MS technology vocabulary boot disk

Claire Jones January 2009 Computer 7-6

Boot disk

The Definition (definition from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boot_disk):

A boot disk is a removable digital data storage medium from which a computer can load and run (boot) an operating system or utility program. The computer must have a built-in program which will load and execute a program from a boot disk meeting certain standards. Boot disks are used for: • Operating system installation. • Data recovery. • Data purging. • Hardware or software troubleshooting. • Customizing an operating environment. • Software demonstration. • Administrative access in case of lost password is possible with an appropriate boot disk with some operating systems.

The Interpretation:

With my limited knowledge of computers, a rough interpretation of this definition (obviously put up by someone who has a much larger technological vocabulary than I) is that a boot disk is a removable disk, such as a floppy disk or a CD-ROM, that enables a computer to load and boot a utility program or an operating system that was on the disk. A utility program is software used to manage and tune computer hardware, operating systems or application software. An operating system is the infrastructure software component of a computer system that enables the computer to start and function effectively. A boot disk, as far as I can tell, can install systems onto the computer in case of hard drive failure, recover, back up, and de-bug data in the hard drive, help with hardware or software troubleshooting in the hard drive and in the booting-up process, let you choose what system your disk is formatted to, demonstrate how software works, and can help you access the administrative account on your computer even when the password has been lost.

http://wiki.sjs.org/wiki/index.php/MS_Technology_Vocabulary Grammatical errors edited by Sabina Madland, Class of 2016