Gateway 3200 User Guide - Page 35

Hard drive - The drive installed inside your system that stores all your system and data files. Depending on its configuration, the computer may have more than one hard drive. Each drive is assigned its own drive letter. If you have only one drive, its drive letter is C, and it is often called "the C drive." I/O - Input/output. Refers to devices, such as printers, whose purpose is to enter data into a computer or extract data from a computer. An I/O device is accessed through an I/O address: a location in memory reserved for the device to exchange information between itself and the rest of the computer. Operating system - A program that supervises the computer's operation, including handling I/O, networking and connectivity, and device drivers. POST - Power-on self-test. POST tests your computer's components whenever you turn on the computer. Programs - Software installed on your system. Programs are sometimes called applications. RAM - Random access memory. RAM is the computer's system memory. You can write to and read from RAM. Information stored in RAM is temporary and is erased when the computer is turned off. RESET - Initiates a warm boot without POST information. ROM - Read-only memory. Permanent computer memory dedicated to a particular function. For example, the instructions for starting the computer when you first turn on power are contained in ROM. You cannot write to ROM. 30 E-3200 User's Guide