Manufacturers Declaration for CE Certification We, LaCie, solemnly declare that this product conforms to the following European standards: Class B EN60950, EN55022, EN55024 With reference to the following conditions: 73/23/EEC Low Voltage Directive; 89/336/EEC EMC Directive
This symbol on the product or on its packaging indicates that this product must not be disposed of with your other household waste. Instead, it is your responsibility to dispose of your waste equipment by handing it over to a designed collection point for the recycling of waste
electrical and electronic equipment. The separate collection and recycling of your waste equipment at the time of disposal will help to conserve natural resources and ensure that it is recycled in a manner that protects human health and the environment. For more information about where you can drop off your waste equipment for recycling,
please contact your local city office, your household waste disposal service, or the shop where you purchased the product. CAUTION: The LaCie d2 Quadra Hard drive's warranty may be void as a result of the failure to respect the precautions listed above.
Health and Safety Precautions
Only qualified persons are authorized to carry out maintenance on this device. Read this User Manual carefully and follow the correct procedure when setting up the device. Do not open your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive or attempt to disassemble or modify it. Never insert any metallic object into the drive to avoid any risk of electrical shock, fire, short-circuiting or dangerous emissions. Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive contains no user-serviceable parts. If it appears to be malfunctioning, have it inspected by a qualified LaCie Technical Support representative. Never expose your device to rain, or use it near water, or in damp or wet conditions. Never place objects containing liquids on the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive, as they may spill into its openings. Doing so increases the risk of electrical shock, short-circuiting, fire or personal injury. Make sure that the computer and LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive are electrically grounded. If the devices are not grounded, there is an increased risk of electrical shock. Power requirements 100-240 V~, 1.5 A, 60-50 Hz, (Supply voltage fluctuations not exceeding 10% of the nominal, transient over-voltages according to over-voltage category II).

General Use Precautions

Do not expose the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive to temperatures outside the range of 5 C to 35 C (41 F to 95 F); or to operational humidity beyond 5-80%, non-condensing, or non-operating humidity beyond 10-90%, non-condensing. Doing so may damage the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive or disfigure its casing. Avoid placing your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive near a source of heat or exposing it to sunlight (even through a window). Inversely, placing your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive in an environment that is too cold or humid may damage the unit. Always unplug the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive from the electrical outlet if there is a risk of lightning or if it will be unused for an extended period of time. Otherwise, there is an increased risk of electrical shock, short-circuiting or fire. Use only the power supply shipped with the device. Do not use the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive near other electrical appliances such as televisions or radios. Doing so may cause interference which will adversely affect the operation of the other products.

USB Icons These icons will help you easily identify the USB interfaces. They appear on USB cables and next to the USB port connectors on certain computers.

USB 2.0 icon

USB 1.1 icon
USB 2.0 Cables Your LaCie drive is shipped with a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, to ensure maximum data transfer performance when connected to a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port. The cable will also work when connected to a USB port, but drive performance will be limited to USB 1.1 transfer rates. USB 2.0 Cable and Cable End

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eSATA
Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive uses the latest in SATA technology, allowing interface (or bus) transfer rates of up to 1.5 Gbits/s. SATA technology was originally developed to serve as an internal interface, delivering improved performance to internal connections. Soon after, eSATA, or external SATA was developed, allowing for the use of shielded cables outside the PC. eSATA technology was developed to be rugged and durable. eSATA connectors do not have the L shaped design of other SATA connectors. In addition, the guide features are vertically offset and reduced in size to prevent the use of unshielded internal cables in external applications. Please see page 39, eSATA Questions And Answers for more information on eSATAs uses and capabilities. External SATA (eSATA) Benefits eSATA interface can achieve up to 1.5 Gbits/s transfer rate Plug orientation An extrusion on the outside of the connector helps guide and align the connector during insertion. Hot-plug support eSATA enables adding and removing a drive without having to power down the system or reboot. Utilizing staggered pins to aid insertion, the specification ensures device detection and passive and active limits to in-rush current.
eSATA Icons These icons will help you easily identify the eSATA interfaces. They appear on eSATA cables and next to the eSATA port connectors on certain computers.

