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228 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems Older versions of Windows (Windows 3.x and Windows 95 original release) as well as all versions of DOS cannot read FAT32 partitions. NT File System (NTFS) Introduced along with Windows NT (and available on 2000/XP). NTFS is a much more advanced file system in almost every way than all versions of the FAT file system. It includes such features as individual file security and compression, RAID sup- port, as well as support for extremely large file and partition sizes and disk transaction mon- itoring. It is the file system of choice for higher-performance computing. When you’re installing any Windows OS, you will be asked first to format the drive using one of these disk technologies. Choose the disk technology based on what the computer will be doing and which OS you are installing. To create a FAT16 or FAT32 partition, you can use the FDISK command. To format a parti- tion, you can use the FORMAT command. FDISK.EXE is available only with Windows 9x/Me (not 2000/XP), and you can run it from a command prompt. FORMAT.EXE is available with all versions of Windows. You can run FORMAT from a command prompt or by right-clicking a drive in Win- dows Explorer and selecting Format. However, when you install Windows it performs the process of partitioning and formatting for you if a partitioned and formatted drive does not already exist. Be extremely careful with the FORMAT command! When you format a drive, all data on the drive is erased. In Windows 2000/XP, you can manage your hard drives through the Disk Management component. To access Disk Management, access the Control Panel and double-click Admin- istrative Tools. Then, double-click Computer Management. Finally, double-click Disk Man- agement. The Disk Management screen looks similar to the one shown in Figure 4.17. The Disk Management screen lets you view a host of information regarding all the drives installed in your system, including CD-ROM and DVD drives. In Figure 4.17, you can see that this computer has three disks (Disk 0, Disk 1, and Disk 2), one DVD (CD-ROM 0), and one CD- ROM (CD-ROM 1) drive installed. In this example, you can see that Disk 0 has four partitions. A different drive letter is assigned to each partition on Disk 0 (C:, D:, G:, and H:). The list of devices in the top portion of the screen shows you additional information for each partition on each drive, such as the file system used, status, free space, and so on. If you right-click a partition in either area, you can perform a variety of functions, such as formatting the partition and changing the name and drive-letter assignment. For additional options and information, you can also access the Properties of a partition by right-clicking it and selecting Properties. Windows 2000 and XP Professional support both basic and dynamic storage. The partition that the operating system boots from must be designated as active. Only one partition on a disk may be marked active. With basic storage, Windows 2000 and XP Professional drives can be partitioned with primary or extended partitions. The difference is that extended partitions can be divided into one or more logical drives and primary partitions cannot be further sub- divided. Each 2000/XP Professional hard disk can be divided into a total of four partitions, either four primary partitions or three primary and one extended partition. 4831xc04.fm Page 228 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Using Operating Systems 229 FIGURE 4.17 The Disk Management screen Finally, there is the concept of a logical partition. In reality, all partitions are logical in the sense that they don’t necessarily correspond to one physical disk. One disk can have several logical divisions (partitions). A logical partition is any partition that has a drive letter. Sometimes, you will also hear of a logical partition as one that spans multiple physical disks. For example, a network drive that you know as drive H: might actually be located on several physical disks on a server. To the user, all that is seen is one drive, or H:. Backing Up the Data on Your Drives Another very important aspect of disk management is backing up the data on your drives. Sooner or later, you can count on running into a situation where a hard drive fails or data becomes corrupted. Without a backup copy of your data, you’re facing a world of trouble try- ing to re-create the data, if that’s even possible or economically feasible. You also shouldn’t rely on the Recycle Bin. Although it is a good utility to restore an occasional file or directory that a user has accidentally deleted, it will not help you if your drives and the data on them become unusable. Toward that end, Windows has a built-in backup feature called, you guessed it, Backup. To access Backup, click Start  Programs (All Programs)  Accessories  System Tools  Backup. This will open the Backup Wizard. To move on to the Backup utility, click Advanced Mode. Fig- ure 4.18 shows the Windows 2000 Backup utility with the Backup tab selected. 