TOPIC 2: COMPUTER MANAGEMENT

BOOTING A COMPUTER
Booting refers to the process of starting and restarting of a computer.
OR
This is the process of turning on (powering) the computer and loading the operating system from
the disk into working memory.
Booting also known as (Booting up) is the initial set of operations that a computer performs
when electrical power is switched on.
Types of booting
 Cold booting
 Warm booting
Warm booting;
This is the process of restarting a computer that is already powered on.
Ways of performing a warm boot
 Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and then click on restart.
 Click on start, click on shutdown menu and then click on restart.
 Press the reset button on the system unit
 Press Alt+F4, then select restart and press Enter.
Reasons for performing a warm boot
 After installing new software
 After installing new hardware
 When uninstalling software
 When uninstalling hardware
 When the computer slows down
 When the computer freezes/hangs (fails to respond to commands)
Cold booting;
This is the process of starting (powering up) a computer which has been switched off completely.
Circumstances that may necessitate a cold boot.
 Sudden electric power loss without a UPS.
 Sudden turning off of the computer.
 New project for a day
 When the computer freezes
 When switching operating system in case the system uses two operating systems.
The booting process
The steps that occur during a cold boot using windows Operating System.
 The system unit is switched on from the power button thus allowing the BIOS to start up.
 The computer goes through Power On Self-Test (POST) to check whether the computer
hardware is connected and working properly.
 The BIOS looks for the boot program contained on either hard disk or CD or Flash disk
to load the operating system
 The boot program is loaded into memory and executed
  BIOS then searches for the system configuration information for the Operating System
and rest of OS is loaded into RAM, then desktop and icons display on the screen.
Common Terms
Boot sequence; is the order in which the computer searches for nonvolatile storage media
containing program code to load the operating system.
Multi-booting; is the process of installing multiple Operating System on a computer and being
able to select which one to boot from.
Dual-booting; refers to installing and configuration of specifically two operating systems on a
computer and being able to select one to boot from
Boot-failure; refers to failure to pass the POST.
Causes of boot failure/incomplete booting.
 Corrupted operating system
 Faulty RAM chip
 Improper connection of some vital hardware devices
 Faulty hard disk
 Presence of an external medium in the computer.
 Faulty CMOS battery.

Computer Program
A computer program/software is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specific task
with a computer. It is a list of instructions that tell a computer what to do.
Some examples of computer programs include;
 A web browser like Mozilla Firefox
 An office suite to write documents
 Video games
Ways of starting a program
 Click on Start button
 Point to “All programs”
 Open programs folder like “Microsoft office folder” by clicking on it
Or
 Double click on the shortcut of the program on the desktop
Programs that run in the background when a computer is started
 Antivirus  Volume control
 Network connection  Battery status
 Time and date
FILE MANAGEMENT
This is the process of maintaining and organizing files and folders in the computer. This is
usually done by the operating system which organizes information in a three level hierarchy. i.e.
Drives, Folders and subfolders, Files.
Drives
A drive or disk drive is hardware on which files and folder are stored. The operating system
views storage media/drives. Without such organization, it can be difficult to find (locate) what
you are looking for when you need it. Drives may be; Physical or Logical
A Disk drive is assigned a letter.
Hard disk inside the computer is known as (C:) drive.
Floppy disk drive is known as (A:) drive.
If a computer has a CD ROM drive, it is known as (D:) drive
Folder
A folder is a virtual container within a graphical interface in which files and subfolders are kept
and organized.
Or
A folder refers to as a storage location for related files and sub folders.
A subfolder is a folder created and located inside another folder.
Reason for creating folders.
 To reduce congestion of files and subfolders e.g. on the desktop.
 To collect related files and subfolders in one place.
 To facilitate easy access of files and subfolders in the computer.
 To enable the user backup files in different folders and subfolders.
How to create a folder on the desktop.
 Right click in a blank space on the desktop.
 Click on “new”.
 Click on “folder”. A new folder icon appears with its name (new folder) highlighted.
 Type the new name of the folder and press enter key on the keyboard.
How to delete a folder
 Locate the folder you want to delete.
 Right click on the folder icon.
 Click on delete.
 Confirm the deleting of the folder by clicking on yes in the dialog box that appears.
How to rename a folder.
 Locate the folder to be renamed.
 Right click on the folder icon.
 Click on rename.
 Type the new name and press enter to confirm it.
Files
A file is collection of related data given a unique name.
Or
A file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information which is available
to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage.
Feature of a file
 Unique file name
 File extension
 Size
 Date created
Type of files
Regular files; these are used to contain / stores data. These are text files, binary files, executable
files.
Directory files; these contain information that the system needs to access all types of files, but
directory files do not contain the actual file data.
Special files; these are files that define devices for the system or are temporary files created by
processes. The basic types of special files are FIFO (First-in First-out), block, and character.
Other file types include;
 Video files for videos
 Web files for web activities such as web development
 System files to enable computer function with the operating system
 Image files for photos, graphics
 Audio files for music, sound
 Backup files for copies of files in computer which can later be accessed in emergency
cases.
How to delete a file.
 Locate the file you want to delete.
 Right click on the file icon.
 Click on delete.
 Confirm the deleting of the file by clicking on yes in the dialog box that appears.
How to rename afile.
 Locate the file to be renamed.
 Right click on the file icon.
 Click on rename.
 Type the new name and press enter to confirm it.
Operations/activities that can be performed on a file/folder
 Cutting  Re-naming  Editing
 Copying  Printing
 Pasting  Creating
 Deleting  Opening
 Compressing  Closing
File name and File extension
A file name is a name used to uniquely identify a computer file stored in a file system.
Features of file
 A file is made up of two parts; a file name which relates to the content & file
extension which identifies the file type.
 The file name is associated with content
 Special characters such as “/”, “&” must be avoided
A file extension is a suffix at the end of a filename after a period that defines the type of file
it represents.
Functions of file extension
 It helps to identify the file type.
 It identifies what program the file is associated with and how to properly open it using
the correct program.
 It helps in categorizing files for easy retrieval
Application program/file type File extension.
Microsoft word .doc
Microsoft excel .xls
Microsoft access .accdb
Microsoft power point .ppt
Microsoft publisher .pub
Word pad (Rich Text Format) .rtf
Note pad (Unformatted text document) .txt
Batch file .Bat
System file .sys
Portable Document Format (PDF) file .pdf
Word perfect .wpd
Executable file .exe
Webpage file .html
Adobe illustrator .ai
Image file/picture file .gif, .jpg, .jpeg, .tif, .png, .bmp
Compressed file .zip, .tar, .rar
Video file .mp4, .AVI, .DAT
Audio file .mp3, .wav
To view file extensions in windows operating system
 Click start
 Click control Panel
 Click Folder options
 Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
 Click apply
 Then OK