eSATA 1.5 Gbits/s icon

eSATA Cables Your LaCie drive is shipped with a eSATA cable, to ensure maximum data transfer performance when connected to a eSATA port. eSATA Cable and Cable End

Technical note: You can connect your d2 Quadra to a first-generation SATA PCI card interface. However, you will need a SATA-to-eSATA cable (not included).
Installing Your LaCie Hard Drive

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3. Installing Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive
There are two parts to connecting and turning on your LaCie d2 Quadra: 1) connect the power supply to the drive and to an outlet, and 2) connecting an interface cable to the drive and to your computer In about five minutes, you should be able to access your new hard drive to back up data and to transfer files between computers and other peripherals. Thanks to its support of four different interfaces and its support of both the Mac and Windows operating system, the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive gives you many connectivity options. These steps are divided into sections by operating system (Mac or Windows) and the type of interface cable (FireWire 800, FireWire 400, eSATA and Hi-Speed USB 2.0). This chapter also has helpful information about connecting digital video cameras to the LaCie drive, connecting multiple devices and special steps that need to be followed when disconnecting the drive or switching between the different interfaces. Step 1 Step 2 Connecting the Power Supply Connecting the USB 2.0 Cable Connecting the FireWire 400 Cables Connecting the FireWire 800 Cables Connecting the eSATA Cable Connecting Multiple Devices CAUTION: Your LaCie d2 Quadra relies on its aluminum alloy casing to help dissipate heat. Make sure to place your drive in a well ventilated space, do not block the ventilation outlet on the back of the drive and keep the area in front of the drive unobstructed to allow for proper airflow. Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Important Info: You cannot have the FireWire, USB, or eSATA interfaces connected at the same time. If you would like to switch between interfaces, you must follow the steps on page 21, Switching Interfaces.
Technical note: If you plan to use your drive in a cross-platform (Mac/Windows) environment, consider reformatting the drive to the MS-DOS (also known as FAT 32) File System format. See page 30 for more details.

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3.1. Connecting the Power Supply
The power supply kit is composed of two cables: one cable (A) connects to the LaCie drive; and the other cable (B) connects to a power outlet, such as a wall outlet or a surge protector. A B
off FW4OO FW8OO USB 2.O auto eSATA on
1. Connect Cable A to your LaCie Drive. 2. Connect Cable B to the Power supply brick (C). 3. Connect Cable B to a surge protector or wall outlet. CAUTION: Only use the AC adapter supplied with your specific LaCie drive. Do not use a power supply from another LaCie drive or another manufacturer. Using any other power cable or power supply may cause damage to the device and void your warranty. Always remove the AC adapter before transporting your LaCie drive. Failure to remove the adapter may result in damage to your drive and will void your warranty. Technical note: If you are using the LaCie Serial ATA PCI Card to connect your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive to your computer, you can draw power from the PCI card to operate your hard drive. Please refer to the LaCie Serial ATA PCI Card User Manual for guidelines and instructions.

* Some cameras do not support this configuration or may downgrade your LaCie d2 Quadras performance

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3.4. Disconnecting Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive
FireWire, eSATA and USB external devices feature plug & play connectivity, which means that your drive can be connected and disconnected while the computer is running. To prevent failures, however, it is important you follow these steps when disconnecting your LaCie d2 Quadra.
1. From the System Tray (located in the lower right-hand side of your screen), click the Eject icon (a small green arrow over a hardware image). 2. A message will appear, detailing the devices that the Eject icon controls, i.e. Safely remove. Click on this prompt. 3. You will be then given this message: Safe to Remove Hardware (or similar). It is now safe to disconnect the device.
1. Drag the hard drive icon to the trash. 2. The drive can now be disconnected.
3.5. Switching Interfaces
FireWire, eSATA and USB external devices feature plug & play connectivity, which means that your drive can be connected and disconnected while the computer is running. To prevent failures, however, it is important to unmount your drive before switching interfaces. See chapter 3.4. Disconnecting Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive, for the unmounting procedure.

