Operating Systems Study Material

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Chapter 1

Understanding and usage ofOperating System

Structure :

1.0 Introduction1.1 Objectives1.2 What is an Operating System?1.3 History of Operating System1.4 Operating System Concepts

1.0 Introduction

Without software, a computer is basically a useless lump of metal. With its software,

a computer can store, process and retrieve information and engage in many other valuable

activities to earn its keep. Computer software can be divided roughly into two kinds:

System program, which manage the operation of the computer itself, and application

programs, which perform the actual work the user wants. The most fundamental system

program is Operating System, which controls all the computer resources and provides

the base upon which the application program can be written.

A modern computer system consists of one or more processors, some main memory,

disk, printers, network interfaces and other input/output devices. It is all in all, a complex

system. Writing programs correctly, is an extremely difficult job. If every programmer

had to be concerned with how disk drives work, and with all things that could go wrong

when reading a disk, it is unlikely that many programs could be written at all.

Some way had to be found to shield programmers from the complexity of the

hardware. The way that has evolved gradually is to put a layer of software on top of bare

hardware to manage all parts of the system. This layer of software is the Operating

System.

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The situation is shown in the following figure. At the bottom hardware, which

composes two or more layers. Lowest layer contains physical devices, consisting of

Integrated circuits chips, wires, power supplies, CRT and similar physical devices.

ApplicationPrograms

SystemSoftware

Hardware

Next comes primitive software that directly controls these devices. This software is

called Microprogram usually located in Read Only Memory. The set of instructions that

the microprogram interprets defines the Machine Language.

In this layer Input / Output devices are controlled by loading values into special

device registers. Next layer is operating system. The major function of the operating

system is to hide all this complexity and give the programmer a more convenient set of

instructions to work with. On top of the operating system is the rest of the system

software. Here we find, Command Interpreter (Shell), Window system, Compilers,

Editors and similar application independent programs.

Finally above the system programs come the application programs. These programs

are purchased or written by the users to solve their particular problems for Ex: Word

processing, Spreadsheets, Engineering Calculations, Games etc.

1.1 Objectives:

At the end of this unit you should be able to

define Operating System

Trace the history of Operating System

Identify the functions of Operating System

Identify the services provided by the Operating System

BankingSystem AirlineReservation Web Browser

Compilers EditorsCommandInterpreter

Operating System

Machine Language

Micro Programming

Physical Devices

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1.2 What is an Operating System

An Operating system is a program that controls the execution of application

programs and acts as an interface between the user of a computer and the computer

hardware. An Operating system mainly performs three functions Convenience : It makes computer more convenient to use

Efficiency : It allows the computer system resources to be used

in an efficient manner

Ability to solve: It should be constructed in such a way as to

permit the effective development, testing and introduction of new system

functions without at the same time interfacing with service.

The Operating system typically provides services in the following areas :

Program Creation: Operating system services editors and

debuggers, to assist programmer in creating programs.

These services are in the form of utility programs that are accessible through

the Operating System.

Program Execution: Program execution needs instructions

and data to be loaded in to main menu, Input / Output devices and files to be

initialized and other resources to be prepared. The operating system handles

all these tasks for the user.

Access to Input / Output devices: Each Input / Output device

requires its own peculiar set of instructions of control signals for operation.

Operating system takes care of details so, the programmes can think in terms

of simple read and writes.

Controlled access to files: Operating system provides

protection mechanisms to controlled access to files

System Access: Operating System controls access to the

system as a whole and to specific system resources.

Error detection and response: Variety of errors can occur

which a computer system is running, i.e., internal and external hardware

errors, such as memory error, device failure error, various software errors,

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inability of Operating System to grant request of an application errors and so

on. In each case, Operating System must make the response that clears the

error condition. The response may range from ending the program that caused

the error, to retrying the operation to simply reporting the error to the

application.

Accounting : A good Operating System collects usage

statistics for various resources and monitors performance parameters such as

response time, which can be used for billing purposes on a multi-user system.

Operating System as Resource Manager:

A computer is a set of resources, the operating system is responsible for managing

these resources. Operating System controls the movement, storage and processing of

data. Operating system functions in the same way as ordinary computer software. i.e., it

is a program executed by the processor. This frequently relinquishes control and must

depend on processor to allow it to regain control.

Operating System is nothing more than the computer program. This provides

instructions to processor like other programs do. Main difference between Operating

System and other programs is, Operating System directs the processor in the use of the

other system resources and in the timing of its execution of other programs.

1.3 History of Operating System:

First three digital computers were designed by English

Mathematician Charles Babbage in 1792-1871. It was purely mechanical

design.

After Babbages efforts little progress was made in

constructing digital computers. In (1945-1955) First Generation Computers

with Vacuum tubes and plug boards were evolved. In these days a single

group of people designed, built, programmed, operated and maintained eachmachine. Programming was done in Machine Language.

Second Generation (1955-65) Transistors and Batch

System. Here for the first time between the programmers and maintenance

persons, Transistors were introduced. To run a job, a programmer would first

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write the program on paper, then punch it on cards, bring the card deck down

to Input / Output room batch system was to collect a tray full of jobs in the

Input / Output room and then read them onto a magnetic tape just to reduce

the wasted time.

Third Generation (1965-1980) Integrated Chips and

Multiprogramming In this generation, Integrated circuits were used,

providing a major price/performance advantage over second generation

machines, which were built up from individual transistors. Concept of

Multiprogramming was introduced. When the current job was to wait for a

tape or other Input / Output operation to complete the Central Processing Unit

simply sat idle until the Input / Output finished. As the Central Processing

Unit time is very precious this wasted time is not significant. The solution was

to partition menu into several pieces, with a different job in each partition as

shown in the figure below:

Job3

Job2

Job1

Operating System

While one job was waiting for Input/Output to complete, another job could be

using the Central Processing Unit. Therefore, if enough jobs could be held in

main menu at once, Central Processing Menu could be kept busy nearly 100%

of time. This concept is called as Multiprogramming.

Another major feature in Third Generation System was the concept of time

sharing, in which each user has an On-line terminal. As multiprogramming

allows the processor to handle multiply and batch jobs at a time, the processor

time is Shared among multiple users in time sharing systems. The basic idea

for time sharing system is to have multiple users Simultaneously using the

system with the Operating System inter leaving the execution of each user

program in a short burst of computation. Thus if there are n users actively

requesting service at one time, each user will see on average only 1/n of

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effective computer speed. The following figure shows Multiprogramming

with two programs:

Program A Run Wait Run Wait

Program B Wait Run Wait Run

Combined Run A Run B Wait Run A Run B Wait

Fourth Generation (1980-present): Personal Computers:

With the development of LSI ( Large Scale Integration) circuits, chips

containing thousands of transistors in a square centimeter of silicon, the age ofpersonal computers dawned. Personal Computers are not that different from

mini computers. The most powerful Personal Computers used by business,

universities and government installations are usually called Work Stations

(Large Personal Computers). Usually they are connected together by

hardware.

An interesting development that began during middle 1980s is the growth of

hardware of Personal Computers running hardware Operating System and

distributed Operating System. In hardware Operating System, the users are

aware of the existence of multiple computers and can log in to remote

machines and copy files from one machine to another.

1.5 Operating System Concepts:

Operating Systems are among the most complex pieces of software. Five major

achievements in the development of Operating System are

Process

Memory Management

Scheduling and Resource Management

Information protection and security

System Structure

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Processes : It is somewhat more general term than job.

Process is a program that is in execution. Three major lines of computer

system development created problems in timing and synchronization that

contributed to the development of the concept of the process.

Multiprogramming batch processing, time sharing and real time transaction.

