Term
| Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) |
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Definition
A 32-bit wide bus standard developed specifically for video cards that includes AGP 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, and 8x
standards. AGP has been replaced by the PCI Express standards. |
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Term
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Definition
The primary partition on the hard
drive that boots the OS. Windows 2000/XP/Vista
calls the active partition the system partition. |
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Term
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Definition
An operating system program
responsible for managing the process of loading the OS during the boot. |
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Term
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Definition
The first sector of a floppy disk or hard
drive volume; it contains information about the
disk or volume. On a hard drive, if the boot record
is in the active partition, then it can be used to boot the OS. Also called boot sector. |
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Term
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Definition
The first sector of a floppy disk or hard.
drive volume; it contains information about the
disk or volume. On a hard drive, if the boot record
is in the active partition, then it can be used to boot the OS. Also called boot sector. |
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Term
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Definition
The Vista program file responsible for
beginning the process of loading and starting
Vista. The program file has no file extension and is
stored in the root directory of the system partition (which, most likely, is drive C:). |
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Term
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Definition
The battery on the motherboard used
to power the CMOS chip when the computer is unplugged. |
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Term
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Definition
Restart the computer by turning off the
power or by pressing the Reset button. |
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Term
| communication and networking riser (CNR) |
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Definition
A
specification for a small expansion slot on a
motherboard that accommodates a small audio, modem, or network riser card. |
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Term
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Definition
A technology by ATI Technologies that
allows for multiple video cards to be installed in
the same system. Compare to SLI (Scalable Link Interface). |
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Term
| dual inline package (DIP) switch |
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Definition
A switch on a
circuit board or other device that can be set to on
or off to hold configuration or setup information. |
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Term
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Definition
A group of pins on a
motherboard that connect to wires that are
connected to the front panel of the computer case. |
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Term
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Definition
Restart the computer by turning off the
power or by pressing the Reset button. |
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Term
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Definition
A plate installed on the rear of a computer
case that provides holes for I/O ports coming off the motherboard. |
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Term
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Definition
Two wires that stick up side by side on the
motherboard or other device and are used to hold
configuration information. The jumper is
considered closed if a cover is over the wires, and open if the cover is missing. |
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Term
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Definition
A feature of a CPU socket
whereby pads, called lands, are used to make contact in uniform rows over the socket. |
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Term
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Definition
The first sector on a hard
drive, which contains the partition table and a
program the BIOS uses to boot an OS from the drive. |
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Term
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Definition
That portion of the chipset hub that
connects faster I/O buses (for example, AGP buses)
to the system bus. Compare to South Bridge |
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Term
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Definition
In Windows 2000/XP, the OS
loader used on Intel systems. |
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Term
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Definition
Ports that are directly on the
motherboard, such as a built-in keyboard port or
on-board network port |
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Term
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Definition
A table at the beginning of the hard
drive that contains information about each
partition on the drive. The partition table is contained in the Master Boot Record. |
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Term
| PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus |
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Definition
A bus
common to desktop computers that uses a 32-bitwide
or a 64-bit data path. Several variations of PCI
exist. One or more notches on a PCI slot keep the
wrong PCI cards from being inserted in the PCI slot. |
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Term
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Definition
The latest evolution of PCI, which
is not backward-compatible with earlier PCI slots
and cards. PCIe slots come in several sizes including PCIe x1, PCIe x4, PCIe x8, and PCIe x16. |
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Term
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Definition
A feature of a CPU socket
whereby the pins are aligned in uniform rows
around the socket. |
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Term
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Definition
A password that a computer uses
to control access during the boot process. |
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Term
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Definition
A file that contains instructions
designed to be executed by the CPU. |
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Term
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Definition
A card that plugs into a motherboard and
allows for expansion cards to be mounted parallel
to the motherboard. Expansion cards are plugged into slots on the riser card. |
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Term
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Definition
On a disk surface one segment of a track,
which almost always contains 512 bytes of data |
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Term
| SLI (Scalable Link Interface) |
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Definition
A technology by
NVIDIA that allows for multiple video cards to be
installed in the same system. Compare to CrossFire. |
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Term
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Definition
To restart a PC without turning off the
power, for example, in Windows XP, by clicking
Start, Turn Off Computer, and Restart. Also called
warm boot. |
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Term
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Definition
That portion of the chipset hub that
connects slower I/O buses (for example, a PCI bus)
to the system bus. Compare to North Bridge |
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Term
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Definition
Round plastic or metal pegs that separate
the motherboard from the case, so that
components on the back of the motherboard do not touch the case. |
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Term
| staggered pin grid array (SPGA) |
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Definition
A feature of a CPU
socket whereby the pins are staggered over the
socket in order to squeeze more pins into a small space. |
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Term
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Definition
Round plastic or metal pegs that separate
the motherboard from the case, so that
components on the back of the motherboard do not touch the case. |
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Term
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Definition
A password that a computer uses
to control access during the boot process. |
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Term
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Definition
| One of many concentric circles on the surface of a hard drive or floppy disk. |
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Term
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Definition
A power-on password required to
view or edit BIOS setup or use the computer. The password is set on a BIOS setup screen |
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Term
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Definition
A clock tick in which nothing happens,
used to ensure that the microprocessor isn’t getting
ahead of slower components. A 0-wait state is
preferable to a 1-wait state. Too many wait states can slow down a system. |
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Term
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Definition
To restart a PC without turning off the
power, for example, in Windows XP, by clicking
Start, Turn Off Computer, and Restart. Also called warm boot. |
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Term
| zero insertion force (ZIF) socket |
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Definition
A socket that uses
a small lever to apply even force when you install the microchip into the socket. |
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