|
Term
|
Description
|
| .INI
File |
An
initialization file, which is used by an application to store
configuration data that is read as the program is starting. |
| Abort |
To
intentionally and prematurely terminate an active computer program
or command. |
| Accelerator |
A
device which enhances the processing speed of a hardware component,
usually by taking over some of the tasks originally assigned to
that component. For example, a video accelerator card will take
over some of the graphic functions originally assigned to the
CPU. By dedicating its processing ability to the graphics, it
can perform the functions more efficiently and lessen the load
on the Central Processing Unit. |
| Access |
To
obtain an open channel of communication with a software or hardware
component so that the user can work with it. |
| Active |
Describes
an application or file that currently is operational and ready
to receive or transmit data. |
| Active
Cell |
A
spreadsheet or table can be divided into cells, which are the
points where the rows and columns intersect (creating small squares
or cells). An active cell is the cell that is currently highlighted
(chosen) and ready to receive or manipulate data. |
| Active
Desktop |
Starting
with Internet Explorer IV, Microsoft uses what is called 'push
technology' which can change the desktop into a webpage-like interface
complete with hyperlinks to your system, network or internet resources. |
| Active-matrix
Display |
A
type of video display (originally for notebooks or laptops) where
each picture element (pixel) is represented by a single transistor.
In contrast, a passive-matrix display uses a series of criss-crossed
wires with an LCD element at each intersection, and each LCD element
represents a pixel. Active-matix displays produce the sharper
image and are more expensive to produce. |
| AGP |
A
high-speed graphics port that produces fast communication between
the graphics controller and computer. It allows the graphic card
to directly access the computer's main memory and bypass the PCI
bus. Video cards in this port can run almost twice as fast as
those in a PCI slot. This also helps to reduce the traffic on
the PCI bus. |
| Analog |
A
device which uses a system of unlimited variables to measure or
represent the flow of data. In contrast, digital devices are limited
to a predetermined numbering system (binary) to represent data
flow. If you have five dots on a piece of paper, digital data
can be represented by each of the dots. Draw a line to connect
all the dots and analog data can be represented by any point along
the line. |
| ASCII |
American
Standard Code for Information Interchange. It is a system of computer
code in which all values are given eight digit binary values (max
256 possible values). The first 32 values are for different operational
functions such as Escape, Backspace, Carriage Return. The next
96 make up all the characters you have on your keyboard. The first
128 values comprise what is called the standard ASCII character
set. The last 128 values (extended ASCII character set) are characters
such as ¥, ó, ½. |
| AUTOEXEC.BAT |
A
user-configurable text file, in the MS-DOS operating system, that
is used to set system variables and load TSRs. During the bootup
process in MS-DOS, the command interpreter is loaded into memory
and takes over the system. It then locates and executes the command
lines in AUTOEXEC.BAT before loading the DOS promp. |
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