The design of system software to co-ordinate the various activities turned out

to be difficult. With many jobs in progress at any one time, each of which

involved numerous steps to be performed in sequence, it became impossible to

analyze all the possible combination of sequences of events. So many errors

were detected which were difficult to diagnose because they needed to be

distinguished from application software errors and hardware errors. To tackle

these problems, it is required to monitor and control the various programsexecuting on the processor in a systematic way.

The concept of process provides the foundation process consists of the following

three components.

An executable program

The associated data needed by the program

Execution context of program

Execution context includes the information that the Operating System needs to

manage the process and that the processor needs to properly execute the process.

If two processes A and B exist in a portion of the main memory, each process is

recorded in process list, which is maintained by Operating System. Process index register

contain the index in to the process list of the process currently controlling the processor,

Program counter points to the next instruction in that process to be executed. Base and

limit register defines the region in memory occupied by the process.

Thus process is realized as a data structure. A process can either be executing orawaiting execution. The entire state of process is contained in its context.

Memory Management : Users need a computing environment

that supports the flexible use of data, efficient and orderly control of storage

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allocation. An Operating System, to satisfy these requirements has five

principal storage management responsibilities as follows:

Process Isolation : Operating System must prevent

independent process from interfacing with data and memory of each other.

Automatic Allocation and Management : Programs should

be dynamically allocated memory across the memory is required. Operating

System can achieve efficiency by assigning memory to jobs only as needed.

Support of Modular Programming : Programmers should be

able to define program modules and to create, destroy and alter the size of

modules dynamically.

Protection and Access Control : Sharing of memory at any

level of memory hierarchy. Operating System must allow portions of memory

to be accessible in various ways by various users.

Long term storage : Many users and application require

means for storing information for extended periods.

Operating Systems meet these requirements with the concept of Virtual Memory

and file system facilities. Virtual Memory is a facility that allows program to address

memory from a logical point of view without regard to the amount of main memoryphysically available. That is, when a program is executing only a portion of program and

data may actually be maintained in main memory. Other portions of program and data are

kept in blocks in disk itself and will be brought to main memory whenever its execution

is required.

Information protection and security : Operating System

must support a variety of protection and security mechanism to computer

system and the information stored in them. Some overall protection policies

are:

No sharing : In this case, processes are completely isolated

from each other and each process has exclusive control over resources

statically or dynamically assigned to it.

No sharing originals of program or data files

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Controlled information dissemination : In some systems,

security classes are defined to enforce a particular dissemination policy. Users

and applications are given security clearances of a certain level, whereas data

and other resources (e.g., I/O devices) are given security classifications. The

security policy enforces restrictions concerning which users have access to

which classifications

Access Control : Is concerned with regulating user access to

the total system, sub systems, and data, and regulating process access to

various resources and objects within the system

Information flow control : Regulates the flow of data within the

system and its delivery to users

Scheduling and Resource Management : A key task of the

Operating system is manage the various resources available to it (main

memory space, I/O devices, processors) and to schedule their use by the

various active processes. Any resource allocation and scheduling policy must

consider the following three factors :

Fairness : Typically, we would like all processes that are

competing for the use of a particular resource to be given approximately equal

and fair access to that resource. This is especially so for jobs of the same

class, that is, jobs of similar demands, which are charged the same rate.

Differential responsiveness : On the other hand, the operating

system may need to discriminate between different classes of jobs with

different service requirements. The operating system should attempt to make

allocation and scheduling decisions to meet the total set of requirements. The

operating system should also view these decisions dynamically. For example,

if a process is waiting for the use of an I/O device, the operating system may

wish to schedule that process for execution as soon as possible to free up the

device for later demands from other processes.

Efficiency : Within the constraints of fairness and efficiency,

the operating system should attempt to maximize throughput, minimize

response time, and in the case of time sharing, accommodate as many users as

possible

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The operating system maintains a number of queues, each of which is simply a list of

processes waiting for some resource. The short-term queue consists of processes that are

in main memory (or at least an essential minimum portion is in main memory) and are

ready to run. Any one of these processes could use the processor next. It is up to the

short-term scheduler, or dispatcher, to pick one. A common strategy is to give each

process in the queue some time in turn; this is referred to as a round-robin technique.

Priority levels may also be used. The long-term queue is a list of new jobs waiting to use

the system. The operating system adds jobs to the system by transferring a process from

the long-term queue to the short-term queue. At that time, a portion of main memory

must be allocated to the incoming process. Thus, the operating system must be sure that it

does not over-commit memory or processing time by admitting too many processes to the

system. There is an I/O queue for each I/O device. More than one process may request

the use of the same I/O device. All processes waiting to use each device are lined up in

the device queues. Again, the operating system must determine which process to assign

to an available I/O device. The operating system receives control, of the processor at the

interrupt handler if an interrupt occurs. A process may specifically invoke some operating

system service, such as an I/O device handler, by means of a service call. In this case, a

service-call handler is the entry point in to the operating system. In any case, once the

interrupt or service call is handled, the short-term scheduler is invoked to pick a process

for execution.

System Structure

As more and more features have been added to operating systems and as the

underlying hardware has become more complex and versatile, the size and complexity of

operating systems has grown. The size of a full-featured operating system and the

difficulty of the task it addresses have led to three unfortunate but all too common

problems. First, operating systems are chronically late in being delivered. This goes for

new operating systems and for upgrades of older systems. Second, the systems have

latent bugs that show up in the field and must be fixed and reworked. And finally,

performance is often not what was expected. To manage the complexity of operating

systems and to overcome these problems, much attention has been given over the years to

the software structure of the operating system. Certain points seem obvious. The software

must be modular. This helps to organize the software development process and limits the

task of diagnosing and fixing errors. The modules must have well-defined interfaces to

each other, and the interfaces must be as simple as possible. Again, this eases the

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programming task. It also makes the task of system evolution easier. With clean, minimal

interfaces between modules, one module can be changed with minimal impact on other

modules.

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Chapter 1 - EXERCISE

True or False

1. Operating System is a System Software

2. First Generation Computers were purely mechanical

3. Secondary Memory is called Virtual Memory

Fill in the blanks

1. Process is a program that is in ______________

2. Major features of Third Generation System was the concept of ____________

3. The most fundamental system program is ________________

4. Operating System allows _______________________ to be used in efficientmanner

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Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION TO DOSDisk Operating System manages your computers resources. The part of Disk

Operating System that controls the hardware such as the video screen, keyboard, mouse,

disks and printer is the Kernel. A second part of Disk Operating System that interprets

your commands and causes the kernel to do what you want is called the Command

Interpreter. However, I will use the term command prompt to refer to it since the

prompt is its visible part that you use to communicate with the kernel. More precisely, the

command interpreter converts commands you enter at the command prompt to their

required form and gives them to the kernel.

The Disk Operating System shell is actually an interface between you and the

command interpreter that provides an easy way to enter commands. Each time Disk

Operating System is started, the command prompt is automatically displayed on your

screen. Nevertheless, you can set up your system to have the Disk Operating System shell

automatically displayed instead. Since the Disk Operating System shell is easier to use

than the command prompt. First lets see which interface is waiting for your command. If

you are working at the command prompt, the last line on the screen looks like this :

C:\>

This line may be the only one on the screen. When the Disk Operating System shell

is first set up and is waiting for your command, the Start Programs screen appears.

