Glossary 267

G

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

H

earth, and is the point of reference for voltages in the circuit.

hard 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 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

I

automatically recognize the change.

icon — 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.