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Dos Windows Operating Systems
Study Guide
Function, Structure, Operation and
File Management
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MS-DOS filenames must have 1 to 8
characters. There can be no spaces or punctuation in the filename. The
file extension can have up to 3 characters, allowing 11 total characters
in the filename.
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Long File Names - Win95 supports
extended file names which can contain up to 255 characters. In Win95, each
long file name has a duplicate 8.3 file name for backwards compatibility.
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PROGMAN.EXE - is the program that
starts Windows 3.x sessions during the loading process. Located in the
C:\WINDOWS (unless directory is specified otherwise in installation)
directory.
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CONTROL.INI - Contains desktop
settings and is located in the C:\WINDOWS directory.
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386SPART.PAR - Permanent swap file in
Windows 3.x.
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WIN386.SWP - Temporary swap file in
Windows 3.x.
Windows 95 is a true
operating system, but Windows 3.x is only a graphical interface to MS-DOS.
Windows 95 can run
either 32 or 16 bit applications.
Windows 3.x can only run
16 bit applications.
COMMAND.COM - Acts as a
"translator" for processing requests before they are sent directly to the
processor.
The Control Panel in
both Windows 3.x and Windows95 only configures system settings.
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MSDOS.SYS - Only used by MS-DOS, not
Windows 95.
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WIN.COM - Starts Windows 3.x
Windows 95 uses the
fat32 file system.
MS-DOS uses the fat16
file system.
Loading order of MS-DOS:
1) IO.SYS
2) MSDOS.SYS
3) CONFIG.SYS
4) COMMAND.COM
5) AUTOEXEC.BAT
Minimum files that
MS-DOS needs to load:
 | IO.SYS
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 | MSDOS.SYS
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 | COMMAND.COM |
BUFFERS= and Smartdrv
both have to do with caching in MS-DOS.
The DEVICE= command in
CONFIG.SYS loads device drivers into the memory.
INTERNAL dos commands
are in COMMAND.COM.
PIF is a Program
Information File for DOS programs.
DLL files are shared
executable pieces of code that help reduce the size of applications that use
them.
The Add/Remove Programs
applet in Control Panel can be used to create startup disks.
The F4 key allows you to
boot into an old operating system in a system that has Windows 95 as the
default OS. |
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SHARE.EXE - allows file locking in
MS-DOS.
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MSD - MS-DOS utility that allows you
to view the system's processor type.
DIR and CHKDSK can both
give the total disk space on an MS-DOS system.
The ROM BIOS is
programming that communicates directly with a computer's hardware.
Giving an application
the Execute in Foreground option from the 386 Control Panel applet in
Windows 3.x helps to speed up the application.
SYSTEM.INI - Contains
drivers and VXD's for Windows devices in Windows 3.x and Windows 95.
SYSEDIT - Used to edit
AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI, and the SYSTEM.INI.
The [boot] portion of
the SYSTEM.INI has the drivers that are loaded at startup.
Windows 95 detection log
files:
 | SETUPLOG.TXT - Used to log
installation of Windows95. Will note last utility run prior to a system
halt.
|
 | DETCRASH.LOG - Used to log
hardware detection during setup. Readable only by setup to determine
which module was running when the system halted.
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 | DETLOG.TXT - Equivalent of
DETCRASH.LOG written in a readable format.
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 | NETLOG.TXT - Logs detected
network component information.
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The Windows 95 Registry
is designed as a database used by OLE to store information on OLE servers.
It is used by Windows 95 to store the information typically found in Windows
3.x .INI files and the REG.DAT file. The Registry can be used for
troubleshooting and enhancing perfomance in Windows 95. The Registry is a
heirarchical tree which contains information about many things in the
computer.
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REGEDIT.EXE - Used to modify the
Registry.
The Windows 95 Registry
is composed of USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT.
The majority of the
configuration settings of Windows 95 are in the Registry.
A virtual machine is an
illusional environment created by the operating system in memory. These are
designed to allocate resources to programs that might normally be halted by
other programs in memory. Each MS-DOS application runs in its own virtual
machine, as they are designed to have total and uninterupted access to all
system resources. All other non-MS-DOS based programs run in the System
virtual machine.
Windows 95 has three
core components:
Plug and Play is
designed so that no user intervention is required in order to install
hardware.
A Plug and Play system
needs to consist of the following to be complete:
 | A Plug and Play operating system
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 | A Plug and Play BIOS
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 | Plug and Play hardware
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Legacy Cards - Hardware
designed prior to Plug and Play which, when installed, will not
automatically be setup by the OS and must be setup manually.
Disk operations:
 | IFS (Installable File System) -
Architecture which allows multiple file systems to coexist on the same
computer.
|
 | VFAT - 32-bit virtualized File
Allocation Table used in Win95.
|
 | VCache - 32-bit protected mode
cache driver which replaces the real-mode SmartDrive.
