Acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A text file containing only characters from the ASCII character set (usually created with a text editor, such as Notepad in Windows), is called an ASCII file.

ASIC

Acronym for application-specific integrated circuit.

ASPI

Advanced SCSI programming interface.

asset tag code

An individual code assigned to a computer, usually by a system administrator, for security or tracking purposes.

attribute

As it relates to DMI, an attribute is a piece of information related to a component. Attributes can be combined to form groups. If an attribute is defined as read-write, it may be defined by a management application.

autoexec.bat file

The autoexec.bat file (Windows 95 and MS-DOS only) is executed when you boot your computer (after executing any commands in the config.sys file). This start-up file contains commands that define the characteristics of each device connected to your computer, and it finds and executes programs stored in locations other than the active directory.

backup

A copy of a program or data file. As a precaution, you should back up your computer's hard-disk drive on a regular basis. Before making a change to the configuration of your computer, you should back up important start-up files from your operating system.

backup battery

The backup battery maintains system configuration, date, and time information in a special section of memory when the system is turned off.

base memory

Synonym for conventional memory. See also "conventional memory".

batch file

MIF

Acronym for management information format. A MIF file contains information, status, and links to component instrumentation. MIF files are installed into the MIF database by the DMI service layer. The content of a MIF is defined by a DTMF working committee and is published in the form of a MIF definition document. This document identifies the groups and attributes that are relevant to DMI-manageable components.

mm

Abbreviation for millimeter(s).

modem

A device that allows your computer to communicate with other computers over telephone lines.

mouse

A pointing device that controls the movement of the cursor on

ascreen. Mouse-aware software allows you to activate commands by clicking a mouse button while pointing at objects displayed on the screen.

MPEG

Acronym for Motion Picture Experts Group. MPEG is a digital video file format.

ms

Abbreviation for millisecond(s).

MS-DOS

Abbreviation for Microsoft Disk Operating System.

MTBF

Abbreviation for mean time between failures.

multifrequency monitor

A monitor that supports several video standards. A multifrequency monitor can adjust to the frequency range of the signal from a variety of video adapters.

mV

Abbreviation for millivolt(s).

NDIS

Abbreviation for Network Driver Interface Specification.

NIC