UNIT – 2

ASSEMBLING AND DISSEMBLING PC’s :

Parts of Computer System

The computer system is made up of following external devices:

 CPU cabinet
 Monitor
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Printer/scanner (if attached)

Assemble a Computer :
The assembling of the computer system is exactly the opposite of disassembling operation.
Before starting assembling the computer system, make sure you have the screws and a
screwdriver for those.

Step 1: Mount the Processor :

The first step for assembling the computer system starts with mounting the processor on
the processor socket of the motherboard. To mount the process, you don't need to apply any
force. The special ZIF (zero insertion force) sockets are usually used to prevent any damage to the
processor pins. Once the processor is mounted, the heat sink will be attached on top of the
processor. The CPU fan is also attached on top of the heat sink.

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Step 2: Fix the Motherboard in the Tower Case :
Now the motherboard is to be fixed vertically in the tower case and the screws are fixed
from behind of the motherboard.

Step 3: Connect the Power Supply

Now line up the power supply at the top back end of the cabinet and screw it. The power
connectors for motherboard power supply and CPU fan power supply are to be connected. If the
cabinet cooling FAN is required then it is to be screwed at the back end grill of the cabinet and its
power connector is to be connected from SMPS.

Step 4: Install the Drives

Install the CD/DVD drives at the top front end of the cabinet and screw it. Install the Hard
disk drive and floppy disk drive below CD/DVD drive and screw it. Make sure once screwed there
is no vibration in either of the CD/DVD, hard disk or floppy disk drives.

Step 5: Connect Cables

Now select the appropriate data cable and connect one end of the cable to its drive socket
and another end at its appropriate connector on the motherboard. For SATA hard disk drive or
CD/DVD drives use SATA cable and its power cable, else use IDE data cable. Do the proper jumper
settings as per the usage requirement.

Step 6: Mount the Memory Modules

It is time now to mount the memory modules on the motherboard by aligning the RAM to
its socket on the motherboard and press it downward. Make sure the side tab are fixed into the
RAM notch. If not, you may still have to press a bit.

Step 7: Install the Internal Cards

Install the internal cards to its socket and attach the cables or power cable to it. The
selection of right socket or slot is required as per the type of socket.

Step 8: Cover the Tower

Cover the tower by placing it and pressing towards front side and screw it.

Step 9: Connect the External Devices and Power

Connect the external devices with CPU at its appropriate socket. It includes mouse and
keyboard at PS2 or USB connectors. Monitor at the video output socket. Connect the power cable
to the back of tower in SMPS. Plug in the power cable to the electric board.

Disassemble a Computer

Step 1: Detach the Power Cable

The disassembling of the computer system starts with
externally connected device detachment. Make sure the
computer system is turned off, if not then successfully shut
down the system and then start detaching the external devices
from the computer system. It includes removing the power
cable from electricity switchboard, then remove the cable from

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SMPS (switch mode power supply) from the back of the CPU Cabinet. Do not start the
disassembling without detaching the power cable from the computer system. Now remove the
remaining external devices like keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer or scanner from the back of
CPU cabinet.

Step 2: Remove the Cover

The standard way of removing tower cases used to be to
undo the screws on the back of the case, slide the cover back
about an inch and lift it off. The screwdrivers as per the type of
screw are required to do the task.

Step 3: Remove the Adapter Cards

Make sure if the card has any cables or wires that might be attached and decide if it would
be easier to remove them before or after you remove the card. Remove the screw if any, that holds
the card in place. Grab the card by its edges, front and back, and gently rock it lengthwise to
release it.

Step 4: Remove the Drives

Removing drives is easier. There can be
possibly three types of drives present in your
computer system, Hard disk drive, CD/DVD/Blu-
ray drives, floppy disk drives (almost absolute now
a day). They usually have a power connector and a
data cable attached from the device to a controller
card or a connector on the motherboard.
CD/DVD/Blu-ray drive may have an analog cable
connected to the sound card for direct audio
output.
The power may be attached using one of
two connectors, a Molex connector or a Berg
connector for the drive. The Molex connector may
require to be wiggled slightly from side to side and apply gentle pressure outwards. The Berg
connector may just pull out or it may have a small tab which has to be lifted with a screwdriver.