4831xc04.fm Page 229 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 230 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems FIGURE 4.18 The Windows 2000 Backup utility with the Backup tab selected The Backup utility in each of the different versions of Windows has different capabilities, with newer versions having greater capabilities. In general, you can either run a wizard to cre- ate a backup job or manually specify the files to back up. You can also run backup jobs or schedule them to run at specific time at a specific interval. Refer to the Windows Help system for in-depth information on how to use Backup. Checking the Health of Hard Disks and Optimizing Their Performance As time goes on, it’s important to check the health of Windows computers’ hard disks and optimize their performance. Windows provides you with several tools to do so, some of which we’ve already mentioned in this chapter. One important tool is Disk Defragmenter, which exists in all versions of Windows except Windows NT. When files are written to a hard drive, they’re not always written contiguously. As a result, file data is spread out over the disk, and the time it takes to retrieve files from disk increases. Defragmenting a disk involves analyzing the disk and then consolidating fragmented files and folders so they occupy a contiguous space, thus increasing performance during file retrieval. To access Disk Defragmenter, click Start  Programs (All Programs)  Accessories  Sys- tem Tools  Disk Defragmenter. In the list of drives, select the drive you want to defragment, and then click Analyze. When the analysis is finished, Disk Defragmenter tells you how much the drive is defragmented and whether defragmentation is recommended. If it is, click Defrag- ment. Be aware that for large disks with a lot of fragmented files, this process can take quite some time to finish. 4831xc04.fm Page 230 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Using Operating Systems 231 In Windows 2000/XP, you can also access Disk Defragmenter through the Properties of any partition listed in Disk Management. Click the Tools tab and then click Defragment. File Management File management is the process by which a computer stores data and retrieves it from storage. Although some of the file-management interfaces across Windows interfaces may have a dif- ferent look and feel, the process of managing files is similar across the board. Files and Folders For a program to run, it must be able to read information off the disk and write information back to the disk. In order to be able to organize and access information—especially in larger new systems that may have thousands of files—it is necessary to have a structure and an ordering process. Windows provides this process by allowing you to create directories, also known as folders, in which to organize files. Windows also regulates the way that files are named and the prop- erties of files. Each file created in Windows has to follow certain rules, and any program that accesses files through Windows also must comply with these rules. Files created on a Windows system must follow these rules:  Each file has a filename of up to 255 characters.  Certain characters, such as a period (.) and slash (\ or /), are prohibited in the filename.  An extension (generally three or four characters) can be added to identify the file’s type.  Filenames are not case sensitive. (You can create files with names that use both upper- and lowercase letters, but to identify the file within the file system, it is not necessary to adhere to the capitalization in the filename.) Thus, you cannot have a file named working.txt and another called WORKING.TXT in the same directory. To Windows, these filenames are identical, and you can’t have two files with the same filename in the same directory. We’ll get into more detail on this topic a little later.  In Windows 3.x and DOS, filenames were limited to eight characters and a three-charac- ter extension, separated by a period. This is also called the 8.3 file-naming convention. With Windows 95, long filenames were introduced, which allowed the 255-character file- name convention. The Windows file system is arranged like a filing cabinet. In a filing cabinet, paper is placed into folders, which are inside dividers, which are in a drawer of the filing cabinet. In the Win- dows file system, individual files are placed in subdirectories that are inside directories, which are stored on different disks or different partitions. Windows also protects against duplicate filenames, so no two files on the system can have exactly the same name and path. A path indicates the location of the file on the disk; it is composed of the logical drive letter the file is on and, if the file is located in a directory or subdirectory, the 4831xc04.fm Page 231 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 232 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems names of those directories. For instance, if a file named AUTOEXEC.BAT is located in the root of the C: drive—meaning it is not within a directory—the path to the file is C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT. If, as another example, a file called FDISK.EXE is located in the Command directory under Windows under the root of C:, then the path to this file is C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\FDISK.EXE. The root directory of any drive is the place where the hierarchy of folders for that drive begins. On a C: drive, for instance, C:\ is the root directory of the drive. Common file extensions you may encounter are .EXE for executable files (applications), .DLL for dynamic linked library (DLL) files, .SYS for system files, .LOG for log files, .DRV for driver files, .TXT for text files, and others. Note that DLL files contain additional functions and commands applications can use and share. In addition, most