of file containing the names and controlling
information for other files or other directories.
DMA. Direct memory access. The transfer of data between
memory and input/output units without processor intervention.
double-click. To press and release a mouse button twice
within a time frame defined by the user, without moving the
pointer off the choice.

Glossary

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