Windows Vista & XP Glossary: H

hard drive: A disk drive on your PC that can store the greatest amount of information and access it in the quickest manner; therefore, it’s the main source of permanent storage.

hardware: The physical part of a computer — anything you can touch and see, such as the computer console, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

Hardware Troubleshooter: A Windows Help and Support Center tool that runs users through the most common causes of hardware errors in a question-and-answer format.

Hardware Update Wizard: A Windows tool that can search for and add hardware to the system.

headset: Headphones that include a built-in microphone for online communications and game playing.

hexadecimal: A numbering system based on 16 digits that is often used for graphics.

hibernate: A computer function by which it saves all the computer’s memory (everything the system is doing), then turns the computer off.

hive: A type of Registry entry that contains a number of other Registry entries.

hot key: A keyboard shortcut that opens an application or performs a specific task.

hub: A simple, inexpensive piece of hardware that merely connects a computer network.

Hyper-Threading: A feature of certain Pentium processors that makes one physical CPU appear as two logical CPUs, overlapping two instruction streams in order to achieve a gain in performance.

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