Chapter 1

Understanding and usage of

Operating System

Structure :
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Objectives
1.2 What is an Operating System?
1.3 History of Operating System
1.4 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.

Banking Airline
Web Browser
Application Programs
System Reservation
Command
Compilers Editors System
Interpreter
Software
Operating System

Machine Language

Micro Programming
Hardware
Physical Devices

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

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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, inability of Operating

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 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 Babbage’s 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 each machine.
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 write the program on
paper, then punch it on cards, bring the card deck down to Input / Output

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 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
effective computer speed. The following figure shows Multiprogramming
with two programs:

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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 of personal
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 1980’s 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 programs executing 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 or

awaiting 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 allocation. An
Operating System, to satisfy these requirements has five principal storage
management responsibilities as follows:

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 • 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 memory
physically 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

• 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

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 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

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

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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
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 efficient

manner

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Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION TO DOS
Disk Operating System manages your computer’s 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 let’s 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

12
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:_ <Return>

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 in
DOS 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 <Return> 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 <Return> 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 <Dir> 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: <Return> is the command from drive C to see directory of disk in drive
A.
C:\>DIR C: <Return> is the command to see the directory of C:.

C:\>DIR *. <Return> 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.* <Return> 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 display

Format DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS

15
2. ASSIGN -- Changes the name of a disk drive
Format ASSIGN A = C
ASSIGN A=C;B=C
Assign

3. ATTRIB – Displays and changes read-only and archive attributes of a disk file
Format ATTRIB +R ambig
ATTRIB –R ambig
ATTRIB +A ambig
ATTRIB –A ambig
ATTRIB +A + R ambig /S
ATTRIB

4. BACKUP – Makes a floppy-disk backup of your hard disk

Format BACKUP C:\*.* A:/S
BACKUP C:\ambig A:/S/M

5. BREAK – Allows program termination if you type ^ Break

Format BREAK ON
BREAK = ON
BREAK

6. CD (OR CHDIR) – Changes the current directory at the command prompt

Format CD\
CD\EDIT
CD SPELL
CD ..
CD

7. CHKDSK – Analyzes and summarizes the state of a disk

Format CHKDSK C:
CHKDSK C:/F
CHKDSK C:/V
CHKDSK PNAME.EXT

8. COMP – Compares two disk files

Format COMP ambig1 ambig2
COMP A: B:
COMP

9. CONFIG – Configures DOS on startup

Format (Executes automatically on startup)

10. DATE – Displays and sets Date

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 Format DATE
DATE 6-9-89

11. DEL (OR ERASE) – Deletes disk files

Format DEL PNAME.EXT
DEL ambig

12. DISKCOMP – Compares two floppy disks

Format DISKCOMP A: B:
DISKCOMP A: A:

13. DISKCOPY – Duplicates a complete floppy disk

Format DISKCOPY A: B:
DISKCOPY A: A:

14. EDLIN – Creates and alters a text file

Format EDLIN
EDLIN PNAME.EXT
EDLIN PNAME.EXT D
15. ERASE – (See DEL)

16. EXIT – Returns you to the DOS shell from the second command prompt
Format EXIT

17. FASTOPEN – Starts programs quicker

Format FASTOPEN C:
FATOPEN C:=50
FASTOPEN C:/X

18. FDISK – Prepares a new hard disk

Format FDISK

19. FIND – Searches for a pattern of letters in text

Format FIND “string” PNAME.EXT

20. INSTALL – Installs resident programs on startup

Format INSTALL = C:\DOS\FASTOPEN.EXE C:
INSTALL = C:\UTIL\MOUSE.COM

21. LABEL – Changes the name of a disk

Format LABEL B:RECEIPTS
LABEL B:

22. MD (OR MKDIR) – Creates a subdirectory

Format MD\EDIT

17
23. MEM – Displays amount of total and available memory
Format MEM
MEM /PROGRAM

24. MODE – Configures the video screen and serial ports

Format MODE COM1:2400,N,8,1,P
MODE LPT1:=COM1
MODE LPT1
MODE N

25. MORE – Stops scrolling when the screen is filled

Format |MORE
MORE <PNAME.EXT>

26. PATH – Establishes a search path for program execution

Format PATH C:\DOS
PATH D:\;C:\DOS
PATH
PATH;

27. PRINT – Prints a disk file

Format PRINT /D:PRN
PRINT /D:COM1
PRINT
PRINT/T
PRINT PNAME.EXT/C

28. PROMPT – Changes the command prompt

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

29. RD (OR RMDIR) – Deletes a subdirectory

Format RD\SUBDIR
RD SUBIDR

30. REN (OR RENAME) – Renames a disk file

Format REN OLDNAME.EXT NEWNAME.EXT
RUN ambig1 ambig2

31. REPLACE – Selectively copies files

Format REPLACE A:*.* C:/A
REPLACE A:*.* C:/U

32. RESTORE – Restores the hard disk from floppy disk backups

18
 Format RESTORE A: C:\*.* /S
RESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/N
RESTORE A: C:\LOTUS\*.* /S
RESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/A:2-4-89
RESTORE A: C:\*.* /S/B:2-4-89

33. SET – Changes and displays the current state of DOS features
Format SET COMSPEC=C:\COMMAND.COM
SET
SET SPOOLER = 48K

34. SORT – Sorts lines of a text file

Format SORT <FILE1> FILE2
DIR|SORT /R+10|MORE

35. SUBST – Establishes a subdirectory as a separate disk

Format SUBST D: C:\EDIT
SUBST D:/D

36. SYS – Writes DOS system to disk

Format SYS
SYS C:

37. TIME – Displays and allows alteration of time

Format TIME
TIME 13:7

38. TREE – Displays subdirectory paths at the command prompt

Format TREE

39. TYPE – Displays a text file on the video screen

Format TYPE PNAME.EXT
TYPE PNAME.EXT>PRN
TYPE PNAME.EXT|MORE

40. VDISK – Establishes a RAM disk

Format DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 256
DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 512/E
DEVICE=VDISK.SYS 512/X

41. VER – Displays DOS Version

Format VER

42. VERIFY – Verifies that a disk file is correctly written

Format VERIFY ON

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 VERIFY = ON
VERIFY

43. VOL – Displays the disk name and serial number

Format VOL
VOL A:

44. XCOPY – Makes backup copies of files

Format XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /M
XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /A
XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /D:8-9-89
XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /P
XCOPY C:\DOS\*.* /W
XCOPY A:*.* /S

20
Chapter 3

WINDOWS NT AND WINDOWS’98

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 NT
3.3.2 Setting Object Properties
3.3.3 Printing
3.3.4 In Control Panel
3.4 What is new in Windows’98 ?
3.5 Navigating Windows’98 ?
3.5.1 Working with Windows and using Menus
3.5.2 Working with Files, Folders and Disks
3.5.3 Customizing and maintaining Windows’98
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 Windows’98

• 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 thread is most basic unit of code that can be scheduled for execution. A process is
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 NT’s 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 available processors 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

• Disk Operating System 16-bit application

• Windows 3.x application

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 • 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:

o Environment Sub systems like Windows 32, POSIX, Operating

System/2

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 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 of Virtual 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
data in to paging files and then paging it back in to physical memory when the
applications need it.

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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 Bar’s 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 dealer’s 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.

• Undo Tile and Undo minimize all : Undoes whatever task bar operation you
last performed

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 • 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 start
menu. 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

• 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.

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 • 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
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

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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 right explorer 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.

• 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

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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 network drive 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

• 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

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 • 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

• 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.

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 • 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 click OK or 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 folder’s 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

• 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.

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• If you are in explorer, choose new folder from the file menu or from 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 don’t
move the item but it creates a Short cut on start menu

• 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.

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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 right mouse button, a
menu appears, giving you these options:

o Move here Moves file to new location

o Copy here Copies file to new location

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

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 • 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

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 NT’s 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

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 • 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
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

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 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 property
information 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.

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.

40
 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:

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

41
 • 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.,

• 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 :-

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 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 as
the 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.

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 :

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 • 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 item’s function is displayed at the bottom of the page. The rules are
simple :

• 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

• 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 you
do 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.

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 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
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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 WINDOWS’98

3.4 What is new in Windows’98 ?

The first change that you will notice in Windows’98 is the new Active Desktop. This
has a similar look but a very different feel from Windows’95. Point at a desk top icon and
a hand appears. The icon is immediately selected and you have to click only once to
activate the short cut. The Active desktop gives you the ease of use of a web browser.
Internet explorer 4 steps with Windows’98 so that many windows have a web browser
feel. You will find new navigation buttons and add bars, making it easy for you to browse
files on browse web sites, with out having to change windows or programs. The start
menu has new favorites choice, so you can quickly go to your favorite web site and
customize the task bar by adding a windows tool bar. Other new features are :

• Outlook Express uses open internet standards and allows you to read your
e-mail and addition books created

• Net meeting provides Internet collaboration in real time. Using data, audio
and even video, you can share information, work together and exchange files
during conferences.

• Secure your Personal Computer with Zones. Zones allow you to assign
security options to web sites

• Multiple display support for personal computers machines If you have a

personal computer machine and two personal computer display adapters and
monitors, when you click a upper text line in your e-mail, the browser pops up
on the adjacent monitor

• A unified driver model for Windows’95 and Win NT means, all the old
drivers for your hardware will continue to work even though you have
upgraded your operating system

• Increased performance and disk space utilization including improved

system boot time and faster system shut down time

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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 Windows’98? Windows’98 is an operating system. It controls the hardware

of your computer and interprets the instructions from your software and operating system
to hardware.

Windows’98 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 Windows’98 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 Windows’98 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 folder’s 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 computers connected 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

48
• 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 Win’98 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

o Settings Displays secondary menu includes control panel and printers

folders, task bar command for customizing your windows setup.

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 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 Off Allows you to log off or on to Windows’98

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.
• 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

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 • 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. Different
menu 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,

• 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

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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 Short
Cut

Select All Ctrl+A

Invert
Selection

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 Windows’98 Help Windows’98 offers several ways to get outline help.
Windows’98 help offers four ways to seek Help

• Web Help

• Online Contents Feature

• Index

• Search

To access Windows help in one of the following ways

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 • Click Start Button

• Press F1 Key

Windows help tool bar buttons

Button Description

Hide 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
Back 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

Forward 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
Options Displays a menu containing the following commands: Back,
Forward, Stop, Refresh, Customize and Print
Web Help 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.

