Glossary - Acomdata E5 External Hard Drives User Manual

the Desktop. (Refer to the manual that came with your Mac
for instructions on how to rebuild the Desktop. It is good
practice to periodically rebuilt the Desktop anyway.) After
your Mac reboots, the AcomData Drive should mount nor-
mally and you should not have this problem again.
I set up my AcomData Drive on Mac OS 9 and it was
working fine. Then when I upgraded to Mac OS X my
computer asked me to re-initialize the Drive.
A: If this message appears, you have no choice but to re-
initialize (re-format) the AcomData Drive in order to use it
on Mac OS X. You will need to copy the data stored on your
Drive to another storage device before upgrading to Mac
OS X. After the upgrade is complete, re-initialize the Drive
on Mac OS X, and then copy the data back to it.
Why is my AcomData Drive asking me to initialize it? It
was already formatted and it contains data.
A: On Mac OS 9, you may need to initialize a hard drive the
first time you connect it to your computer, even though the
hard drive may have already been formatted.
Another reason is that the file system might have become
corrupted, in which case it needs to be repaired. Use disk
utility software, such as Norton Utilities, to repair the disk.
Periodic testing of a hard drive is recommended to keep it
in good working order.
I can't transfer files larger than 2 GB.
A: This is a limitation of the FAT32 file system. If you plan to
use the AcomData Drive on a Mac OS only, and you do not
need Windows compatibility, consider re-formatting the
AcomData Drive using the Mac OS Extended file system.
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Glossary

Bit - The smallest unit of digital data. In binary code, a bit is repre-
sented logically as a either a 1 or a 0.
Buffer – RAM cache that temporarily stores data so it can be deliv-
ered to a device as it is needed.
Bus – An electronic link that can transmit data between digital
devices, such as computers and computer peripherals.
Byte – A unit of digital data, usually made up of eight bits.
Capacity – The amount of data that can be stored on a hard drive
or other storage device.
Daisy chain – A hardware configuration in which peripheral devic-
es are connected to each other in a series. The FireWire interface,
for example, supports a daisy chain of up to 62 drives.
Data Transfer Rate – The speed at which data transfers to and
from the drive.
Device Driver – A software program that enables a computer to
communicate with peripheral devices, such as hard drives and
CD-ROM drives. Each type of device requires a different driver.
External Hard Drive – A external peripheral device containing a
hard drive mechanism connected to a computer via a data com-
munication interface.
FAT32 – A file system that organizes files on a disk. This file system
is standard for Windows 98SE and Me, and is supported under
Windows 2000 and XP. A single file is limited in size to 4 GB.
Format – Sets up a file system for storing and retrieving files on a
disk. Referred to as initialization on Mac.
Gigabyte – 1,024 megabytes (binary); 1,000 megabytes (decimal),
or approximately one billion bytes.
Hard Drive – An electromechanical device used for information
storage and retrieval, incorporating one or more rotating disks
(platters) on which data is recorded, stored, and read magnetically.
Hardware – Physical components of a computer system.
Hot-Pluggable – The ability to connect and disconnect external
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