Disk Drives and Directories :

A disk drive is a device which runs the disk (floppy or hard) and in the process either

storing data or reading from it. A PC has floppy drives only and the first floppy drive is

conventionally called drive A: whereas the second floppy drive is designated as drive B:

Booting is synonymous with starting a computer. When you switch on the computer

first thing in the morning, the computer with instructions from BIOS, which are programs

fused in to ROM, the read only memory of the computer or the firmware, checks the

memory and peripheral routines. Drive A: of a microcomputer is the primary drive,

which a computer looks for first of all on switching on. It reads the disk in drive A: for

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any boot record or system files. If drive A: does not have these it goes to the drive C:,

skipping drive B: as per specific BIOS instructions, to read the same. On finding these

the computer starts the process of loading DOS in to the RAM of the computer. Once the

DOS is loaded it is said that the DOS has been booted and the computer is ready to accept

your order. The following prompt stares at you and awaits your orders:

A>_ or C>_ will be displayed along with a flashing cursor depending upon whether

the system has been booted from A: or C: drive. When you boot from A: drive DOS

diskette must be in drive A: snugly inserted with drive door properly closed otherwise

disk in drive A: will not be read. When you boot from C: drive DOS must be previously

installed in the hard disk so that the system files are duly loaded in to RAM.

MS-DOS is a command-driven operating system. This means that there are a set of

commands which you give to the operating system for the tasks you wish it to perform.

These commands are entered in front of the System Prompt (A, or B, or C..) at the place

you see the blinking hyphen which is the cursor. After you enter the command you

press the {Return} key to record your command. Until you press {Return} you can

correct any typographical mistakes that you may have made while entering your

command. The line at which you enter your command is called the Ms-DOS Command

Line.

A> tells you the current default drive. Unless overridden by the command, DOS will

search this drive for all files. To change the default drive, simply enter the drive desired

as follows:

drive: (for example B: or C: or A: and Press {Return}

The DOS FORMAT command performs several functions. Firstly, the FORMAT

command converts an off-the-shelf disk to a disk that DOS can use. Secondly, FORMAT

can make a disk bootable by DOS if you use the /S qualifier in the FORMAT command.

Thirdly, FORMAT places a list of damaged disk locations on the disk so that DOS will

not try to use those locations to store data. Lastly, FORMAT allows you to specify a

volume label. Give the following command to format diskette in drive B:

A>format B:_

DOS files names are of the form

Filename.txt

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The file name must contain one to eight characters. The extension is optional and, if

present, must contain from one to three characters. A period separates the file name from

the extension. The following are valid DOS file names:

CHAPTER.TXT NOTES.DAT MATH.HW

SCIENCE.RPT DO_TODAY EXPENSES.$$

Letter.Jan Personal Off_Jan.10

DATA.DAT is illegal because of the two periods. The file name and extension

are separated by a period, which makes the period an illegal character in DOS file names.

NEW.DATA is illegal because of extension DATA is more than three characters

in length. The extension on DOS file names is optional and if present, must contain from

one to three characters

DOSFILENAME.DAT is illegal because the file name portion of a DOS file name

can not exceed eight characters.

CON.DAT is illegal because CON is a DOS device name. DOS reserves several

names for the devices that are attached to your computer. The following are illegal DOS

file names on account of these being reserved desired names:

AUX CON LPT3 CLOCKS LPT1 LPT2 NUL COM1 COM2

The .234 is illegal because it lacks a file name. Only the three-character extension inDOS file names is optional.

By directory is meant the list of files and/or sub-directories that are present in a

floppy disk or hard disk.

The DOS directory command DIR lists the files on a disk.

A> DIR {Return}

DIR/p It displays the directory page wise, P represents pause so a screenful

with 80 columns by 23 lines is displayed. If the entries are more than 223 lines the

computer will prompt you Strike a key when ready ... On pressing any key the

next portion of 23 lines will be displayed. The display will show the primary file name,

the extension, the space used, the date and the time of creation of the file. At the end of

the directory listing it will also show the total number of files and the number of free

bytes of space available.

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DIR/W The above displays the files and directory entries across the screen

with W standing for wide view. This way you can get more file names on the screen at

one time. However, the display will consist of only primary name and extension, if any. It

will not entry nor it will give the space used and the date and time of creation of

individual files. The command is used to quickly browse through the list of all files

present in a disk or directory.

A>DIR *.EXE You will see all the files having extension .EXE will be displayed.

A>DIR S*.EXE You will see all the files having primary name which starts with S

and with extension .EXE will be displayed.

C:\>DIR A: is the command from drive C to see directory of disk in drive

A.

C:\>DIR C: is the command to see the directory of C:.

C:\>DIR *. is the command to see the names of just the sub directories

present in the root directory of the hard disk C.

C:\> DIR FILENAME.* is the command to display the files having the

same primary name (say FILENAME) but different extension.

C>DIR ???A.?B? The above command will search for all files that have a primary

name of 4 characters with the fourth character as A and an extension of 3 characters with

the middle character as B.? is a character which represents any single character in a file

name. This technique is used to search those files whose full names are not known or are

temporarily forgotten. ? is called a wild card character.

C:\>DIR *.* Represents all the characters of the primary file name if it is written

prior to the extension dot. If entered after the extension dot it represents all the characters

given to the extension. Thus the above command will show all the files located in C

drive. The difference between ? and * is only that where as ? represents single character,

* represents all characters. * is also called a wild card character.

A:\>COPY COMMAND.COM B: {Return} is the command to make a copy of the

file COMMAND.COM from drive A to B.

BASIC DOS COMMANDS

1. ANSI -- Allows color to be added to the video displayFormat DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS

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2. ASSIGN -- Changes the name of a disk driveFormat ASSIGN A = C

ASSIGN A=C;B=CAssign

3. ATTRIB Displays and changes read-only and archive attributes of a disk fileFormat ATTRIB +R ambig

ATTRIB R ambigATTRIB +A ambigATTRIB A ambigATTRIB +A + R ambig /SATTRIB

4. BACKUP Makes a floppy-disk backup of your hard diskFormat BACKUP C:\*.* A:/S

BACKUP C:\ambig A:/S/M

5. BREAK Allows program termination if you type ^ BreakFormat BREAK ON

BREAK = ONBREAK

6. CD (OR CHDIR) Changes the current directory at the command promptFormat CD\

CD\EDITCD SPELLCD ..CD

7. CHKDSK Analyzes and summarizes the state of a diskFormat CHKDSK C:

CHKDSK C:/FCHKDSK C:/VCHKDSK PNAME.EXT

8. COMP Compares two disk filesFormat COMP ambig1 ambig2

COMP A: B:COMP

9. CONFIG Configures DOS on startupFormat (Executes automatically on startup)

10. DATE Displays and sets Date

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Format DATEDATE 6-9-89

11. DEL (OR ERASE) Deletes disk files

Format DEL PNAME.EXT

DEL ambig

12. DISKCOMP Compares two floppy disksFormat DISKCOMP A: B:

DISKCOMP A: A:

13. DISKCOPY Duplicates a complete floppy diskFormat DISKCOPY A: B:

DISKCOPY A: A:

14. EDLIN Creates and alters a text file

Format EDLINEDLIN PNAME.EXTEDLIN PNAME.EXT D

15. ERASE (See DEL)

16. EXIT Returns you to the DOS shell from the second command promptFormat EXIT

17. FASTOPEN Starts programs quickerFormat FASTOPEN C:

FATOPEN C:=50FASTOPEN C:/X

18. FDISK Prepares a new hard diskFormat FDISK

19. FIND Searches for a pattern of letters in textFormat FIND string PNAME.EXT

20. INSTALL Installs resident programs on startupFormat INSTALL = C:\DOS\FASTOPEN.EXE C:

INSTALL = C:\UTIL\MOUSE.COM

21. LABEL Changes the name of a diskFormat LABEL B:RECEIPTS

LABEL B:

22. MD (OR MKDIR) Creates a subdirectoryFormat MD\EDIT

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23. MEM Displays amount of total and available memoryFormat MEM

