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Technology In Action

Using System Software:

File Management

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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

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Starting the Computer

The Boot Process

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

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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

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.

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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.

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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) 7

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File Management

The operating system provides an organizational structure to the computer’s contents

Hierarchical structure of directories: Drives

Folders Subfolders

Files

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File Management Metaphors

Tree Metaphor Root, branches, leaves

Filing Cabinet Metaphor Drawers, Folders, Files

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A File System Tree

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Viewing and Sorting Files and Folders Windows

Explorer "My

Computer" Not the same

as Internet Explorer

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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

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File Systems – Drives

Typical Drives A: or B: Floppy Disk C: Local Hard Drive D: CD Drive

L: UK Lab Locker Space

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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:\

C: Tech in Action\TIA Pics\\My Documents\ dotmatrix.gif

Drive Primary folder

Secondary folders

Filename

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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

Bioreport.doc

or

Bio report.doc

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Filename Extensions

Filename extensions: 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

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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!

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Working with Files

File management actions: Open Copy Move Rename Delete

Recycle bin

Saving files

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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

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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

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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?”

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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”!

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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

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File Management Tips

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

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File Compression Programs

Reduce the size of a file: Removes redundancies

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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”

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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

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A 8 C none, it isn’t big enough for one file

B 1 D 12

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?

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A the folders C the drives

B the files D the file extensions

In the tree metaphor for a computer file system, the leaves correspond to

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A 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

The root of the file system on a device

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A will not allow you to delete filesB shows only the names and sizes of files

C is a web browser programD allows a user to copy files from one place

to another

Windows Explorer

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A 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.

The best way to organize your computer files is

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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 filename

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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

A file extension

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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

If a machine is starting up and a message appears on the screen of “Non-system disk or disk error”, what should you do?

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A 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

A file with a path like B:\myfiles\Spring10\newreport.doc