Glossary 9
multifrequency monitor
A monitor that supports several video standards. A multi-
frequency monitor can adjust to the frequency range of the
signal from a variety of video adapters.
mV
Abbreviation for millivolt(s).
NiCad
Acronym for nickel cadmium.
NiMH
Abbreviation for nickel-metal hydride.
NLM
Acronym for NetWare
®
Loadable Module.
NMI
Abbreviation for nonmaskable interrupt. A device sends
an NMI to signal the microprocessor about hardware er-
rors, such as a parity error.
noninterlaced
A technique for decreasing screen flicker by sequentially
refreshing each horizontal line on the screen.
ns
Abbreviation for nanosecond(s), one billionth of a second.
NTFS
Abbreviation for the NT File System option in the Win-
dows NT operating system.
NVRAM
Abbreviation for nonvolatile random-access memory.
Memory that does not lose its contents when you turn off
your computer. NVRAM is used for maintaining the date,
time, and system setup options.
OS/2
Abbreviation for Operating System/2.
OTP
Abbreviation for one-time programmable.
parallel port
An I/O port used most often to connect a parallel printer
to your computer. You can usually identify a parallel port
on your computer by its 25-hole connector.
parameter
A value or option that you specify to a program. A param-
eter is sometimes called a switch or an argument.
partition
You can divide a hard-disk drive into multiple physical
sections called partitions with the fdisk command. Each par-
tition can contain multiple logical drives. For example, you
could partition a 200-MB hard-disk drive into two physically
separate partitions with three logical drive assignments, as
shown in the following table.
After partitioning the hard-disk drive, you must format
each logical drive with the format command.
PC Card
Slightly larger than a credit card, a PC Card is a removable
I/O card—such as a modem, LAN, SRAM, or flash mem-
ory card—that adheres to the PCMCIA standards. See also
PCMCIA.
PCI
Abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect. A
standard for local-bus implementation developed by Intel
Corporation.
PCMCIA
Abbreviation for Personal Computer Memory Card Inter-
national Association. See also PC Card.
peripheral device
An internal or external device—such as a printer, a disk
drive, or a keyboard—connected to a computer.
PGA
Abbreviation for pin grid array, a type of microprocessor
socket that allows you to remove the microprocessor chip.
Partitioning the Hard-Disk Drive
Physical Partitions and Sizes
Partition 1 120 MB
Partition 2 80 MB
Logical Drive Assignments and Sizes
Drive C 120 MB
Drive D 50 MB
Drive E 30 MB
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