MEM /PROGRAM

24. MODE Configures the video screen and serial ports

Format MODE COM1:2400,N,8,1,PMODE LPT1:=COM1MODE LPT1MODE N

25. MORE Stops scrolling when the screen is filledFormat |MORE

MORE

26. PATH Establishes a search path for program executionFormat PATH C:\DOS

PATH D:\;C:\DOSPATHPATH;

27. PRINT Prints a disk fileFormat PRINT /D:PRN

PRINT /D:COM1PRINTPRINT/TPRINT PNAME.EXT/C

28. PROMPT Changes the command promptFormat PROMPT $P$G

PROMPT $P,$D$GPROMPTPROMPT $E[0;30;46m $P$G$E[1;37;44m

29. RD (OR RMDIR) Deletes a subdirectoryFormat RD\SUBDIR

RD SUBIDR

30. REN (OR RENAME) Renames a disk fileFormat REN OLDNAME.EXT NEWNAME.EXT

RUN ambig1 ambig2

31. REPLACE Selectively copies filesFormat REPLACE A:*.* C:/A

REPLACE A:*.* C:/U

32. RESTORE Restores the hard disk from floppy disk backups

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Format RESTORE A: C:\*.* /SRESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/NRESTORE A: C:\LOTUS\*.* /SRESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/A:2-4-89RESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/B:2-4-89

33. SET Changes and displays the current state of DOS featuresFormat SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM

SETSET SPOOLER = 48K

34. SORT Sorts lines of a text fileFormat SORT FILE2

DIR|SORT /R+10|MORE

35. SUBST Establishes a subdirectory as a separate disk

Format SUBST D: C:\EDITSUBST D:/D

36. SYS Writes DOS system to diskFormat SYS

SYS C:

37. TIME Displays and allows alteration of timeFormat TIME

TIME 13:7

38. TREE Displays subdirectory paths at the command promptFormat TREE

39. TYPE Displays a text file on the video screenFormat TYPE PNAME.EXT

TYPE PNAME.EXT>PRNTYPE PNAME.EXT|MORE

40. VDISK Establishes a RAM diskFormat DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 256

DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 512/EDEVICE=VDISK.SYS 512/X

41. VER Displays DOS VersionFormat VER

42. VERIFY Verifies that a disk file is correctly writtenFormat VERIFY ON

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VERIFY = ONVERIFY

43. VOL Displays the disk name and serial numberFormat VOL

VOL A:

44. XCOPY Makes backup copies of files Format XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /M

XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /AXCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /D:8-9-89XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /PXCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /WXCOPY A:*.* /S

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Chapter 3

WINDOWS NT AND WINDOWS98

Structure :

3.0 Introduction

3.1 Objectives

3.2 What is Windows NT ?

3.3 Windows NT features and Architecture

3.3.1 Organizing programs and documents in Windows NT3.3.2 Setting Object Properties

3.3.3 Printing

3.3.4 In Control Panel

3.4 What is new in Windows98 ?

3.5 Navigating Windows98 ?

3.5.1 Working with Windows and using Menus

3.5.2 Working with Files, Folders and Disks

3.5.3 Customizing and maintaining Windows98

3.5.4 Working with Windows applications

3.6 Summary

3.7 Model Answers

3.0 Introduction : What is a Windows?

A window is a boxed area in which you view programs, files, folders, drives, icons

representing programs, files or folders and other elements. Most windows can be opened,

closed, sized, reduced, enlarged, moved or positioned on the desktop. Some common

elements of Windows are:

Title Bar : Contain windows name, control menu and

Minimum, Maximum of restore and close button.

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Menu Bar : Contains menus with related commands and

options that help you control the window and its contents.

Control Menu Button :- Contains menu commands that help

you to control window itself which can be used to Minimum, Maximum,

Restore and close the window itself.

Tool Bar :- Displays graphic tool buttons that represent short

cuts to various menu commands

Minimum Button :- Reduces the Window

Maximum Button :- Enlarge the Window

Close Button :- Closes the window and if a program is running

in the window, exits the program

Folders :- Icons within windows that represent directories.

Folders can hold other folders and files

Files :- Icons representing documents, spreadsheets program

files and other files stored in folders on a drive

Windows Border :- A rim around a window, that is., used to

resize the window

Status Bar :- A bar across the bottom of window the describes

the contents of window. Such as free space, number of objects or files in

window and so on.

Scroll Bar :- A vertical and horizontal bar that enables you to

move the internal viewing area of a window.

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WindowsNT

3.1 Objectives

At the end of this unit, you should be able to

Define a window, windows NT and Windows98

Use the menus of Windows NT and 98

Organize your files and folders

Set properties

Manage Printing

Make use of Control Panel

Select, Copy and cut in windows applications

3.2 What is Windows NT?

Windows NT is a foundation upon which Microsoft networking rests. Windows NT

is a 32-bit preemptive, Multitasking operating system that belongs to Microsoft Windows

family of operating system. It comes in two versions.

Windows NT Work Station :- Designed to work as member

of Windows NT work group. It is aimed towards users who need a reliable

operating system with a high level security.

Windows NT Server :- Same as Windows NT work station

but with added features that enable it to work as a network operating

system.

Windows NT is a secure operating system with a graphical interface. It is not a

revision of any other Windows Operating System. This is a complete true operating

system is itself, not relying on Disk Operating System for lower level functions. When

Windows NT starts up in a computer. It starts up immediately in Windows NT. Windows

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NT is easily portable to variety of platforms because of the modular nature of Windows

NT architecture.

3.3 Windows NT features and Architecture

1. Portability : Unlike most operating system, Windows NT can be seen on a variety

of plat forms. This flexibility can be a great advantage when implementing a computer

strategy for an organization, because it can free you from being lied to a narrow selection

of hardware plat forms.

2. Multitasking Operations : Multitasking means, different types of applications

run simultaneously. While the user is working on one application, another application can

be running in background. An Operating System achieves this effect by rapidly switching

tasks, by scheduling the Microprocessor to work on more than one task at the same time.

The Microprocessor alternates so quickly from task to task that the user might think the

machine is processing several jobs at the same time. Windows NT actually supports two

kinds of multitasking:

Preemptive, and

Cooperative:

Preemptive multitasking allows the operating system to manage the processing of

application in separate sessions, with out surrendering control of the processor.

Cooperative multitasking : Here sharing of session time is not managed by

operating system. Instead each 16-bit window application must cooperate by releasing

control of the processor, so that the other application can use it. A poorly written

application may be able to hang the other 16-bit application running in the same 16-bit

session. But it will not be able to affect the operation of Windows NT.

3. Multithreading Operations : While running on a Pentium, Windows NT can

actually execute multiple pieces of code of threads from a single application

simultaneously. This capability is called multithreading. It helps to speed up applications

and allow them to be executed, move smoothly.

A threadis most basic unit of code that can be scheduled for execution. A processis

composed of one or more threads.

4. File Systems : Windows NT supports a variety of file systems like:

File Allocation Table (FAT) used with Disk Operating System

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New Technology File System (NTFS) introduced by Windows

NT

Virtual File Allocation Table (VFAT) introduced by

Windows 95

5. Security : Windows NTs security features are mandatory logou procedure,

memory protection, auditing and limited network access.

6. Support for many clients : Following clients can serve as Work Station on a

Windows NT hardware.

Windows 3.x

Windows for work groups

MS-DOS

Windows 95/98

Macintosh

Operating System/2

Windows NT Work Station

7. Multiprocessor Support : Windows NT has an ability to run on computers with

multiple multiprocessors, thereby enabling multiprocessing applications to run on more

than one processor. When running on multiple processors, Windows NT Operating

System manages the Microprocessor as well as the memory, which they share.