Now pull data cables off from the drive as well as motherboard connector. The hard disk
drive and CD/DVD drives have two types of data cables. IDE and SATA cables. The IDE cables need
better care while being removed as it may cause the damage to drive connector pins. Gently
wiggle the cable sideways and remove it. The SATA cables can be removed easily by pressing the
tab and pulling the connector straight back.

Step 5: Remove the Memory Module

Memory modules are mounted on the motherboard as the chips that can be damaged by
manual force if applied improperly.

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Step 6: Remove the Power Supply [SMPS]
The power supply is attached into tower cabinet at
the top back end of the tower. Make sure the power
connector is detached from the switchboard. Start
removing the power connector connected to motherboard
including CPU fan power connector, cabinet fan, the front
panel of cabinet power buttons and all the remaining
drives if not detached yet.

Now remove the screws of SMPS from the back of the

cabinet and the SMPS can be detached from the tower
cabinet.

Step 7: Remove the Motherboard

Before removing all the connectors from the
motherboard, make sure you memorize the connectors for
assembling the computer if required, as that may require
connecting the connectors at its place. Remove the screws from
the back of the motherboard and you will be able to detach it
from the cabinet. Now remove the CPU fan from the
motherboard. The heat sink will be visible now which can be
removed by the pulling the tab upward. Finally, the processor is
visible now, which can be removed by the plastic tab which can be pulled back one stretching it
side way.

What is BIOS :

BIOS is a program, stands for Basic Input / Output System,

which is stored in nonvolatile memory like ROM (Read Only Memory)
or flash memory that allows you to set up and access your computer
system at the greatest basic level. Although there is no need for most
people to mess with the BIOS on a computer, it can be better to know
about BIOS. It is found on motherboards that are a pre-installed
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program on Windows-based computers that executes when a computer is powered up. Before an
OS is loaded, the CPU accesses the basic input/output system (BIOS). Then, the next function of
BIOS is to examine all the hardware connections and detects all your devices.
The main function of BIOS is to set up hardware and start an OS, and it contains generic
code that is needed to control display screens, the keyboard, and other functions. The BIOS is
built-in software that manages the hard drives and cannot live on one. It cannot reside in the RAM
(Random Access Memory) as it is accessible before the computer system boots up. Actually, it
lives on the ROM of the computer system, and mainly it is located on EPROM (erasable
programmable read-only memory) chip. Therefore, the CPU accesses the EPROM when you turn
on the computer and provides control to the BIOS.
The primary intention of designing the BIOS system is to function with numerous devices that led
to making a complimentary system chipset. There are some functions contained by the BIOS
library that operates and controls system peripherals, and they can be initiated through external
software.

Users can perform different functions by using the BIOS user interface, Users can perform
hardware configuration

o They can select boot drives

o They can set the system clock
o The BIOS allows users to enable and disable certain system components
o To BIOS user interface function, it provides set password prompts for secured access

The BIOS works as an intermediary between the I/O devices and the CPU and is used after
the computer has booted up. The BIOS works as an intermediary between the I/O devices and the
CPU and is used after the computer has booted up. Your operating system and programs do not
need to know the details about the I/O devices connected to your system because of the BIOS. You
can change these settings accordingly with the help of entering the BIOS setup at the time of your
system starts up. Furthermore, if you want to access the BIOS setup, you can hold down the
DELETE or F2 key when your computer starts up.

BIOS Availability :
The BIOS software is available in all modern computer motherboards. As the BIOS is a part
of the motherboard; therefore, the BIOS's access and configuration on PCs are independent of any
type of operating system. The BIOS is not dependent on anyone that means it does not matter
which types of an operating system is running on the computer like Windows 7, Windows
8, Windows 10, Windows XP, Linux, Windows Vista, Unix, or no operating system at all, BIOS
functions outside of the operating system environment.

