User guide

support.dell.com Glossary 1
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The following list defines or identifies
technical terms, abbreviations, and acro-
nyms used in Dell user documents.

Abbreviation for ampere(s).

Abbreviation for alternating current.

An expansion card that plugs into an
expansion-card connector on the
computer's system board. An adapter
card adds some specialized function to
the computer by providing an interface
between the expansion bus and a periph-
eral device. Examples of adapter cards
include network cards, sound boards, and
SCSI adapters.

Abbreviation for Autodesk Device
Interface.

Abbreviation for artificial intelligence.

Acronym for American National Standards
Institute.

Software designed to help you perform a
specific task, such as a spreadsheet or
word processor. Application programs are
distinct from operating system and utility
software.

Acronym for American Standard Code for
Information Interchange. A text file con-
taining only characters from the ASCII
character set (usually created with a text
editor, such as MS-DOS Editor or Notepad
in Microsoft Windows operating system)
is called an ASCII file.

Acronym for application-specific integrat-
ed circuit.


Acronym for Advanced SCSI program-
ming interface.

When you boot your computer, MS-DOS
runs any commands contained in the text
file,
autoexec.bat
(after running any com-
mands in the
config.sys
file). An
autoexec.bat
file is not required to boot
MS-DOS, but provides a convenient place
to run commands that are essential for
setting up a consistent computing envi-
ronment—such as loading mouse or
network software.

A copy of a program or data file. As a pre-
caution, you should back up your
computer's hard-disk drive on a regular
basis. Before making a change to the con-
figuration of your computer, you should
back up important start-up files, such as
autoexec.bat
and
config.sys
for
MS-DOS or
win.ini
and
system.ini
for
Microsoft Windows.