Two main multiprocessing techniques are:

Asymmetrical Multiprocessing (ASMP) where one processor

is typically reserved for the Operating System and Input/Output devices, while

the other processor(s) can run application Threads and other tasks.

Symmetrical Multiprocessing (SMP) where the availableprocessors share all task, including Operating System tasks, user process and

application threads. This is more efficient way to Do multiplying Windows

NT was designed to support this type of multi programming.

8. Compatibility with Applications : Windows NT can run following applications

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Disk Operating System 16-bit application

Windows 3.x application

POSIX Complaint application

Operating System/2 1.x character based programs

New 32-bit application

9. Storage Space :- Windows NT supports virtually limitless amount of memory and

hard disk space. Specific numbers are as follows:

Random Access Memory 4 GigaBytes (4GB)

Hard Disk Space 16 exabytes

10. Networking Connectivity : Windows NT supports following network protocols

TCP/IP

DLC

NetBEUI

Apple talk

Netware Link

Novell Netware

IBM LAN Server

IBM SNA Network

Microsoft LAN Manager

Microsoft Windows 95/98 peer to peer network

Windows NT Architecture : Windows NT Architecture is divided in to two modes.User and Kernel mode.

User Mode is the Operating System Mode in which user

applications and environment subsystems are executed. Several important sub

systems run in user mode. Two of them are:

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o Environment Sub systems like Windows 32, POSIX,

Operating System/2

o Security Sub system which handles logon process. It

works directly with the security reference monitor in kernel mode to

verify password. A user enters the user name and password, the

security sub system builds and sends an authentication package in to

the kernel mode, then to security reference monitor where it is checked

against security account data base. If entered password is correct,

security reference sends an access token back to security sub system.

Kernel Mode : This is also called as processor mode. It is a

inner core of operating system unlike user mode, this mode has executing

priority over all user mode processes and can not be swapped out to disk by

virtual manager. User application can not access machine resources directly.

To access system hardware and data, user mode application makes request to

kernel then executes request and returns the resulting data.

This method prevents a badly written program from destroying system resources or

leaving the computer in an unstable state. Kernel schedules all system activities for

optimum performance. The kernel queues data channels it to the microprocessor and the

processed data directs it in to the appropriate route. Kernel enforces and manages

execution according to thread priority.

Memory Architecture : Following features are the most important aspects of

Windows NT memory model

Virtual Memory

Demand Paging

32-bit, flat, linear address space

The concept ofVirtual Memory is already discussed in previous section.

It is just a practice of using a hard drive to fool the operating system and application

in to behaving as if there were move Random Access Memory than actually exists.

Whereas Demand Paging is a process of demanding for the required page. Each

application running under a Windows NT is given a unique virtual address space

composed of equal blocks called Pages. Demand Paging refers to the process of moving

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data in to paging files and then paging it back in to physical memory when the

applications need it.

3.3.1 Organizing programs and Documents in Windows NT using the Start

Menu :

Clicking the start button brings up the start menu. From the start menu, you can find

any thing you need or you have on your system. Just by clicking the contents on the start

menu, you can select the item and move to the required location.

You will always have instant access to the Controls for your computer. If you have

a Windows 95/98/NT Keyboard, you can quickly access the start menu by pressing the

special windows key. Otherwise, press Ctrl+Esc.

Adding programs to start menu : If you copy any file,program or system object to the start menu, NT work station automatically

creates a short cut to that item, and because you are on the start menu, you can

access that short cut any time.

To create a short cut on start menu, drag the file you want, on to the start

button, next click the start button, the short cut to that file will appear on top

of start menu.

Arranging open Windows with task Bar : Start menu and

Task Bar provide right click menus that enable you to set options for

controlling their behaviour and appearance.

You can change the size and position of all open application by making

choices from the n Task Bars right Click menu. Simply right click anywhere

on Task Bar to bring up the menu with the following choices.

Cascade Windows : Places each of your open application one

on top of another, which look somewhat like a deck of cards across a dealers

table.

Tile windows horizontally and vertically : Arranges current

application in equal sized windows so that you can see some contents of every

windows at once.

Minimize all Windows : Minimizes all your open applications

to the Task Bar, just to clear the desktop.

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Undo Tile and Undo minimize all : Undoes whatever task bar

operation you last performed

Properties :- Brings up task bar properties sheet with various

pages of options that not only let you arrange items on the start menu and

the task bar, but also permit you to specify opening and closing behaviour of

those items. Properties sheet has two tables.

o Task Bar Options

o Start Menu Programs

Task Bar Options : tab lets you set a few basic options for start menu and task bar

as follows:

Always on top keep task bar visible all times

Auto hide makes task bar disappear

Show small icons in start menu :- shrinks the size of icons on

start menu and removes with NT

Work station label that appears on left side of start menu

Show Clock :- removes the clock that is displayed by default

Start Menu programs tab provides options to remove the programs from startmenu. This tab permits changes to Properties like

Icon that appears next to an item on the start menu

Order of the item on start menu

Size of item window after it is opened

Other options, depending on your system configuration

Removing programs from Start Menu :

Right click task bar and select properties

Click the start menu programs tab

Click remove button. A mini explorer shows items on start

menu

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Click the item you want to remove if you had to go to a fly out

menu when you used the start menu to access the item, then item will be in

sub folder in mini explorer window now.

Click Remove Button

Dialog box ask if you are save to delete a program (Click OK if

save)

Click close button to finish process

Using Explorer : Explorer is almost like desk top, because any thing you expect

want to do to a file or program and any configuration changes can be done from explorer.

Opening Vs Exploring : Main difference between opening a desk top object and

exploring a desk top object is opening simply opens a window that shows only the

contents of object. Whenever, when you explore the same program it displays the tool bar

full of useful buttons and right pane for displaying the contents of whatever you select in

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left pane. Explorer is best when you want to explore what file on application you want to

use.

Branches : Explorer shows a file system with may levels or branches. Top level lets

you look at fundamental pieces of your System. When you first open explorer, there is no

highlight to show you what is selected in left pane. This changes as soon as you click

something in left pane to change the view in right pane. There is a line at the top of right

pane that displays the name of the selected folder.

Views : The ways how the objects appear in explorer are called views. The view that

you choose affects only the right explorer pane. The left pane always looks the same.

That is, an expandable list of folders and files on your computer.

There are four views you can choose from to display icons in explorer and five ways

to arrange the icons.

Large Icon View :- The one you are familiar with. In this

view, the icons are large, so easily recognizable.

The small icon view shrinks the size of icons on the rightexplorer pane. That is., to see all the Files in a folder

List view takes same icons of small icon view and lists them

up and down instead of across the Explorer pane.

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Details View move all the icons to the left most column and

user the other column for file/object Information related to the icons. This

information includes the file type, size of file, and date of the File was last

modified or saved.

Sorting of files in right pane can be done by name, size, date or file type. This makes

it easier for you to find the file you are looking for. To do this, go to right pane view

menu and click arrange icons, select the required sorting options. Type of file refer to

three character extension like .doc file and size refers to size of file in bytes, kilo bytes or

mega bytes as appropriate.

Tool Bar :- Tool Bar take all the most commonly used tasks from a specific

application and put them in easy reach. Below Figure shows the explorer tool bar.

Previous folder takes you to the folder above the one you are

in. Clicking this button takes you up to next level that is, my computer, from

there it takes to desk top is end.

Map network drive Creates a information connection to a

shared folder on a server and assigns it a drive letter

Disconnect networkdrive Disconnects you from the network

drive you specify

Cut : Cuts or detects a selected file or folder from your hard

drive. You can also use Ctrl X on Key board or choose cut from edit menu

Copy : Copies a selected file or folder from your hard drive.

Alternative is Ctrl + C or cut of edit Menu

Paste : Adds a selected file or folder from your hard drive.

