Dell Precision 610 - Manual (Page 123)

Acronym for American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. A text file containing only characters from the
ASCII character set (usually created with a text editor, such as
Notepad in Windows), is called an ASCII file.
ASIC
Acronym for application-specific integrated circuit.
ASPI
Advanced SCSI programming interface.
asset tag code
An individual code assigned to a computer, usually by a
system administrator, for security or tracking purposes.
attribute
As it relates to DMI, an attribute is a piece of information
related to a component. Attributes can be combined to form
groups. If an attribute is defined as read-write, it may be
defined by a management application.
autoexec.bat file
The autoexec.bat file (Windows 95 and MS-DOS only) is
executed when you boot your computer (after executing any
commands in the config.sys file). This start-up file contains
commands that define the characteristics of each device
connected to your computer, and it finds and executes
programs stored in locations other than the active directory.
backup
A copy of a program or data file. As a precaution, you should
back up your computer's hard-disk drive on a regular basis.
Before making a change to the configuration of your computer,
you should back up important start-up files from your operating
system.
backup battery
The backup battery maintains system configuration, date, and
time information in a special section of memory when the
system is turned off.
base memory
Synonym for conventional memory. See also " conventional
memory ".
batch file
MIF
Acronym for management information format. A MIF file
contains information, status, and links to component
instrumentation. MIF files are installed into the MIF database
by the DMI service layer. The content of a MIF is defined by a
DTMF working committee and is published in the form of a MIF
definition document. This document identifies the groups and
attributes that are relevant to DMI-manageable components.
mm
Abbreviation for millimeter(s).
modem
A device that allows your computer to communicate with other
computers over telephone lines.
mouse
A pointing device that controls the movement of the cursor on
a screen. Mouse-aware software allows you to activate
commands by clicking a mouse button while pointing at objects
displayed on the screen.
MPEG
Acronym for Motion Picture Experts Group. MPEG is a digital
video file format.
ms
Abbreviation for millisecond(s).
MS-DOS
Abbreviation for Microsoft Disk Operating System.
MTBF
Abbreviation for mean time between failures.
multifrequency monitor
A monitor that supports several video standards. A
multifrequency monitor can adjust to the frequency range of
the signal from a variety of video adapters.
mV
Abbreviation for millivolt(s).
NDIS
Abbreviation for Network Driver Interface Specification.
NIC