Glossary 243

Terms

ground — A conductor to which all components of an electric circuit are connected. It has a potential of zero (0) volts, is connected to the earth, and is the point of reference for voltages in the circuit.

Hhard disk — A storage device composed of a rigid platter or platters that can be magnetically coded with data. Hard disks hold much more

information than diskettes and are used for long-term storage of programs and data. The primary (or only) hard disk in a computer is usually fixed, but some computers have secondary hard disks that are removable. By default, the primary hard disk is referred to as drive C.

hardware — The physical components of a computer system. Compare

software.

Hibernation — A feature of many Toshiba notebook computers that saves to the hard disk the current state of your work, including all open files and programs, when you turn the computer off. When you turn on the computer again, your work is returned to the same state it was when the computer was turned off. See also Standby, Suspend.

high-density diskette — A 3.5-inch diskette that holds 1.44 MB of data. See also diskette.

hot key — (1) A feature in which certain keys in combination with the Fn key can set system options or control system parameters, such as the battery save mode. (2) A key or combination of keys that activates a memory resident program.

hot swapping — The ability to add or remove devices from a computer while the computer is running and have the operating system automatically recognize the change.

Iicon — A small image displayed on the screen that represents a function, file, or program.

interlaced — A method of refreshing a computer screen, in which only every other line of pixels is refreshed. Interlaced monitors take two passes to create a complete screen image. Compare non-interlaced.

internal device — See device.

Internet — The decentralized, world-wide network of computers that provides electronic mail, the World Wide Web, and other services. See also World Wide Web.