UPGRADING REPAIRING PCs

6
Chapter 1—General Technical Reference
Table 1.3 Terms and Their Definitions Continued
Term Definition
Device Manager Tab in the System Properties sheet for Windows 9x/2000/Me that
enables you to view, change the configuration of, and remove system
and add-on devices.
DFP Digital flat panel; an early digital monitor standard replaced by DVI.
DIMM Dual inline memory module; leading type of memory device from late
1990s to present; current versions have 168 edge connectors.
DMA Direct memory access; data transfer method used by some devices to
bypass the CPU and go directly to and from memory; some ISA
devices require the use of a specific DMA channel.
DNS Domain name system; matches IP addresses to Web site and Web
server names.
DPMS Display Power Management Standard; the original power management
standard for monitors.
Drive geometry Combination of heads, sectors per track, and cylinders used to define
an IDE drive in the system BIOS CMOS setup program. When a drive is
moved to another system, the same drive geometry and translation
settings must be used to enable the new system to read data from the
drive.
DVD Digital versatile disc; the emerging standard for home video and also a
popular add-on for computers.
DVI Digital video interface; the current digital monitor standard.
ECC Error correcting code. A method of error correction; a type of system
memory or cache that is capable of detecting and correcting some
types of memory errors without interrupting processing. ECC requires
parity-checked memory plus an ECC-compatible motherboard with
ECC enabled.
EISA Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture; a 32-bit version of ISA developed
in 1989; found primarily in older servers; obsolete, but can be
used for ISA cards.
FAT File allocation table; on-disk directory that lists filenames, sizes, and
locations of all clusters in a file. The size of the FAT limits the size of
the drive.
FAT-16 16-bit FAT supported by MS-DOS and Windows 95/95 OSR 1.x; drive
letter limited to 2.1GB.
FAT-32 32-bit FAT supported by Windows 95 OSR 2.x/98/Me; drive letter limited
to 2.1TB.
FCC ID Identification number placed on all computer hardware to certify it’s
approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Use this number
to locate drivers for some boards.
Firmware “Software on a Chip”; general term for BIOS code on motherboards
and in devices such as modems, printers, and others.
Flash BIOS BIOS/firmware on systems or devices that can be updated through
software.
Flash memory Memory device whose contents can be changed electrically, but
doesn’t require electrical power to retain its contents; used in digital
cameras and portable music players.