Dell Precision 620 User Manual

Also see for Inspiron 620: Setup guide Upgrade manual System information guide Quick start Quick reference guide

Contents

A value or option that you specify to a program. A parameter is sometimes called a switch or an argument.partitionYou can divide a hard-disk drive into multiple physical sections called partitions with the fdisk command. Each partition can contain multiplelogical drives.After partitioning the hard-disk drive, you must format each logical drive with the format command.PCIPeripheral Component Interconnect. A standard for local-bus implementation developed by Intel Corporation.peripheral deviceAn internal or external device—such as a printer, a disk drive, or a keyboard—connected to a computer.PGApin grid array. A type of microprocessor socket that allows you to remove the microprocessor chip.pixelA single point on a video display. Pixels are arranged in rows and columns to create an image. A video resolution, such as 640 x 480, isexpressed as the number of pixels across by the number of pixels up and down.Plug and PlayAn industry-standard specification that makes it easier to add hardware devices to personal computers. Plug and Play provides automaticinstallation and configuration, compatibility with existing hardware, and dynamic support of mobile computing environments.POSTpower-on self-test. Before the operating system loads when you turn on your computer, the POST tests various system components such as RAM,the disk drives, and the keyboard.ppmpages per minutePQFPplastic quad flat pack. A type of microprocessor socket in which the microprocessor chip is permanently mounted.protected modeAn operating mode supported by 80286 or higher microprocessors, protected mode allows operating systems to implement:l A memory address space of 16 MB (80286 microprocessor) to 4 GB (Intel386 or higher microprocessor)l Multitaskingl Virtual memory, a method for increasing addressable memory by using the hard-disk driveThe Windows NT, OS/2, and UNIX® 32-bit operating systems run in protected mode. MS-DOS cannot run in protected mode; however, someprograms that you can start from MS-DOS, such as the Windows operating system, are able to put the computer into protected mode.PS/2Personal System/2RRAIDredundant arrays of independent disksRAMrandom-access memory. The computer's primary temporary storage area for program instructions and data. Each location in RAM is identified bya number called a memory address. Any information stored in RAM is lost when you turn off your computer.Rambus