Format

To prepare a new disk (or an old one you want to reuse) so that the data you store on it can be used by your operating system. Formatting divides a disk into tracks and sectors and creates addressable locations where your operating system can find your data.

Graphics

Screen or file data such as lines, angles, and curves. A graphics program creates images by joining individual pixels on the screen to represent virtually any shape desired.

Hard disk

An encased storage device containing one or more disk platters used to store large amounts of data. Unlike a diskette, a hard disk is fixed in place. It can process data more rapidly and store many more files than a diskette. Also called fixed disk.

Hardware

Any physical component of a computer system, such as a monitor, printer, keyboard, main system board, disk drive, or CPU.

Hexadecimal

A base-16 numbering system frequently used by programmers to represent the binary numbers used by the computer. Any decimal number between 0 and 255 can be expressed by a two-digit hexadecimal number consisting of the numbers 0 through 9 and the letters A through F. Hexadecimal numbers are usually followed by the letter H (or h) to differentiate them from decimal numbers.

2 0 G l o s s a r y