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3.6. LaCie Shortcut Button
The LaCie Shortcut Button allows you to use your LaCie hard drive to perform a variety of automated tasks on your computer. Instantly back up your work files with EMC Retrospect Express, open a family budget spreadsheet, or launch your most commonlyused applications simply by pushing the blue button on the front of your drive. LaCie Shortcut Button will help you to customize the Button to perform the action of your choice. Setup is easy just install the software and push the Button on your LaCie hard drive to set up the button action. Technical note: eSATA bus is not compatible with LaCie Shortcut Button. To use LaCie Shortcut Button, connect your LaCie hard drive to your computer via USB or FireWire. Important Info: For instructions on using EMC Retrospect Express, please see the EMC Retrospect Express user manual, installed with the application.
3.6.1. Software Installation
To install LaCie Shortcut Button and EMC Retrospect Express: 1. Insert the installation CD into your computers CD-ROM drive. 2. Double-click the CD icon. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions. Technical note: EMC Retrospect Express and LaCie Shorcut Button must be uninstalled separately. Uninstalling EMC Retrospect Express does not uninstall LaCie Shortcut Button.

Mac Users

EMC Retrospect Express is installed in the Applications folder. LaCie Shortcut Button appears in System Preferences (see section 3.6.3, Changing Button Settings).
Technical note: eSATA bus is not compatible with LaCie Shortcut Button. To use LaCie Shortcut Retrospect Express is hard drive to EMC Button, connect your LaCieinstalled in your computer Files. C:/Program via USB or FireWire. LaCie Shortcut Button appears in the Control Panel (see section 3.6.3, Changing Button Settings).

Windows Users

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3.6.2. Setup

You can set up the Button to automatically back up data from your computer to your LaCie hard drive or to perform a custom action. 1. Make sure your LaCie hard drive is connected to your computer and turned on and then push the button on the front of the drive. The LaCie Shortcut Button Welcome screen appears. Click OK. 2. The LaCie Shortcut Button main window opens. See Fig. 3.6.2.A (Mac) and 3.6.2.B (Windows). Important Info: Pushing the button launches setup only once. After setup, pushing the button will launch the action you specify in setup.

Mac Interface

Windows Interface

Fig. 3.6.2.A

Fig. 3.6.2.B
Drive List Displays all compatible LaCie drives currently connected to your computer. Settings and Information Displays and modifies LaCie Shortcut Button preferences for the selected drive. Also displays drive information. Show in system tray Check this box to display the LaCie Shortcut Button icon in the system tray (Windows only).

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Set up EMC Retrospect Express
3. Select the drive you want to modify from the drive list. 4. EMC Retrospect Express is selected by default. Click OK. See A in Fig. 3.6.2.C and 3.6.2.D. 5. EMC Retrospect Express launches. Use EMC Retrospect Express to make settings for the backup you want to perform each time you push the LaCie Button. After you have configured EMC Retrospect Express, each time you push the Button, EMC Retrospect Express will automatically perform the backup operation specified in setup. To change the backup operation, launch EMC Retrospect Express and change settings. Important Info: Please consult the EMC Retrospect Express user manual for informations on creating and modifying backups.

Set up a Custom Action

3. Select the drive you want to modify from the drive list. 4. To use a custom action, click the Please choose a custom action. radio button. See B in Fig. 3.6.2.C and 3.6.2.D. 5. Click the Choose. button and navigate to the application, document or script you want to launch with the Button. Click Open. 6. A new icon and name are displayed for the selected application, document or script. Click Apply. Click OK.

