a+ guide to software, 4e chapter 6 windows 9x/me commands and startup disk

A+ Guide to Software, 4e

Chapter 6Windows 9x/Me Commands and Startup

Disk


Understanding DOS and Windows 9x/Me Startup

• Windows 9x/Me is built on a DOS core

• Two ways to load the MS-DOS core– From the Windows 9x/Me hard drive – From a Windows 9x/Me startup disk

2/26


Figure 6-1 Steps to load the MS-DOS core

3/26


Figure 6-2 Memory address map (not to scale) showing the starting and ending addresses of conventional, upper, and extended memory, including the high memory area

4/26


Windows 9x/Me and DOS Utilities That Manage Memory

• Himem.sys: device driver for memory above 640KB

• Emm386.exe: loads drivers into upper memory

• Using Himem.sys– Himem.sys manages memory as a device– Executed by the Device= command in Config.sys– File can also be created on a floppy disk

• Preparation for using Emm386.exe– View current memory allocation: Mem /C |More – Objective: maximize total amount of free memory

5/26


Figure 6-5 MEM report with /C option on a PC not using upper memory

6/26


Figure 6-6 Config.sys set to use upper memory

7/26


Windows 9x/Me and DOS Utilities That Manage Memory (continued)

• Loading device drivers high– Use Devicehigh= command in Config.sys– Order commands so largest drivers are loaded first– MEM /M filename: displays memory needed by driver– A UMB may also be loaded from Autoexec.bat

• Relation of Windows 9x/Me to DOS memory– System is mostly 32-bit OS using extended memory– Uses base and upper memory for 16-bit components

8/26


Accessing a Command Prompt

• Click Start, Programs, and MS-DOS Prompt

• Enter Command.com in the Run dialog box

• Boot from any bootable floppy disk

• Restart in MS-DOS mode from Shutdown – Not available in Windows Me

• Hold down the Ctrl key or the F8 key while booting– Select Command prompt only from menu that appears

9/26


File and Directory Naming Conventions

• Three components in the DOS 8.3 filename format – Filename: contains up to eight characters– Separating period– File extension of up to three characters

• Example of a DOS filename: myFile.exe

• Legitimate characters– Letters a through z– The numbers 0 through 9– Special characters: _ ^ $ ~ ! # % & – { } ( ) @ ' `

• Do not use space, period, *, ?, \ in the filename10/26


File and Directory Naming Conventions (continued)

• Conventions used in Windows– Directory names/filenames can be up to 255 characters – Directory names and filenames can contain spaces– Maximum directory depth depends on length of name

• DOS can only read names in 8.3 format

• DOS truncates long filenames – Example: Mydocument.doc becomes Mydocum~.doc

11/26


Using Wildcard Characters in Command Lines

• Wildcard character: used to represent file group

• Question mark (?): wildcard for one character

• Asterisk (*): wildcard for more than one character

• Example: dir a*.??? – Command used to search for files– All files starting with ‘a’ and ending with any extension

12/26


Commands to Manage Files and Directories

• Dir: lists files and directories– Example: DIR Myfile.txt

• Rename or Ren: renames a file or folder– Example: Ren Myfile.txt Mybackup.txt

• Type: displays contents of a text file on your screen– Example: Type Myfile.txt |More

• Del or Erase: erases files or groups of files– Example: A:\Docs> Del *.*

• Copy: copies a single file or group of files– Example: C:\>Copy C:\Docs\*.* A:

13/26


Commands to Manage Files and Directories (continued)

• Xcopy /C /S /Y /D: Copy functions plus options– Example: C:\>Xcopy C:\Docs\*.* A: /D:03/14/06

• Deltree [Drive:]Path: deletes directory tree– Example: C:\>Deltree C:\Docs

• Mkdir [Drive:]Path or Md [Drive:]Path– Creates a subdirectory under a directory– Example: Mkdir C:\Game\Chess

• Chdir [Drive:]Path or Cd [Drive:]Path or Cd..– Changes current default directory – Example: Cd C:\Game\Chess

14/26



• Rmdir [Drive:]Path or Rd [Drive:]Path– Removes a subdirectory– Example: C:\>Rmdir C:\Game\Chess

• Three conditions for the use of Rmdir– The directory must contain no files– The directory must contain no subdirectories– The directory must not be the current directory

• Attrib: displays or changes file attributes– Example: Attrib +H MyFile.txt

15/26



• Extract Filename.Cab File1.Ext /D– Extracts files from a cabinet file – Example: Extract Ebd.cab /D

• Edit [Path][Filename]: opens DOS Edit program– Example: Edit A:\Autoexec.bat

16/26


Commands to Manage Hard Drives

• Chkdsk [Drive:] /F /R: fixes file system errors– Example: Chkdsk C: /F

• Scandisk Drive: A/P– Scans a hard drive for errors– Repairs errors if possible– Example: Scandisk C:

• Defrag Drive: /S– Examines a hard drive or disk for fragmented files– Rewrites these files to the drive in contiguous clusters– Example: Defrag C: /S:N

17/26


Commands to Manage Hard Drives (continued)

• Fdisk /Status /MBR: prepare a hard drive for first use– Example: Fdisk /MBR

• Format Drive: /S /V: VolumeName /Q /U /Autotest– Used to format a disk or a hard drive

• Unformat: reverses effect of an accidental format– Example: Unformat C:

• Debug– Text editor with multiple capabilities– Accessed by entering Debug command

18/26


Commands to Manage the Operating System

• Sys Drive: copies system files for booting to disk– Example: Sys: C

• Scanreg/Restore/Fix/Backup: restores the registry– Example: Scanreg/Backup

• Ver: displays the version of the OS in use

• MSD: Microsoft Diagnostic Utility

19/26


Figure 6-11 MSD opening screen

20/26


Using Batch Files

• Execute a list of commands multiple times

• Save time and reduce errors

• How to create a batch file– Open a file in a text editor – Place commands in the file– Save the file with a .bat extension

• Executing batch file– Enter name at command prompt– Extension may be omitted

21/26


Using the Windows 9x/Me Startup Disk

• Bootable (system) disk– Floppy disk with basic software for booting an OS

• Rescue disk( emergency startup disk (ESD), or startup disk)– Bootable disk with utility programs for troubleshooting

• PC technician should always have a rescue disk

22/26


Creating a Windows 9x/Me Startup Disk

• Open the Control Panel

• Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon

• Click Startup Disk tab and then click Create Disk

• Insert the Windows CD if it is requested– Windows then creates the startup disk

• Write protect and label the disk

23/26


Using a Startup Disk to Partition and Format a New Drive

• Use Fdisk to partition a drive– Boot from the startup disk and enter Fdisk at prompt– Select option 1 to create a partition– Use option 1 (next menu) to create primary partition– Use option 1 or 2 to create other partitions – Use option 3 to create logical drives – Select if large disk support will be used (FAT32)– Exit Fdisk and reboot PC to format logical drives

• Objects created by formatting process– Partition table, partitions, and logical drives

24/26


Figure 6-14 Fdisk menu to create partitions and logical drives

25/26


Table 6-6 Error messages that appear after the PC has passed POST and before an OS has successfully loaded

26/26

a+ guide to software, 4e chapter 6 windows 9x/me commands and startup disk

Documents