format
The process used to organize a hard or floppy disk into sectors so it can accept data. Formatting destroys all previous data on the disk.
G
(Gigabyte)
1,073,741,824 bytes. See also byte.
H
hard disk drive
See disk drive.
hardware
The physical parts of your computer, including the keyboard, monitor, disk drives, cables, and circuit cards.
hertz
(Hz) A unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second.
hot key
Combination of two or three keys (such as
I
IC
(Integrated Circuit) An electronic device that contains miniaturized circuitry.
(ISA Configuration Utility)
The program that you use to change the configuration of some ISA desktop computers. This program also contains information about the hardware in the computer.
IDE
(Integrated Drive Electronics) A type of hard disk drive with the control circuitry located inside the disk drive rather than on a drive controller card.
input/output
(I/O) The process of transferring data between the computer and external devices.
interface
A connection between the computer and a peripheral device that enables them to exchange data. See also parallel port and serial port.
interrupt
A special control signal from an I/O device that diverts the attention of the microprocessor from the program to a special address.
Glossary 5
