IT Essentials 1 Chapter 5
Windows 9x Operating
Systems
Windows 9x Systems
• Windows 95
• Windows 98
• Windows Millennium Edition (ME)
9x File Structure
• Directories and folders are used
interchangeably to describe a place to
store information.
• Files are stored utilizing a "tree"
structure
• Windows 3.1 and DOS file names are
limited to eight letters plus a three-letter
suffix called an extension ( 8.3
convention)
• Windows 98 and later allow filenames of
up to 255 characters.
• The characters / \ ; : * ? " < > should not
be used.
• Uppercase characters are treated the
same as lowercase in Windows
• Drive letters use the 26 letters of the
alphabet followed by a colon.
• Each drive can also be assigned a name
called a drive label which can be up to
11 characters long.
Directories and folders
• The trunk or main starting place is the
root directory or root folder.
• Branches of the tree are folders and
connect to the trunk.
• Minor branches attach to these major
branches as sub-folders which are inside
folders.
• Files are like leaves attached to the major
and minor branches
Windows Explorer
• Windows Explorer displays the
hierarchical structure of files, folders,
and drives on a computer. ( Not Internet
explorer!!!)
• Can access Explorer by right clicking My
Computer and the clicking Explore.
• Click on the plus sign to view all the
files and folders in it
• Clicking on the minus sign will cause
the sub-folders to collapse.
• File management is done to organize or
clean up a computer.
• New folders can be made by right
clicking, then selecting NEW and the
FOLDER.
• Renaming can be done by clicking once
on the folder to highlight it and pressing
the F2 key.
Recycle Bin
• The Recycle Bin can be used to
temporarily delete or permanently
delete files from the computer.
• Until the recycle bin is emptied, the files
remain on the hard drive
• Right-clicking the file and selecting
Restore restores it to its original folder.
System Properties Applet
• The default tab is the
General tab which
lists information
relating to the system.
• Includes operating
system version,
licensing information,
and system specifics
such as processor type
and the amount of
memory.
System Properties Applet
• Device Manager
provides the
user with a list
of all of the
hardware within
the system and
allows the user
to view which
system
resources are
being used.
System Properties Applet
• Hardware
profiles allow
the user to have
different
hardware
configurations
for the same
operating
system.
System Properties Applet
• Performance tab
• Displays
information about
the performance
statistics of the
current system
and allows access
to the virtual
memory and file
system settings.
Add/Remove Programs
• Use this program to
remove programs
that have been
installed, to install
Windows specific
components that
were not installed
initially, and to create
a Windows startup
disk.
Display
• This allows the
user to set a
screensaver,
change the
background color,
change the look
and feel of
windows, as well
as change display
resolution
settings.
Sounds
• The Sounds utility
allows the user to
choose which
sounds are played
for different
system events,
such as when the
computer is
booted up or shut
down.
The Registry
• The Registry is a hierarchical database that
is an efficient management system for all of
the information needed by the Windows
operating system.
• The Registry is made up of the System.dat
and User.dat files.
• The system.dat file contains information
about the hardware in the system
• The user.dat file contains user specific
information.
REGEDIT
• The Registry includes 6 H-keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
• This key contains
computer-specific
information about
the type of hardware,
software settings,
and other
information. This
information is used
for all users who log
on to this computer
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
• This key points to a
branch of
Hkey_Local_Machin
e\config that
contains
information about
the current
configuration of
hardware attached
to the computer
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
• This key points
to a branch of
Hkey_Local_Mac
hine that
describes
certain software
settings
HKEY_DYN_DATA
• Points to a
branch of
Hkey_Local_Mac
hine that
contains the
dynamic status
information for
various devices
as part of the PnP
information.
HKEY_USERS
• Contains
information about
all the users who
log on to the
computer,
including both
generic and userspecific
information.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
• Points to a
branch of
Hkey_Users
for the user
who is
currently
logged on.
• Well Done!!!
• Half way through!!!