Computer Operating Systems

1.   A+ Tech Questions Contest , questions 6-25 (26 to 34, also, if time permits)

      If you haven't already done so, check out the CompTIA A+ Tutorial at MCMCSE.COM


2.  Review Chapter 3 Concepts

a) The four steps in the startup process for a PC with an Intel CPU are:

  A. __________________________________________________________

  B. __________________________________________________________

  C. __________________________________________________________

  D. __________________________________________________________

b)  List some of the operations the BIOS performs during the POST step.

    ___________________________

    ___________________________

   ___________________________

   ___________________________

   ___________________________


c)  The computer searches for an OS to load by seeking a small sector at the beginning of
     each drive called the ______________________________.

d)  The operating system for a computer is usually loaded from drive _______, but
     can also be loaded from drive ______ if the hard disk has no OS installed. (We'll see,
     later, that you can specify the order in which the OS searches drives.)

e)  If none of the searchable drives in the computer contains an operating system, the computer
     displays an error message, such as

    _____________________________________________________

f)  The ______________ on a hard drive contains information about the location of each
     logical drive.

g) For the computer to boot from the hard drive the ______________ partition must be
    set active. (Do you think the computer boot from the hard disk if only an Extended
    Partition is present? _______)

Loading the MS-DOS/Win98 Core files

a)  For the MS DOS and Windows 9.x operating systems to boot, the computer must
     find and load three system files called ________________, __________________, and
     _________________.

b) A fourth file, called _________________ is an optional configuration file that can
     be used to load configuration commands and _______________________.

c) When we booted the computers in the lab from our Windows 98 Startup disks, the fourth file,
     referenced above, contained a command to create a "virtual disk drive" out of RAM. This
    drive has its own letter and can be accessed from the DOS command line. However, since
    files on this drive are stored in RAM rather than on disk media, what do you think happens
    to files on the disk after the power to the computer is turned off?

   _____________________________________________________________


d) The computer loads DOS/Windows 9.x system files in the following order:
     ___________, ___________, [CONFIG.SYS, optional], and COMMAND.COM

e)  After loading COMMAND.COM, a command prompt appears on the screen. The computer
     then searches for another DOS configuration file called ______________________, which
     may contain command statements or applications to be automatically executed on startup.

f)  Finally, to load Windows 95 or 98, the startup procedure searches for and loads a program
    called __________, which launches the Windows interface.

Contents of Windows 9x Startup Disk

(See A+ in Depth, Chapter 3, page 97.)

           3. DOS/Windows Exercises in Lab (See DOS Supplement handout)
               We will finish installing Windows 98SE and then work on DOS command exercises.

Homework:

Study for written quiz on Chapter 2 on Tuesday.

Complete motherboard component identification handout.

Continue reading A+ Chapter 3, pages 81-105 to learn about Understanding the Boot Process and the Command line..

Write out Chapter 3 vocabulary definitions A - I on page 118.

Answer Chapter 3 questions 1-6 on page 119.