Fig. 3.6.2.C

Helpful Information

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4. Helpful Information

Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive is formatted in HFS+. This is the most efficient format for use with your Mac. If you would like to share this hard drive with PC users, you will have to reformat your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive.
Partitioning Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive
After youve formatted the drive, you will have the opportunity to divide the hard drive into sections, called partitions. A partition is a section of the hard drives storage capacity that is created to contain files and data. For instance, you could create three partitions on your drive: one partition for your Office documents, one for your backup, and one for your multimedia files. Technical note: FAT 32 is recommended for sharing a hard drive with Windows 98 SE and Mac OS users. However keep in mind that the FAT 32 format will slow down your hard drive and single file size is limited to 4 GB.

What is Formatting?

Formatting a disk consists of the following: the operating system erases all of the bookkeeping information on the disk, tests the disk to make sure that all of the sectors are reliable, marks bad sectors (i.e., those that are scratched) and creates internal address tables that it later uses to locate information.

File System Formats

There are essentially three different file system formats: NTFS, FAT 32, and Mac OS Extended (HFS+). See the following chart for more information.

Use NTFS if.

.you will be using the drive only under Windows 2000 or Windows XP (performance will generally be greater when compared to FAT 32). This file system is compatible in read only mode with Mac OS 10.3 and higher.

Use HFS+ if.

.you will be using the drive on Macs only; performance will generally be greater when compared to FAT 32. This file system is NOT compatible with Windows OS.

Use FAT 32 if.

.you will be using your drive between both Windows and Mac OS 9.x or 10.x; or sharing the drive between Windows 2000, XP, and 98 SE. Maximum single file size: 4GB.
For more information, please refer to page 31, Formatting And Partitioning Your LaCie Hard Drive.

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4.1. Formatting and Partitioning Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive
Once you have setup your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive, you can reformat it to suit your needs.
Windows 2000 and XP Use the Disk Management Utility, which is native to the operating system. Formatting Using Windows 2000 and Windows XP The process of formatting a drive on a computer running Windows 2000 or Windows XP consists of two steps: (1) installing a signature on the drive, and (2) formatting the drive. These steps will erase anything that is on the disk. 1. Connect the drive to the computer via the interface port. 2. Right click My Computer and click Manage. 3. From the Computer Management window, select Disk Management (located below the Storage group). 4. If the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard window appears, click Cancel. 5. Windows will list the hard drives that are installed on the system. Locate the drive that is represented by the icon. Right click the icon and select Initialize. 6. In the box to the right that says Unallocated, right click and select New Partition. 7. In the first page of the New Partition Wizard, click Next.

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4.2. Interface Comparisons
Deciding which interface to use, whether it be HiSpeed USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 or eSATA can be a complicated decision. Depending on the interComputer With only USB 1.1 Ports If your computer is only equipped with a USB port, your decision is fairly simple: connect via the USB cable provided with your drive. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 is backward compatible and can be used in USB 1.1 ports. Again, you will be limited to USB 1.1 speeds and performance. Computer With Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 Ports If your computer is equipped with a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port and a FireWire port, you will get noticeably better performance by using the FireWire connection. Compared to Hi-Speed USB 2.0, FireWire has higher sustained data transfer rates, a feature especially important for audio and video editors. Also, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 will not allow you to daisy-chain multiple hard drives to your computer. Computer With Hi-Speed USB 2.0, FireWire 400 And FireWire 800 Ports If your computer is equipped with these three interfaces, you have several options to consider. The key decision in this equation is, again, speed. FireWire 800 effectively offers twice the bandwidth of both Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and FireWire 400. So, if you are running bandwidth-intensive applications, such as digital audio, video or graphics, FireWire 800 is your clear choice. Computer With Above Interfaces Plus eSATA Ports In a single drive configuration, eSATA and FireWire 800 connections will provide similar transfer rates for your d2 Quadra. FireWire 800, however, allows for longer interface cables and offers the possibility of daisy-chaining with other FireWire devices. The advantage eSATA has over FireWire 800 is that, when several d2 drives are connected to your computer in a RAID0 configuration, FireWire 800 will limit the connection to 100MB/s, while eSATA 1.5Gbits/s can theoretically transfer at up to 150 MB/s. See chapter 7. eSATA Questions and Answers, for more information. Another alternative is to purchase a FireWire 400, FireWire 800, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 or eSATA host adapter card that you would install into a PCI, PCI-X or PCI-Express slot on your computer, thereby allowing your computer to take advantage of the performances that these interfaces have to offer. Contact your LaCie reseller or LaCie Customer Support for information about PCI, PC, PCI-X or PCI-Express Cards, or visit our website: www.lacie.com. faces your computer has, your decision should be based on the following:
FireWire Questions & Answers

