Glossary 3

audio
Relating to or capable of producing sound. Multimedia computers make extensive
use of audio.
AVI
A digital movie format created by Microsoft. AVI is short for “audio/video
interleave,” a method of incl u ding a digita l movie and its a c c o mpanying sou nd in
the same file. Files in the AVI format have the .AVI extension.
B
bad sector
Part of a hard dr ive or diskett e drive stor a ge medium tha t doesn’t hold da ta.
Formatting generally detects and marks these areas so they won’t be used. Certain
utility progr ams do, too, a nd it is a good idea t o run this type of u tility occas ionally
to prevent data loss if the condition of the drive changes.
bandwidth
A measure of ho w mu ch informat io n something ca n carry. Specif ically, dat a path
times frequency. For example, the ISA bus has a data path of 16 bits (it can send 16
bits at a time) a nd typicall y op erates at 8 .33 MHz, so it ha s a bandwidth o f
133.28 megabits per second (Mbps).
base RAM
Area of system memory between 0 and 640 kilobytes available to the user for
operating sys tem and appl ication progr ams.
batch file
A file that c ont ains a seri es of DOS comma nds . Batch fil es have the ext ension .ba t .
If you execute a batch file, DOS attempts to carry out all the commands in the file,
in order.
baud
A unit of measure for modem speed. Literally, the number of voltage transitions per
second. Phone line limitations limit the actual baud rate of modems to 2400 baud,
although the data transmission rate (bps) may be higher because of data
compression.
BBS
Short for Bulletin Board Service. Software that serves as a communication and
information source for computers that communicate by modem.
BIOS
Basic Input/Output System. A program or set of programs permanently stored in
ROM chips installed on the system board. The BIOS contains functions that control
the real-ti me clock, keyboa rd, disk dri ves, video di s play, and oth er peripheral
devices. For example, the BIOS Setup utility program is contained in the BIOS, and
when you change the drive type, you change the BIOS.