What is included in a BIOS

The directions to load basic computer hardware are included in BIOS software. A test is
also included within it that is referred to as a POST (Power-On Self-Test). The POST helps the
computer to boot up properly with verifying the computer meets requirements. Your computer
produces various forms of beeps if the POST test fails at the time of test.

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 The 4 functions of BIOS
BIOS identifies, configures, tests and connects computer hardware to the OS immediately
after a computer is turned on. The combination of these steps is called the boot process.
These tasks are each carried out by BIOS' four main functions:
1. Power-on self-test (POST). This tests the hardware of the computer before loading the OS.
2. Bootstrap loader. This locates the OS.
3. Software/drivers. This locates the software and drivers that interface with the OS once
running.
4. Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) setup. This is a configuration
program that enable users to alter hardware and system settings. CMOS is the name of BIOS'
non-volatile memory.

Functions of BIOS
The BIOS has different instructions that are required to load the hardware, and it is
responsible for loading the operating system. The major functions of a Basic input/output system
(BIOS) are discussed below:

o BIOS Power on Self-Test (POST): It ensures the proper functioning of the computer hardware as
it is a built-in diagnostic program that. In the system, it verifies the computer meets the necessary
parts and functionality. POST does this function efficiently. It ensures that the computer is loading
tasks successfully, such as the use of memory, a keyboard, and other parts when it starts up. If the
POST test fails at the time of test, the computer provides a combination of beeps to display the
error type, and the system continues to boot when the POST test is passed completely.

Once the self-test has been passed, and the basic instructions have been loaded, the
computer starts to load the OS from one of the connected drives to the system. The BIOS settings
can also be changed by the computer users with the help of a configuration screen on the
computer. The BIOS information can also be stored on the flash memory, which can be updated by
computer users after releasing an update by vendors. BIOS actually can be located in between the
external devices and the computer because its name describes that it is used for reading and
writing to and hard disk and floppy disc, displaying values on the screen, reading the keystroke,
etc.

o Bootstrap Loader: The BIOS recognizes and locates the operating system when the POST
running successfully. The program bootstrap loader is contained by BIOS, which searches and
starts the OS boot program. When BIOS detects one, it transfers access to Operating System that is
known as booting.

o BIOS drivers: BIOS drivers are stored in the non-volatile memory, whose primary function is to
supply basic computer hardware information.

o BIOS Setup Utility Program: It is a configuration software, also known as CMOS setup, that
allows users to configure hardware settings as well as device settings, time and date, computer

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password. The NVRAM, non-volatile memory, is used to store settings of memory, disk types, and
information about the computer system; this information is not stored in the BIOS chip

The users run the BIOS setup program during the installation of a system and input the
correct parameters. The CMOS (Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) is a required
material to construct NVRAM. These CMOS chips store and maintain data on very low values of
current. Therefore, the system's configurations are also called CMOS settings. With the help of
using a capacitor, maintaining the battery backup, or by a battery built into the NVRAM chip,
CMOS settings can be maintained. Additionally, a system clock is also included in this chip. The
setting remains for a short period of time if there is no battery. And there is a need to reset the
system. Through its BIOS set up program is protected as there is loss of BIOS password.

Different types of BIOS :

The BIOS screen is seen by every PC user, it does not matter he knows it or not each time
he turns on his computer system. The computer's manufacturer displays the screen is called the
Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). The BIOS has mainly two types.

1. UEFI: The UEFI can accommodate 2.2 TB or larger drives, which stands for Unified
Extensible Firmware Interface. It handles drives with the help of using the Master Boot Record
instead of GPT technology, the more modern GUID Partition Table. Furthermore, Apple's Mac PCs
have never used the BIOS.
2. Legacy BIOS: The Legacy BIOS was used in older motherboards to turn the PC on. Legacy
BIOS es have limitations as they have no ability to handle or recognize drives bigger than 2.1 TB.
However, it controls how the CPU and the components communicate with each other