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

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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 Box presents possible options from which you can choose. Scroll bars
often accompany a list box so you can view the items on the list.

• Drop down list box is a single line list box with a drop down arrow button to
the right of it. When you click the arrow, the drop down test box opens to
display a list of choices

• Option Button present a group of related choices from which you can choose
only one

• Check Box enables you to turn an option on or off. A Check mark appears in
box next to any option that is active

• What is this ? Feature provides a handy way for you to get more information
about dialog box options

• Command Button carries out the command displayed on the button. If there
is an ellipse on the button, choosing it will open another dialog box

• Tabs represent multiple selection or pages of dialog box. One tab is displayed
at a time and each tab contains related options. Components of dialog box
table

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 Text Box :-After activating a text box and typed text in to it, you can use several
keys to edit the text. Editing keys for text boxes and other text

Key Description
Delete Deletes the character to the right of the insertion point
Back Space Deletes the character to the left of the insertion point
End Moves the insertion point to the end of the line
Home Moves the insertion point to the beginning of the line
Arrow Keys Moves the insertion point one character in the direction of
the arrow
Shift+End Selects the text from the insertion point to the end of the
line
Shift+Home Selects the text from the insertion point to the beginning of
the line
Shift+Arrow Key Selects the next character in the direction of the arrow
Ctrl+C Copies the selected text to the clip board
Ctrl+V Pastes the selected text from the clip board

55
 Property Sheets and Tabs: These are similar to dialog boxes in the components
they contain check boxes, text boxes, Command buttons and so on as shown below.

3.5.2 Working with Files , Folders , and Disks :

File Management in Windows’98 When you create a document, spread sheet, data
base or any other type of file, you determine where it will reside on your hard drive
when you save it. When you save a document, those documents will be saved in “My
Documents” folder unless you instruct the program otherwise with or without these
folder, you may want to create move folders for your files.

Categorize your files by software You can create folders to store your files based
on software used to create them. Example folder called “Documents” to store files
created with your Word processor, “Spread Sheets” for files created with your spread
sheet software and so forth.

Categorize your files by date You can create folders for all four quarters of the year
and place sub folders inside them, for each month in the quarter.

Categorize your files by Client name If you sell to a few major customers, create a
folder for each one and then slow any documents, spread sheets and other files for a
particular client in that client’s folder.

56
 Creating Folders If you were creating a new folder for your paperwork in a file
cabinet, you had write a name or phrase on the tab of a manila folder, and put the papers
in it. You might write “1st Quarter” or “Letters” on the tab, and that would tell you what
to put in it, and help you find your paperwork later. Cheating folders in Windows’98 is
similar.

Use either My computer or Explorer to create a new folder:

1. Be sure that you are in the folder that will contain your new folder. You can
check the title bar, Address box , or the folder icon in the Folder pane to
determine which folder is open.

2. From the File menu, choose new Folder. A folder icon appears in the window
with a box around it and the text “New Folder” highlighted.

3. Type the name you want for your new folder. The text you type replaces the
text

4. “New Folder.” Windows 98 allows you to use to 255 characters, including

spaces, for your folder’s name. You may not use any of the following
characters, which have special meaning to the operating system: \ / : * ? “ < >
!.

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 5. Press Enter. Your new folder, with the name you assigned it, now appears in
the window.

Using my computer

What is my computer?
My Computer is a way to quickly see everything on your computer-files, folders and
drives-and how files and folders are organized, To open My Computer, click its icon on
the desktop. The icons that appear in the My computer window vary from computer to
computer. Depending on what components are installed on your computer.
There are several ways to open the drives or folders displayed in My Computer :

• Click the drive or folder icon.

• Select the drive or folder icon by pointing to it or using the arrow keys to
move around the window to highlight the ion you want. Press enter to open
the highlighted drive or folder.

• Select the drive or folder icon by pointing to it or using the arrow keys to
move around the window to highlight the icon you want. Choose file, Open.

• Point at the drive or folder icon and click the right mouse button. From the
pop-up menu, select Open.

When you click one of the drive icons in the My computers window, another
window appears showing a listing of folders and files for that drive

To switch between open windows:

• To switch quickly to another window, click whatever portion of it you can see
to make it the active window and bring it to the top.

• Each open window is represented by an icon on the task bar. Click the icon for
the window you want to see

• Hold down the Alt Key and Press Tab to bring up the switching window.
Each time you press Tab, it cycles to the next window. Release the Alt Key
when the title of the window you want to see appears in the switching
window.

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 Browsing Folder Options In windows 98, folder views have Web-Style
characteristics.
To turn the Web “look” on or off for a folder in My Computer, Choose View, as
Web Page from the menu or click the down arrow next to the Views button on the
toolbar and select as Web Page. When you do this, the Web-style graphics disappear and
the window looks as it would have in Windows 95. In order to change the function of the
folder window, you need to set the folder options.

• Choose View, Folder Options from the My Computer menu, or choose

Settings, Folder Options from the start menu. The Folder Options dialog box
appears.

• Click the General tab, if it is not already displayed

• Select Web Style to make the folder and your desktop look and work like a
Web page (point to select icons, single click to open files and folders or run
items). Click Classic Style if you want the folder and your desktop to work as
they did in Windows 95 (single click selects icons, double-click opens files
and folders or runs items). To individually specify the settings you want to
use, choose Custom and then click Settings.

• (Optional) When you click Settings, the Custom Settings dialog box appears.
Make the selections you want to have your folders and desktop act and look
the way that best suits you. Then click OK to return to the Folder Options
dialog box.

• Active Desktop If you want your desktop to look and act like a Web page,
click Enable all web-related content on my desktop. Click Customize to
close the Folder Options dialog box and open the Display Properties box
instead, where you can set options to customize the display. To have your
desktop resemble the Windows 95 desktop, select Use Windows Classic
Desktop.

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 • Browse folders as follows Each time you open a folder in My Computer, that
folder will open as another separate window if you select Open each folder
in its own window. If you do not want several windows opened each time
you look through folders, select Open each folder in the same window.

• View Web content in folders To display all folders as Web Pages, so you can
add information, change fonts, or set backgrounds, click For all folders with
HTML content. If you want only those folders you specify to act like Web
Pages, select Only for folders where I select “as Web Page” (View Menu).

• Click items as follows To set the number of clicks required to select or open
items, select either Single click to open an item (point to select) or Double
click to open an item (single click to select). If you opted to single click, you
need to choose whether you want the icons always underlined or underlined
only when you point at them.

• Click OK to save your settings and close the dialog box, Cancel to close the
dialog box without saving your settings, or Apply to save your settings
without closing the dialog box.

The My Computer Toolbars: To see the standard buttons toolbar, Choose View,
Toolbars, Standard Buttons from the menu. Table gives a short description of each
Button.

The My Computer Toolbar buttons

Click To
Back Return to the previously opened folder
Forward Go to the next folder on the recently opened folder list
Up Go up one level in the folder hierarchy
Cut Remove a selected item from the folder and store it in
the Windows Clipboard
Copy Store a duplicate of a selected item in the Windows
Clipboard

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 Paste
Place a duplicate of Clipboard contents in the folder
Undo
Undo the last action you performed
Delete
Remove a selected item from the folder and send it to
the Recycle Bin
Properties Display the Properties dialog box for the selected item
Views
Cycle between the Large Icon, Small Icon, List and
Detail Views (Click the down arrow next to views to
select one of these views from a list or choose to view
the folder as a Web Page

Changing the Appearance of the Folder Window Windows 98 lets you design
your own look for your folders with the help of the Customize This Folder wizard. To
start the wizard, do the following :

• Choose View, Customize this Folder from the menu

• When the Customize this Folder dialog box appears, make one of three
choices :

o Create or edit an HTML document makes it possible to fully

customize the appearance of your folder using an HTML document as
the basis.

o Choose a background picture lets you select a picture to appear in

the background, behind the icons, of your folder

o Remove customization restores the folder to its original appearance

• Click Next to proceed with the next step of the wizard. When you have
completed your task, click Finish

Selecting a Background Picture Windows 98 lets you personalize your folder

backgrounds by adding pictures or drawings. To add a background graphic to your folder
view, follow steps1 and 2 of “Changing the Appearance of the Folder Window”. When
you click Next, the wizard offers a set of graphic files that are found in the Windows
directory. Most are wallpaper artwork.

• Click on the name of a picture to see a preview on the left side of the Dialog
box. To view other picture files found elsewhere on your computer system,

61
 click Browse. From the Look In drop down list, select the drive and folder
where your picture files are stored. Then select the name of the file and click
Open.

• Select the colors for the text that appears beneath your icons from the Icon
caption Colors section. Click the color box for Text, select a color swatch, and
then click OK. If you want a background color behind the letters, check
Background and then click the background swatch and choose a color.

• Click Next. The wizard confirms your choice of picture

• Click Finish (Click Back if you need to return to a previous step)

Selecting Files and Folders Before you can perform an operation on a file or folder,
you must select (or highlight) the item so Windows knows which one you want to use.

To select files or folders :

• Single file or folder Point to the file or folder icon, or use the arrow keys to
move the highlighting to the file or folder icon you want to select.

• Multiple contiguous files or folders Point to the first file or folder icon, hold
down the Shift key, and point to the last file or folder icon. This method
selects all the Files between. You can also hold down the Shift key and use an
arrow key to move down to the final icon in the group you want.

• Multiple non-contiguous files or folders Point to the first file or folder icon,
hold down the Ctrl key, and point to each of the additional file or folder icons
you want.

• All the file or folder icons in the Window Choose Edit, Select All from the
menu or press Ctrl + A

• All except the file or folder icons you have currently selected. Choose
Edit, Invert Selection from the menu

Moving Files and Folders Windows 98 lets you move files and folders to different
Folders or different drives. You can do this by copying and pasting the files or Folders, or
by using your mouse to drag and then drop the files or folders in a new location. To use
the drag-and-drop method :

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 • Open the drive or folder window where the file or folder is stored. This is the
Source Window

• Open the drive or folder window where you want to put the file or folder. This
is the destination window

• If the windows you have open are for folders on the same drive, you can just
drag the file or folder icon from the source window to the destination window.

