CONFIGURE SYNCHRONIZATION MANAGER

Check Disk A command-line utility that verifies and repairs the integrity of the file

system on a volume.

Cipher A command-line utility that provides the capability to encrypt and decrypt

files and folders from a command prompt.

compressed folders A feature that allows you to compress folders on volumes format-

ted with NTFS or FAT. Compressed folders are compatible with other zip programs.

defragmentation The process of rearranging the various pieces of files and folders

on the disk into contiguous spaces, thereby improving performance.

Disk Cleanup A utility that calculates the amount of space that you can gain by deleting

certain types of files, such as temporary files and downloaded program files.

Disk Defragmenter The program used in Windows XP to defragment a disk.

Disk Management The name of the Windows XP utility used to manage fixed and

removable disks, as well as to create and manage volumes and partitions.

disk quota A feature that allows you to allocate disk space to users based on the files

and folders that they own.

Diskpart A command used to execute disk-management tasks from a command

prompt and to create scripts for automating tasks that you need to perform fre-

quently or on multiple computers.

drive letter Used to access the volume through Windows Explorer and other appli-

cations. Hard disks, floppy drives, CD-ROM and DVD drives, removable drives,

and tape devices are assigned drive letters.

dynamic disk A physical disk that can be accessed locally only by Windows 2000

and Windows XP. Dynamic disks provide features that basic disks do not, such as

support for volumes that span multiple disks. Dynamic disks use a hidden data-

base to track information about dynamic volumes on the disk and other dynamic

disks in the computer. You convert basic disks to dynamic disks by using the Disk

Management snap-in or the Diskpart command-line utility. When you convert a

basic disk to a dynamic disk, all existing basic volumes become dynamic volumes.

Note that whether a disk is basic or dynamic has no bearing on whether comput-

ers running other operating systems can connect to shared folders on the disk.

Encrypting File System (EFS) A Windows XP Professional feature that provides

encryption for data in NTFS files stored on disk.

encryption The process of making information indecipherable to protect it from

unauthorized viewing or use.

extended partition A partition that provides a way to exceed the four primary partition

limit. You cannot format an extended partition with any file system. Rather, extended

partitions serve as a shell in which you can create any number of logical partitions.

fixed storage A storage device that is not removable, such as a hard drive.

formatting Preparing a hard disk to accept data by creating a file system (such as

NTFS or FAT) on that disk.

fragmentation Occurs when files are frequently added and removed from the disk,

or when the disk begins to fill up. In both of these cases, it can be difficult for the

operating system to locate a contiguous area of the disk to write to, and data can

become fragmented.

logical partition A disk storage area that you create within an extended partition on

a basic Master Boot Record (MBR) disk. Logical drives are similar to primary par-

titions, except that you can create an unlimited number of logical drives per disk.

A logical drive can be formatted and assigned a drive letter.

mounted volume A volume to which you assign a path on an existing volume

rather than a drive letter.

NTFS compression A function of the NTFS file system that performs dynamic com-

pression and decompression on folders and files marked with the compression

attribute.

Offline Files A feature of Windows XP Professional that makes temporary copies of

shared network files on a local computer so that you can access those files when

the local computer is disconnected from the network.

primary partition A partition that you can configure as the active, or bootable,

drive. You can configure up to four primary partitions on a computer running a

Windows operating system (three partitions if you also have an extended partition

on the disk).

recovery agent A user account that is given the capability to decrypt an encrypted

file or folder in case the owner of the resource loses the file encryption certificate

that allows decryption.

removable storage A storage device that allows you to remove either the device

itself or the storage media that the device uses.

simple volume A dynamic volume that contains disk space from a single disk and

can be extended if necessary.

spanned volume A dynamic volume that contains disk space from 2 or more (up to

a maximum of 32) disks. The amount of disk space from each disk can vary. There

is no fault tolerance in spanned volumes. If any of the disks containing the

spanned volume fail, you lose all data in the entire spanned volume.

striped volume A dynamic volume that contains disk space from 2 or more (up to

a maximum of 32) disks. Unlike spanned volumes, striped volumes require that

you use an identical amount of disk space from each disk. Striped volumes pro-

vide increased performance because it is faster to read or write two smaller pieces

of a file on two drives than to read or write the entire file on a single drive. How-

ever, you cannot extend striped volumes and they provide no fault tolerance.