How to Access the CMOS Setup Program : The CMOS and BIOS setups are both specified in
the system BIOS. Some computer manufacturers refer to this setup menu as the BIOS setup,
while others refer to it as the CMOS setup. The difference between the BIOS and CMOS lies in the
function of each component on the motherboard. CMOS is the component that remembers your
system settings when you power the computer down, while BIOS contains the settings for the
boot-up process. You configure both groups of settings through the same setup menu.
1. Press “Windows-C” to display the Charms menu.
2. Click the “Settings” icon to open the Settings menu.
3. Click the “Change PC Settings” link at the bottom of the menu.
4. Click the “General” option in the left navigation panel, and then click the “Restart Now”
button in the right panel. The computer boots up and displays the Windows 8 boot
screen.
5. Click the “Troubleshoot” option, and then click “Advanced Options” in the
Troubleshooting menu.
6. Click the “UEFI Firmware Settings” option.
7. Click “Restart” to restart the computer and enter the BIOS.
8. Navigate through the menu to the desired settings page using the directional arrows and
the Page Down and Page Up keys. Select items by highlighting the desired option, and
then pressing the "Enter" key. Set the BIOS and CMOS options to your liking.
9. Press the “Esc” key to open the Exit dialog box. Navigate to “Save Settings and Exit” or a
similar option, and then press the “Enter” key to save your BIOS/CMOS settings.
10. Reboot the computer to implement the modified settings.
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DEMONSTRATION OF BIOS / CMOS CONFIGURATION :

Adjust Settings : This wikiHow teaches you how to access and modify your Windows computer's BIOS page.
The BIOS is a set of built-in options that allows you to change system aspects like the data and time. Since the
BIOS is tied to a computer's motherboard, the appearance of each computer's BIOS will vary slightly depending
on the manufacturer.

Entering the BIOS

1.Restart your computer. Open Start, click the power icon , and click Restart.
 If your computer is locked, click the lock screen, then click the power icon in the
bottom-right corner of the screen and click Restart.
 If your computer is already off, press your computer's "On" switch.

2 Wait for the computer's first startup screen to appear. Once the startup screen appears, you'll have a very
limited window in which you can press the setup key.
 It's best to start pressing the setup key as soon as the computer begins to restart.
 If you see "Press [key] to enter setup" or something similar flash across the bottom of the screen and
then disappear, you'll need to restart and try again.

3 Press and hold Del or F2 to enter setup. The key you're prompted to press might also be
different; if so, use that key instead.
 You'll typically use the "F" keys to access the BIOS. These are at the top of your keyboard,
though you may have to locate and hold the Fn key while pressing the proper "F" key.
 You can look at your computer model's manual or online support page to confirm your
computer's BIOS key.
4 Wait for your BIOS to load. After successfully hitting the setup key, the BIOS will load. This
should only take a few moments. When the loading is complete, you will be taken to the BIOS
settings menu.

1 Familiarize yourself with the BIOS controls. Since BIOS menus don't support mouse input,
you'll need to use the arrow keys and other computer-specific keys to navigate the BIOS. You can
usually find a list of controls in the bottom-right corner of the BIOS homepage.

2 Change your settings carefully. When adjusting settings in your BIOS, be sure that you certain
what the settings will affect. Changing settings incorrectly can lead to system or hardware failure.
 If you don't know what you want to change coming into the BIOS, you probably shouldn't
change anything.

3 Change the boot order. If you want to change what device to boot from, enter the Boot menu.
From here, you can designate which device the computer will attempt to boot from first. This is
useful for booting from a disc or flash drive to install or repair an operating system.
 You'll typically use the arrow keys to go over to the Boot tab to start this process.
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4 Create a BIOS password. You can create a password that will lock the computer from booting
unless the correct password is entered.

5 Change your date and time. Your BIOS’s clock will dictate your Windows clock. If you replace
your computer's battery, your BIOS clock will most likely be reset.

6 Change fan speeds and system voltages. These options are for advanced users only. In this
menu, you can overclock your CPU, potentially allowing for higher performance. This should be
performed only if you are comfortable with your computer’s hardware.