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To view hidden files in Microsoft windows
 Open window Explorer
 Click the tools drop down menu. If you don’t see the Tools option, try pressing Alt
 Click either Folder options or Options
 Click the View tab
 Within the View tab, select the option Show hidden files and folders
 Click apply
 Then OK
File hierarchy
A file hierarchy defines directories (folders) which can contain files and other directories.
The top most directory in any file system is called root directory
A directory below another directory is called sub directory
A directory above the a sub directory is called parent directory
File path
A file path / file directory specifies a unique location of a particular file in a file system. E.g
C:\My Documents\BOT SubICT\Term 1.doc
 C: is the root directory /location
 My documentis the folder (directory)
 BOT SubICT is the subfolder (subdirectory)
 Term 1 is the file name
 .doc is the file extension
D:\Guest\My documents\SubICT\S5 results.doc
 D: Location
 Guest User profile
 My documents Folder
 SubICT Subfolder
 S5 results File name
 .doc File extension
Review Questions
Qn.1 Using the following path statement, answer the question below.
C:\Users\Student3\Desktop\Sub-ICT\Theory notes\FunctionalComputing.docx
1. Identify the device on which the file is stored; Hard disk drive C:
2. In which program was the file created? Microsoft word
3. Identify the account in which the file was created; Student3
4. Identify the name of the file created; FunctionalComputing
5. Identify the file extension; .docx
6. Write the name of the major folder, created by the user in which the file and the sub-
folder are contained? Sub-ICT

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Qn.2 During a practical examination, students were required to open a blank file and save it
as;
D:\STUDENT WORK\EOT PRACTICAL\Safety.docx
1. State the name of the immediate subfolder in which students must save the file; EOT
PRACTICAL
2. Write the root directory onto which the file must be saved; D
3. Suggest one example of a computer application the student can use to create the file;
MS Word
4. Identify one document that may be created by use of the computer application in (c)
above;
Memo
Reports
Application letter
News article
Time-table
Suspension letter
Examinations
Circular letters

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 5. State the name of the file represented by the above file path. Safety (or Safety.docx

The desktop environment

A desktop is the large coloured area in the background of the screen. It is the entire screen
except for the task bar at the bottom.
It consists of features mainly icons such as; my computer, recycle bin, web browsers, etc.
An icon
This is the smallest graphical or pictorial representation of several commands, an application,
and a shortcut.
Major Icons on the desktop include:
 My computer – this allows the user to explore the contents of their computer drives as
well as manage their computer files.
 Recycle bin (Trash) – this is a temporary storage for files that have been deleted in a file
manager by the user but not permanently erased from the file system.
 Network places (Network) – this displays shortcuts of shared computers, printers, and
other resources on the network.
 Control panel - this provides tools for changing settings and customizing the functionality
of the computer.
 My documents – this is a name for a special folder on the computer’s hard drive that the
system commonly uses to store a user’s documents, music, pictures, downloads, etc.
Parts of the desktop
 The start button – this is located on the left side of the task bar
 Task bar – this is located at the bottom of the screen and contains the active tasks, which
are icons and titles of the programs that running on the computer or folders that open.
The notification area – this contains the icons of specific programs running in the background as well as
the time of the day

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