To move files or folders using the cut and paste method :

• Open the drive or folder window where the file or folder is stored

• Select the files or folders you want to move

• Choose Edit, Cut from the menu or click the Cut button on the toolbar. This
removes the icon(s) from the current window and stores them in the Windows
Clipboard (a temporary holding place)

• Open the drive or folder window where you want to put the file or folder

• Choose Edit, Paste from the menu or click the Paste button on the toolbar

Copying Files and Folders Copying files and folders to different folders or different
drives is similar to moving files and folders. To copy files and folders using the drag-and-
drop method :
• Open the drive or folder window where the file or folder is stored. This is the
source window

• Open the drive or folder window where you want to put the file or folder. This
is the destination window.

• If the windows you have open are for folders on different drives, you can just
drag the file or folder icon from the source window to the destination window

Deleting Files and Folders When you delete files or folders from your hard disk or
a Network drive, they are removed from their current window and placed in the Recycle
Bin. However, if the file is on a floppy disk it does not go to the Recycle Bin, so be very
sure you want to delete files from a floppy disk.
To delete a file or folder :

• Select the files or folders to be deleted

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 • Press the Delete key, click the Delete button on the toolbar, or choose File,
Delete from the menu

• A windows 98 alert box appears, asking if you are sure you want to send the
selected files or folders to the Recycle Bin. If you are certain, select Yes, If
not, select No and the operation will cease.

Renaming Files and Folders To give a different name to a file or folder

• Select the file or folder you want to rename

• Choose File, Rename from the menu, or click on the icon with the right
mouse button and choose Rename from the pop-up menu. The name gets a
box around it and the text is highlighted

• Enter the text for the new name

• Press Enter

Creating Shortcuts: Shortcuts provide you with easy access to files and programs.
Once you place a shortcut icon on the desktop, you can click that icon to start up a
program or open file or folder that you use frequently.

To create a shortcut from My Computer :

• Open My Computer

• Select the drive, folder, or file for which you want to create the document

• Choose File, Create Shortcut, or right-click and choose Create Shortcut

from the Shortcut menu

• A copy of the icon appears in the window with the words “Shortcut To” in
front of the name. Drag that icon from the folder on to the desktop

Finding Files What do you do if you are not sure of a file name or the folder where it
is stored. My Computer has a Find feature to help you search for the file.

• Open the My Computer Window

• Select the drive you want to search, such as C

• Choose File, Find from the menu. The Find : All Files dialog box appears

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 • In the Named box, enter the name of the file you want to find. If you do not
know the complete name, use an asterisk (*) to substitute for the beginning or
end of the name (such as *97 to find all file names that end in 97); use a
question mark (?) to substitute for a character you do not know. Choose
Options, Case Sensitive from the menu if you want to find a file that is in
uppercase but not find a file with the same name that is in lowercase

• The Look In box should already show the name of the drive you selected

• To search through all the folders in the specified drive, check Include Sub
folders

• If you want to look in a specific folder, click Browse to open the Browse for
Folder dialog box and select the folder you want to search.

• Click Find Now

• When the search is complete, a list of files or folders matching your search
criteria appears at the bottom of the dialog box. Click the file that you want to
open

• Click New Search to clear the search criteria so you can search for another
file

You can also search for files based on the created or last modified date :

• Follow steps1 through 7 for finding a file, but do not enter a file name in the
Named box
• Click the Date tab of the Find dialog box

• Select Find all files. From the drop-down list select Created, Modified or
Last Accessed

• Choose one of three options. Select Between (and enter the starting and
ending dates) to look for all files created, modified, or last accessed between
those dates. Select during the previous x month(s) (where x is the number of
months) to return a list of files created, modified, or last accessed in the
specified number of previous months. Or select during the previous x day(s)
(where x is the number of days)

• Click Find Now

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The Recycle Bin

What is the Recycle Bin ?

The Recycle Bin is a temporary storage area on your hard disk (drive C). When you
delete a file or folder form your hard drive. Windows 98 moves it into the Recycle Bin.
However, the file or folder still takes up space on the hard disk, since it is essentially just
moved to the Recycle Bin. You must empty the Recycle Bin to remove the file or folder
from the drive. (Same as in Windows NT)
Windows Explorer The Explorer window is divided in to two panes. On the left is
the list of drives and folders. The right pane displays the contents of the selected drive or
folder. (same as in Windows NT)

At the top of the window is the Title Bar, which tells you the name of the Window
you have open. You move the window by dragging the title bar.

Beneath the title bar is the menu bar, which contains commands that you may give to
the program.

Below the menu bar is the Tool bar. If your toolbar is not showing, Choose View,
Toolbars, Standard Buttons from the menu.
The address bar appears below the toolbar. To turn the display of the address bar on
or off, choose View, Toolbars, Address Bar from the menu. The address bar shows your
current location. Enter or select a new path and press Enter to go to that site, including a
Web Page address.
At the bottom of the screen is the Status Bar. The status bar displays the number of
objects (files and folders) in the window and the number of bytes they take up in memory
space. If you select one or more files, the status bar changes to display the number of
selected files and how many bytes of memory they total.

Choose one of the following to place in the left pane of the Explorer Window :
• Search When the Search Explorer bar appears, type a phrase or word you
want to look for on the Web, Usenet News, or both (choose which from the
Search list box). To select an Internet search engine, click on your choice in
the Select Provider list box.

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 • Favorites When the Favorites Explorer bar appears, it displays a list of
folders or Web pages that you added to your Favorites folder. These locations
are the ones you visit most frequently

• History A list of your most recently visited Web Pages appears in the History
Explorer bar, separated by the days on which you visited them. The number of
days displayed is set in the Internet Options of Internet Explorer

• Channels The Channels Explorer bar displays a list of channel categories.

When you click a category, the available channels in that category are listed.
A Channel is a Web site to which you can subscribe to receive information

• All Folders The All Folders Explorer bar is the default view. It shows the
hierarchy of drives and folders on your system

• None Choose None to remove the Explorer bar from the Explorer Window

Changing Displays In order to change the functionality of the folder window, you
need to set the folder options.
• Choose View, Folder Options from the Explorer menu, or choose Settings,
Folder Options from the Start Menu. The Folder Options dialog box appears

• Click the General tab, if it is not already displayed

• Select Web style to make the folder and your desktop look and work like a
Web Page (point to select icons; single-click to open files and folders or run
items). Click Classic style if you want the folder and your desktop to work as
they did in Windows 95 (single-click selects icons; double-click opens files
and folders or runs items). To individually specify the settings you want to
use, Choose Custom and then click Settings

• (Optional) When you click Settings, the Custom Settings dialog box appears.
Make the selections you want to have your folders and desktop act and look
the way that best suits you. Then Click OK to return to the Folder Options
dialog box.

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 o Active Desktop If you want your desktop to look and act like a Web
Page, click Enable all web-related content on my desktop. Click
Customize to close the Folder Options dialog box and open the
Display Properties dialog box

o Browse folders as follows Each time you open a folder in My

Computer, that folder will open as another separate window if you
select Open each folder in its own window. If you do not want
several windows opened each time you look through folders, select
open each folder in the same window.

o View Web Content in folders To display all folders as Web Pages so

that you can add information, change fonts, or set background, click
For all folders with HTML content.

o Click items as follows To set the number of clicks required to select

or open items, select either Single-click to open an item (point to
select) or Double-Click to an open an item (single-click to select)

• Click OK to save your settings and close the dialog box, Cancel to
close the dialog box without saving your settings, or Apply to save
your settings without closing the dialog box

Using the Explorer Toolbar: To see the toolbar choose View, Toolbars, Standard
Buttons from the menu or right-click a toolbar and then select Standard Buttons from
the shortcut menu. Table lists the buttons and what they do

A text label at the bottom of the button identifies each button on the toolbar. To
make these labels visible or invisible, Choose View, Toolbars, Text Labels

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 The Explorer Toolbar Buttons
Click To
Back Return to the previously opened folder
Forward Go to the next folder on the recently opened folder
list
Up Go up one level in the folder hierarchy
Cut Remove a selected item from the folder and store it
in the Windows Clipboard
Copy Store a duplicate of a selected item in the
Windows Clipboard
Paste Place a duplicate of Clipboard contents in the
folder
Undo Undo the last action you performed
Delete Remove a selected item from the folder and send it
to the Recycle Bin
Properties Display the Properties dialog box for the selected
item
Views Cycle between the Large Icon, Small Icon, List
and Detail views (Click the down arrow next to
Views to select one of these views from a list or
choose to view the folder as a Web Page)

Searching for a File Use the Explorer to search a drive, to find a file or folder, or to
Search for a computer by name if you have a network. To find a file :

• Open the Explorer

• Select the drive you want to search

• Choose Tools, Find, Files or Folders from the menu. The Find dialog box
appears.

• In the Named box, enter the name of the file you want to find. If you do not
know the complete name, use an asterisk (*) to substitute for the beginning or
end of the name (such as *97 to find all file names that end in 97); use a
question mark (?) to substitute for a character you do not know. Choose
Options, Case Sensitive from the menu if you want to find a file that is in
uppercase but not find a file with the same name that is in lowercase

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 • If you want to search for a file that contains specific text, enter some of that
text in the Containing text box

• The Look in box should already show the name of the drive you selected

• To search through all the folders in the specified drive, check Include
Subfolders

• If you want to look in a specific folder, click Browse to open the Browse for
Folder dialog box and select the folder you want to search

• Click Find Now

• When the search is complete, a list of files or folders matching your search
criteria appears at the bottom of the dialog box. Click the file that you want to
open.

