Emergency Repair Disk

A floppy diskette created by the RDISK. EXE program that contains crit- ical Registry information about a Windows NT installation. With an emergency repair disk, a Windows NT installation can be salvaged using the restore option when re-installing from CD-ROM. See also Registry.

Control Panel

A software utility that controls the function of specific operating system services by allowing users to change default settings for the service to match their preferences. The Registry contains the Control Panel settings on a system and/or per user basis.

Firmware

Software stored permanently in nonvolatile memory and built into a computer to provide its BIOS and a bootstrap routine. Simple computers may have their entire operating system built into firmware. See also BIOS, Boot, Software.

Firmware

Software stored permanently in nonvolatile memory and built into a computer to provide its BIOS and a bootstrap routine. Simple computers may have their entire operating system built into firmware. See also BIOS, Boot, Software.

Accounts

Containers for security identifiers, passwords, permissions, group associations, and prefer- ences for each user of a system. The User Manager for Domains utility is used to administer accounts. Sec also Security identifier. Preferences, Permissions, Passwords, Groups.

Domain

In Microsoft networks a domain is an arrangement of client and server computers referenced by a specific name that share a single security permissions database. On the Internet a domain is a named collection of hosts and sub-domains, registered with a unique name by the InterNIC. See also Work- group, InterNlC.

Fax Modems

Special modems that include hardware to allow the transmission and reception of fac- similes. See also Modem, Exchange.

Browsing

The process of requesting the list of computers and services on a network from a browser.

High Performance File System (HPFS)

The file system native to OS/2 that performs many of the same functions of NTFS when run under OS/2. Sec also File System. New Technology File System.

Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)

The listing of all hardware devices supported by Windows NT. Hardware on the HCL has been tested and verified as being compatible with NT.

Computer Name

 A 1- to 15-character NetBIOS name used to uniquely identify a computer on the network. See also Network Basic Input/Output System.

Exchange

Microsoft's messaging application. Exchange implements Microsoft's mail application programming interface (MAPI) as well as other messaging protocols such as POP, SNMP, and faxing to provide a flexible message composition and reception service. See also Electronic Mail, Fax Modem.

Icon

A graphical representation of a resource in a graphical user interface that usually takes the form of a small (32 x 32) bitmap. See also Graphical User Interface.

Computer

A device capable of performing automatic calculations based upon lists of instructions called programs. The computer feeds the results of these calculations (output) to peripheral devices that can represent them in useful ways, such as graphics on a screen or ink on paper. See also Microprocessor.

IDE

A simple mass storage device interconnection bus that operates at 5Mbps and can handle no more than two attached devices. IDE devices are similar to but less expensive than SCSI devices. See also Small Computer Systems Interface, Mass Storage Device.

Driver

A program that provides a software interface to a hardware device. Drivers arc written for the specific device they control, but they present a common software interface to the computer's operating system, allowing all devices (of a similar type) to be controlled as if they were the same. See also Data Link Layer, Operating System.

Hyperlink

A link in text or graphics files that have a Web address embedded within them. By clicking the link, you jump to another Web address. You can identify a hyperlink because it is a different color than the rest of the Web page. See also World Wide Web.

Administrative Tools

 Program group on Windows NT servers that contain utilities such as User Manager for Domains, Server Manager, Disk Administrator, Performance Monitor, and Network Mon- itor. See also I'ser Manager for Domains, Server Manager, Disk Administrator, Performance Monitor, Network Monitor.

Binding

The process of linking network services to network service providers-. The binding facility allows users to define exactly how network services operate in order to optimize the performance of the system. By default, Windows enables all possible bindings. You can use the Network control panel to change bindings.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

A simple Internet protocol that transfers complete files from an FTP server to a client running the FTP client. FTP provides a simple method of transferring files between computers, but cannot perform browsing functions. You must know the URL. of the FTP server to which you wish to attach. See also Internet, Uniform Resource Locator.

Gateway Services for NetWare (GSNW)

An NT Server service that connects NT Servers and NT clients to NetWare resources via the gateway software. See also Gateway, NetWare, Client Services for NetWare.

COM Port Communications port.

A serial hardware interface conforming to the RS-232 standard for low-speed serial communications. See also Modem, Serial.

Access Tokens

Objects containing the security identifier of a running process. A process started by another process inherits the starting process's access token. The access token is checked against each object's ACL to determine whether or not appropriate permissions are granted to perform any requested service. See also Access Control List, Access Control Entries, Permissions. Object, Security Identifier, Process.

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

 An Internet protocol for resolving an IP address into a physical layer address (such as an Ethernet media access control address). See also Physical Layer, Internet Protocol.

Database

A related set of data organized by type and purpose. The term also can include the application software that manipulates the data. The Windows NT Registry (a database itself) contains a number of utility databases such as user account and security information.

Domain Controllers

Domain Controllers
Servers that authenticate workstation network logon requests by comparing a username and password against account information stored in the user accounts database. A user cannot access a domain without authentication from a domain controller. See also Primary Domain Controller, Backup Domain Controller, Domain.

File Attributes

File Attributes
Bits that show the status of a file (e.g.. archived, hidden, read-only) are stored atone with the name and location of a file in a directory entry. Different operating systems use different tile attributes to implement such services as sharing, compression, ami security.

Browser

Browser
A computer on a Microsoft network that maintains a list of computers and services available on the network.

Account Lockout

Account Lockout
Used to specify how many invalid logon attempts should be tolerated before a user account is locked out. Account lockout is set through User Manager for Domains.

Write-Back Caching

 A caching optimization wherein data written to the slow store is cached until the cache is full or until a subsequent write operation overwrites the cached data. Write-back caching can significantly reduce the write operations to a slow store because many write operations are subsequently obviated by new information. Data in the write-back cache is also available for subsequent reads. If something happens to prevent the cache from writing data to the slow store, the cache data will be lost.

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS)

 A network service for Microsoft networks that provides Windows computers with Internet numbers for specified NetBIOS names, facilitating browsing and intercommunication over TCP/IP networks.

Ethernet

The most popular data link layer standard for local area networking. Ethernet implements the carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) method of arbitrating multiple computer access to the same network. This standard supports the use of Ethernet over any type of media including wireless broadcast. Standard Ethernet operates as 10 megabits per second. Fast Ethernet operates at 100 megabits per second

Swap File

The virtual memory file on a hard disk containing the memory pages that have been moved out to disk to increase available RAM

Universal Naming Convention.(UNC)

 A multivendor, multiplatform convention for identifying shared resources on a network.

Access Control Entries

Access Control Entries
ACLs for objects contain access control entries, each of which describes a specific permission for a specific service for a user or a group

Access Control Lists

Access Control Lists

Each object has an ACL attribute that describes which user or group accounts have access to the object and what type of access they have. If a user does not have an entry in the ACL allowing access to a service of an
object, Windows NT will