applications use specific file extensions for the documents created with each application. For example, documents created in Microsoft Word have a .DOC extension. You’ll also encounter extensions such as .MPG for video files, .MP3 for music files, .TIF and .JPG for graphics files, .HTM or .HTML for web pages, and so on. Being familiar with different filename extensions is helpful in working with the Windows filesystem. Capabilities of Windows Explorer Although it is technically possible to use the command-line utilities provided within the com- mand prompt to manage your files, this generally is not the most efficient way to accomplish most tasks. The ability to use drag-and-drop techniques and other graphical tools to manage the file system makes the process far simpler, and Windows Explorer is a utility that allows you to accomplish a number of important file-related tasks from a single graphical interface, as shown in Figure 4.19. FIGURE 4.19 The Windows Explorer program 4831xc04.fm Page 232 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Using Operating Systems 233 Some of the tasks you can accomplish using Windows Explorer include the following:  Viewing files and directories  Opening programs or data files  Creating directories and files  Copying objects (files or directories) to other locations  Moving objects (files or directories) to other locations  Deleting or renaming objects (files or directories)  Searching for a particular file or type of file  Changing file attributes  Formatting new disks (such as floppy disks) You can access many of these functions by right-clicking a file or folder and selecting the appropriate option, such as Copy or Delete, from the context menu. Navigating and Using Windows Explorer Using Windows Explorer is simple. A few basic instructions are all you need to start working with it. First, Windows Explorer interface has a number of parts, each of which serves a spe- cific purpose. The top area of Windows Explorer is dominated by a set of menus and toolbars that give you easy access to common commands. The main section of the window is divided into two panes: The left pane displays the drives and folders available, and the right pane dis- plays the contents of the currently selected folder. In pre–Windows XP versions, along the bot- tom of the window, the status bar displays information about the used and free space on the current directory. Some common actions in Explorer include the following: Expanding a Folder You can double-click a folder in the left pane to expand the folder (show its subfolders in the left pane) and display the contents of the folder in the right pane. Clicking the plus sign (+) to the left of a folder expands the folder without changing the display in the right pane. Collapsing a Folder Clicking the minus sign (–) next to a folder unexpands/collapses it. Selecting a File If you click the file in the right pane, Windows highlights the file by marking it with a darker color. Selecting Multiple Files The Ctrl and Shift keys allow you to select multiple files at once. Holding down Ctrl while clicking individual files selects each new file while leaving the cur- rently selected file(s) selected as well. Holding down Shift while selecting two files selects both of them and all files in between. Opening a File Double-clicking a file in the right pane opens the program if the file is an application; if it is a data file, it will open using whichever file extension is configured for it. Changing the View Type Windows 2000 has five different view types: Large Icons, Small Icons, List, Details, and Thumbnail. Then, in Windows XP, the Tiles view was added. In XP, you can still choose to view objects with icons, but you can no longer choose between large 4831xc04.fm Page 233 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 234 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems and small icons. You can move between these views by clicking the View menu and selecting the view you prefer. Finding Specific Files This option is accessed by using the Search button. You can search for files based on their name, file size, file type, and other attributes. In Exercise 4.8, we will show you how to search for a file type. When you’re searching, you can also use wildcards. Wildcards are characters that act as placeholders for a character or set of characters, allowing, for instance, a search for all files with a text (.TXT) extension. To perform such a search, you’d type an asterisk (*) as a stand-in for the filename: *.TXT. An aster- isk takes the place of any number of characters in a search. A question mark (?) takes the place of a single number or letter. For example, AUTOEX??.BAT would return the file AUTOEXEC.BAT as part of its results. Creating New Objects To create a new file, folder, or other object, navigate to the location where you want to create the object, and then right-click in the right pane (without selecting a file or directory). In the menu that appears, select New and then choose the object you want to create, as shown in Figure 4.20. EXERCISE 4.8 Searching for a Type of File Many computers have over 100,000 files. Finding one manually can be like looking for a nee- dle in a haystack. 1. In Windows 2000, click the Search button on the toolbar. In Windows XP, click the Search button on the toolbar and then click All Files And Folders in the left pane. 2. The Search pane appears. You are prompted for the Search information. 