Exercise 5: I/O, File Systems and Disks

What To Do How To Do It
View I/O and the file system in System Information.
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Information.
  2. Click the + next to Components and click Storage.
    Click the + next to Storage and each of the subcategories, if any.
  3. Click the + next to Hardware Resources and view each category
    (Conflicts/sharing, DMA, I/O, IRQs)
View the file system in System Monitor.
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Monitor.
  2. Select each item for Disk Cache and File System and click the Explain button.
  3. Add a few items and monitor them.
View the MS-DOS (Command) Prompt.
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, MS-DOS (Command) Prompt.
  2. Maximize the window to see as many lines as possible (Windows 2000 or XP).
Use chkdsk to view and check the hard disk.
  1. Type CHKDSK /? at the DOS prompt.
  2. Type CHKDSK to view and check the hard disk.
    What is the cluster size?
    What file system is your computer using?
    How much used and free space does your disk have?
    Are any disk problems detected?
  3. Type CHKDSK /F (Windows 2000/XP only).
Scan the hard disk for errors (Windows 98).
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scandisk.
  2. For Type of test, select Thorough, click Options, and click Cancel.
    (Thorough takes a long time and is used to check for physical damage to the disk.)
  3. For Type of test, select Standard.
  4. Click the Advanced button to see other options. Click Cancel.
  5. Click Start. Wait for the scan to complete.
    If prompted to fix errors, delete any lost file fragments. Were any errors detected?
    Were any bad sectors were found?
    What is the cluster size?
Defragment the hard disk.
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.
  2. Make sure the C: drive is selected.
  3. Click OK (Analyze, View Report, then Defragment in Windows XP).
  4. Click the Show Details button and the Legend button (Windows 98 only).
    Do you see any damaged clusters?
Clean up the hard disk.
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup.
  2. Select the drive you want to clean up (C:) and click OK.
  3. Check any of the listed categories of files to delete:
    Temporary Internet files, downloaded program files, recycle bin, temporary files.
  4. Click OK and click Yes to confirm the file deletion.
View partitions (Windows 98).
  1. Type FDISK /? at the DOS prompt.
  2. Type FDISK to view and edit partitions.
  3. Press Enter to enable large disk support.
  4. Type 4 and press Enter to display partition information.
    How many partitions are there?
    Is the disk using FAT16 or FAT32?
  5. Press Esc two times to return to the DOS prompt.
    Important: Do NOT change the existing partitions.
View partitions (Windows 2000/XP).
  1. Type DISKPART /? at the DOS prompt.
  2. Type DISKPART
  3. Type HELP at the DISKPART> prompt.
  4. Type CREATE HELP to view help on creating partitions.
  5. Type LIST DISK to view partitions on the disk.
  6. Type EXIT to exit the disk partition tool.
Format a floppy disk from Windows.
  1. Insert a floppy disk that you want to erase.
  2. Open My Computer (e.g. using Windows Explorer).
  3. Right-click 3 1/2 Floppy (A:) and click Format.
  4. Make sure Quick Format is selected and click Start.
    All files on the floppy disk will be erased.
Format a floppy disk from the DOS prompt.
  1. Insert a floppy disk that you want to erase.
  2. Type FORMAT /? at the DOS prompt.
  3. Type FORMAT A: /Q
    All files on the floppy disk will be erased.
Create a startup disk from Window 98.
  1. Insert a floppy disk that you want to erase and use as a startup disk.
  2. Open the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
  3. Click the Startup Disk tab.
  4. Click Create Disk and click OK.
    All files on the floppy disk will be erased and system files will be copied to the disk.
  5. You may want to copy some additional external DOS commands to your boot floppy.
     e.g. FORMAT.COM and other files from c:\windows\command 
Create a startup disk from the DOS prompt.
  1. Insert a floppy disk that you want to erase and use as a startup disk.
  2. Type FORMAT A: /S at the DOS prompt.
    All files on the floppy disk will be erased and system files will be copied to the disk.
Boot from the startup disk.
  1. Shut down the computer.
  2. Insert the startup disk in the floppy drive.
  3. Restart the computer. After a few minutes you should see the DOS prompt.
View the BIOS (CMOS) settings.
  1. When the computer starts, press F2 or Del (usually indicated on screen) to enter Setup.
  2. Follow the instructions listed on the screen to navigate, e.g.:
  3. To move to a different screen or value, use Page Up, Page Down and the arrow keys.
  4. To exit, press Esc or F10.
  5. You should be able to see settings for several hardware devices, including hard and floppy disks and CDs.
  6. Avoid saving changes unless you are sure you know what you are doing.
Create a shortcut on the desktop.
  1. Right-click the desktop, move to New, and click Shortcut.
  2. Browse to locate a program.
    e.g. c:\windows\paint.exe or c:\program files\microsoft office\office\winword.exe.
  3. Type a name for the shortcut, e.g. Paint or Microsoft Word.
  4. Click Finish.
Change the shortcuts in menus/folders:
Start Menu, Programs, StartUp,
SendTo, Favorites, QuickLaunch, Desktop.
  1. Right-click the Start button and click Explore.
  2. Click the + next to Programs.
  3. Click on the Start Menu, Programs, Accessories or other folder in the left pane.
  4. You can add, remove, copy and paste or move any shortcut in these menus/folders.
  5. StartUp, SendTo, Favorites, QuickLaunch and Desktop are within the Windows folder in Windows 98.
  6. Note that in Windows 2000/XP, there are separate Documents and Settings folders for each user and for All Users.
Back up and restore files using Windows Backup
  1. Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Backup
  2. Choose whether to use the backup/restore wizard or use the advanced interface
  3. Select drives, files and folders to back up
  4. Select the media or location where the backup file will be saved
  5. Select backup type (normal, copy, differential, incremental, etc.), file types to exclude, and other options
  6. Click the Start Backup button
  7. For restoring, select the backup archive, choose which files to restore, where to restore the files, and click Start Restore.
Compress files using WinZip or Windows Compressed Folders
  1. Select one or more files or folders in Windows Explorer, and right-click the selection.
  2. Click Add to Zip (or Add to filename.zip)
    OR: Move to the Send To menu, and click Compressed (zipped) folder.
Scan for viruses using Norton Antivirus
  1. Click Start, Programs, Norton Antivirus, Norton Antivirus 200x
  2. Click Scan for Viruses and double-click to scan drives, floppy disks, files or folders
  3. Select which ones you want to scan, and click Scan.