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A p p e n d i c e s
PAL
Phase Alternation by Line. The standard for
color television in Western Europe and most of
Asia and Africa.
Parallel Port
A connection to another device through which
data is transferred as a block of bits simultane-
ously with a wire for each bit in the block and
with other wires only for control of the device
not for transfer of data.
Partition
A block of space on a hard drive which is set
aside and made to appear to the operating sys-
tem as if it were a separate disk, and addressed
by the operating system accordingly.
PCMCIA
PCMCIA is a trademark of the Personal
Computer Memory Card International
Association. The Personal Computer Memory
Card International Association is an organiza-
tion that sets standards for add-in cards for
personal computers.
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Peripheral Device
A piece of equipment which performs a specific
function associated with but not integral to
a computer. Examples: a printer, a modem,
a CD-ROM.
PIO
Parallel Input/Output.
Pitch (keyboard)
The distance between the centers of the letter
keys of a keyboard.
Pixel
The smallest element of a display, a dot of color
on your display screen. The more pixels per
area the clearer your image will appear.
POST
Power On Self Test. A program which is part of
the BIOS which checks the configuration and
operating condition of your hardware whenever
power is applied to your Computer. Status and
error messages may be displayed before the oper-
ating system is loaded. If the self test detects fail-
ures that are so serious that operation can not
continue, the operating system will not be loaded.
Program
An integrated set of coded commands to your
computers telling your hardware what to do
and how and when to do it.
PS/2
An IBM series of personal computers which
established a number of standards for con-
necting external devices such as keyboards
and monitors.
RAM
Random Access Memory. A hardware compo-
nent of your computer that holds binary infor-
mation (both program and data) as long as it
has the proper power applied to it.
RAM Module
A printed circuit card with memory and associ-
ated circuitry which allows the user to add
additional memory to the computer without
special tools.
Reset
The act of reloading the operating system.
A reset erases all information stored in RAM.
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