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| The primary partition on the hard drive that boots the OS. Windows calls this the System Partition. |
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| The hard drive partition where the Windows OS is stored. The system partition and this partition may be different partitions. |
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| A Windows utility that enables you to delete temporary files to free up space on a drive. |
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| To rewrite a file to a disk in one contiguous chain of clusters, thus speeding up data retrieval. |
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File Allocation Table
FAT |
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Definition
| A table on the hard drive or floppy disk used by the FAT file system that tracks the clusters used to contain the file. |
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One or more sectors that constitute the smallest unit of space on a disk for storing data.
Files are written to a disk as groups of clusters. |
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| Another term for File Allocation Unit |
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Text files that keep hardware and software configuration information, user preferences, and application settings.
They are used by the OS when first loaded and when needed by hardware, application, and users. |
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| A utility that allows users to work with the files in the folder when the computer is not connected to the corporate network. When the computer is later connected, Windows syncs up the offline files and folders with those on the network. |
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| The Windows swap file that is used to hold the virtual memory that is used to enhance physical memory installed in a system. |
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| A database that Windows uses to store hardware and software configuration information, user preferences, and setup information. |
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| A snapshot of the Windows system, usually made before installation of new hardware or applications. |
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| Wasted space on a hard drive caused by not using all available space at the end of clusters. |
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| The active partition of the hard drive containing the boot record and the specific files required to start the Windows launch. |
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| A utility that automatically backs up system files and stores them in restore points on the hard drive at regular intervals and just before you install hardware or software. |
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| A Windows utility used to restore the system to a restore point. |
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| A collection of files and settings about a user account that enables the user's personal data, desktop settings, and other operating parameters to be retained from one session to another. |
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| The group of folders and subfolders in the C:\Users folder that belong to a specific user account and contain the user profile. |
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Definition
| A method whereby the OS uses the hard drive as though it were RAM. |
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