• Click New Search to clear the search criteria so you can search for another
file

Selecting Files and Folders Before you can perform an operation on a file or folder,
you must select (or highlight) the item so Windows knows which one you want to use.
To select files or folders :

• Single file or folder Point to the file or folder icon, or use the arrow keys to
move the highlighting to the file or folder icon you want to select

• Several files or folders that are together Point to the first file or folder icon,
hold down the Shift key, and point to the last file or folder icon. This method
also selects all the files between. You can also hold down the Shift key and
use an arrow key to move down to the final icon in the group you want.

• Several files or folders that are not together Point to the first file or folder
icon, hold down the Ctrl Key, and point to each additional file or folder icon
you want selected

• All the file or folder icons in the window Choose Edit, Select All from the
menu or press Ctrl + A

• All except the file or folder icons you have currently selected. Choose
Edit, Invert Selection from the menu

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 Moving Files and Folders There are two ways to move files and folders to different
Folders or different drives. One method is called drag and drop.
• From the All Folders pane, open the drive or folder where the file or folder
you want to move is stored by clicking on the drive or folder icon

• Drag the file or folder icon from the Contents pane to the drive or folder icon
in the All Folders pane where you want to put it. Do not release the mouse
button until the destination drive or folder is highlighted

The second method is to use cut and paste :

• From the All Folders pane, open the drive or folder where the file or folder
you want to move is stored

• From the Contents pane, select the file file or folder you want to move

• Choose Edit, Cut from the menu or click the Cut button on the toolbar. This
removes the icon(s) from the current folder or drive and stores the item(s) in
the Windows Clipboard (a temporary storage area). Be careful not to copy or
cut another item before you paste the icons, or you will lose them

• In the All Folders pane, open the drive or folder where you want to put the file
or Folder

• Choose Edit, Paste from the menu or click the Paste button on the toolbar.
The contents of the Clipboard appear in the folder or drive

Copying Files and Folders Copying files and folders to different folders or different
drives is similar to moving. To do this using the drag and drop method :

• In the All Folders pane, open the drive or folder where the file or folder you
want to copy is stored. Just click the drive or folder icon to open it

• Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the file or folder icon you want to copy from
the Contents pane to the drive or folder icon in the All Folders pane, where
you want to put it

• Release the mouse button when the destination drive or folder is highlighted

To copy files or folders using the cut and paste method :

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 Deleting Files and Folders: When you delete files or folders from your hard disk or
a network drive, they are removed from their current folder and placed in the Recycle
Bin. If necessary, you can recover them from the Recycle Bin

To delete a file or folder :

• Select the files or folders to be deleted

• Press the Delete key, click the Delete button on the toolbar, or choose File,
Delete from the menu

• A Windows 98 alert box appears, asking if you are sure you want to send the
selected files or folders to the Recycle Bin. If you are, select Yes. If not, select
No and the operation will cease.

Renaming Files and Folders To give different name to a file or folder :

• Select the file or folder you want to rename

• Choose File, Rename from the menu, or click the icon with the right mouse
button and choose Rename from the pop-up menu. The name gets a box
around it and the text is highlighted

• Enter the text for the new name

• Press Enter

Creating Shortcuts Shortcuts provide you with easy access to files and programs.
Once you place a shortcut on the desktop, you can double-click that shortcut icon to start
a program or open a file or folder
To create a shortcut :

• Open the Explorer

• Select the drive, folder or file for which you want to create the shortcut.

• Choose File, Create Shortcut

• A copy of the icon appears in the window with the words “Shortcut to” in
front of the name. Drag that icon on to the desktop

File Properties

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 File Names Files needed to run programs are generally installed on your hard disk
when you install the programs. You create new files in your application programs when
you save documents, spreadsheets, databases, pictures and so forth. When you save a file
in an application, you assign a name to the file. Files stored in the same folder must have
unique file names. Any file name longer than eight characters is considered a long file
name, although a name that includes a space or a is also considered a long file name
File Creation Date and Time When you first save a file, Windows automatically
records the date and time that you saved it.When you open the file again and make
changes, the date and time you save it are again recorded as the modified date. You can
see the modified date in the details view of My Computer.

File Attributes: There are four attributes that can be assigned to files :

• Read-Only You can open a read-only file and read it or print it, but you can
not change it or delete it. This protects the original file from being changed.

• Archive Some programs use this option to determine which files are to be
backed up. In most cases, if the file is not read-only, it has an Archive
attribute.

• Hidden Some files are not visible in file listings, and you can not use them
unless you know the name of the file. Program files may be hidden to keep
you from moving or deleting them accidentally.

• System Certain files are necessary to the operation of your system; these are
System files.

Viewing Properties To see the properties of a file – whether you are in My

Computer, Windows Explorer, or Network Neighborhood – you must first select the file
and then do one of the following :

• Choose File, Properties

• Click the right mouse button and choose Properties from the pop-up menu

• Click the Properties button on the toolbar

• Click the Attributes link on the left side of the Windows Explorer Contents
pane or the My Computer window. The Properties dialog box for the selected
file opens

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The Properties dialog box provides you with information about the file :
• File name

• Type (of file)

• Location (what drive and folder it is in)

• Size (in kilobytes and actual number of bytes)

• MS-DOS name (includes extension)

• Created (date and time the file was created)

• Modified (date and time the file was last modified)

• Accessed (date the file was last opened)

• Attributes (Read-only, Archive, Hidden, System)

Editing an Existing File Type To edit an existing file type :

• Choose View, Folder Options from the My Computer or Windows Explorer
menu, or choose Settings, Folder Options from the Start menu. The Options
dialog box appears

• Select the File Types tab

• Under Registered file types, select the type you want to edit

• Click Edit. The Edit File Type dialog box appears

• Make any modifications you want. Use the New, Edit or Remove buttons to
add, change or delete actions

• Click OK to return to the Folder Options dialog box

• Click OK to close the Folder Options dialog box

Removing a File Type To remove a file type :

• Choose View, Folder Options from the My Computer or Windows Explorer
menu, or choose Settings, Folder Options from the Start menu. The Options
dialog box appears

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 • Select the File Types tab

• Under Registered file types, select the file type you want to remove

• Click Remove

• Windows requests a confirmation that you want to remove the file type. Click
Yes

• Click Close

Changing the Icon for a File Type Every file type has an icon associated with it. To
change the icon for an existing file type :

• Choose View, Folder Options from the My Computer or Windows Explorer

menu, or choose Settings, Folder Options from the Start menu. The Options
dialog box appears

• Select the File Types tab

• Under Registered file types, select the type you want to edit

• Click Edit. The Edit File Type dialog box appears

• Click Change Icon. The Change Icon dialog box appears

• Select one of the icons in the Current icon box or click Browse to search for
another icon file

• Click OK to close the Change Icon dialog box and then OK to close the Edit
File Type dialog box

• Click OK to exit the Folder Options dialog box

Restoring Files The worst day of your life inevitably arrives, and your hard disk
crashes or the temp filling in during your vacation accidentally deletes all your
correspondence files. Once you have your hard disk repaired or you discover your loss of
vital files, it is time to restore your backup files to your hard disk.

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To restore your files :
• Choose Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup from the Start
menu

• When the Microsoft Backup dialog box appears, click Restore backed up files
and then click OK

• The Restore Wizard opens. In the Restore from box, select the type of
backup you made then indicate the location of the backup in the box below
(such as another network computer). Click the button on the right side of the
box to browse your system for the file location. Click Next

• The Restore Wizard locates all backup files at the indicated location. To select
a set of backup files to restore, check the box in front of the backup set name.
Then click OK

• After a short logging process, the What to restore screen appears. This screen
displays the list of drives, folders and files you backed up in the specified set.
Select the ones you want to restore by clicking the check box in front of the
drive or folder to place a check mark there. Click Next.

• In the Where to restore box, indicate Original Location or Alternate

Location as the place where you want to put the restored files. If you chose
Alternate Location, specify that location in the box below. Click Next

• You must decide how you want to replace existing files during the restore
process. You have three options : Replace a file only if the file on the
computer is older than the backup version, automatically replace all the files
even if the file on the computer is newer than the backup file, or do not
replace any of the files. Choose one of the first two options and then click
Start

• The Restore Wizard lists the required media (file, disk or tape) needed for the
backup. If you used a tape or floppy disks for backups, be sure to select the

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 correct one before inserting it into your tape or floppy drive. If you used a
network drive, be sure that drive is available. Then click OK

• When the operation is complete, Microsoft Backup alerts you. Click OK

• The Restore Progress dialog box appears showing the status of the restore and
the number of files and bytes restored. Click OK

• The Microsoft Backup window appears. To close the window, choose Job,
Exit or click the Close button

2.5.3 Customizing and Maintaining Windows 98 :

The Control Panel

What is the Control Panel ?

Access the Control Panel to change the appearance of your desktop, choose a
screensaver, change your default font, the time and date, and so forth. From the Control
Panel you can configure your Windows environment to work the way you want it to.

Access the Control Panel one of these ways :

• From the taskbar, click the Start button and then choose Settings, Control
Panel. The Control Panel window appears

• From the desktop, click My Computer and then click the Control Panel folder
icon. The Control Panel window appears

• From Windows Explorer, click the Control Panel folder found in the left pane
of the window. The contents of the Control Panel appear in the right panel.
These are the same icons that are displayed in the Control Panel window.

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What can you Accomplish in the Control Panel ?

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 The Control Panel contains a set of icons indicating the different areas that you can
modify to customize your computer configuration. In this book we only discuss the most
commonly used features of the Control Panel. They include :

• Set Accessibility Options Some disabilities can make computer operation

difficult. Accessibility options provide ways to adjust computer hardware to
make computing easier for impaired operators.

• Add New Hardware Windows 98 detects most new hardware automatically.

This capability is referred to as the plug and play feature of Windows 98.
When Windows to detect your new hardware, use the Add New Hardware
feature to start a wizard.

• Add or Remove Programs Install or uninstall software with the help of a

Wizard

• Set the System Date and Time Althrough the internal clock of your
computer maintains the current date and time, you may occasionally have to
adjust it for a new time zone or to turn off Daylight Savings settings when you
are in a particular area.

• Change Desktop Colors and Backgrounds Add colors or patterns to the

background of your desktop and change the look of the windows and pick
new window themes.

• Add or Switch Screen Savers Screen Savers preserve your monitor quality,
and you can select the one you want to use.

