Dell PowerEdge 1400, User Manual

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support.dell.com Glossary 1
The following list defines or identifies
technical terms, abbreviations, and acro-
nyms used in Dell user documents.
Abbreviation for ampere(s).
Abbreviation for alternating current.
An expansion card that plugs into an
expansion-card connector on the
computer's system board. An adapter
card adds some specialized function to
the computer by providing an interface
between the expansion bus and a periph-
eral device. Examples of adapter cards
include network cards, sound boards, and
SCSI adapters.
Abbreviation for Autodesk Device
Interface.
Abbreviation for artificial intelligence.
Acronym for American National Standards
Institute.
Software designed to help you perform a
specific task, such as a spreadsheet or
word processor. Application programs are
distinct from operating system and utility
software.
Acronym for American Standard Code for
Information Interchange. A text file con-
taining only characters from the ASCII
character set (usually created with a text
editor, such as MS-DOS Editor or Notepad
in Microsoft Windows operating system)
is called an ASCII file.
Acronym for application-specific integrat-
ed circuit.
Acronym for Advanced SCSI program-
ming interface.
When you boot your computer, MS-DOS
runs any commands contained in the text
file,
autoexec.bat (after running any com-
mands in the config.sys file). An
autoexec.bat file is not required to boot
MS-DOS, but provides a convenient place
to run commands that are essential for
setting up a consistent computing envi-
ronment—such as loading mouse or
network software.
A copy of a program or data file. As a pre-
caution, you should back up your
computer's hard-disk drive on a regular
basis. Before making a change to the con-
figuration of your computer, you should
back up important start-up files, such as
autoexec.bat and config.sys for
MS-DOS or
win.ini
and
system.ini
for
Microsoft Windows.