Toshiba toshiba satellite user manual Glossary-8

Glossary

G

gigabyte (GB): A unit of data storage equal to 1024 megabytes. See also megabyte.

graphics: Drawings, pictures, or other images, such as charts or graphs, to present information.

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.

hard disk drive (HDD): An electromechanical device that reads and writes a hard disk. See also hard disk.

hardware: The physical electronic and mechanical components of a computer system: typically, the computer itself, external disk drives, etc. See also software and firmware.

hertz: A unit of wave frequency that equals one cycle per second.

host computer: The computer that controls, regulates, and transmits information to a device or another computer.

hot key: The computer’s feature in which certain keys in combination with the extended function key, FN, can be used to set system parameters, such as speaker volume.

HW Setup: A TOSHIBA utility that lets you set the parameters for various hardware components.

I

icon: A small graphic image displayed on the screen or in the indicator panel. In Windows, an icon represents an object that the user can manipulate.

i.LINK (IEEE1394): This port enables high-speed data transfer directly from external devices such as digital video cameras.

input: The data or instructions you provide to a computer, communication device or other peripheral device from the keyboard or external or internal storage devices. The data sent (or output) by the sending computer is input for the receiving computer.

instruction: Statements or commands that specify how to perform a particular task.

User’s Manual Glossary-8