Alternative is Ctrl + V or paste from Edit menu

Undo : Reverses the last activity you performed. Alternative is

Ctrl + Z or undo from Edit Menu

Delete : Moves any files or folders selected to the recycle bin.

This is same as cut, but after you have deleted you can not paste it as you do

in cut operation

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Properties : Opens the properties sheet for the item you have

selected. Alternative is Ctrl + Enter or Properties from file menu

Large Icons, Small Icons, List View and details :- Sets

different views for explorer right pane

Using Explorer main menu and right click menus

File Menu This contains commands for following operations

Open Opens your selected file using its associated application.

If the file selected does not have an associated application it prompts you for

the application to open the file.

New Creates a new folder or short cut in your current directory

Send To Sends your selected file to any of location you have

placed in your send to folder

Create Short Cut : Creates short cut to the selected file in

current folder.

Delete Sends selected files and files and folders to recycle bin

Rename : High lights the name of the selected file or folder.

Type your new name for the file or folder and press enter to accept it.

Properties : Displays the properties sheet for file or folder

Close Closes the active explorer window

Edit Menu : This includes

Undo Reverses last action

Cut Removes files and folders from the current location . You

can paste them in to a new folder or use cut as a means of deleting them

Paste Pastes or inserts files and folders you have cut and

copies from other folders in to currently open folder

Paste Short Cut takes a file you have copied and paste a short

cut to the file in the active folder

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Select all Selects all the highlighted contents of a folder or

drive

Invent Select Reverses the number of items selected. That is, if

we have selected two items reverse select will select all but the two items you

originally selected

Tools Menu :- Tools Menu commands are

Map network drive :- Assigns a drive letter to a network

drive. If you check a reconnect at logon box any drive you have mapped is

automatically assigned the same drive letter each time you restart the NT

Work Station.

Disconnect network drive :- Removes a drive letter assigned

from network drive that is, previously mapped

GOTO Automatically takes you to the drive or folder you

indicate. In the text filed, enter the path of drive or folder you want to go and

clickOKor press Enter. As a power, Go to keeps a test of folders you have

gone previously. To access one of those, click the drop down list and choose

the path. You can also access go to by using Ctrl + G is explorer.

Help Menu Opens explorers help file. This menu provides

access to overall Windows NT help too.

Right Click Menus : Commands available on the right click menu changes

depending on such factors as your current folders location. Current file or folder type,

user privileges and existence of other programs on your computer. Most common

Commands on right click menu are:

New to create a new file or folder

Cut, Copy and Paste

Map Network Drive

Send To

Rename

Delete

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Create Short Cut

Properties

Equivalent to commands on file or edit menu

Organizing your files and folders :-

Creating new folders: We can create new folders as follows:

Choose where you want to create a new folder. You can create

new folder on desktop, at the root of hard drive or floppy drive or inside

another folder.

If you are in explorer, choose new folder from the file menu orfrom the right click menu. Similarly if you are creating a folder on desktop,

choose new and then folder from right click menu.

The folder is created with the default name new folder. To give

a new name to the folder, type the Name. You can always rename a folder by

choosing rename from file menu or right click menu and typing new name

Moving Items Files or folders can be moved any where on

your computer or over the network you are attached to. To move, do the

following:

1. Select the file or folder you want to move. To select move than one

object, use the mouse to highlight all the objects you want to move or

copy.

2. To move you can follow two methods. One is to choose cut and paste,

other is to drag the items from one Place to other there are various drag

destinations.

Drag from right explorer pane to left

Drag from either explorer pane to another explorer or explorer

type window

Drag from either explorer pane to the start button. This dont

move the item but it creates a Short cut on start menu

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Drag from either explorer pane to the desktop.

Drag from desk top to explorer folder

Copying Items : Files and folders can also be copied any

where on your computer or the network attached to. To copy a file or folder,

do as follows:

1. Select the file or folder Press Ctrl + Click to select multiple objects.

One at a time or shift + Click the first and last objects

2. To Copy, you can follow two methods. One is to choose copy and

paste from edit menu. Other is to Drag the items from one place to

another. To ensure that the objects you are dragging are copied and not

moved, you should hold down the Ctrl Key while you are dragging.

Saving files and folders on to desk top

To save files on the desktop do one of the following

Drag a file from explorer to the desk top

If you are saving the file from within an applications, scroll to

desk top in the applications save as dialog box and then save your file

Dragging with right mouse button

When you drag files with the right mouse button and then release the button, a menu

pops up offering a special set of options to help you decide how to move the file or

folder. Use the following steps to move a file or folder.

Select the file or folder you want to move to desk top

Click with the right mouse button and drag the objects to the

desk top

When you drag the object to the desk top and release the rightmouse button, a menu appears, giving you these options:

o Move here Moves file to new location

o Copy here Copies file to new location

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o Create Short Cut here creates a short cut to the file at

new location

o Cancel Cancels the operation

Deleting files and folders : If you do not want a file or folder any more, you can

easily delete it. By default if you default a File, the file is not actually deleted. Instead

it is compressed and sent to a folder called recycle bin that is, it is not removed from your

hard drive. Recycle Bin is a good intermediate place to keep files you are pretty sure you

want to delete. If you want to get it back, you can always open the recycle bin and use its

restore option to get the object.

Sending items to recycle bin : There are several ways to send a file to the recycle

bin:

Press the delete key on your key board

Choose delete from file menu

Choose delete from right click menu

Drag and drop the item on to recycle bin

Emptying Recycle Bin : After sending a file to recycle bin we can delete it from the

recycle bin. After deleting it from Recycle Bin, the file is removed from your hard drive

and is gone forever.

To empty the recycle bin, do one of the following:

Right click the recycle bin icon on your desk top and choose

empty recycle bin

Open the recycle bin in explorer and choose empty recycle bin

from the file menu.

Restoring items from the recycle bin :- For this you can do one of these things

Open recycle bin and drag the file you want to restore to folder

Open recyle bin, select file you want to restore, Choose restore

from file menu or right click menu

Right click the location you deleted the file from and select

undo delete from the context menu

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Windows NT Folder :- This Windows NT folder contains several sub folders that

perform specific function for the Operating System. Windows NT folder is divided in to

following folders.

Configuration Contains NT registry. This provides

information on all the hardware devices connected to your machine, directly

or indirectly

Cursors Stores NT animated mouse cursors. This folder may

be empty if you did not choose to install all the cursors during set up

Fonts Contains all your installed fonts

Forms Stores forms if you are using forms with Microsoft

exchange. By default, only basic form Templates are stored here

Help Contains NTs help files

Media Stores system sound files. When you assign system

sounds to different operating system events, you call files from this folder.

You can store any .WAV file in this folder and make it available to NT

Profiles Holds a hierarchy of personal folders for each user

who uses your system

Repair Contains back up copies of some essential system files,so that you can restore them in case of a system crash

System Stores 16-bit system files if you can install NT Work

Station over Windows 3.1. It also provides some backward compatibility for

16-bit windows applications that really want to see a system folder.

3.3.2 Setting Object Properties

Right Clicking objects throughout the NT interface brings up a short cut menu with

options pertaining to the Objects at hand. The same options are available from main

menu also, but are more conveniently reachable with right Click. A good example of

right click item is task bar.

Right click start button you will see the following menu:

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Other right click menus often have cut, copy, paste, open, print and rename choices.

Just as most objects have right click menus, may also have properties sheets.

Properties provide you with a simple and direct means for setting everything from how

the screen looks to whether a file is hidden or what a shared Printer is named.

Every object in NT work station, whether a printer, modem, short cut, hard disk,

folder, hard ware computer, or hard ware driver has a properties sheet containing its

settings. These settings affect how the object works and some times how it looks.