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5. FireWire Questions & Answers
What Does IEEE 1394 Mean?
IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) refers to the engineering corps that developed the 1394th standard, defining the high-performance serial input/output (I/O) bus used to connect peripheral devices. There are now two standards: IEEE 1394a, which refers to the original standard adopted in 1995, and IEEE 1394b, which refers to the new standard, adopted in 2002.

What Is The Difference Between FireWire 400 And FireWire 800?
Essentially, the main difference between the two interfaces is speed. FireWire 800 effectively doubles the bandwidth of the original FireWire 400 interface. The new FireWire 800 interface offers truly impressive results, with speeds up to 800Mb/s for a single bus, and even greater for several buses in RAID 0 configurations. Other key advancements include the support of increased cabling distances and a newly enhanced arbitration architecture. Utilizing cables constructed of professional-grade glass optical fiber, when both devices are connected via a FireWire 800 hub, FireWire 800 can burst data across 100 meters of cable. The new arbitration scheme greatly improves on the existing architecture by incorporating advanced 8B10B data encoding (based on codes used by Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel), which reduces signal distortion, and also improves the arbitration time by prepping the arbitration while the current data packet is being sent, so that data is sent as soon as the current transmission is completed.
What Is The Relationship Between IEEE 1394, FireWire, iLink And DV?
These four names all refer to the same interface: IEEE 1394 is the term commonly used in the computer industry. FireWire is the brand name used by Apple. iLink is the brand name used by Sony for both consumer electronics and personal computers. DV is short for Digital Video, and is used as the logo for the interface on most video camcorders.
What Are The FireWire Interface Benefits?
The FireWire interface is a fast, cross-platform serial bus, and is ideal for digital audio, video and graphic applications that demand plenty of bandwidth. Both versions of FireWire offer Plug & Play connectivity, so all you have to do is plug in your drive and youre ready to go. They also allow up to 63 devices to be connected via a single bus and offer peer-to-peer connectivity, enabling multiple computers and FireWire devices to be connected at the same time. FireWire also supports both isochronous and asynchronous capabilities, meaning that it can guarantee real-time data delivery, so there is no danger of inaccurately ordered or delayed frames.
What Are The Ideal Uses For FireWire?
FireWire helped fuel a revolution for digital content creators, and was awarded a 2001 Primetime Emmy Engineering Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for its contribution. Due to its high bandwidth and support of both isochronous and asynchronous data delivery, FireWire has found a very successful place in both the computer and consumer electronics industries. Whether connecting game consoles, personal video recorders, home stereo equipment, digital TVs, hard drives, CD/DVD-RW drives, printers, scanners, tape

Did you follow the correct installation steps for the specific interface and operating system. Are both ends of the FireWire, eSATA or USB cables firmly attached?

