Using System Software: Technology In Action Using System Software: File Management

Starting the Computer “Booting” comes from “Bootstrapping” Which comes from “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps” The first instructions the processor sees (BIOS) have to be stored somewhere besides secondary storage (HD, CD) or ROM

Starting the Computer The Boot Process 2 1 3 4 Step 1: The basic input/output system (BIOS) is activated Step 2: A Power-on self-test (POST) checks attached hardware Step 3: The operating system loads into memory from boot device Step 4: Configuration and customization settings are checked 1 2 3 4 For a computer to go from a dead stop to ready-for-use, a four step start-up process is required. This is often referred to as booting up the computer, or the boot process. The boot process consists of four basic steps: 1. The basic input/output system (BIOS) is activated by powering on the CPU. 2. The BIOS checks that all attached devices are in place (called a power-on self-test, or POST). 3. The operating system is loaded into RAM. 4. Configuration and customization settings are checked. Once the boot process has completed these steps, it is ready to accept commands and data.

Handling Errors in the Boot Process Non-system disk or disk error Remove the floppy from the drive and press any key POST errors Single beep: Everything is loading properly Series of beeps: Hardware problem Errors during the boot process are often very simple to correct and it is helpful to be aware of the most common problems. Many computers are set to look on the floppy drive first for an operating system. This method allows for booting the system if the hard drive goes bad. Normally, when the computer finds no disk in the floppy drive, it looks to the hard drive and boots from there. If you leave a diskette in the drive that does not have system files on it, the computer will display a message that there is a “non-system disk.” Removing the diskette will solve the problem. During POST, the BIOS looks for a video out connection and a keyboard in connection. If either is missing, the boot process is halted and a series of beeps will be heard. The solution is to check your keyboard connection and video card to make sure something didn’t become disconnected. Sometimes Windows does not boot properly and you end up with a screen with the words Safe Mode in the corners. Safe mode is a special diagnostic mode designed for troubleshooting errors. While in Safe mode, only the essential devices of the system (such as the mouse, keyboard, and monitor) function. If, after you boot, you end up in Safe mode, try rebooting the machine before doing anything else. If you still end up in Safe mode and if you have recently installed new software or a new hardware device, try uninstalling it.

Safe mode in booting Safe Mode is a special way for Windows to load when there is a system-critical problem that interferes with the normal operation of Windows. The purpose of Safe Mode is to allow you to troubleshoot Windows and try to determine what is causing it to not function correctly. Once you have corrected the problem, then you can reboot and Windows will load normally.

Differences between Safe Mode and normal boot Safe Mode does not run the autoexec.bat or config.sys files. Most device drivers are not loaded. A device driver is the software that Windows uses to interact with a piece of hardware, such as a printer or scanner. Instead of the normal graphics device driver, Safe Mode uses standard VGA graphics mode.

If your computer boots to Safe Mode, what do you do? Try to determine what has changed on your system that could have caused Windows to fail to boot properly. Installing new hardware or software may cause this failure - go to the Control Panel and remove it and uninstall the software driver for that device. Then attempt a reboot. If it boots normally, you have a conflict - check with the manufacturer (From computer.howstuffworks.com)

File Management The operating system provides an organizational structure to the computer’s contents Hierarchical structure of directories: Drives Folders Subfolders Files An additional function of the OS is to enable file management, which entails providing organizational structure to the computer’s contents. The OS allows you to organize the contents of your computer in a hierarchical structure of directories that includes drives, folders, subfolders, and files. .

File Management Metaphors Tree Metaphor Root, branches, leaves Filing Cabinet Metaphor Drawers, Folders, Files

A File System Tree

Viewing and Sorting Files and Folders Windows Explorer "My Computer" Not the same as Internet Explorer --Details view - files and folders are displayed in list form, and the additional file information is displayed in columns alongside the filename. You can sort and display the contents of the folder by any of the column headings.

File Systems – Drives Every Computer has a File System used to keep track of the files on that machine File Systems are based on Physical Storage Devices, known as Drives Drives can be local or remote Click on “My Computer” to see a list of your drives

File Systems – Drives Typical Drives A: or B:  Floppy Disk C:  Local Hard Drive D:  CD Drive L:  UK Lab Locker Space

File path File path Location of the file, includes drive and all nested folders and the file name and extension Every drive has a root = top of the "tree" = C:\ or A:\ or D:\ Secondary folders Filename You can tell the location of a file by its file path. The file path starts with the drive in which the file is located, and includes all folders, subfolders (if any), the filename, and extension. For example, if you were saving a picture of Emily Brontë for a term paper for an English Comp course, the file path might be C:\My Documents\Spring 2008\English Comp\Term Paper\Illustrations\EBronte.jpg. C: \My Documents\ Tech in Action\TIA Pics\ dotmatrix.gif Drive Primary folder

Naming Files Filename: Name assigned plus filename extension Some characters are not legal in filenames: \   ⁄   :   *   ?   "   <   >   ¦ All others are allowed (including spaces) Bioreport.doc or Bio report.doc The first part of a file, or the filename, is the name you assign to the file when you save it. For example, “bioreport” may be the name you assign a report you have completed for biology. The only characters not legal in filenames now are the forward and back slash, the colon, asterisk, question mark, quotation mark, greater than and less than, and the vertical line.