Properties sheets not only display the settings for the object, but also usually enable you

to easily alter the settings.

Many right click menus have properties choice at the bottom. This choice is often the

quick path to an objects Properties sheet. Note that there are not other ways. Many dialog

boxes have a properties button to object settings. The control panel also can be used for

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setting numerous properties. Still, as you become more comfortable with NT, you will

find right click approach is most expedient.

Trying out few properties sheet :- Properties option is last button on right click

menu. Example: If you right click My Computer Icon Desktop you will see this menu

Just choose properties command, to set time, date and time zone for your computer.

Other Example is, suppose you are browsing some folders using explorer and you come

across an item word document, wondering what it is ?, when it was created ?, and who

created it ? You right click and choose properties you find the following properties sheet

Notice that several tab pages are on the sheet. Because word stores its propertyinformation in several location. Other applications might pop out only single tabbed

property sheets. Most document properties sheets are truly useful only if you want to

examine the history of the file or set its attributes such as whether it should be read only

or hidden from view etc. The point is you can view the status of document not alter it.

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Properties sheets for objects other than documents, however often let you make

move changes to them. Short cut properties for example lets you adjust some goodies

about how short cut works, file it points to.

These properties sheet can affect any program or document. Short cut key lets you

assign a key combination that will run the short cut from any where. Example : to jump to

My Computer, With out having to first minimize all your other windows.

Get to the desk top. Then My Computer, choose create create

short cut, this creates new short cut on desk top called short cut to My

Computer

Right Click new short cut, choose properties

In properties dialog box, click the short cut tab, then click

short cut key filed

Press Ctrl + Alt + C to assign short cut key of Ctrl + Alt + C

Click OK to finish

Making properties settings from My Computer:- Most powerful properties sheets

can be reached directly from My Computer, Clicking My Computer icon on desk top and

choosing properties brings up system properties sheet as shown below:

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Examine 6 tabs here

General page tells you some useful information about version

NT, How much memory your computer has, what type of Central Processing

Unit chip is in your machine

Performance page lets you set to what degree the foreground

application gets extra process priority, and also lets you adjust the system

virtual menu settings. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to keep

the default settings.

Environment Page lets you adjust or add system environment

variables as well as user-environments variables. One such environment

variable accessible here is the system path, which

From time to time you might need to adjust or add to.

Start up/Shutdown page select a different operating system to

use on restart, (Assuming more than One is installed). As well as what to do

with serious errors. For example you can have NT log the error

messages to a file, send an alert and/or automatically restart the system.,

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Hardware profile page provide a convenient way to create a

Snapshot of your current driver configuration then add some other hardware

and drivers and take a second snapshot. With two profiles, you can choose

which configuration to use at system start up. This is useful when you want to

add or remove hardware

User Profile page lets you save different configuration of your

desk top appearance, including which items appear on your start menus and

other interface settings, so that different desk top appearances can be

associated with different users logging in to the system. You can also specify

Roaming configuration which permits your desk top appearance to be

available to every machine on your hardware.

3.3.3 Printing :-

Windows NT workstation gives you flexible and powerful printing support. NT

supports many different types of printers from many different printer manufacturers.

Some of printing features of NT include local and remote printing, print spooling with

print job monitoring and forwarding, printer security and foreign client support for

operating system such as Macintosh and UNIX

Creating Pausing and Stopping Print Job :-

1. Log on as an administrator

2. Select Start -> Settings -> Printers

3. Double Click a printer installed in your computer

4. Select properties from print menu

5. Position the properties window so that you can see both the properties

window and printer window

6. Click the print test page button in the properties window. As soon asthe test page appears in printers Window, click once on the test page

print job and then select document -> pause

7. Select document -> Cancel.

The print job will disappear from the list.

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3.3.4 In the Control Panel :

If you have fiddled around with the Control Panel at all, you can see that it acts as a

sort of Mission Central for NT Workstation. Some of the settings behind the icons can

be reached from other directions, but others can be reached only by way of the Control

Panel.

Accessibility Options : The Accessibility options are installed automatically when

NT Workstation is installed. If they are not on your system, you can use Add/Remove

Programs to add them. Double click the Accessibility Options icon, you will find options

for adding sound to the usual visual cues, adding visual cues to the sound cues, and

making the key board and mouse easier to use for those of us with dexterity problems.

Not all these settings are obvious, so when you come across one that is unclear, right

click the text and then click the what is this? button for more information. After you have

made your settings, do not leave until you click the General tab to check the Automatic

Reset section. Put a check mark next to Turn Off Accessibility Features After Idle to turn

off the options if the computer is not used for the period specified in the Minutes box.

Clear the check box if you want to make the selected options permanent.

ADD/REMOVE Programs : NT Work station provides a good deal of aid and

comfort when it comes to adding or Removing programs from your system, especially

adding and removing parts of NT Workstation itself. Double Click the Add/Remove

programs icon in the Control Panel. The Add/Remove function has two parts, one on

each tab :

Installing or uninstalling software applications

Installing or removing portions of NT WorkStation.

If an item is checked, it is installed. Remove the check mark, Windows NT Setup :-

Click the windows NT setup tab to add or remove a component of NT Workstation. The

various parts are organized by groups. For certain groups, you can highlight the group

and click details to see the individual components. As you click each item in a group, a

description of the items function is displayed at the bottom of the page. The rules aresimple :

If an item is not checked, it is not currently installed on your

system. Put a check mark next to it, and it will be installed

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If the check box is gray, a part of the component is selected for

installation. Click the details button to specify which parts you want.

Click OK once or twice until the window closes. You will be prompted to put the NT

Workstation CD in the CD Drive.

Console :- When you want to run a DOS session from NT, you open a command

prompt window (by choosing Start -> Programs -> MSDOS Prompt). The command

prompt window in NT is not DOS, but rather a full 32-bit program that understands DOS

commands. You can set options for the command prompt window through the console

program. Double click the Console icon to set the display as window or full screen and

adjust other settings, such as the font, colors, and the cursor size.

Date/Time :- Unless you are logged in using an account with administrative

privileges, this control panel option is unavailable to you, which makes sense since youdo not have permission to change the system date and time.

Devices :- If you double click the Devices icon in the Control Panel, you will see a

mysterious looking list of items. What you have in front of you is actually an inventory of

devices on your system, which includes basic things, such as your keyboards, ports and

mouse, as also more complicated things, such as hardware and software drivers. My

advice on this one is do not touch! You will probably never need to change any of the

settings behind the Devices icon, and if you do, it is probably best to call your trusty

system administrator, whose job it is to know more about such arcane matters than you

do.

Display :- Behind the Display icon are all the settings that affect your screen display,

including colors, screen savers, the appearance of windows and dialog boxes, and

resolutions.

Fonts :- TrueType fonts are managed in NT work station in a clear and

understandable way. To see the list of fonts on your Computer, double click the Fonts

icon in the Control Panel.

Selecting and Viewing Fonts :- The Fonts folder is a little different from the usual

run of folders in that the menus show some new items. In the View menu, in addition to

the choices for viewing icons and lists, you will find an option called List Fonts by

similarity. If you select the List Fonts by Similarity option and then select a font in the

drop down box at the top of the Fonts folder, the other fonts will line up in terms of their

degree of similarity. Before you make a commitment, you can right click any of the font

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names and select Open (or just double click). A window will open with a complete view

of the font in question. TrueType fonts that you may have located elsewhere can be

moved in to this folder. Fonts do not have to be physically located in the WINNT/Fonts

folder to be recognized by NT Workstation. You can make a shortcut to a font in another

folder and put the shortcut in the Fonts folder. The shortcut is all you need for the font to

be installed.

