Term
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Definition
| The primary partition on the hard drive that boots the OS. Windows calls the active partition the system partition. |
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Term
| Automated System Recovery (ASR) |
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Definition
| The Windows XP process that allows you to restore an entire hard drive volume or logical drive to its state at the time the backup of the volume was made. |
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Term
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Definition
| The term Windows uses that applies to a hard drive when the drive is a stand-alone drive in the system. Compare to dynamic disk. |
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Term
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Definition
| The hard drive partition where the Windows OS is stored. The system partition and the boot partition may be different partitions. |
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Term
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Definition
| One or more sectors that constitute the smallest unit of space on a disk for storing data (also referred to as a file allocation unit). Files are written to a disk as groups of whole clusters. |
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Term
| Compact Disc File System (CDFS) |
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Definition
| The 32-bit file system for CD discs and some CD-R and CD-RW discs. See also Universal Disk Format (UDF). |
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Definition
| A Vista utility that can make a backup of the entire volume on which Vista is installed and can also back up other volumes. Compare to system image. |
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Term
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Definition
| To rewrite a file to a disk in one contiguous chain of clusters, thus speeding up data retrieval. |
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Definition
| A Windows utility that enables you to delete temporary files to free up space on a drive. |
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Term
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Definition
| A way to partition one or more hard drives, so that the drives can work together to store data in order to increase space for data or to provide fault tolerance or improved performance. Also see RAID. Compare to basic disk. |
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Term
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Definition
| A volume type used with dynamic disks by which you can create a single volume that uses space on multiple hard drives. |
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Term
| elevated command prompt window |
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Definition
| A Windows 7/Vista command prompt window that allows commands that require administrative privileges. |
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Term
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Definition
| The only partition on a hard drive that can contain more than one logical drive. In Windows, a hard drive can have only a single extended partition. Compare to primary partition |
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Term
| file allocation table (FAT) |
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Definition
| A table on a hard drive or floppy disk used by the FAT file system that tracks the clusters used to contain a file. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| The overall structure that an OS uses to name, store, and organize files on a disk. Examples of file systems are NTFS and FAT32. Windows is always installed on a volume that uses the NTFS file system |
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Term
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Definition
| See high-level formatting. |
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Term
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Definition
| A file that has been written to different portions of the disk so that it is not in contiguous clusters. |
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Term
| Globally Unique Identifier Partition Table (GUID or GPT) |
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Definition
| A partitioning system installed on a hard drive that can support 128 partitions and is recommended for drives larger than 2 TB. |
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Term
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Definition
| One of two ways to implement RAID. Hardware RAID is more reliable and better performing than software RAID, and is implemented using the BIOS on the motherboard or a RAID controller card. |
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Term
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Definition
| A process performed by the Windows Format program (for example, FORMAT C:/S), the Windows installation program, or the Disk Management utility. The process creates the boot record, file system, and root directory on a hard drive volume or logical drive, a floppy disk, or USB flash drive. Also called formatting, OS formatting, or operating system formatting. Compare to low-level formatting. |
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Term
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Definition
| Text files that keep hardware and software configuration information, user preferences, and application settings and are used by the OS when first loaded and when needed by hardware, applications, and users. |
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Term
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Definition
| A portion or all of a hard drive extended partition that is treated by the operating system as though it were a physical drive or volume. Each logical drive is assigned a drive letter, such as drive F, and contains a file system. Compare to volume. |
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Term
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Definition
| A process (usually performed at the factory) that electronically creates the hard drive tracks and sectors and tests for bad spots on the disk surface. |
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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
| The database used by the NTFS file system to track the contents of a volume or logical drive. |
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Term
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Definition
| A Windows XP technique to provide fault tolerance whereby one hard drive duplicates another hard drive. |
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Term
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Definition
| A folder that is used as a shortcut to space on another volume, which effectively increases the size of the folder to the size of the other volume |
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Term
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Definition
| A utility that allows users to work with files in the folder when the computer is not connected to the corporate network. When the computer is later connected, Windows syncs up the offl ine files and folders with those on the network. |
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Term
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Definition
| The Windows swap file that is used to hold the virtual memory that is used to enhance physical memory installed in a system. |
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Term
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Definition
| A division of a hard drive that can hold volumes. Using the MBR system, Windows can support up to four partitions on one hard drive. |
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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
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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
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Definition
| A format procedure, used to format a hard drive volume or other drive, that doesn’t scan the volume or drive for bad sectors; use it only when a drive has been previously formatted and is in healthy condition. |
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Term
| RAID (redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) |
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Definition
| Several methods of configuring multiple hard drives to store data to increase volume size and improve performance, or to ensure that if one hard drive fails, the data is still available from another hard drive |
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Term
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Definition
| Using space from two or more physical disks to increase the disk space available for a single volume. Performance improves because data is written evenly across all disks. Windows calls RAID 0 a striped volume. Also called striping. |
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Term
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Definition
A type of drive imaging that duplicates data on one drive to another drive and is used for fault tolerance. Windows calls RAID 1 a mirrored
volume. |
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Term
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Definition
| A database that Windows uses to store hardware and software configuration information, user preferences, and setup information |
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Term
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Definition
| A snapshot of the Windows system, usually made before installation of new hardware or applications. |
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Term
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Definition
| On a hard disk drive or SSD, the smallest unit of bytes addressable by the operating system and BIOS. On hard disk drives, one sector equals 512 bytes; SSD drives might use larger sectors. |
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Term
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Definition
| A copy of open files made so that open files are included in a backup. |
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Term
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Definition
| A type of volume used on a single hard drive. Compare to dynamic volume. |
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Term
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Definition
| Wasted space on a hard drive caused by not using all available space at the end of clusters. |
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Term
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Definition
| Using Windows to implement RAID. The setup is done using the Disk Management utility. |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| The backup of the entire Windows 7 volume and can also include backups of other volumes. The backup is made using the Windows 7 Backup and Restore utility. |
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Term
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Definition
| The active partition of the hard drive containing the boot record and the specific files required to start the Windows launch. |
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Term
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Definition
| A utility that automatically backs up system files and stores them in restore points on the hard drive at regular intervals and just before you install software or hardware. |
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Term
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Definition
| A Windows utility used to restore the system to a restore point. |
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Term
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Definition
| In Windows 2000/XP, files that are necessary for a successful load of the operating system. |
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Term
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Definition
| One of many concentric circles on the surface of a hard disk drive or floppy disk. |
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Term
| Universal Disc Format (UDF) |
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Definition
| A file system for optical media used by all DVD discs and some CD-R and CD-RW discs. |
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Term
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Definition
| A collection of files and settings about a user account that enables the user’s personal data, desktop settings, and other operating parameters to be retained from one session to another. |
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Term
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Definition
| The group of folders and subfolders in the C:Users folder that belong to a specific user account and contain the user profile. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method whereby the OS uses the hard drive as though it were RAM. Also see pagefile.sys. |
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Term
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Definition
| A primary partition that has been assigned a drive letter and can be formatted with a file system such as NTFS. Compare to logical drive |
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Term
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Definition
| An * or ? character used in a command line that represents a character or group of characters in a filename or extension. |
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