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boot disk controller: The controller for the disk drive that the BIOS uses to load the
operating system. By default, this is the controller for the primary floppy disk
drive (A:). If you designate another disk drive as the boot drive, its controller
becomes the boot disk controller.
boot priority (startup sequence): The order in which the computer searches its disk
drives to locate the startup files. Under the standard boot priority, a computer
looks for the startup files in the floppy disk drive before checking the
primary
hard disk.
briefcase: A Windows 95/98 and NT feature that allows you to update multiple versions
of a file located on different computers.
buffer: An area of memory where information is held until it can be processed. Buffers
are frequently used to compensate for the fact that some parts of the system
are faster than others. For example, the computer sends information to a
printer much faster than even the fastest printer can handle it. A print buffer
stores printer information, enabling the computer to continue with other tasks.
As the printer prints a page, it looks in the buffer to see what to do next.
bus: An electrical circuit that connects the microprocessor with other parts of the
computer, such as the video adapter, disk drives and ports. It is the highway
along which data flows from one device to another. See also local bus.
bus speed: The speed at which the central processing unit (CPU) communicates with the
other elements of the computer. For example, the speed at which data moves
between the CPU and the serial ports.
byte: A sequence of eight bits. A byte is the smallest addressable unit of data. Each byte
represents an integer up to 255 in decimal (11111111 in binary, or FF in
hexadecimal), or a character (such as a letter, numeral, or other symbol). See
also binary, bit, gigabyte, hexadecimal, kilobyte, megabyte.
C
cache: An area of very fast memory in which frequently used or recently accessed
information is duplicated for quick retrieval. Accessing data from cache is
faster than accessing it from system RAM. See also disk cache.
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