Computer Hardware and Fault

Finding – Class 3
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Operating Systems
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What Do Operating Systems Do?
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Wakeup Call (Boot process)
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File Systems, Partitioning, Formatting
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Your BIOS settings
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Contents of CD
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Basic DOS commands
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Install Windows 98SE (Second Edition)
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Network Setup (protocols, workgroup, IP address)
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Ping test
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Connecting to shared folder
Operating Systems
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Any desktop or laptop PC that you buy normally comes pre-
loaded with Windows XP. Macintosh computers come pre-
loaded with OS X. Many corporate servers use the Linux or
UNIX operating systems. The operating system (OS) is the first
thing loaded onto the computer -- without the operating system, a
computer is useless.

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More recently, operating systems have started to pop up in
smaller computers as well (i.e from cell phones to wireless access
points). The computer in a typical modern cell phone is now
more powerful than a desktop computer from 20 years ago.

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The purpose of an operating system is to organize and control
hardware and software so that the device it lives in behaves in a
flexible but predictable way.
The Bare Bones
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Not all computers have operating systems. The computer that
controls the microwave oven in your kitchen, for example,
doesn't need an operating system. It has one set of tasks to
perform, very straightforward input to expect (a numbered
keypad and a few pre-set buttons) and simple, never-changing
hardware to control.

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For other devices, an operating system creates the ability to:

* serve a variety of purposes

* interact with users in more complicated ways
* keep up with needs that change over time
The Bare Bones...
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All desktop computers have operating systems. The most
common are the Windows family of operating systems
developed by Microsoft, the Macintosh operating systems
developed by Apple and the UNIX family of operating
systems developed by many different organizations.

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There are hundreds of other operating systems available for
special-purpose applications, including specializations for
mainframes, robotics, manufacturing, real-time control
systems and so on.
What Do Operating Systems Do?
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At the simplest level, an operating system does two
things:

1. It manages the hardware and software resources of

the system. In a desktop computer, these resources
include such things as the processor, memory, disk
space, etc. (On a cell phone, they include the keypad,
the screen, the address book, the phone dialer, the
battery and the network connection.)

2. It provides a stable, consistent way for applications to

deal with the hardware without having to know all the
details of the hardware (i.e when MS Word sends a
print job to the printer)
What Do Operating Systems Do?..
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The first task, managing the hardware and software
resources, is very important, as various programs and
input methods compete for the attention of the central
processing unit (CPU) and demand memory, storage
and input/output (I/O) bandwidth for their own
purposes.

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In this capacity, the operating system plays the role of
the good parent, making sure that each application gets
the necessary resources while playing nicely with all
the other applications, as well as husbanding the limited
capacity of the system to the greatest good of all the
users and applications.
What Do Operating Systems Do...?
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The second task, providing a consistent application
interface, is especially important if there is to be more
than one of a particular type of computer using the
operating system, or if the hardware making up the
computer is ever open to change.

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A consistent application program interface (API) allows
a software developer to write an application on one
computer and have a high level of confidence that it
will run on another computer of the same type, even if
the amount of memory or the quantity of storage is
different on the two machines.
What Do Operating Systems Do...?
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Even if a particular computer is unique, an operating
system can ensure that applications continue to run
when hardware upgrades and updates occur. This is
because the operating system and not the application is
charged with managing the hardware and the
distribution of its resources.

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One of the challenges facing developers is keeping their
operating systems flexible enough to run hardware from
the thousands of vendors manufacturing computer
equipment. Today's systems can accommodate
thousands of different printers, disk drives and special
peripherals in any possible combination.
Wakeup Call (Boot Process)

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When you turn on the power to a computer, the first program
that runs is usually a set of instructions kept in the computer's
read-only memory (ROM). This code examines the system
hardware to make sure everything is functioning properly.

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This power-on self test (POST) checks the CPU, memory, and
basic input-output systems (BIOS) for errors and stores the
result in a special memory location. Once the POST has
successfully completed, the software loaded in ROM
(sometimes called the BIOS or firmware) will begin to activate
the computer's disk drives.
Wakeup Call (Boot Process)...
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The bootstrap loader is a small program that has a single
function: It loads the operating system into memory and
allows it to begin operation.

