A+ Guide to Managing
and Maintaining Your PC
Fifth Edition
Chapter 3
Understanding the Boot
Process and Command Line
You Will Learn…
About the boot process and some tools for
troubleshooting a failed boot
To use many commands at the command
prompt
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Boot Step 1: POST
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Booting Up Your Computer
Hard (cold) boot versus soft (warm) boot
Startup BIOS is in control when boot process
begins
Turns control over to the OS
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Steps in the Boot Process
1. Startup BIOS runs power-on self test (POST)
and assigns resources
2. ROM BIOS startup program searches for and
loads an OS
3. OS configures the system and completes its
own loading
4. Application software is loaded and executed
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How the BIOS Finds and Loads
the OS
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How the BIOS Finds and Loads
the OS (continued)
BIOS executes MBR program
Turns to partition table to find OS boot record
Program in OS boot record attempts to find a
boot loader program for OS
Ntldr (Windows NT/2000/XP)
Io.sys (Windows 9x)
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Boot Step 2: Loading the OS
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Loading the MS-DOS Core of
Windows 9x
Brings OS to real-mode command prompt
Relevance: Real-mode DOS core often used as
a troubleshooting tool
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Loading the MS-DOS Core of
Windows 9x (continued)
Files necessary to boot to command prompt
Io.sys
Msdos.sys
Command.com
To customize 16-bit portion of load process
Autoexec.bat
Config.sys
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Boot Step 3: OS Initializes Itself
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Emergency Startup Disks
Bootable disks with some utility programs to
troubleshoot a failed hard drive
Each OS provides automated method to create
a rescue disk (Windows 9x) or set of disks
(Windows 2000)
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Emergency Startup Disks
(continued)
Creating a Windows 9x startup disk
Add/Remove Programs icon in Control Panel
Using a Windows 9x startup disk with another
OS
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Windows 9x Startup Disks
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Using the Command Prompt
Multiple ways of accessing a command prompt
Launching a program using the command
prompt
Using commands to manage files and folders
and perform utility tasks when troubleshooting
a failed system
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How to Access a Command
Prompt in Windows
Command window from Windows
desktop
All versions
Start, Run, Command.com in Run
dialog box
All versions
Startup disks (Windows 2000) or
Windows 2000
installation CD (Windows XP) to boot or Windows XP
PC and load Recovery Console
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How to Access a Command
Prompt in Windows (continued)
Boot from a bootable disk
Windows 9x
Start, Shutdown, Restart in MS-DOS
mode
Windows 95/98
Ctrl + F8 while booting
Windows 9x
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Launching a Program Using the
Command Prompt (continued)
Type filename of program file at command
prompt
OS
Attempts to find program file by name,
Copies file into RAM, and
Executes program
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Launching a Program Using the
Command Prompt (continued)
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DOS File and Directory Naming
Conventions
8.3 format
Up to 8 characters, separating period, and file
extension of up to 3 characters (eg, filename.ext)
Acceptable characters
Letters a through z
Numbers 0 through 9
_ ^ $ ! # % & - { } ( ) @ ‘ `
Do not use space, period, *, ? or \
Acceptable extensions: .com, .sys, .bat, .exe
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Windows File and Directory
Naming Conventions
Up to 255 characters
Can contain spaces
When DOS part of system is operating, it
Truncates long filenames
Assigns new
8-character names (eg, Mydocu~1.doc)
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Wildcards
Question mark (?)
Wildcard for one character
Asterisk (*)
Wildcard for more than one character
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Binary Numbering Systems
2 values
1,0 in programming
+5v, 0v Logic level on IC Pin
All 1,0 ‘s eventually Hardware represented as
software in HEX code
Hard Drives (N/S or S/N alignment)
CD’s pits (Hole, No Hole)
Laser jumps, No Jump
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Hex Numbering System
0-15
Decimal - Binary – Hex Table
Addresses using 32 bits, 16 bits, 8 bits
Machine Code, HEX code, HEX file
1KB, 1MB, 1GB in binary vs. analog
Digital processing, noise 2 values vs. 10
Base 2: Binary
Base 10: Decimal
Digital
Analog
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OS – Operating System
Responsible for processing, managing and
storing files.
File Systems
Sectors, Clusters, Tracks, Cylinders
FAT
NTFS
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Dir
Function
Lists files and directories
Rename or Ren
Renames a file or folder
Type
Displays contents of text file on
screen
Deletes files or groups of files
Del or Erase
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Result of Dir Command
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Copy
Function
Copies single file or group of files
Does not alter original files
Xcopy /C /S /Y /D: Same general command-sourcedestination format as Copy
Offers several more options
Deltree [drive:]path Deletes directory tree beginning
with specified subdirectory
Use with caution!
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Mkdir [drive:]path or
MD [drive:]path
Function
Creates a subdirectory under a
directory
Chdir [drive:]path or
Changes current default
CD [drive:]path or CD.. directory
Rmdir [drive:]path or
RD [drive:]path
Removes a subdirectory
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Attrib
Function
Displays or changes read-only,
archive, system, and hidden
attributes assigned to files
Sys Drive:
Copies system files needed to
boot to a disk or drive
Chkdsk [drive:] /F /V Reports information about a disk
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Scandisk Drive:
/A /N /P
Function
Scans hard drive for errors and
repairs them
Scanreg /Restore Restores or repairs Windows 98
/Fix /Backup
registry
Defrag Drive: /S Rewrites files on hard drive in
contiguous clusters to improve hard
drive performance
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Ver
Function
Displays version of OS in use
Extract filename.cab Extracts files from a cabinet file
file1.ext /D
Debug
Views/manipulates components of
a file system on disks and drives
(FAT, directories, boot records)
Views contents of memory and
hexadecimal addresses
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Commands to Manage Disks,
Drives, Files, and Directories
Command
Function
Edit [path][filename] Enables editing text files while
working at command prompt
Fdisk
Partitions hard drive for first use
Format Drive
Unformat
Formats disk or hard drive
/S option makes drive bootable
Attempts to reverse effects of
accidental format
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Editing Autoexec.bat and
Config.sys
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Options for Fdisk Command
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Options for Format Command
(continued)
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Options for Format Command
(continued)
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Using Batch Files
To execute group of commands using single
command
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