Installing New Fonts :- Installing new fonts is a pretty easy project. Just double

click the Fonts icon in the Control Panel and select Install New Font from the File Menu.

In the Add Fonts dialog box, you can specify the drive and directory where the font(s)

reside(s). If there is one or more TrueType or PostScript fonts at the location you specify,

they will show up in the List of Fonts Box. Highlight the font or fonts you want to install

and click the OK button.

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Incorporated full window dragging, font smoothing and other

interface enhancement

Multimedia enhancements for improved gaming

Software to broadcast enable your computer to blend TV

with web pages and computer content. With broadcast reception hardware,

you will be able to receive data broadcast of web pages, multimedia streams

and data packets from TV stations and networks

3.5 Navigating Windows Desk top :

What is Windows98? Windows98 is an operating system. It controls the hardware

of your computer and interprets the instructions from your software and operating system

to hardware.

Windows98 includes the features like multitasking or the ability to run more than

one program at a time. It uses a graphical user interface(GUI) which allows you to use

the pictures and graphics, instead of having to type out long commands to operating

system.

3.5.1 Working with Windows and Using Menus :

Starting with Windows98 As your computer boots, windows

loads the files it need to run. After operating system is loaded, you may see a

password dialog box asking for your user name and password.

User name the name by which you are identified to your

computer network

Password your personal match-word for logging in to the

computer or network.

Then press Enter or click OK to start windows

Windows Desktop :- After Windows98 starts, you will see various items on screen

as in fig below:

The items you see enable you to open application, manage files, send/receive mail,

and perform many other tasks through out your work. The components of windows

screen include:

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Desktop This is the back ground on which all other elements

appear. Just like a top of your office desk, as you can move papers around,hide certain items in drawers, add/remove things on your desk.

Icons are pictures that represent Programs folders files, printer

information and so on. Most often you use, icon to open folders and files.

My Computer Icon represents the contents of your computer,

including hard drive floppy, CD Drivers, applications, folders, files and so on.

Double click an icon to open it and view its contents.

Network neighborhood This displays other computersconnected to your computer or other type of network such as NT or netware.

Outlook Express Works with internet explorer and allows you

to send mail, chat and work in news groups user internet

Recyle Bin Same as we discussed in Win NT

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Online Services enables you to quickly and easily sign up for

any of online services it contains including America online, AT & T world net

and compu serve. ( You need modem connected )

Setup The Microsoft network is a step by step guide to

configuring your computer and connecting to Microsoft special internet

network. (Modem required)

Task bar contains start button, window button and time. You

can click taskbar button to open the window or application it represents.

Start Button This displays a menu from which you can choose

to open an application, open document, customize windows, find file or

folder, get help or shut down Win98 program.

Folder Same as we discussed before in Windows NT

Pointer is an on-screen icon, that represents your mouse, track

ball, touch pad or other selecting devices. You use it to select items and

choose commands.

o Using Start Button To use start button follow these

steps

o Click start button

o Click the task or command you want to display as

follows

o Windows update A short cut to the web site, down

load updated files and seek technical support

o Programs Displays a sub menu that includes windows

Accessory programs, on line services, internet explorer and other

programs can your computer.

o Favorites Displays web sites or programs you add to

favorites, folders, making access to those pages quick

o Documents Displays up to 15 of the most recently

opened documents. Click the document name and the application. The

document opens and ready to work

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o Settings Displays secondary menu includes control

panel and printers folders, task bar command for customizing your

windows setup.

o Find enables you to search for specific file, folder or

computer. You can also search your address books to locate a person

using the people selection

o Help Displays help for performing tasks and

procedures in windows

o Log OffAllows you to log off or on to Windows98

o Run Enables you to enter a command line to run

program from hard, floppy or CD disks

o Shut down Displays the shut down dialog box in which

you prepare your computer before turning it off

Using Task Bar This contains quick launch tool bar in

addition to start button as shown in figure below

Quick launch tool bar contains four items that act as a short cut on your desk top.

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Launch internet explorer browser Launches internet explorer

Four

Launch Outlook Express

Show DeskTop Launch outlook express minimize all open

programs and windows. Once clicked, the button remains depressed. Click the

depressed button to restore all windows and programs

View Channels Launches internet Explorer four channels

The task bar also displays buttons representing open windows and applications. To

move task bar click the Mouse anywhere on bar except on button and drag to required

position on screen.

To hide Task Bar

Click the start button

From start menu, click settings and then the task bar

Choose the Auto hide check box by clicking that box, then

press enter to close the dialog box

When you need it back, move the mouse to where the task bar last appeared, you

may have to slide the mouse off of the screen. The task bar reappears.

Using Menus :

What is Menu ?

A menu is a list of related commands that you use to perform tasks in windows and

in windows applications. Menu commands are organized in a logical groups. Differentmenu options and different menus will appear within the menu depending on the task you

are currently performing. Items on menu bar, are organized to help you find the command

you want. Example all commands that relate to editing functions such as cut, copy and

paste are found in the edit menu.

To choose the menu command,

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Click the menu title in menu bar. The menu opens to display

the available commands

To choose a particular command, simply click it

To make menu disappear, click anywhere outside the menu

Using Short cut keys instead of menus

Short cut keys enable you to select commands with out using menus. These short cut

keys generally combine, Alt, Ctrl or Shift keys, with a letter key. If a short key is

available, it is tested on the pull down menu to right of the command.

Example : Below figure shows Edit Menu from the hard drive window on My

Computer. We can see short cut key Ctrl + X for cut and for others.

Edit

Undo Ctrl+Z

Cut Ctrl+X

Copy Ctrl+C

Paste Ctrl+V

Paste ShortCut

Select All Ctrl+A

InvertSelection

Windows also provide variety of Short cut or Quick Menu that contain common

commands you often use. You can display a short cut menu by right clicking an object

such as the desk top, window, folder or file and so on. The commands that a short cut

menu displays depend on the item and its location. These menus are often referred to as

pop-up menus.

Using Windows98 Help Windows98 offers several ways to get outline help.

Windows98 help offers four ways to seek Help

Web Help

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Online Contents Feature

Index

Search

To access Windows help in one of the following ways

Click Start Button

Press F1 Key

Windows help tool bar buttons

Button Description

Hide

Back

Forward

Options

Web Help

Displays or hides the left pane of the window. The right pane (or

preview pane) is always visible. If you hid the left pane, the icon

changes to read show. Click Show, and the left pane reappears

Displays the previous page. Like a Web Browser, the Back

button will only work as far back as the first page you viewed

when you opened the Windows Help Program

After you have clicked the Back button, the Forward button will

move you ahead through pages you have viewed, in the order

you have viewed them

Displays a menu containing the following commands: Back,

Forward, Stop, Refresh, Customize and Print

If you are connected to the Internet, Web Help will display the

Microsoft Web site containing information and help for

Windows 98.

The contents feature in help Windows displays a text of collapsed categories.

Documents that contain help information are represented by a document with a question

mark. When you click on a document, its contents display in the preview pane on the left

screen.

The Index feature provides a test of help topics arranged alphabetically on the index

tab of help topics Window. You can scroll through the list to find the topic.

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Search Feature :- To search for specific words and phrases within help topic use the

search feature. Search feature is especially useful when you can not find a particular help

topic in help contents or on the index tab list of topics.

Dialog Box Windows application use dialog boxes to exchange information with

you. A dialog box asks for related information the program needs in order to complete the

operation. Dialog boxes vary depending on the program, procedure and number of

options in actual box. Some simply ask you to confirm an operation before it is executed.

Others ask you to choose a drive, folder, filename, type, network path or any of numerous

options. Some components of dialog box are:

Text Box provides place to type an entry such as filename,

path, font or measurement

List Boxpresents possible options from which you ca