3. Type *.TXT in the field that asks for the name of the file(s). 4. In the Look In field, enter C:\, and click Find Now. 5. In Windows 2000, to include subfolders, click Search Options and then select Advanced Options. Once you select Advanced Options, Search Subfolders is automatically selected. In Windows XP, subfolders are searched by default. (To disable this function, click More Advanced Functions and deselect Search Subfolders.) 6. Click Search Now (Windows 2000) or Search (Windows XP). 7. Windows searches the C: drive and eventually displays a Search Results window with all the files it has found. 4831xc04.fm Page 234 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Using Operating Systems 235 FIGURE 4.20 Creating a new folder Deleting Objects Select the object and press the Del key on the keyboard, or right-click the object and select Delete from the menu that appears. The simplicity of deleting in Windows makes it likely that you or one of the people you support will delete or misplace a file or a number of files that are still needed. In such a case, the Recycle Bin (mentioned earlier) is a lifesaver. In Exercise 4.9, we will show you how to create and delete objects in Windows Explorer. EXERCISE 4.9 Using Windows Explorer to Create and Delete Objects The primary file and folder management tool in Windows is Windows Explorer. It’s important you be able to navigate through it as well as create and delete objects such as files and folders. 1. Open Windows Explorer. In Windows 2000, click Start  Programs  Accessories  Windows Explorer. In Windows XP, click Start  All Programs  Accessories  Windows Explorer. 2. To see which applications are installed in the Program Files directory, navigate the hier- archy from My Computer to C: to Program Files. You may need to click the + next to one or more of the folders to expand them and see their contents. 4831xc04.fm Page 235 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 236 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems Besides simplifying most file-management commands as shown here, Windows Explorer also allows you to easily complete a number of disk-management tasks. You can format and label floppy disks and, in some cases, copy the Windows system files to a floppy so that you can use a disk to boot a machine. Changing File Attributes File attributes determine what specific users can do to files or directories. For example, if a file or directory is flagged with the Read Only attribute, then users can read the file or directory but not make changes to it or delete it. Attributes include Read Only, Hidden, System, and Archive, as well as Compression, Indexing, and Encryption. Not all attributes are available with all versions of Windows. We’ll look at this subject in more detail in a moment. You can view and change file attributes either with the ATTRIB command-prompt com- mand or through the Properties of a file or directory. To access the Properties of a file or direc- tory in the Windows GUI, right-click the file or directory and select Properties. Figure 4.21 shows the Properties screen of a file in Windows XP. In Windows XP, you can view and con- figure the Read Only and Hidden file attributes on the General tab. To view and configure additional attributes, click Advanced. FIGURE 4.21 The General tab of a Windows XP file’s Properties screen 3. Navigate back to the root of C: and right-click in the right pane. Select New  Folder and type TEST as the name of the folder. 4. Double-click the new TEST folder and examine the right pane after its contents are dis- played. The folder was just created, so it is empty. Right-click in the right pane and select New  Text Document. Give the file the name NEW.TXT. 5. To delete the file you just created, select it by clicking it once and then right-click it. Choose Delete. You are asked whether you are sure you want to send the file to the Recy- cle Bin; click Yes. EXERCISE 4.9 (continued) 4831xc04.fm Page 236 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Using Operating Systems 237 System files are usually flagged with the Hidden attribute, meaning they don’t appear when a user displays a directory listing. You should not change this attribute on a system file unless absolutely necessary. System files are required for the OS to function. If they are visible, users might delete them (perhaps thinking they can clear some disk space by deleting files they don’t recognize). Needless to say, that would be a bad thing! File system Advanced Attributes Windows 2000 and XP use the NT File system (NTFS), which gives you a number of options that are not available on earlier file systems such as FAT or FAT32. A number of these options are implemented through the use of the Advanced Attributes window, shown in Figure 4.22. To reach these options in Windows 2000/XP, right-click the folder or file you wish to modify and select Properties from the menu. On the main Properties page of the folder or file, click the Advanced button in the lower-right corner. FIGURE 4.22 The Advanced Attributes window in Windows 2000 On the Advanced Attributes screen you have access to the following settings: Archiving This option tells the system whether the file has changed since the last time it was backed up. Technically it is known as the Archive Needed attribute; if this box is selected, the file should be backed up. If it is not selected, a current version of the file is already backed up. Indexing Windows 2000 and XP implement an Index Service to catalog and improve the search capabilities of your drive. Once files are indexed, you can search them more quickly by name, date, or other attributes. Setting the index option on a folder causes a prompt to appear, asking whether you want the existing files in the folder to be indexed as well. If you choose to do this, Windows 2000 and XP automatically reset this attribute on subfolders and files. If not, only new files created in the directory are indexed. 