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Toshiba Tecra A3X User Manual

Page 181

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User’s Manual

Glossary-4

Glossary

capacity: The amount of data that can be stored on a magnetic storage

device such as a floppy disk or hard disk. It is usually described in

terms of kilobytes (KB), where one KB = 1024 bytes and megabytes

(MB), where one MB = 1024 KB.

card: Synonym for board. See board.
CardBus: An industry standard bus for 32-bit PC cards.
CD-ROM: A Compact Disc-Read Only Memory is a high capacity disc that

can be read from but not written to. The CD-ROM drive uses a laser,

rather than magnetic heads, to read data from the disc.

CD-R: A Compact Disc-Recordable disc can be written once and read

many times. See also CD-ROM.

CD-RW: A Compact Disc-Read/Write disc can be rewritten many times.

See also CD-ROM.

character: Any letter, number, punctuation mark, or symbol used by the

computer. Also synonymous with byte.

chassis: The frame containing the computer.
chip: A small semiconductor containing computer logic and circuitry for

processing, memory, input/output functions and controlling other

chips.

CMOS: Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. An electronic circuit

fabricated on a silicon wafer that requires very little power.

Integrated circuits implemented in CMOS technology can be tightly

packaged and are highly reliable.

cold start: Starting a computer that is currently off (turning on the power).
COM1, COM2, COM3 and COM4: The names assigned to the serial and

communication ports.

commands: Instructions you enter at the terminal keyboard that direct the

actions of the computer or its peripheral devices.

communications: The means by which a computer transmits and receives

data to and from another computer or device. See parallel interface;

serial interface.

compatibility: 1) The ability of one computer to accept and process data in

the same manner as another computer without modifying the data

or the media upon which it is being transferred.

2) the ability of one device to connect to or communicate with

another system or component.

components: Elements or parts (of a system) which make up the whole

(system).

computer program: A set of instructions written for a computer that enable

it to achieve a desired result.

computer system: A combination of hardware, software, firmware, and

peripheral components assembled to process data into useful

information.