Operating instructions

APM (advanced power management) The BIOS routines that enable the CPU
to turn on and off selected peripherals.
archive To copy programs and data onto a relatively inexpensive storage me
-
dium (disk, tape, etc.) for long-term retention.
archive attribute An attribute of a file that shows whether the file has been
backed up since the last change.Each time a file is opened,changed,or saved, the
archive bit is turned on. Some types of backups will turn off this archive bit to
indicate that a good backup of the file exists on tape.
ARP (address resolution protocol) A protocol in the TCP/IP suite used with
the command-line utility of the same name to determine the MAC address that
corresponds to a particular IP address.
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) The industry-
standard 8-bit characters used to define text characters, consisting of 96 upper-
and lowercase letters, plus 32 non-printing control characters, each of which is
numbered. These numbers were designed to achieve uniformity among differ-
ent computer devices for printing and the exchange of simple text documents.
ASD (Automatic Skip Driver) A utility for preventing “bad”drivers from run-
ning the next time that you boot your computer. This utility examines startup
log files and removes problematic drivers from the boot process.
aspect ratio The ratio of width to height of an object. Standard television has
a 4:3 aspect ratio.
ASR (Automated System Recovery) A Windows XP tool designed to recover
a badly corrupted Windows system; similar to ERD.
asynchronous Communication whereby the receiving devices must send an
acknowledgment, or “ACK,” to the sending unit to verify a piece of data has
been sent.
AT (advanced technology) The model name of the second-generation,
80286-based IBM computer. Many aspects of the AT, such as the BIOS, CMOS,
and expansion bus, have become de facto standards in the PC industry. The
physical organization of the components on the motherboard is called the AT
form factor.
GLOSSARY 7
Passport / Mike Meyers‘ A+ Certification Passport / Meyers / 226308-3 / Glossary
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