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The drive turns on and off when you turn your computer on and off (USB and FireWire connections only). The drive is not recognized by the computer.
This is normal. Your drive has an autoswitching power feature, which means that if your drive is connected to your computer, turning the computer on will automatically turn the drive on. Likewise, turning the computer off will automatically turn the drive off. If you wish to power off the drive while it is connected to your computer, first make sure that your computer is not accessing the drive and then follow the steps in page 21, Disconnecting Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive. After you have disconnected the drive, fkip the On/Off/Auto button on the back of the drive to turn the drive off. Have the USB, eSATA or FireWire drivers been installed correctly and enabled? Is there a conflict with other device drivers or extensions? Has the drive been formatted? Open Apple System Profiler and click on the Devices and Volumes tab. If your device is not listed, recheck the cables and try the other troubleshooting tips listed here. Contact LaCie Technical Support for help. Make sure that the drive has been formatted properly. Please see pages 31, Formatting And Partitioning Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive and 30, Helpful Information for more details. Check your computers documentation and see pages 31, Formatting And Partitioning Your LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive and 30, Helpful Information for more information. When copying files or folders from Mac OS 10.x to a FAT 32 volume, certain characters cannot be copied. These characters include, but are not limited to: ?<>/\: Check your files and folders to ensure that these types of characters are not being used. Simply ignore this message. The drive will remount to the desktop. LaCie drives conserve power by spinning down when you set your computer to sleep mode, and when the computer is woken from sleep, it does not give the drive enough time to spin-up from its sleep mode. If you are having problems with your FireWire connection under Mac OS 10.2.x, upgrade to the latest Mac OS version. Disconnect any other USB, eSATA or FireWire devices and see if the drives performance increases. Apple does not support the Hi-Speed USB 2.0 standard under Mac OS 9.x. You will be limited to the slower transfer rates of the original USB standard. Apple has only recently begun incorporating native Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports in their computers. To achieve Hi-Speed USB 2.0 transfer rates, you will need to add a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 PCI or PC card to your computer.

1. LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive serial number 2. LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Drive file format
Where to Find Information
Located on a sticker at the back of drive or on the original packaging Mac users: Select the d2 Quadra Hard Drive icon on the desktop and press Command + I, or press the Control key and choose Get Info. Windows users: Right click the d2 Quadra Hard Drive icon and select Properties.
3. Macintosh/PC model 4. Operating system version 5. Processor speed 6. Computer memory 7. The brands and models of other internal and external peripherals installed on my computer
Mac users: Click on the Apple icon in the menu bar and select About this Mac. Windows users: Right click My Computer and select Properties > General.
Mac users: Click on the Apple icon in the finder bar and select About this Mac. Select More Info. The Apple System Profiler will launch and will list your internal and external peripherals. Windows users: Right click My Computer and select Properties > Hardware.

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9.1. LaCie Technical Support Contacts
LaCie Asia, Singapore, and Hong Kong
Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/asia/contact/

LaCie Australia

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/au/contact/

LaCie Belgium

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/be/contact/ (Franais)

LaCie Canada

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/caen/contact/ (English)

LaCie Denmark

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/dk/contact

LaCie Finland

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/fi/contact/

LaCie France

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/fr/contact/

LaCie Germany

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/de/contact/

LaCie Italy

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/it/contact/

LaCie Japan

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/jp/contact/

LaCie Netherlands

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/nl/contact/

LaCie Norway

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/no/contact/

LaCie Spain

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/es/contact/

LaCie Sweden

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/se/contact

LaCie Switzerland

Contact us at: http://www.lacie.com/chfr/contact/ (Franais)