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Hard Drive caching in
Windows 95 is handeled with VCache. |
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Memory Management
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| Conventional Memory |
1k-640k |
Used for DOS applications and TSR's. |
| Upper Memory |
640k-1024k |
Used to load MS-DOS device drivers to help increase space available
for DOS applications. |
| High Memory Area |
1024k - 1088k. |
Reserved for use by single application or utility. |
| Extended Memory |
1088k - end of memory |
Was created for DOS applications to be able to access RAM outside of
the first 640k. |
| Expanded Memory |
Uses virtual memory |
Uses bank-switching to page data in and out of memory quickly. |
MEM.EXE - MS-DOS utility that allows you
to view memory usage.
 |
MEMMAKER.EXE - Used to optimize memory
usage in MS-DOS.
Windows 3.x must have
2048k minimum to run in 386 Enhanced mode.
HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE
are both memory managers. |
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Installation, Configuration, and
Upgrading
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Minimum Hardware Requirements for
Windows 95:
 | Intel 386DX, 20MHz processor or
higher
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 | 4MB RAM
|
 | VGA Video adapter and display
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 | Mouse or equivalent pointing
device
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 | 20MB free hard disk space
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Minimum Hardware
Requirements for Windows 3.x:
 | 286 computer (will only run in
standard mode on a 286)
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 | MS-DOS 5.0 or above previously
installed
|
 | 2mb of disk space for an upgrade
from previous windows version; 5mb for a new installation
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 | 640k conventional and 1024k
extended memory for enhanced mode; 640k conventional and 256k of extended
memory for standard mode
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 | Pointing device
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 | Video card that has a compatible
Windows 3.x driver
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Windows 95 Setup Options:
 | Typical- Recommended setup option
for minimum user interaction.
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 | Compact- Minimum installation
available, for computers with little hard disk space available.
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 | Portable- For users with portable
computers, includes utilities for remote computing.
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 | Custom- Lets user choose which
features to include in installation.
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The Express setup of
Windows 3.x does not allow you to choose the location of the Windows
directory.
Old system files are not
saved when using the Windows 95 Custom setup.
SETUP.EXE - File used to install MS-DOS,
Windows 3.x, and Windows95.
Pressing F3 during the
install of MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, or Windows 95 will terminate the setup.
The default directory for
MS-DOS installation is C:\DOS.
Windows 3.x Express setup
automatically chooses which applications and utilities will be installed on a
system, and automatically creates icons for pre-existing Windows programs.
 | Use the /A option for installing
Windows 3.x if you plan to run Windows off of a network. (You must use /N
in combination with this)
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 | Use the /N option to install
Windows 3.x from the network.
|
 | Use the /I option to have setup
ignore the hardware it detects and allows you manually select it.
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Network configuration is
part of the Windows 95 installation process, but can be done later after the
setup is complete.
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Diagnosis and Troubleshooting
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General Protection Faults (GPFs) happen
when the same memory is allocated to more than one application.
Safe Mode is a diagnostic
mode that loads only the minimum drivers necessary to launch Windows 95.
The F8 key allows you to
choose between the following boot options for Windows 95: Normal, Safe Mode,
Safe Mode with network support, Step by Step Confirmation, Command Prompt, and
Previous Version of MS-DOS.
The F5 key allows you to
boot directly into the Safe Mode of Windows 95.
The F5 key bypasses the
AUTOEXEC.BAT file and the CONFIG.SYS file in both MS-DOS and Windows 95.
Pressing the F8 key in
MS-DOS allows you to step through config.sys and autoexec.bat line-by-line.
If COMMAND.COM is missing,
you will receive a "Bad or missing command interpreter" error message.
CHKDSK and SCANDISK are
both hard drive testing programs.
DEFRAG.EXE - Used to defragment the hard
drive.
Make sure you document any
troubleshooting performed.
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Networks
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Universal Naming Convention (UNC) -
Universal network pathname which is integrated into Win95. Named as \\computername\sharename.
The \\computername will be the name given to your computer in the network
properties screen. The \sharename will be the name you give to a directory
when you share it.
Security levels:
 | Share-level security - Used in
Windows 95 to share resources. A password is needed to access the
resource.
|
 | User-level security - Used in
Windows NT to share resources. When you attempt to access a shared
resource, the server will make sure your user account has been authorized
to access the resource. User-level security can be implemented in Windows
95 if specified in the Network Properties menu under the Access Control
tab.
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TCP/IP is an Internet
protocol currently used for most networking situations. Each computer using
TCP/IP will contain a unique IP address in a x.x.x.x format (where each x
equals a number between 0 and 255) and a subnet mask.
TCP/IP is the protocol
that must be loaded in Windows 95 in order to connect to the Internet.
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol) - Win95 contacts an NT Server running this service to
automatically obtain an IP address each time it logs onto the network. DHCP
Article
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This web page and web site has
been developed and is maintained exclusively by Frank Toms CEO of DNF
Technologies. As DNF modifies its products, programs, and policies, information
contained in this web site is subject to change. This web site is not authored,
sponsored or maintained by any of the product companies listed in these pages.
For information and comments relating to this page and or its content's see
below..
© 2002 All Rights Reserved.
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Designs
by Amber )
Last modified
12/23/2005 20:38
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2002
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Reserved.
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Policy.
last updated
12/23/05 08:38 PM
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© ™
2002
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