DIP switches

Small switches on a piece of hardware such as an option card or a printer. DIP switch settings control various functions and provide a system with information about itself. DIP stands for Dual In-line Package.

Directory

A list of files stored on a disk or on part of a disk.

Disk

The collective term for diskettes and hard disks.

Disk drive

The physical device (either a hard disk drive or a diskette drive) that allows the computer to read from and write to a hard disk or a diskette. A diskette drive has a slot into which you insert a diskette. A hard disk is permanently fixed inside the main unit.

Diskette

A flat piece of flexible plastic coated with magnetic material and used to store data permanently. Also called floppy disk.

DOS

The Disk Operating System that controls the computer’s input and output functions. See Operating system.

Double-density

A type of diskette format that allows you to store twice as much data as the standard-density format. The double-density diskettes for the Equity Ie have a storage capacity of 720KB.

Execution speed

The speed at which the central processing unit can execute commands. The Equity Ie can run at 8 or 10 MHz. Also called operating speed.

Extension

A suffix of up to three characters that can be added to a filename.

GL-4

Glossary