Glossary
155
NIC
— See
network
adapter
.
notification area
— The section of the Windows taskbar
that contains icons for providing quick access to programs
and computer functions, such as the clock, volume
control, and print status. Also referred to as
system tray
.
ns
— nanosecond — A measure of time that equals one
billionth of a second.
NVRAM
— nonvolatile random access memory — A type
of memory that stores data when the computer is turned
off or loses its external power source. NVRAM is used for
maintaining computer configuration information such
as date, time, and other system setup options that you
can set.
O
optical drive
— A drive that uses optical technology to
read or write data from CDs, DVDs, or DVD+RWs.
Example of optical drives include CD drives, DVD drives,
CD-RW drives, and CD-RW/DVD combo drives.
P
parallel connector
— An I/O port often used to connect a
parallel printer to your computer. Also referred to as an
LPT port
.
partition
— A physical storage area on a hard drive that is
assigned to one or more logical storage areas known as
logical drives. Each partition can contain multiple logical
drives.
PC Card
— A removable I/O card adhering to the
PCMCIA standard. Modems and network adapters are
common types of PC Cards.
PCI
— peripheral component interconnect — PCI is a
local bus that supports 32-and 64-bit data paths,
providing a high-speed data path between the processor
and devices such as video, drives, and networks.
PCI Express
— A modification to the PCI interface that
boosts the data transfer rate between the processor and
the devices attached to it. PCI Express can transfer data at
speeds from 250 MB/sec to 4 GB/sec. If the PCI Express
chip set and the device are capable of different speeds,
they will operate at the slower speed.
PCMCIA
— Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association — The organization that
establishes standards for PC Cards.
PIN
— personal identification number — A sequence of
numerals and/or letters used to restrict unauthorized
access to computer networks and other secure systems.
PIO
— programmed input/output — A method of
transferring data between two devices through the
processor as part of the data path.
pixel
— A single point on a display screen. Pixels are
arranged in rows and columns to create an image. A video
resolution, such as 800 x 600, is expressed as the number
of pixels across by the number of pixels up and down.
Plug-and-Play
— The ability of the computer to
automatically configure devices. Plug and Play provides
automatic installation, configuration, and compatibility
with existing hardware if the BIOS, operating system, and
all devices are Plug and Play compliant.
POST
— power-on self-test — Diagnostics programs,
loaded automatically by the BIOS, that perform basic
tests on the major computer components, such as
memory, hard drives, and video. If no problems are
detected during POST, the computer continues the
start-up.
processor
— A computer chip that interprets and executes
program instructions. Sometimes the processor is referred
to as the
CPU
(central processing unit).
program
— Any software that processes data for you,
including spreadsheet, word processor, database, and
game packages. Programs require an operating system
to run.
PS/2
— personal system/2 — A type of connector for
attaching a PS/2-compatible keyboard, mouse, or keypad.
book.book Page 155 Friday, December 21, 2007 3:22 PM
Summary of Contents for Inspiron 1501 - Turion X2 TL-60 2GB DDR2
Page 9: ...Contents 9 Glossary 149 Index 161 book book Page 9 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 10: ...10 Contents book book Page 10 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 32: ...32 Setting Up Your Computer book book Page 32 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 50: ...50 Using Multimedia book book Page 50 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 60: ...60 Setting Up a Network book book Page 60 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 108: ...108 Dell QuickSet Features book book Page 108 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 140: ...140 Specifications book book Page 140 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 148: ...148 Appendix book book Page 148 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 160: ...160 Glossary book book Page 160 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...
Page 166: ...66 Index 166 Index book book Page 166 Friday December 21 2007 3 22 PM ...