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electromagnetic interference (EMI) Electrical interference from one device to another, resulting in poor performance of the device being interfered with. Examples: Static on your TV while running a blow dryer, or placing two monitors too close together and getting a “shaky” screen.

electrostatic discharge (ESD) Movement of electrons from one body to another. A real menace to PCs, as it can cause permanent damage to semiconductors.

eliciting answers Communication strategy designed to help techs understand a user’s problems better. Works by listening to a user’s description of a problem and then asking cogent questions.

e-mail (electronic mail) Messages, usually text, sent from one person to another via computer. Can also be sent automatically to a group of addresses (mailing list).

emergency repair disk (ERD) Saves critical boot files and partition information and is the main tool for fixing boot problems in Windows 2000.

encryption Making data unreadable by those who do not possess a key or password.

erase lamp Component inside laser printers that uses light to make the coating of the photosensitive drum conductive.

error-checking Windows XP/Vista/7 name for the Checkdisk and ScanDisk tools.

eSATA Serial ATA-based connector for external hard drives and optical drives.

escalate Process used when person assigned to repair a problem is not able to get the job done, such as sending the problem to someone else.

Ethernet Name coined by Xerox for the first standard of network cabling and protocols. Based on a bus topology.

Ethic of Reciprocity Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

EULA (end-user license agreement) Agreement that accompanies a piece of software, to which user must agree before using the software. Outlines the terms of use for the software and also lists any actions on the part of the user that violate the agreement.

event auditing Feature of Event Viewer’s Security section that creates an entry in the Security Log when certain events happen, such as a user logging on.

Event Viewer Utility made available as an MMC snap-in that enables users to monitor various system events, including network bandwidth usage and CPU utilization.

EXPAND Command-line utility program included with Windows used to access files within CAB files.

expansion bus Set of wires going to the CPU, governed by the expansion bus crystal, directly connected to expansion slots of varying types (PCI, AGP, PCIe, etc.). Depending on the type of slots, the expansion bus runs at a percentage of the main system speed (8.33–133 MHz).

expansion bus crystal Controls the speed of the expansion bus.

expansion slots Connectors on a motherboard that enable users to add optional components to a system. (See also AGP and PCI.

ExpressCard Serial PC Card designed to replace CardBus PC Cards. ExpressCards connect to either a Hi-Speed USB (480 Mbps) or PCI Express (2.5 Gbps) bus.

extended partition Type of non-bootable hard disk partition. May only have one extended partition per disk. Purpose is to divide a large disk into smaller partitions, each with a separate drive letter.

extension Three or four letters that follow a filename and identify the type of file. Common file extensions are .ZIP, .EXE, and .DOC.

external data bus (EDB) Primary data highway of all computers. Everything in your computer is tied either directly or indirectly to the external data bus. (See also frontside bus and backside bus.)

fast user switching Account option that is useful when multiple users share a system; allows users to switch without logging off.

FAT (file allocation table) Hidden table that records how files on a hard disk are stored in distinct clusters; the only way DOS knows where to access files. Address of first cluster of a file is stored in the directory file. FAT entry for the first cluster is the address of the second cluster used to store that file. In the entry for the second cluster for that file is the address for the third cluster, and so on until the final cluster, which gets a special end-of-file code.