Glossary

243

Terms

H

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.

 

Internet — The decentralized, world-wide network of computers that

 

provides electronic mail, the World Wide Web, and other services. See

 

also World Wide Web.

K

keyboard shortcut — A key or combination of keys that you use to

perform a task instead of using a pointing device such as the

 

 

AccuPoint.

 

kilobyte (KB) — A unit of data equal to 1024 bytes. See also byte.