technical support: www.lacie.com/register

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Glossary
Asynchronous Data transfer method where the data is transferred independently of other processes. With this transfer method, the intervals between transmissions can vary, and data can be resent if it is initially missed. Backup (1) The act of creating at least one additional copy of data onto a different (and safe) storage device from where it can be retrieved at a later time if needed. (2) A copy of a file, directory, or volume on a separate storage device from the original, for the purposes of retrieval in case the original is erased, damaged, or destroyed. Bit The smallest measure of computerized data, either a 1 or a 0. Eight bits equal one byte, or one character. Block A very small section of the storage media comprised of one or more sectors. A block is the smallest amount of space allocated on a drive for data storage. By default, a sector of data consists of 512 bytes. Buffer RAM cache that is faster than the data that is being delivered. Buffers are used so data may be stored and delivered to the receiving item as it is needed. Bus Electronic links that enable data to flow between the processor, RAM and extension cables (peripherals). Byte A sequence of adjacent binary digits, or bits, considered as a unit, 8 bits in length. There are 8 bits in 1 byte. See also MB (Megabyte) or GB (Gigabyte). Cache, -ing This is an area of electronic storage (usually RAM) set aside to store frequently used data from electromechanical storage (hard drives, floppy disks, CD/DVD-ROM, tape cartridges, etc.) Therefore, storing frequently used data in RAM can enhance your systems overall response to disk-intensive operations significantly. Configuration When talking about a PC, configuration is understood to be the sum of the internal and external components of the system, including memory, disk drives, the keyboard, the video subsystem and other peripherals, such as the mouse, modem or printer. The configuration also implies software: the operating system and various device managers (drivers), as well as hardware settings and options set by the user via configuration files. Controller This is a component or an electronic card (referred to in this case as a controller card, such as PCI or PCMCIA cards) that enables a computer to communicate with or manage certain peripherals. The controller manages the operation of the peripheral associated with it, and links the PC bus to the peripheral via a ribbon cable inside the PC. An external controller is an expansion card which fills one of the free slots inside your PC and which enables a peripheral (CD-ROM drive, scanner or printer, for instance) to be connected to the computer. Cross-platform Term that refers to a device that is able to be operated by both Mac and Windows operating systems. Data Stream The flow of data that accomplishes a task, usually related to moving data from storage to computer RAM or between storage devices. Digital Discrete information that can be broken down to zero or one bits. Driver (peripheral manager) A software component that enables the computer system to communicate with a peripheral. Most peripherals will not operate correctly if at all if the appropriate drivers are not installed on the system. File System Links the physical map of a disc to its logical structure. Thanks to the file system, users and computers can easily display path, directories and files recorded onto the disc. Firmware Permanent or semi-permanent instructions

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erasing the original data. Partition, -ing After formatting, the hard drive is not yet ready to store files. It must be divided into sections that will contain special information required for a Mac or PC to operate and other sections that will contain the files. This process of dividing up the hard drive is called partitioning. A partition is just one section of the hard drive that will contain either special data put there by Silverlining or other files and data. Peripheral A generic term applied to printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, serial ports, graphics cords, disk drives and other computer subsystems. This type of peripheral often relies on its own control software, known as a peripheral driver. Port, hardware A connection component (SCSI port, for example) that enables a microprocessor to communicate with a compatible peripheral. Port, software A memory address that identifies the physical circuit used to transfer information between a microprocessor and a peripheral. RAM (Random Access Memory) Generally referred to as a computers memory. An integrated circuit memory chip that allows information to be stored and retrieved by a microprocessor or controller. The information can be stored or accessed in any order, and all storage locations are equally accessible. Seek Time The amount of time (in thousandths of a second, or milliseconds) that it takes a hard drives read/ write head to move to a specific location on the disk. Average seek, then, is the average of a large number of random samplings all over the disk. Seek time is CPU independent, meaning that seek time is the same for a disk drive, whether it is attached to a computer or not.
Software In a nutshell, software is a set of instructions for the computer. A set of instructions to perform a particular task is called a program. There are two main types of software: system software (an operating system such as Mac OS or Windows) which controls the operation of the computer and application software (programs such as Word or Excel) which enable users to perform tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet creation, graphics, etc. Storage In computers, any equipment in which information may be kept. PCs generally use disk units and other external storage media (diskettes, CD-ROMs, magnetic disks, etc.) for permanent storage of information. Striping Spreading data evenly over multiple disk drives to enhance performance. Data striping can be performed on a bit, byte or block basis for optimum application performance. Transfer Rate The rate at which the drive sends and receives data from the controller. Transfer rates for reading data from the disk drive may not be the same as the transfer rate for writing data to the disk drive. Transfer rates are CPU dependent, meaning that regardless of how great a transfer rate your drive is capable of, the actual transfer rate can only be as fast as the slowest of your hard drive and computer. Volume A desktop mountable storage area, may be a partition of a hard drive, a removable disk or a cartridge. Typically measured in Megabytes or Gigabytes. Utility Software designed to perform maintenance tasks on the system or its components. Examples include backup programs, programs to retrieve files and data on disk, programs for preparing (or formatting) a disk or and resource editors.