8 Glossary

EIDE
Extended Int egrated Driv e Electronics . The EIDE specif ication is an enhanced
version of IDE that allows for faster transfer rates and supports larger hard drive
sizes
enhanced VGA
A video interface that offers more colors or higher resolution than VGA.
EPP
Enhanced Par allel Port, a pa r a llel port sta ndard for PCs tha t supports b idirectional
communication between the PC and attached device (such as a printer). EPP is
about 10 times faster than the older Centronics standard. Another modern parallel
port for PCs that offers similar performance is the ECP (Extended Capabilities
Port).
extended RAM
The area of RA M above th e first me gabyte of memory i n the syst em avail able for
enhancing s ystem perfor mance.
F
FAT
File Allocation Table. A table near the beginning of a drive that identifies the
location of everything on the drive.
flash ROM
Method in which a computer’s BIOS ROM can be upgraded without replacing the
ROM BIOS chip.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. A method of transferring files between two computers on a
TCP/IP network (such as the Internet). “Anonymous FTP” (the most common
usage on the Internet) allows a user to download files without having an account at
the remot e comput er.
function key
The set of keys on the keyboard (usually F1 through F12) that let you get help and
error messag e i nformatio n or quickly sel e c t frequentl y u sed commands.
G
graphics accelerator
A term referr ing to a higher end video cont roller tha t handles hi g h-speed gra phics
and usually c o ntains severa l megabytes of o nboard video me mo ry.
GUI
Graphical Us er Interface. M ethod of prese nt ing informa t ion on a computer screen
utilizing ico ns, pull-down me nu s, and a mouse.