• Add or Remove Fonts Add new fonts, remove old fonts, and view fonts with
this option

• Change Settings on your Keyboard You can change the character repeat
speed of your keyboard. This is the speed at which a character repeats when
you hold down the key on your keyboard.

• Configure Your Modem Adjust the settings on your modem

• Adjust the Settings for Your Mouse Set the speed of the mouse pointer and
the double-click, as well as swap buttons for left-handed users.

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 • Change Settings for Multimedia Devices If you are using audio or video
devices with your computer, you adjust the settings for those devices through
the Control Panel.

• Set or Change Password Protect your computer from unauthorized people by

assigning passwords.

• Change Regional Settings If you are working outside the United States, you
can change the standard settings for how currency, numbers, dates and times
appear.

• Modify Internet Settings Specify where your temporary Internet files are
stored, set parameters for the History folder, select the page to use as your
home page, select security options, specify connection types, and set preferred
programs.

• Adjust System and Program Sounds Certain sounds signify different events,
and you can choose which sounds you want to hear.

• Set up Mail and Fax Set up the messaging profiles to send and receive e-mail
and faxes.

• Configure Your System for Networking Make the settings that help you
connect your system to a network

• Set Up for Dialing Out Enter the settings needed to establish the dialing
properties for your system

• Manage the Use of Your Power Resources Set alarms and establish standby
schemes for your laptop battery.

Selecting a Screen Saver A screen saver is a moving picture or pattern than appears
on your screen when you have left the computer idle for a specified number of minutes.
Screen savers can be interesting and fun to watch, but did you know that screen savers
are designed to prevent monitor burn-in? When the same image stays on the screen for
periods of time without changing, it can leave a ghost image that you can see even when
the monitor is turned off. To prevent burn-in, turn off your monitor when you walk away
from it, or use a screen saver. Screen savers display constantly moving images to prevent
burn in.

Windows 98 comes with several screen savers. To select a screen saver :

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• Choose Settings, Control Panel from the Start menu and then click the
Display icon, or right-click the desktop and choose Properties from the pop-
up menu

• When the Display Properties dialog box appears, select the Screen Saver tab

• From the Screen Saver drop-down list, select a screen saver. A sample
appears in the monitor on the dialog box. Click Preview to see a full-screen
version.

• Many screen savers can be customized. With screen savers such as 3D Text
and Scrolling Marquis, you need to enter the text that will move across your
screen. Other screen savers let you set the speed, the colors, the number of
elements, and the shape of the elements. To customize your screen saver, click
Settings. After you set your options, Click OK to return to the Display
Properties dialog box.

• In the Wait box, enter the number of minutes that represents the amount of
time the system is idle before the screen saver activates.

• If you want to set a password for your screen saver, click Password
protected. Click Change and enter your password in the New Password box.
As you will only see asterisks, so be careful not to misspell your password.
Then type the password again in Confirm New Password and click OK.
After you create a screen saver password, you won’t be able to turn off the
screen saver without entering your password.

• For computers with energy-saving features, you adjust the standby and power
settings by clicking Settings and entering your options in the Power
Management Properties Box.

• Click OK to accept your settings and close the dialog box. Click Apply to
accept your settings without closing the dialog box. Click Cancel to close the
dialog box without saving your settings.

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Active Desktop

Arranging Icons When shortcuts are added to the Desktop, they are not arranged
neatly. You can control, or arrange the appearance of icons on the Desktop.
To arrange your desktop icons :

• Click an open area of your desktop with the right mouse button.

• From the pop-up menu, choose Arrange Icons

• Select By Name to have the desktop icons arranged in alphabetical order, By

Type to have the icons arranged by type of file, By Size to order them by size
of file, or By Date to have them appear in the order they were created.

Choosing Colors and Backgrounds For better viewing or just for variety, you can
change the background color of your screen or choose a pattern or wallpaper for your
desktop background.

Colors

The desktop color is applied to the area behind the icons and Windows. To change
the color of the desktop :

• Choose Settings, Control Panel from the Start menu

• From the Control Panel window, click the Display icon. The Display
Properties dialog box appears

• Click the Appearance tab

• Select Desktop from the Item drop-down list

• Click the down arrow on the Color list box to see a selection of background
colors.

• Click the color you want

• Click Apply to see how the desktop will look in that color

• Click OK to accept your choice and close the dialog box

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 Wallpaper Wallpaper makes your desktop interesting and fun. To select a wallpaper
for your desktop background :
• Open the Display Properties dialog box

• Select the Background tab

• From the list under Select an HTML Document or a picture, select a picture
to place on your desktop. It will appear in the monitor picture so you can see
how it will look on your screen.

• To determine how the wallpaper fills your screen, choose one of the following
from the Display drop-down list (if the choice is unavailable, the picture
automatically fills the entire screen) :

o Center The wallpaper picture appears in the middle of your desktop. The
background color will still show around the outside of the picture.

o Tile The picture repeats across the screen until it fills the desktop background.

o Stretch The picture fills the entire screen. If your picture is not the same
shape as the screen, stretching it may distort the picture.

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 • Click Apply to see how the desktop will look with the pattern or wallpaper
you selected

• Click OK to accept your choice and close the dialog box

Changing Fonts To change the size, color, and font of the screen text :
• Choose Settings, Control Panel from the Start menu and then click Display,
or right-click the desktop and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

• Select the Appearance tab

• From the Item drop-down list, select the item for which you want to adjust the
text, such as Active Title Bar, Icon, Inactive Title Bar, Menu, Message Box,
Palette Title, Selected Items, or Tool Tip. Unless you pick one of these items,
the font choices will not be available

• Select the font you want to use from the Font drop-down list, the point size
from the Size drop-down list, and the color of the text from the Color list
(color is not available for all items). Click the B button for boldface and the I
button for italic.

• Click Apply to see how the desktop will look

• Click OK to accept your choice and close the dialog box

Adding and Removing Programs The Start menu may not list every program you
use. Some of your programs may be old, some may be located on a network drive or on a
CD, or some of them may have been copied to your hard disk but not properly installed.

To add a program to the Start menu :

• Open the Taskbar Properties and select the Start Menu Programs tab

• Under Customize Start Menu, click Add. The Create Shortcut dialog box
appears

• In the Command line text box, enter the path and file name of the program’s
executable file (the file that starts the program). If you do not know the name,
click Browse, select the file, and click OK.

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 • Click Next

• The Select Program Folder dialog box appears. From the listing in Select
folder to place shortcut in, select a folder where the new program logically
belongs (such as Games for a checkers game). The groupings on the Start
menu follow the organization of these folders. Select Programs if you do not
want your program to appear on a submenu.

• To add a new entry to the Start menu, click New Folder, and enter a name for
the folder. The folder name becomes the entry on the Start menu, and the
program appears as a submenu of that entry.

• Click Next. In the Select a name for the shortcut text box, enter the name
for the program as you want it to appear on the Start menu.

• Click Finish. If the program does not have its own icon, a prompt appears,
asking you to choose one from a set of available Windows icons.

To remove a program from the Start Menu :

• Open the Taskbar Properties dialog box and select the Start Menu Programs
tab

• Under Customize Start menu, click Remove

• The Remove Shortcuts/Folders dialog box appears. Select the folder or

program shortcut and click Remove

• A dialog box asks you to confirm that you want to remove the item. Click
Yes.

• Click Close

Why Use a Password ?

If you are worried that an unauthorized person might attempt to use your computer in
your absence, use a password. The password is the key to your system. Unless you enter
the correct password, you can not begin working in Windows. When Windows boots up,
a dialog box appears, requesting your password. Enter your user name (if it is not
automatically entered) and then your password. When you type the password, Windows

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enters asterisks in the text box. Click OK. Windows may ask you to confirm the
password by entering it again. If so, type it and click OK. Then your desktop appears.
Setting Up a Password To set up a Windows password :

• Choose Settings, Control Panel from the Start menu

• When the Control Panel opens, click the Passwords icon. The Passwords
Properties box appears

• Click Change Windows Password. The change Windows Password dialog

box appears

• Enter your password (up to 25 characters) in the New Password box.

Passwords are case-sensitive, so be sure to remember which words you
capitalize, because “LETMEIN” is a different password than “LetMeIn”. Be
careful to spell the password correctly, because you will only be able to see
asterisks as you type.

• In the Confirm new password box, enter the password again, exactly as you
did the first time

• Click OK

• A confirmation dialog box appears, saying that your password has been
successfully changed. Click OK.

• Click Close to exit the Passwords Properties dialog box

Changing Your Password You must be careful to protect your password so other
people do not learn it. It helps to change your password periodically, just in case someone
has been looking over your shoulder or might have guessed your password.
To change the password :

• Choose Settings, Control Panel from the Start menu

• When the Control Panel opens, click the Passwords icon. The Passwords
Properties box appears

• Click Change Windows Password. The Change Windows Password dialog

box appears

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 • Enter your previous password in the Old Password box (this proves you are
authorized to make the password change)

• In the New password box, enter your new password

• In the confirm new password box, enter the new password again, exactly as
you did the first time

• Click OK

• A confirmation dialog box appears, saying that your password has been
successfully changed. Click OK.

• Click Close to exit the Passwords Properties dialog box.

3.5.4 Working with Windows Applications :

What is WordPad ?

WordPad is Window’s word processing program. With WordPad, you can create
documents such as letters, memos, reports, lists and so on. Although WordPad is a word
processor, it is very basic. For example, you can not check your spelling or grammer in
WordPad, and there are a limited number of toolbars and icons to help speed your work.
However, you can create, edit and format many simple documents with WordPad.
Basically, it is fine to use if you do not have another word processor, such as Microsoft
Word, Lotus Word Pro or Corel Word Perfect.

To access WordPad, follow these steps :

• From the Desktop, choose the Start button, select Programs and then
Accessories

• Click the WordPad option at the bottom of the Accessories menu. The
program appears with a new, untitled document in the window for you to use.
A blinking vertical bar, called the insertion point, appears in the upper-left
corner of the document area

The WordPad screen contains the following elements :

• The application name (WordPad) and the document name (the generic name is

• “Document” until you assign a name by saving the document) in the title bar

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 • The menu bar containing WordPad menus

• Two Toolbars containing shortcuts for saving and formatting your documents

• A ruler that enables you to set tabs and measure margins

• The text insertion point, which marks the location of the text you enter

• A status bar that offers helpful tips and information about the Program

What is Paint ?

