Dallas Computer Repair | Computer Repair Terms "E"

Edge Connector- The copper edge of an often double-sided adaptor card that plugs into one of the expansions slots of a computer. Some of the cards are used in the computer repair field for diagnostics.

Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)- A nonvolatile semiconductor memory device using special circuitry that allows erasure and reprogramming.

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)- Electronic radiation that emminates from another electronic device causing systemic disruption. The FCC sets limits on EMI with Part A devices designed for office and plant environments and Part B designed for home use.

Electronic Gun- The device in a CRT screen that fires a fine beam of electrons across the phosphor screen.

Electronics Industries Association (EIA)- An organization of electronic parts and systems manufactures, founded in 1924, that sets electrical and electronic interface standards.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)- A quick discharge of static electricity from a human to a computer due to the difference of electrical potential between the two. The discharge can have thousands of volts of energy that can damage IC circuitry in communications and computer equipment. An electrostat discharge cord is used in the computer repair field to protect the equipment by grounding the repair person.

Emergency Repair Disk (ERD)- A disk created and used to repair Windows when the boot disk fails. Windows can be restarted with the Setup CD or Setup floppy disks and the Emergency Repair Disk can be used to repair the core system files.

Enhanced Cylinder Head Sector (ECHS) Format- A BIOS translation mode used to configure drives larger than 504MB.

Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics (EIDE)- A newer standard of IDE that supports data transfers of up to for times that of the original. Often referred to as Fast ATA or Fast IDE.

Enterprise Networks- Networks that facilitate business-to-business or business-to-customer operations using highly protective security functions.

Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM)- A type of nonvolative memory that can be reprogrammed over and over by charging selected cells with high voltage and erasing by exposure to strong ultraviolet light.

Ergonomics- The study of people-to-machine relationships for the purpose of designing machines to be people friendly and compatable in physical design.

Error Checking- Testing during data transfers that checks to make sure the data exchange is accurate.

Escape Key (Esc Key)- The key used to stop an application or exit a routine.

Ethernet- A network topology that utilizes Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) for collision detection and avoidance and can be physically implemented as a bus or a star network organization.

Expanded Memory (EMS)- A memory management tactic that accesses 16k pages through a window in the upper memory area to handle memory beyond the conventional 1MB.

Extended Memory Manager (EMM)- A software driver in 80386 and higher machines that permits and manages expanded memory.

Expanded Memory Specification (EMS)- Co-developed by Microsoft, Lotus and Intel, it is a method of using memory beyond 1MB on computers using DOS.

Expansion Slot- The slots on the system board that accept adaptor cards and the number of slots determine the expansion potential of the system.

Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA)- Introduced as an alternative to the IBM Micro Channel in 1988, it is a PC bus standard that allows older computer and AT boards to plug into its slots and extends the AT bus archetecture to 32 bits.

Extended Memory- Memory above 1MB used for RAM disks, disk caching routines and for locating the operating system files in recent versions of MS-DOS and found in Intel 286 and higher machines.

Extended Memory (XMS)- The HIMEM.SYS memory manager must be loaded in the DOS CONFIG.SYS and Windows and Windows-based programs can directly access memory beyond the convention 1MB.

Extended Partition- Extended Systems Configuration Data (ESCD)- The memory area where plug-n-play configuration information is held in the CMOS.