Understanding Operating Systems and Hard Disk Management, Study notes of Agricultural engineering

Download Understanding Operating Systems and Hard Disk Management and more Study notes Agricultural engineering in PDF only on Docsity! 1 I nt roduct ion to Hard Disk Management I n your daily act ivit ies of m anaging your business, you will also have to m anage data that has been stored in your hard drive. How intense your m anagem ent will be, depends on you as an individual. But at som e point in t im e, you should address som e basic points. Hard Disk Managem ent I have this thing called a computer and a m inimal understanding of some of what it can do, but is there more I should know? Hard Disk Managem ent Adventure Com e with m e to discover the secrets held within this beast ! What ’s an operat ing system? The set of system program s that run when the com puter is turned on to give the user a consistent environm ent for running the com puter. The operat ing system takes care of the fine details of m aking all the com ponents of the "com puter" work together, including m em ory, disk drives, keyboard, sound system , and the m ouse. Windows XP is current ly the m ost comm on operat ing system . Other system s in use include Unix (m uch of the internet ) , System 7.5 (Macintosh) , OS2 3.0 ( I BM) and Windows NT. Because it is the start ing point for all other software, the developm ent of operat ing system s is very com pet it ive. Modern operat ing system s are graphical user interfaces (using a m ouse or other point ing device) , while earlier system s were text -based (keyboard input ) . What Operat ing System Do I Have? Go to My Computer ⇒Click on Help ⇒Click on About Windows ⇒This screen gives you the version # and nam e of your system ⇒ Enter t his informat ion on the worksheet you pr inted. What is the difference between left and r ight clicks of the m ouse? A single left click typically highlights what you click on A double left click typically performs a funct ion (opens a program, etc) A single r ight click typically brings up a menu that allows you to select the act ion you wish to take. 2 What ’s a Start Up Disk?
A disk that allows the computer to “boot ” in the event of a problem with your computer .
“Boot ing” is the process in which you turn on the computer and execute the init ial inst ruct ions. There are a series of system program s that run to configure the computer hardware for specific software and user preferences, including the date and t ime form ats to use, what count ry language to use, etc.
This disk is essent ial in the case of restoring your hard drive. Often a computer comes with a startup disk or CD but in the event it doesn’t or you m isplaced it… Do I have a start up disk? I f not how do I m ake one? I nsert a floppy disk Click on Start Click on My Com puter Click on the floppy dr ive Click on File Form at Create an MS-DOS startup disk Click on Start * Im portant : Creat ing an MS-DOS startup disk erases all inform at ion on the floppy disk. Why would I need to form at a disk? Format t ing prepares a floppy or hard disk to receive informat ion. Most floppy disks can now be purchased pre- format ted. Format t ing consists of marking the disk into t racks and sectors for stor ing data. I f you want to re-use a disk format t ing it completely deletes all pr ior informat ion. To form at a disk  I f the disk you want to form at is a floppy disk, insert it into its dr ive. Otherwise, skip to step 2.  2. Open My Com puter, and then click the drive containing the disk you want to format .  3. On the File m enu, click Form at .  4. Select or specify any of the following opt ions that you want :  Capacity ( floppy disks only)  File system (disk dr ives only)  Allocat ion unit size (NTFS only)  Volum e label Quick Form at Enable Com pression (NTFS only)  5. Click Star t . Notes  To open My Computer, double-click its icon on the desktop.  Quick Form at removes files from the disk without scanning the disk for bad sectors. Use this opt ion only if the disk has been previously format ted and you are sure the disk is not damaged. For informat ion about any of the opt ions, select the opt ion, click the quest ion mark, and then click the opt ion again.  You cannot format a disk if files are open on the disk, the contents of the disk are displayed, or the disk contains the system or boot part it ion. What is a hard drive?  A device to store and read informat ion. I t is a non- removable magnet ic disk made of a r igid mater ial such as alum inum , enclosed in a shock- resistant , sealed mount ing ( thus cont rast ing from a " f loppy" or flexible disk) . The speeds that the dr ive spins can be anywhere from 3,600 to 12,000 revolut ions per m inute, which allows for ext rem ely fast reading or writ ing of informat ion. Hard disks contain m uch more informat ion than is capable of being stored on a floppy disk. While a floppy disk typically stores 1.44 m egabytes of informat ion, a t ypical hard disk stores anywhere from 800 megabytes to 80.0 gigabytes, or 80,000 m egabytes. 