4831xc04.fm Page 237 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM [...]... and Windows Backup backs up files but does not manage their physical location 48 31xc 04. fm Page 248 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 48 31xc05.fm Page 249 Thursday, September 14, 2006 3: 24 PM Chapter 5 Understanding Basics of Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading Operating Systems THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ ESSENTIALS EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER: 3.2 Install, configure,... Panel D Settings panel 48 31xc 04. fm Page 244 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 244 Chapter 4 Understanding Operating Systems 13 To turn off a Windows 2000 machine, you should A Run the Shut Down (Turn Off) command at a command prompt B Turn off the switch and unplug the machine C Press Ctrl+Alt+Del D Select Start Shut Down, choose Shut Down, and turn off the computer 14 Which type of resource... great reason to use NTFS Here’s how to examine file permissions: 1 Open Windows Explorer 2 Right-click a file or folder and choose Properties 48 31xc 04. fm Page 240 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 240 Chapter 4 Understanding Operating Systems EXERCISE 4. 10 (continued) 3 Select and then examine the Security tab The Security tab will not appear if Simple File Sharing is selected If this is the case,... about the computer’s hardware? A HKEY_CURRENT_MACHINE B HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE C HKEY_MACHINE D HKEY_RESOURCES 48 31xc 04. fm Page 245 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Review Questions 245 19 Within Windows 2000, what is the maximum length of a filename? A 8 characters plus a 3-character extension B 64 characters C 255 characters D Unlimited 20 Which of the following utilities will rearrange the files on... following utilities will rearrange the files on your hard disk to occupy contiguous chunks of space? A Disk Defragmenter B Windows Explorer C SCANDISK D Windows Backup 48 31xc 04. fm Page 246 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 246 Chapter 4 Understanding Operating Systems Answers to Review Questions 1 D By default, the Desktop contains the Start menu, the Taskbar, and a number of icons Because it is the... accidentally deleted files from the Recycle Bin 13 D To turn off a Windows 2000 machine, select Start turn off the computer Shut Down, choose Shut Down, and 48 31xc 04. fm Page 247 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Answers to Review Questions 247 14 A Device Manager is used in Windows to configure all hardware resources that Windows knows about 15 B The Backup utility is provided with all versions of... is accomplished through Windows Explorer, including moving, copying, renaming, and deleting files and changing file attributes, advanced attributes, and permissions 48 31xc 04. fm Page 242 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 242 Chapter 4 Understanding Operating Systems Review Questions 1 What is the Desktop? A The top of the desk where the computer sits B A tool that keeps track of all the data on... Windows But if it is older, you may need to find out who made the hardware and check their website to see if they have drivers for the version of Windows you are installing 48 31xc05.fm Page 2 54 Thursday, September 14, 2006 3: 24 PM 2 54 Chapter 5 Understanding Basics of Installing, Configuring, Optimizing OSs Determining OS Installation Options In addition to making sure you have enough and the right kind... (the window) actually is and how windows are used We then went over how Windows 2000 and Windows XP boot up, including critical files involved in the boot process 48 31xc 04. fm Page 241 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Exam Essentials 241 Finally, we covered basic Windows management concepts Concepts included managing disks, using file systems and managing files, and understanding directory structure... groups You assign standard permissions on the Security tab of a file or folder (see Figure 4. 23), which you access through the file or folder’s Properties FIGURE 4. 23 The Security tab for a folder on a Windows 2000 Professional computer In Exercise 4. 10, we will show you how to examine file permissions EXERCISE 4. 10 Examining File Permissions Being able to set file permissions is a great reason to use . Computer icon B. Recycle Bin C. Control Panel D. Settings panel 48 31xc 04. fm Page 243 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 244 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems 13. To turn off a Windows. to close the file or folder’s Properties. EXERCISE 4. 10 (continued) 48 31xc 04. fm Page 240 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM Exam Essentials 241 Finally, we covered basic Windows management concepts changing file attributes, advanced attributes, and permissions. 48 31xc 04. fm Page 241 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9:01 AM 242 Chapter 4  Understanding Operating Systems Review Questions 1. What