Transcript Chapter 3 Review

ITE 1
Chapter 5
Chapter 5
• Chapter 5 is a Large Chapter
• It has a great deal of useful
information about operating
systems.
• You will find this VERY helpful when
dealing with computer problems
The Boot Process
• When the computer starts up the
BIOS has a setting that tells the
computer where to find the boot
device(s).
• It also has the order the computer
is to check them in.
• You can set the order.
The Boot Process
• When Windows starts it finds the boot
device information in a file called
boot.ini
• .ini files are used by Windows to hold all
kinds of setting information.
• These files live in a place called the
Registry.
The Boot Process
• In Windows if you get a message during
boot up that “NTLDR is missing” the OS
Kernel has been corrupted or erased.
• The machine will not boot until the file
is fixed or replaced.
• You do this by launching the “Recovery
Console” from the installation disk under
“Repair XP”.
The Boot Process
• In Windows 95 and 98 a utility that
checked the hard drive for errors was
called Chkdsk.
• It ran if the machine did not shut down
properly.
• The utility is still part of the OS and you
can run it anytime you have concerns
about the hard drive.
File Formats
• Windows mainly uses 2 currently.
• They are FAT32 and NTFS
• You can convert a drive from FAT 32 to NTFS
by running a convert utility.
• NTFS has more security features than FAT32.
• Other OS’s can read Windows formats or
they may have their own.
Installing Windows
• Drive partitioning is done at the
beginning of the installation
process.
• Windows XP can support up to 4
partitions per hard drive.
Installing Windows
• If Windows XP Pro fails to autostart
the installation process you can do
so by launching a file called
winnt32.
Installing Windows
• The process of installing takes over an
hour.
• A shortcut if you are doing several
identical machines is to create an image
of the first machine and copy it to the
others.
• This is called several names including
cloning, ghosting and imaging.
Upgrades/Updates
• In Windows if you cannot boot properly
after upgrading you can roll back the
drivers by:
• Hitting F8 during the boot process
• Choosing “boot to last known good
configuration”.
• You can also boot into “Safe Mode” to run
without most device drivers to fix a problem
manually.
Upgrades/Updates
• In Windows installing new hardware
has been made simpler through
technology called “Plug ‘N Play”.
(PnP)
Upgrades/Updates
• Windows can be set to
automatically update itself by
activating “Automatic Updates” in
the control panel.
Upgrades/Updates
• New hardware is assured
compatibility with Windows
because developers follow a set of
guidelines called API.
Upgrades/Updates
• In Windows you can confirm that
hardware is working properly and
has the proper driver by checking
Device Manager.
Upgrades/Updates
• Restore Points can be created in
Windows to get you back to a place
before software was installed.
• These points should be created
before installing new device drivers
or OS updates.
• MAC just added this feature.
Upgrades/Updates
• New hardware can be checked for
compatibility on Microsoft’s
Compatibility List
Other OS’s
• Other OS’s have the same basic
functions as Windows.
• They include:
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DOS
Mac
Linux
Others
Other OS’s
• DOS
• DOS (Disk Operating System) did most
everything Windows does through a
command-line interface.
• DOS still exists within Windows
• It is useful for many functions
• Automating tasks
Other OS’s
• DOS
• Some commands:
• Dir - Generates a list of all files and
folders in the current directory.
• CD/ Changes current directory
• MD Makes a directory
• Copy filename.xxx
c:/directory/filename.xxx
Other OS’s
• DOS
• All of the OS’s allow you to set file
attributes.
• These include things like “Read Only” and
Archival.
• Archival means that the file will be backed up.
• Backing up data is the best way to protect it.
Network OS’s
• Servers (Or other computers) in
Windows can be found in “My
Network Places”.
• Servers usually run a different
version of the system software.