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In the most basic form, the bootstrap loader sets up the
small driver programs that interface with and control the
various hardware subsystems of the computer.

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Then it turns control of the computer over to the operating
system.
File Systems
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Every computer we use today almost always has a hard drive.
Hard Drives store information on little platters, which are
shaped like Frisbees, but made of metal and coated with a
magnetic substance. But how exactly is the data organized on
those little platters? They do it with a thing called a file
system.
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File systems are mostly operating system dependent. This
means that almost every operating system has a different type
of file system. Windows is the most widely used operating
system in the world.
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The Dos/Windows file system is called File Allocation Table,
or just FAT for short.
File Systems...
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NTFS (NT File system) is also another type of file system
used by Microsoft's Windows NT, 2000 and XP. (Each of
these also support the FAT file system).

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NTFS has features to improve reliability, such as
transaction logs to help recover from disk failures. To
control access to files, you can set permissions for
directories and/or individual files. NTFS files are not
accessible from other OSs such as DOS
Partitioning
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Partitioning is one of the necessary steps to prepare a drive
for use. It is the process of defining certain areas of the hard
disk for the operating system to use as a volume.

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A volume is a section of the drive with a letter, like C: or
D:. All hard drives must be partitioned, even if they will
have only one partition called C:

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A partition program writes a master partition boot sector to
cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1. The data in this sector defines
the start and end locations of each of the other partitions. It
also indicates which of these partitions is active, or
bootable, thus telling the computer where to look for the
operating system.
Partitioning
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All systems can handle 24 partitions, either spread out on the
same drive or many drives. This means that one can have up to
24 different hard drives, according to DOS. DOS can't
recognize more than 24 partitions, although some other OSes
may. The limiting factor is simply the availability of letters.
All partitions must have a letter.

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There are 26 letters, A: and B: are reserved for floppy drives,
leaving 24 letters available.

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Although there are third party partitioning programs that boast
added capabilities, DOS FDISK is the accepted program for
partitioning. FDISK sets up the partition in a way optimum for
DOS, and allow more than one OS to operate on one system.
How To Partition
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The first partition is your primary DOS partition. This is your
C: drive and can't be divided. This is also called the active
partition. You can only have one active partition.

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The second partition is optional. It is called an extended
partition. This is the space left over after the primary partition.
Each extended partition must be labeled with a letter D:
through Z:. In FDISK, there is one extended partition, with it
being divided up into Logical DOS Drives which each have a
drive letter.

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To start this, type "fdisk" at the A> prompt. If this doesn't
work, it is because your drive is not installed correctly.
How To Partition...
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First you have to setup a primary DOS partition. Choose
Option 1 ( Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive).
Choose Option 1 in the next menu.

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Now you can make your entire C: drive the primary partition
or only a part of it. Many people just make the entire drive one
partition just to stay simple. If you want to break from this
norm, specify the amount of drive you want to partition in
either megabytes or percentage of total drive.

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Next, you'll need to make this partition active. Return to the
main FDISK menu and choose Option 2 ( Set Active
Partition). Follow the prompts.
Formatting
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Formatting is another necessary step to hard drive
preparation, and very simple. In most cases, when installing a
new hard drive, all you need to do is a high-level format. It is
usually the final step in preparation and must be done after
partitioning.

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When preparing a new drive, use the "FORMAT C: /S"
command, entered at a command prompt. This high-level
formats the volume C:. The "/s" command switch tells the
FORMAT program to copy hidden opertating system files to
the volume.
Formatting...
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After confirming that you do indeed mean to format your
drive (it will warn you about data loss), you will need to wait
for several minutes while the drive is formatted. It will then
prompt you for a label. You can type a label if you wish, or
just hit ENTER to skip it.

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Formatting marks bad sectors as unreadable, writes the boot
sector, creates the FAT, writes the root directory, and copies
system files.