Paint is a Windows graphic program that allows you to create drawings you can use,
either alone or in other Windows application such as Microsoft Word, Lotus Word Pro,
or Corel WordPerfect.
To open the Paint program and begin a drawing, follow these steps :

• From the Desktop, choose the Start button and then Programs, Accessories

• Click Paint from the Accessories menu. The Paint Window opens, ready for
you to draw

Drawing in Paint

Drawing with a mouse can be difficult at first, but practice always makes a
difference. You use your mouse to draw lines, curves, and shapes, as well as to enter text
in Paint.

The following list describes different ways to draw :

• To select the fill color, right-click any color in the palette

• To select the line color, click any color in the palette

• To select the size of the drawing, choose Image, Attributes and enter the
width and height in the Attributes dialog box. Click OK. The new size is
defined by eight small black handles or boxes, outlining the specified area to
choose the type of object you are going to draw, click a drawing tool in the
toolbox at the left of the screen.

88
3.6 Summary:

In this handbook we have tried to show the concepts of Operating System.

How the Operating System works. User is made familiar with some commonly used
Operating Systems like Windows NT and Windows 98.

EXERCISE

True or False

1. Windows is physical device in computer system

2. Windows NT is portable

3. Multitasking is available in Windows’98 not in Windows NT

4. Virtual Memory is physically available in Windows NT

5. Any configuration to file changes can be done from explorer

6. Icons can not be dragged from one place to other

7. Deleted file is stored in Recycle Bin

8. Icons represent pictures available in your system

9. Short Cut Keys enable you to select commands with out using menus

10. You can not change the appearance of folder window

Fill in the blanks

1. ________________ is composed of one or more threads

2. Windows NT is a ______________________ multitasking operating system

3. Windows NT belongs to ____________________ Windows Family of

Operating System

4. Windows NT architecture has __________________ Mode

5. ____________________ makes task bar disappear

89
 6. Paste adds a selected file from ___________________

7. _________________ reverses the last action

8. _______________ is personal match word used to login to computer network

9. _______________ feature search for specific words and phrases within help
topic

10. We can change appearance of desktop through ____________________

Answers for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Questions

Answers for Chapter 1

True or False

1. True
2. True
3. False

Fill in the blanks

1. Executing
2. Microprogramming and Time Sharing
3. Operating System
4. Resources

Answers for Chapter 2

True or False

1. False
2. True
3. False
4. False
5. True

90
 6. False
7. True
8. False
9. True
10. False

Fill in the blanks

1. Process
2. 32-bit preemptive
3. Microsoft
4. User and Kernel
5. Auto Hide
6. Hard Drive
7. Undo
8. Password
9. Search
10. Control Panel

91
 UNIX

STRUCTURE

4.1 INTRODUCTION

4.1.1 Why you must know UNIX Today

4.1.2 History of UNIX
4.1.3 Popularity and Success of UNIX

4.2 ARCHITECTURE OF UNIX

4.2.1 What Exactly is UNIX

4.2.2 System Architecture

4.3 FILE SYSTEM

4.3.1 File System

4.3.2 Tree Structure
4.3.3 Directories
4.3.4 Operating System Services

4.4. GETTING STARTED

4.4.1 Account and Password

4.4.2 Logging In
4.4.3 Shell

92
Chapter 4

INTRODUCTION

Objectives:

After completing this chapter, you will the able to:

• List 3 important phases of UNIX

• Understand why UNIX popular

• History of UNIX

UNIX consists of a large number of ideas, too many for a single person to master in
a lifetime.

4.1.1 Why you must know UNIX Today

UNIX had to grow through 3 important phases in its life cycle. First reason, it was
considered a product for the Engineering and Scientific community. Later, it made
significant inroads into large Corporations and Government Organizations where its
robustness established it on the operating system of choice for database work (Example
Oracle, Sybase & Informix) The Internet is the third and most significant phase of the
UNIX cycle. Even though the people say that UNIX was died, most servers on the net are
UNIX machines. Internet Service Providers use UNIX machines.

4.1.2 History of UNIX

In 1965, Bell Telephone Laboratories joined an effort with the General Electric
Company and Project MAC of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a
new operating system called Multics. The goals of the Multics system were to provide
simultaneous computer access to a large community of users, to supply ample
computation power and data storage, and to allow users to share their data easily, if
desired. Many scientists later took part in the early development of the UNIX system. In
1969, Bell laboratories ended its participation in the project.

93
 Later Ken Thompson, Dennies Ritchie, and others sketched a paper design of a file
system that it evolved into an early version of the UNIX file system. Although this early
version of the UNIX system held much promise, it could not realize its potential until it
was used in a real project. Ritchie has developed a new language called ‘C’, and in 1973,
the UNIX operating system was rewritten in C.

In January 1983, Bell Laboratories added several features to UNIX system III and
called a new product UNIX System V, and AT & T announced official support for
System V.

4.1.3 Popularity and Success of UNIX

Unlike DOS and Windows UNIX can be used by several users concurrently. The
UNIX is popular for the following reasons:
• The system is written in a High Level Language, making it easy to read,
understand, change, and move to other machines.

• It uses a hierarchical File System that allows easy maintenance and efficient
implement

• It has a simple user interface that has the power to provide the service that
users want.

• It provide a simple, consistent interface to peripheral devices.

• It is a multi-user, multiprocessor System, each user can execute several

processes

• simultaneously.

• It hides the machine architecture from the user, making it easier to write
program that run on different Hardware implementations.

• UNIX is a multitasking operating system, You can be performing two tasks

• simultaneously.

• UNIX has networking built in environment.

94
 If you are migrating from the DOS/ Windows environment, then you have quite a bit
of mental preparation to do before you start feeling comfortable. That is, UNIX is not
very friendly.

Exercise 4.1:
1. Give three important reasons of UNIX

2. When UNIX system III released

3. Name the Scientist who give the paper discover of or File system

4.2 ARCHITECTURE OF UNIX

Objectives:

After completing this section, you will be able to :

• List Operating system functions

• Draw UNIX system architecture

4.2.1 What Exactly is UNIX

UNIX is an operating system in the same way MS-DOS and OS/2 are Operating
System. An operating system performs many functions:

• It actually runs a program: When you enter a program‘s filename at the

command line the operating system takes over by loading the program into
your computers memory and runs it.

• It controls all input and output on the computer: When you delete a file,
the operating system goes ahead and eliminates a record of that file. When
you save a file, the operating system makes sure your file isn’t written on top
of an existing file.

95
4.2.2 System Architecture:

UNIX carries out various functions through 3 separate, but closely integrated parts:
the File System . the shell, and the kernel. The responsibilities are given below:
• the kernel is responsible for all basic operating system functions.

• the File System tracks files and where they are located. Every thing on UNIX,
whether it’s a file created in a text processor or a driver used to send
instructions to a pointer is contained in a file.

• the shell or command-line interpreter, is the part of UNIX you will actually

• be using most of the time.

a
Other pplication
pr
og
nroff sh

ra
ms
cpp who

CC comp a.out
H/W
as date
Kernel
ld wc
ed grep
s

am
gr Ot
p ro application
her

Figure 1 depicts the high-level architecture of the UNIX system.

The hardware at the center of the diagram (see Figure1) provides the operating
system with basic services.
The operating system interacts directly with the hardware, providing common
services to programs, viewing the system as a set of layers. The operating system is
commonly called the system kernel or just the kernel.
Programs such as shell and editors (ed and vi) shown in the outer layers interact with
the kernel, by invoking a defined set of system calls. The system calls instruct the kernel

96
to do various operations for the calling program and exchange data between the kernel
and the program.
Several programs shown the figure 1 are in standard system configurations and are
known as commands.
Others application programs can build on top of low-level programs. For example,
the standard C compiler cc is in the outermost layer of the kernel: it involves a C
preprocessor, assembler, and loader, all separate lower-level programs.
Many application subsystems and programs that provide a high-level view of the
system such as the shell, editors, and document preparation packages, have gradually
become synonymous with the name “UNIX System”.

Exercise 4.2:

1. Close the book and draw the architecture of UNIX system

2. Who taken over, when your delete a file

3. List out the program around the kernel

4. Give the another name of command-line interpreter

97
4.3 FILE SYSTEM

Objectives:

After completing this section, you will be able to:

• List UNIX File system characters

• Under stand file system hierarchy

• List- operating services

4.3.1 File system

The UNIX file system is characterized by
• a hierarchical structure

• consistent treatment of file data

• the ability to create and delete files

• dynamic growth of files

• the protection of file data

• the treatment of peripheral devices as files

4.3.2 Tree Structure

The file system is organized as a tree with a single root node called rod (“/”) (see
figure 2) every non leaf node of the file system structure is a directory of files, and files at
the leaf nodes of the tree are either directories, regular files, or special device files.

The name of the file is given by a path name that describes how to locate the file in
the file system hierarchy.

98
 console
spell
div ….
bin troff
……
------

sh telnet

bin csh ucb man

…… …….

bin
libc.a
local
lib lib

….

/ usr include

kra tmac

user pes lib troff

-----
…..

passwd tmp
etc
group

init

…..

tmp

Figure 4.2: Typical UNIX directory structure

99
 A path name is a sequence of component names separated by slash(/) characters.

Example:

“/etc/password”, “/usr/ucb/telnet”, “/home/Anand”. etc . A full path names start is a

slash (‘/‘) character and specifies a file that can be provided by staring at this file system
root and traversing the file tree.

4.3.3 Directories

Directories are like regular files the system treats this data in a directory as a byte
stream, but the data contains the names of the files in the directory.

Permission to access a file is controlled by access permissions associated with the

file. Access permission can be set independently to control read, write, and execute
permission.

Permission is given three classes of users: the file owner, a file group, and every
one else. You may create files if directory permission is given.

Devices are also protected in the same way that regular files are protected.

