Operating Systems & File Management

What is an operating system?

4 Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 3 Operating System Activities  An operating system is a type of system software that acts as the master controller for all activities that take place within a computer system

A computer purchased without an operating system is really nothing more than a box with various hardware components in it

Name some operating systems Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7) Mac OS X (Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Lion) Linux (Ubuntu, Mint) Unix DOS

Operating Systems DESKTOP OSOUTSTANDING FEATURES DOSOne of the first operating systems; command-line user interface; Stands for Disk Operating System Mac OSDesigned by Apple computers; graphical user interface Windows 95Features multitasking and networking capabilities Windows 98Similar to Windows 95, but with increased disk and memory management Windows MeSimilar to Windows 98, but with more features for the home user, including multimedia support Windows 2000Increased security features; ability to support specialized applications Windows XPRedesigned structure and interface, improved safety and recovery tools, greater support for multimedia and networking WindowsEnhanced security, more flexible file management, more powerful search capabilities, and live icons that show document thumbnails

Operating Systems SERVER OSOUTSTANDING FEATURES LinuxVariation of UNIX; used as a server OS for microcomputers and minicomputers; available as freeware NovellDeveloped for microcomputer networks; typically used by network managers UNIXDesigned as a minicomputer OS, now popular for all sizes of network and Web servers; makes use of both command-line and graphical interfaces

Do you have an operating system preference?

Can you name some handheld operating systems?

4 Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 10 Handheld Operating Systems

Can you have more than one operating system installed on a computer? Yes Dual Boot Virtual Machine

4 Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 14 Operating System Activities  Multitasking provides process and memory management services that allow two or more tasks, jobs, or programs to run simultaneously  Within a single program, multithreading allows multiple parts, or threads, to run simultaneously  An operating system’s multiprocessing capability supports a division of labor among all the processing units

4 Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 15 Operating System Activities  Operating System Categories –Single-user operating system –Multiuser operating system –Server operating system –Desktop operating system

4 Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 16 The Boot Process  During the boot process, the operating system kernel is loaded into RAM –The kernel provides essential operating system services  Your computer’s small bootstrap program is built into special ROM circuitry housed in the computer’s system unit

4 The Boot Process Chapter 4: Operating Systems and File Management 17

Control Panel in Windows XP

Microsoft Windows 8 Video Thoughts?

OS X Lion Video Thoughts?

Ubuntu Video Thoughts?

Google Chrome OS Video Thoughts?

Windows Explorer Windows Explorer is a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows operating system from Windows 95 onwards. It provides a graphical user interface for accessing the file systems. sourced from

Getting to Windows Explorer An easy way is to simply right click on “Start” and then select “Explore”

Windows Explorer Allows you to: – Create files – Rename files – Copy files – Delete files – Move files – Create, rename, copy, delete and move folders

Windows Explorer How can you select multiple noncontiguous files? – hold down the Ctrl key and click on each file

Directories and subdirectories Visually you can think of them as folders and folders within folders

Changing Folder Options in Explorer Within Windows Explorer we can change a number of folder options. To do so click on “Tools” and then on “Folder Options...”

Changing Folder Options in Explorer Some of the options we can change include: -Displaying full path in the address bar -hide/unhide hidden files and folders

Windows Explorer Demo

My Computer

Getting to My Computer Click “Start” and then select “My Computer”

To view system information click on “View System Information” under System Tasks Viewing system information via My Computer

System Information or properties tells us things like the system on the computer, type of processor, and computer name

Hard Drive Properties Right click on the hard drive icon and then select “Properties”

Hard Drive Properties Displays disk capacity (used, free, and total space) Disk Cleanup

Hard Drive Properties - Tools

Defragmenting Disks What is defragmenting? – defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of fragmentation in file systems. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the disk to store the pieces of each file close together and contiguously. It also attempts to create larger regions of free space using compaction to impede the return of fragmentation (

Defragmenting Disks Accessing fragmented files is slower compared to accessing non-fragmented files

sourced from Visualizing Defragmentation

Defragmenting Demo