5 What is Windows Explorer ( cont .) ? There are other places in Windows where you can view and work with f iles and folders. You can view My Network Places, which lists other com puters that are connected to your local area networks (LAN) . My Docum ents is a convenient place to store docum ents, graphics, or other files you want to access quickly. When you delete files or folders from your hard disk, Windows places them in the Recycle Bin, where you can ret r ieve them unt il you em pty the Recycle Bin. Files or folders deleted from a floppy disk or a network drive are perm anent ly deleted and are not sent to the Recycle Bin. To access Windows Explorer… Click Start  All Program s  Accessories  W indow s Explorer W indow s Explorer lists the • Folder • Nam e • Size of file or folder • The type ( file/ folder, etc) • Date file or folder w as m odified What is dragging and dropping? An easy way to move or copy files to another locat ion is by dragging them from their current locat ion and then dropping them into the desired locat ion. I n Windows Explorer highlight the file or folder you want to move, hold down your left mouse but ton and drag the file or folder to the new locat ion, release the mouse but ton. How do I delete or re-arrange docum ents or folders? † You can either go to Windows Explorer or My Com puter  Highlight the file or folder you wish to delete = > click on File = > Delete What if I cannot find a file or folder? ‰Go to Start = > Search = > Files or Folders = > Search by file nam e or text How do I clean up I nternet files or history? † Internet files you access are stored on your hard dr ive. To elim inate them  Go to Start = > I nternet Explorer = > Tools = > I nternet Opt ions = > Then either delete temporary files or make changes to your history set t ings How can I tell if I have a virus? Your virus protect ion program m ight discover it Your computer m ight become ext remely sluggish Programs won’t open You m ight receive an email not ify ing you that you sent a message that contained a virus 6 Keep your virus protect ion current ! † I f you have access to the Internet or if you copy files onto your com puter from som eone else it is crucial to have a current v irus protect ion program . The $$$ you spend are well worth the peace of m ind that com es with the protect ion. Every day new viruses are writ ten, stay protected! How do I back up m y files?  Go to Start  Programs  Accessories  Backup  Run the w izard To backup a docum ent  Click on File, Save As  Click on Tools, Save Opt ions  Select “Always create backup copy, OK, Save Should I auto update Windows? Microsoft is cont inually updat ing their operat ing system so it is a good idea to stay current , so… Go to Start , then Control Panel, Adm inist rat ive Tools, Services, Right click on Automat ic Update, Click Propert ies, Configure to look for updates any t ime you are online. What if I want to update m anually? † Connect to the Internet , Open Internet Explorer, click on Tools, Windows Update, this will take you to the Microsoft Windows Update site, from there it will scan your com puter and give you the opt ion to select updates for you com puter to download and install. How do I get r id of j unk mail? I n Out look highlight the message, click on Act ions, Junk Email, add to Junk Senders List I n Out look Express, highlight the message, Click on message, block sender About filter ing out junk e- m ail  I n m uch the sam e way that retailers and businesses use m ailing lists of postal addresses to send potent ial clients catalogs and other inform at ion, others use e-m ail m essages as a direct m arket ing tool. I f you do not want to receive these m essages, Microsoft Out look can autom at ically m ove them from your I nbox to your Deleted I tem s folder or to any other folder you specify. Out look creates a folder called Junk Mail, where you can move junk e-m ail and then review it before delet ing. Or, you can have junk e-m ail delivered to your I nbox , but color coded so you can easily ident ify it . The list of term s that Out look uses to filter suspected junk e-m ail m essages can be found in a file nam ed Filters.txt . You can also filter m essages based on the e-m ail addresses of j unk and adult content senders, allowing you to m ove or delete all future m essages from a part icular sender. You can review the Junk Senders list and add and rem ove e- m ail addresses from it . 7 Hard Disk Managem ent This is just the t ip of the ice berg so keep invest igat ing and keep notes of what you discover along the way.