Generally, the system calls allow uses to write programs that do sophisticated
operations and as a result, the kernel of the UNIX system does not contain many
functions that are part of the “kernel” in their systems.

The shell allows 3 types of commands. First, a command can be an executable file
that contains object code produced by compilation of source code (a C program for
example). Second, a command can be an executable file that contains a sequence of shell
command lines. Finally, a command can be internal shell command.

The shell searches for commands in a given sequence of directories, changeable by

user/invocation of the shell. The shell usually execution a command synchronously,
waiting for the command to terminate before reading the next command line.

100
4.3.4 Operating System Services
Among the services provided by the kernel so (Figure 1) are:

• controlling the execution of process by allowing their creation, termination or

suspension, and communication.

• Scheduling process fairly for execution on the CPU.

• Allocating main memory for an executing program

• Allocating secondary memory for efficient storage and retrieval of user data.

• Allowing processes controlled access to peripheral devices such as terminal

tape drives, disk drives, and network devices.

Exercise 4.3:
1) List at least 3 characters of UNIX file system

2) What is root?

3) Check whether the following statements True/False

a) Leaf nodes are directories
b) Leaf nodes are special device files

4) What is path give one example

5) Who allocate main memory for program execution

6) Who control access to peripheral devices

4.4 GETTING STARTED

Objectives:
After completing the section, you will be able to:

• Understand what is Account and Password

• Understand One job of system administrator

• Understand login procedure

101
 • Know what is shell

• List different shells

4.4.1 Account and password

UNIX is security- conscious, and can be used only by those persons who maintain an
account with the computer system .You can’t simply sit down at any terminal and start
working as in DOS/Windows.

If you are using a UNIX workstation, you must set up your own user account.
System administrator will grant you that authority. He opens an account with the name
(is known as login name/user name) for your use, and given you a secret code called
password that you have to enter when the system prompts you for it.

4.4.2 Logging In

Logging in is a simple procedure that tells the UNIX system who you are:

$ login:

The login prompt indicates that the terminal is available for some one to login (i.e
connect). This message also indicates that the previous user has “logged out”
(disconnected).

Enter your user name (or login name) and hit the <Enter> key after the string:
$ login : Type user name <Enter>
Password:

The system now, request you to enter the secret code (password) that was handed
over to you by your administrator. This code should be known to none except yourself.
Enter your password. The terminal does not display what you type. Then press the
<Enter> key.

Example:
$ login: Anand <Enter>
Password:*******<Enter>

102
 The system cross check this password and if it is right you will be presented with a
login sequence like the following:

Welcome to SCO system v/386

Login:
Password:

If you are logging onto a UNIX system V Release 5, the sequence look like this:
Login:
Password:
UNIX system V release AT & T 3B2

System id
Copy right © 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988 AT & T
All Rights Reserved
Last login : Friday March 09 10 :45 : 21 on term /12

If you make mistakes while typing simply press this <Enter> key one or two times
till the login prompt reappears on the screen.

If you enter either of them in correctly, the system flashes the following message
Login incorrect
Wait for login retry:

If the login was successful, you will be taken to the $ prompt.

$ This is equivalent of the C:\>

4.4.3 Shell

When you login your UNIX system, you are immediately thrust into your login
shell. Information about this shell is usually contained in this file /etc/password, as in
login into for all this users on your system.

No Command can be executed unless it obtains the clearance of the shell some
popular shells one:

• Sh. the Bourne shell, developed by stephen Bourne in 1979.

• Ksh. korn shell, Developed by David Korn at Bell labs
• Csh the C shell. Developed by Bill joy ( a founder of Sun Microsystems Inc)

103
 • Jsh the job shell. An extension of the Bourne shell.
• bash Bourne Again shell. Developed by the Free Software Foundation.

User User

ell Sh
Sh Ot ell
se he
taba ge Sy r A
Da acka s.s pp
p /w n.
Inte

H/W

d
man
Com NIX
rnet
She

ll
U

She
tool

Kernel
ll

User User
Concepts

Shell

User

Figure 4.3: shows this kernel-shell relationship

Exercise 4.4:
1) What is an account?

2) What is login name or user name

3) What is Password

4) Explain how to login in UNIX

5) Ask your system administrator and create your own account

and then login

6) Who sets the required environment when login is done

7) List different shells

8) Close the book and draw the kernel-shell relation ship diagram

104
Chapter 5

LINUX SYSTEM

Structurre

5.1 INTRODUCTION

5.1.1 What you need?

5.1.2 What is LINUX?
5.1.3 Features of LINUX

5.2 GETTING STARTED

5.2.1 Logging in to Red Hat Linux

5.2.2 The login session
5.2.3 The Shell interface
5.2.4 Checking Directories and permission
5.2.5 Exiting the shell

5.3 LINUX FILE SYSTEM

5.3.1 Working with the Red Hat Linux File system

5.3.2 Creating files and directories
5.3.3 Understanding File permission
5.3.4 Moving Copying and deleting files

5.4 vi TEXT EDITOR

5.4.0 Using the vi Text editor

5.4.1 Starting with vi
5.4.2 Moving around the file
5.4.3 Searching for text
5.4.4 Using numbers with command

105
5.1 INTRODUCTION

Objectives:
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

1. PC configuration needed for LINUX

2. Know what is LINUX

3. Features of LINUX

5.1.1 What you need?

To work with LINUX, you need a Personal Computer with the following general
configuration:

• An Intel 80386, Pentium, or compatible CPU.

• At least 16MB of RAM, although 24MB or more is recommended. To run the

GNOME or KDE desktop, Red Hat recommends 48MB.

• You need 500MB of hard disk space for a typical installation. To install
everything, you need about 1.6GB of space.

• A CD-ROM drive is recommended for installation, although you can install

over a network instead. For that, you need at least a 3.5-inch floppy disk drive
and a network connected to a computer that has the Red Hat Linux software
packages available.

5.1.2 What is LINUX?

LINUX is a free Operating System that was created by Linus Torvalds when he
was a student as the University of Helsinki in 1991. Torvalds started Linux by writing a
kernel, which is the heart of the operating system, In the 1980s and 1990s, while
Microsoft flooded the world with personal computers running DOS and Windows
operating systems, power users demanded more from an operating system. They ached
for system that could run on networks, support many users at once (multiuser), and run
many programs at once (multitasking). DOS and Windows didn’t cut it.

106
5.1.3 Features of LINUX:
• Multi user –Not only can you have many user accounts available on a
LINUX system, but you can also have multiple users logged in and working
on the system, at the same time.

• Multitasking –You can have many programs running at the same time in
LINUX. Besides meaning that you can have lots of programs going at once, it
also means that Linux, itself, can have programs running in the background.
Many of these system processes make it possible for LINUX to work as a
server.

• Graphical User Interface (X Window System) –The powerful framework

for working with graphical applications in Linux is referred to as the X
Window system (or simply X). X handles the functions of opening X-based
GUI applications and displaying them on X server process (the process that
manages your screen, mouse, and keyboard).

• On top of X, you use an X-based window manager to provide the specific

look-and-feel of your GUI (icons, window frames, menus, and colors). There
are dozens of desktop managers you can choose from. (Red Hat provides
several desktop managers, but focuses on Gnome and KDE.)

• Hardware support –You can configure in support for almost every type of
hardware that can be connected to a computer. There is support for floppy
disk drives, CD-ROMs, removable disks (such as Zip drives), sound cards,
tape devices, video cards, and most anything else you can think of.

• Networking connectivity –To connect your Linux system to a network,

Linux offers support for a variety of Local Area Network (LAN) boards,
modems, and serial devices, Ethernet, the most popular protocol TCP/IP
(which is used to connect to the Internet). Other protocols, such as IPX (for
Novell networks) and X.25 (a packet-switching network type that is popular in
Europe), are also available.

• Network service-Providing networking services to the client computers on

your LAN or to the entire Internet is what Linux does best. A variety of
software packages are available that enable you to use Linux as a print server,

107
 file server, FTP server, mail server, web server, news server, or workgroup
server.

• Application support- Because of compatibility with POSIX and several

different application programming interfaces (APIs), a wide range of
freeware.

Exercise 5.1:

Practice the following:

1. Give the general configuration of PC to run LINUX operating system.

2. Is LINUX is a free software?

3. Who wrote LINUX operating system.

4. Mention at least five important features of LINUX system.

5.2 GETTING STARTED

Objectives:

After completing this section, you will be able to:

• Logon to LINUX system

• Understand login session

• Understand shell interface

• List existing shells

This section presents a view of Red Hat Linux from the shell. The shell is a
command line interpreter that lets you access some of the most critical Red Hat Linux
tools. The shell is powerful, complex, and almost completely unintuitive.

108
 This section is your guide to logging in and working with Linux system commands,
processes, and file system from the shell. This chapter also describes the shell
environment and helps you tailor it to your needs.

5.2.1 Logging in to Red Hat Linux

Because Red Hat Linux was created as a multi-user computer system, even if you
are the only person using the computer, you start by logging in. Logging in identifies you
as a particular user.

After the computer has been turned on and the operating system has started, you will
see a login prompt similar to this:

Red Hat Linux release 6.1 (Hedwig)

Kernel 2.2.10-3smp on an i686
local host login:

The graphical login is typically your entry into the X Window System graphical user
interface (GUI).

5.2.2 The login session

As you log on, Red Hat Linux starts up a user environment that is unique to your
user account. Some of the features that make up your user environment are:

• A home directory: The home directory identifies a location on the

computer’s hard disk where you can save and protect the files that you need.
The root user’s home directory in Linux is usually root(/). Other users
typically have home directories in the /home directory.

• A shell configuration: There are several shells available for use with Linux,
with each having slightly different features. The bash shell (which stands for
Bourne Again Shell) is most commonly used with Linux.

• A graphical configuration: Most GUIs used with Linux are based on X

Windows system (often referred to simply as X). While X provides a
framework for a GUI that lets you run applications, it enables you to choose
from many different window managers. The window manager provides the
specific look and feel of the GUI.

