RAM (Random Access Memory): (1) A storage device structured so that the time required to retrieve data is not significantly affected by the physical location of the data. (2) The primary storage section of personal computer.
Read/Write Head: The electromechanical component of the tape drive that performs the actual writing or reading on or from magnetic tape.
Real-Time Clock: A battery-powered clock, which continues to maintain its time even while the system is powered down. On PCs, the real-time clock contains a small amount of battery-powered memory (set CMOS RAM).
Refresh: The process of periodically rewriting the contents of a DRAM memory chip to keep it from fading. The term "refresh" is also commonly applied to redrawing the image on a CRT's phosphors.
Registry: The database repository for information about a computer’s configuration. The registry supersedes use of separate INI files for all system components and applications that know how to store values in the registry.
Registry Checker: A system maintenance program that finds and fixes registry problems and backs up the registry.
Registry Editor: An application that is used to view and edit entries in the registry.
Registry key: An identifier for a record or group of records in the registry.
Root directory: A specific area set aside to store boot files and directories.
ROM (Read-Only Memory): A memory for program storage which may not be changed by the program as it runs.
Route table: A table that is used to determine where a computer routes packets.
Scatter/Gather: A technique in which the contiguous data of a disk sector or sectors is transferred to or from multiple non-contiguous areas of memory. When reading into multiple areas of memory, this is called a scatter-read and the opposing operation is called gather-write. SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface): A system-independent expansion bus typically used to connect hard disks, tape drives, and CD-ROMs to a computer. A host adapter connects the SCSI bus to the computer's own bus.
Searching: The process of locating and retrieving data stored in a file.
Secondary Storage: Storage that supplements the primary storage of a computer. Synonymous with Auxiliary storage.
Sector: The smallest addressable unit of data on a disk. Under MS-DOS, this is normally 512 bytes.
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