Filename Extensions Filename extensions: Indicate the file format Used by programs Indicate the file format Extension Type of Document Application .doc or .docx Word processing document Microsoft Word; Corel WordPerfect .xls or .xlsx Workbook Microsoft Excel .ppt or .pptx PowerPoint presentation Microsoft PowerPoint .mdb or .accdb Database Microsoft Access .bmp Bitmap image Windows .zip Compressed file WinZip .pdf Portable Document Format Adobe Acrobat .htm or .html Web page Hypertext Markup Language Following the filename and after the dot (.) comes an extension, or file type. This extension identifies what kind of family of files the file belongs to or which application should be used to read the file. For example, if the bioreport file is a Word document, it has a .doc extension and is named bioreport.doc. The table you see here shows different file extensions and the programs associated with them.

File Names, Extensions, and Formats Extensions show what kind of information is in the file what program to use when reading/editing that file Changing the file extension DOES NOT convert the information in the file! for example, renaming a file to have a zip extension does not make it a zip file!

Working with Files File management actions: Recycle bin Saving files Open Copy Move Rename Delete Recycle bin Once you’ve located your file with Windows Explorer, you can perform many other file management actions, such as opening, copying, moving, and deleting files. You open a file by clicking the file in its storage location. The operating system then determines which application needs to be loaded to open the requested file and opens the file within the correct application automatically. You can copy a file to another location using the Copy command. When you copy a file, a duplicate file is created and the original file remains in its original location. To move a file from one location to another, you use the Move command. When you move a file, the original file is deleted from its original location. The Recycle Bin is a folder on the desktop where files deleted from the hard drive reside until you permanently purge them from your system. Files in the recycle bin can be easily restored to their original location. Unfortunately, files deleted from other drives, such as the floppy drive, CD, flash drive, or network drive, do not go to the Recycle Bin, but are deleted from the system immediately. Saving files

File Sizes and Dates A file contains data, stored as a group of bits File size is usually measured in bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes The file date indicates the date that a file was created or last modified

Units for measuring file sizes One byte = one character, pretty small 1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes, about a page of text 1 Megabyte = 1024 Kbs, a 1000-page book 1 Gigabyte = 1024 Mbs (more than 1 billion bytes), about 1000 books, a library 1 Terabyte = 1024 Gbs (more than 1 trillion bytes), like 1000 libraries 1 Petabyte = 1024 Tbs (more than 1 quadrillion bytes), like 1 million libraries

File Sizes and Dates Why is the file size important? Memory and Storage Capacity “How many songs can I fit on my MP3 player?” "How many movies can I fit on my Hard drive?" Why is the file date important? History of File Creation and Last Modification "Which file is the latest version of my paper?" “Did I submit my lab test on time?”

File Management Utilities Windows Particulars “My Documents” is the default location for saving files, opening files, creating files, etc… The “Desktop” is simply a folder located on your machine whose contents are shown on the main screen of the operating system “Send To” can be used to perform advanced file activities Zip, create shortcut, move files Be Careful using “Send To Desktop”!

File Management Tips Use descriptive names Maintain file extensions Group similar files Organize your folders from the top down Use the My Documents default directory carefully! Do not mix data files and program files

File Management Tips Be aware of storage locations Don’t store very many files in the root directory Follow copyright rules Delete or archive files you no longer need Be aware of storage locations Back up your files in case of file system failure

File Compression Programs Reduce the size of a file: Removes redundancies A file compression utility is a program that takes out redundancies in a file to reduce the file size. File compression is helpful because it makes a large file more compact, making it easier and faster to send over the Internet, upload to a Web page, or save onto a disk. Windows XP has built-in compression (or zip) file support. There are also several stand-alone freeware and shareware programs, such as WinZip (for Windows) and StuffIt (for Windows or Mac), which you can obtain to compress your files.

The Indexing Problem In general, it refers to having such a large amount of information available that finding any one piece of information becomes difficult. Example: Thousands of hits from a search engine File systems can also suffer from the indexing problem. Example: Every file you have ever downloaded or created is located in “My Documents”

What do you do about the Indexing problem? Being aware of where you put files, so you don’t have to download or create them again Give files meaningful names Create meaningful folders to store files in so not everything is in one huge list Erase files or archive them when they are no longer needed Windows has search function on Start button menu

none, it isn’t big enough for one file 5. If you had picture files that were each 512 Mbs in size, how many could you fit onto a device with a capacity of 6 Gbs? A 8 C none, it isn’t big enough for one file B 1 D 12

In the tree metaphor for a computer file system, the leaves correspond to A the folders C the drives B the files D the file extensions

The root of the file system on a device is where the deleted files are moved to B is the device name (letter) followed by : \ C must be a file, it cannot be a folder D is always shown at the bottom of the file system

Windows Explorer A will not allow you to delete files B shows only the names and sizes of files C is a web browser program D allows a user to copy files from one place to another

The best way to organize your computer files is to keep every file in the My Documents folder B to put each file in its own folder C to keep related files together in one folder D to name all files like ‘file001’, ‘file002’, ‘file003’, etc.

A filename A is not important, the operating system can find whatever you need B in Windows is not allowed to have spaces in it C cannot be changed once it is assigned D cannot use a colon (:) in it, in Windows

A file extension A indicates what format the file contents are written in and what application will probably read it B cannot be used if the filename has a space in it C appears at the left of a path, right after the drive name D is extra space allocated on the storage device when a file needs it

If a machine is starting up and a message appears on the screen of “Non-system disk or disk error”, what should you do? A check the floppy drive to see if a disk was left in it B check the keyboard to see if it has been unplugged C call a technician, there is nothing a user could do for the problem D check the hard drive to see if it is still valid

A file with a path like B:\myfiles\Spring10\newreport.doc is a file stored in a folder stored in a folder B would be stored on the hard drive C would be a compressed file D would be stored at the root of the B drive