109
 Once the login process is complete, either a shell or a GUI is started automatically.

5.2.3 The shell interface

Assuming that you are using a shell interface, the first thing you see is the shell
prompt. The default prompt for a user is simply a dollar sign:

$
The default prompt for the root user is a pound sign:

5.2.4 Checking Directories and permissions

When you first log in to Linux, you begin with your home directory as the current
directory. When you request to open or save a file, your shell uses the current directory
as the point of reference.

To find out what your current directory is, type the pwd command;

$ pwd

/usr/bin
In this example, the current or working directory is /urs/bin. To find out the name of
your home directory, type the echo command, followed by the $HOME variable:

$ echo $HOME

/home/Anand

In the above example, the home directory is /home/Anand. To get back to your
home directory, you can simply type the change directory (cd) command.
$ cd

The UNIX system commands cd, ls, which work in the same way in LINUX
system.

110
5.2.5 Exiting the shell
To exit from the shell when you are done, you either type exit or press Ctrl+D. If
you are existing from your login shell (the shell that started when you first logged in),
type logout to exit the shell.

Exercise 2:

Practice the following:

1. What message will appear on the screen when the LINUX system on.

2. When you login into your account, which prompt appears.

3. Use pwd command to know your current directory.

4. Use cd .. command and then use pwd to know where you are.

5. Type echo $HOME command and then use pwd.

6. Type logout and see the effect.

7. Type exit from login mode and watch the difference with respect to
logout.

5.3 LINUX FILE SYSTEM

Objectives:

After completing this section, you will be able to:

• Know the hierarchy of LINUX file system

• Create your own directory
• Use ls command
• Use cd command
• Use chmod command
• Understand file permissions
• Move files from one directory to another directory

111
5.3.1 Working with the Red Hat Linux File system
The Red Hat Linux file system is the structure in which all the information on your
computer is stored. Files are organized within a hierarchy of directories. Each directory
can contain files, as well as other directories.

At the top is the root directory, which is represented by a single slash (/). Below that
is a set of common directories in the Linux system, such as /bin, /dev, /home, /lib, and
/tmp, to name a few. Each of those directories, as well as directories added to the root,
can contain subdirectories.
bin/ dev/ etc/
home/ root/ tmp/ …

mary/
Anand/ tom/

memos/

briefs/ personal/
Figure 3-1 illustrates how the Linux file system is organized as a hierarchy.

Some of the Red Hat Linux directories that may be of interest to you include the
following:

• /bin- Contains common Linux user commands, such as ls, sort, date and
chmod.

• /dev- Contains files representing access points to devices on your systems.

These include terminal devices (tty*), floppy disks (fd*), hard disks (hd*),
RAM (ram*), and CD-ROM (cd*). (Users normally access these devices
directly through the device flies.)

• /etc-Contains administrative configuration commands and files.

• /home-Contains directories assigned to each user with a login account.

• /mnt- Provides a location for mounting devices, such as remote file systems
and removable devices (cdrom, floppy, and so on).

112
 • /root-Represents the root user’s home directory.

• /sbin- Contains administrative commands and daemon processes.

• /tmp- Contain temporary files used by applications.

• /usr-Contains user documentation, games, graphical files (X11), libraries

(lib), and a variety of other user and administrative commands and files.
The files systems in the DOS or MS Windows operating systems differ from
Linux file structure.

5.3.2 Creating files and directories

You will use some of these commands in the file creation process:

• cd – Change to another current working directory.

• pwd – Print the name of the current working directory.

• mkdir – Create a directory

• chmod – Change the permission on a file or directory

• ls – List the contents of a directory.

The following procedure steps for creating directories within your home directory,
moving among your directories, and setting appropriate file permissions:

1. First, go to your home directory. To do this, simply type cd.

2. To make sure that you got to your home directory, type pwd. When
you do this, you get the following response (reflects your home
directory):

$ pwd
/home/Anand

3. Create a new directory called test by using mkdir command in your

home directory as follows:

$ mkdir test

4. Check the permission of the directory by typing:

113
 $ ls - ld test
drwxr-xr-x 2 Anand sales 1024 January 24 12:17 test

Notice that this listing says that test is a directory (d), the owner is Aanand, the
group is sales, and the file was most recently modified on January 24 at 12:17 p.m.
Suppose that you want to prevent everyone else who uses this computer from using or
viewing the files in this directory. The permissions for the directory is rwxr-xr-x. The
coming section explains what these permissions are.

5. Type the following;

$ chmod 700 test

This command changes the permissions of the directory to give you complete access
and everyone else no access at all. (The new permissions should read like rwx --- ---).

6. Next, make the text directory your current directory as follows:

$ cd test

5.3.3 Understanding File Permissions

Permissions associated with files and directories in Linux (exactly similar to
UNIX) were designed to keep users from accessing other users’ private files and to
protect important system files.

The nine bits assigned to each file for permissions define the access that you and
others have to your file. Permission bits appear as rwxrwxrwx. The first three bits
apply to the owner’s permission, the next three apply to the owner’s group, and the
last three apply to all others.
You can see the permission for any file or directory by typing the ls – ld name
command. The name file or directory will appear as those shown in the example below:

$ ls - ld ch3 test

-rw-rw-r-- 1 Anand sales 4983 Jan 18 22:13 ch3

drwxr-xr-x 2 Anand sales 1024 Jan 24 13:47 test

114
 Here are some examples of how to change permission on a file and what the
resulting permission would be:

chmod 777 file names
rwx rwx rwx

chmod 755 file names
rwx r-x r-x

chmod 644 file names
rw- r-- r—

chmod 000 file names
--- --- ---

When you try to create a file, by default it is given the permission: rw- r-- r--. A
directory is given the permission rwx r-x r-x. These default values are determined by
the value of umask. Type umask to see what your umask values. For example:

$ umask

022

5.3.4 Moving copying and deleting Files

Commands for moving, copying, and deleting files are fairly straight forward. To
Change the location of a file, use the mv command. To copy a file one location to
another, use the cp command. To remove a file, use the rm command. Here are some
examples:

$ mv abc def

$ mv abc ~

$ cp abc def

$ cp abc ~

$ rm abc

$ rm *

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Exercise 5.3:

Practice the following:

1. Draw the organization of a LINUX file system
2. Name few subdirectories of root directory
3. What is home directory
4. Work with mkdir, chmod, and ls commands
5. Explain file permissions
6. Watch file permission of any file
7. Work with mv, cp, and rm command

Warning: Do not use rm * command!

5.4 vi TEXT EDITOR

Objectives:

After completing this section, you will be able to:

• Open a file in vi editor

• Understand various vi commands
• Move around the file
• Search for text

5.4.0 Using the vi Text Editor

The vi editor is difficult to learn at first. But once you know it, you will be able to
edit and move around files quickly and efficiently. The vi in LINUX System is exactly
similar vi in UNIX system.

5.4.1 Starting with Vi

To open a file called /tmp/test, type the following command:

$ vi /tmp/test
If this is a new file, you should see something similar to the following:

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 ~
~
~
~
“ /tmp/test” [New File]
To start out, type either of the following input commands:

a Add: After you type a you can input text that starts to the right of the cursor.

i Insert: After you type i you can input text that starts to the left of the cursor.

Type a few words and press Enter. Repeat that a few times until you have a few lines
of text. When you are done typing press Esc. Try moving around within that text with the
following commands:

Arrow keys Use the arrow keys to move up, down, left, or right in the file one
character at a time. To move left and right you can also use
Backspace and the spacebar, respectively. If you prefer to keep you
fingers on the keyboard, use h (left), I (right), j (down), or k (up)
to move the cursor.

w Moves the cursor to the beginning of the next word.

b Moves the cursor to the beginning of the previous word.

0 (Zero) Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.

$ Moves the cursor to the end of the current line.

H Moves the cursor to the upper-left corner of the screen (first line on
the screen).

M Moves the cursor to the first character of the middle line on the
screen.

L Moves the cursor to the lower-left corner of the screen (last line on
the screen).

Vi commands for deleting text:

x Deletes the character under the cursor.

X Deletes the character directly before the cursor.

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dw Deletes from the current character to the end of the current word.

d$ Deletes from the current character to the end of the current line.

d0 Deletes from the previous character to the beginning of the current line.

Several ways of saving and quitting the file follow:

ZZ Save the current changes to the file and exit from vi.

:w Save the current file but continue editing.

:wq Same as ZZ.

:q Quit the current file. This works only if you don’t have any
unsaved changes.

:q! Quit the current file and DON’T save the changes you just made to
the file.

5.4.2 Moving around the file

Other ways of moving around a vi file.

Ctrl + f Page ahead, one pages at a time.

Ctrl + b Pages back, one page at a time.

Ctrl + d Page ahead ½ page at a time

Ctrl + u Pages back ½ page at a time

G Go to the last line of the file.

1G Go to the first line of the file. (Instead of I, you could use any
number to go to that line number in the file.)

5.4.3 Searching for text

To search for the next occurrence of text in the file, use either the slash (/) or the
question mark (?) character. Within the search, you can also use metacharacters.

/ hello Searches forward for the word hello.

? goodbye Searches backwards for the word goodbye.

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/ The * foot Searches forward for a line that has the word The in it and also,
after that at some point, the word foot.

? [ pP]rint Searches backward for either the word print or print. Remember
that case does matter in Linux, so using brackets is one way to
search for words that could have different capitalization:
The vi command was originally based on the ex editor.
5.4.4 Using numbers with commands

You can precede most Vi commands with numbers to have the command repeated
that number of times. Here are some examples:

3dw Deleting the next three words.

5cl Changes the next five letters (i.e., removes the letters and goes
into input mode).

12j Moves down 12 lines.

Exercise 5.4:

Practice the following:

1. Are there any differences, in starting up vi editor in UNIX and
LINUX system.
2. Try the inert command i, in both UNIX and LINUX.
3. Move the cursor to end of the current line.
4. Move the cursor to lower left corner of the screen.
5. Move the cursor to the upper-left corner of the screen.
6. Delete from the current character to the end of the current line.
7. Move the cursor ½ page at a time in forward direction.
8. Move the cursor ½ page at a time in backward direction.
9. Search for the word ‘hello’.
10. Search for the word ‘the’.
11. Go to the last line of the file.
12. Search backwards for the word ‘hello’.

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