7 Save and exit. When you are finished adjusting your settings, you will need to save and exit by
using your BIOS' "Save and Exit" key in order for your changes to take effect. When you save and
restart, your computer will reboot with the new settings.
 Check the BIOS key legend to see which key is the "Save and Exit" key.

Dual BIOS :
Dual BIOS means that there are two system BIOS (ROM) on the motherboard, one is the Main
BIOS and the other is Backup BIOS. Under the normal circumstances, the system works on the Main
BIOS. If the Main BIOS is corrupted or damaged, the Backup BIOS can take over while the system is
powered on. This means that your PC will still be able to run stably as if nothing has happened in your
BIOS.

Boot sequence :
Alternatively referred to as boot options or boot order, the boot sequence defines which
devices a computer should check for the operating system's boot files. It also specifies the order
devices are checked. The list can be changed and re-ordered in the computer's BIOS, as shown in
the example below.

In the example above, the computer first looks at Removable Devices (e.g., floppy diskette
drive). If nothing is in the drive or it wasn't bootable, the computer moves on to the Hard Drive. If
an operating system such as Windows is installed, the computer loads the operating system from
the hard drive. If nothing was installed on the hard drive or it was not found, the computer would
boot from the ATAPI CD-ROM. Finally, if the computer could not boot from any of the earlier
options, it would attempt to do a Network Boot. The most common devices to be listed in the boot
sequence are the disc drive (CD or DVD), hard drive, USB flash drive, and SSDs.

How to change the boot sequence

To change the boot sequence, use the arrow keys to select the device listed
under First, Second, Third, or Fourth boot device, and then select something different. To key used
to select something different varies depending on the BIOS setup. For example, in the above
screenshot to change values, use the + (plus) or - (minus) key. Other setups may use
the Enter or spacebar to select from a list of available options.

What should my boot sequence :

Your boot sequence should be set to how you want the computer to boot. For example, if
you never plan on booting from a disc drive or a removable device, the hard drive should be the
first boot device. If you're trying to fix a computer or reinstall its operating system, you may need

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 9

to change the boot sequence. The most traditional first boot selections for these tasks are
an optical disc drive or a removable drive (thumb drive).

Introduction of Operating System

An operating system acts as an intermediary between the user of a computer and
computer hardware. The purpose of an operating system is to provide an environment in which a
user can execute programs conveniently and efficiently.
An operating system is a software that manages computer hardware. The hardware must provide
appropriate mechanisms to ensure the correct operation of the computer system and to prevent
user programs from interfering with the proper operation of the system.

Operating System – Definition :

 An operating system is a program that controls the execution of application programs and acts
as an interface between the user of a computer and the computer hardware.
 A more common definition is that the operating system is the one program running at all times
on the computer (usually called the kernel), with all else being application programs.
 An operating system is concerned with the allocation of resources and services, such as
memory, processors, devices, and information. The operating system correspondingly
includes programs to manage these resources, such as a traffic controller, a scheduler, a
memory management module, I/O programs, and a file system.

Functions of Operating system – Operating system performs four functions:

1. Convenience: An OS makes a computer more convenient to use.

2. Efficiency: An OS allows the computer system resources to be used efficiently.
3. Ability to Evolve: An OS should be constructed in such a way as to permit the effective
development, testing, and introduction of new system functions at the same time without
interfering with service.
4. Throughput: An OS should be constructed so that It can give maximum throughput(Number
of tasks per unit time).

Major Functionalities of Operating System :

 Resource Management: When parallel accessing happens in the OS means when multiple
users are accessing the system the OS works as Resource Manager, Its responsibility is to
provide hardware to the user. It decreases the load in the system.

 Process Management: It includes various tasks like scheduling, termination of the process.
OS manages various tasks at a time. Here CPU Scheduling happens means all the tasks would
be done by the many algorithms that use for scheduling.

 Storage Management: The file system mechanism used for the management of the
storage. NIFS, CFS, CIFS, NFS, etc. are some file systems. All the data stores in various tracks of
Hard disks that all managed by the storage manager. It included Hard Disk.

 Memory Management: Refers to the management of primary memory. The operating system
has to keep track, how much memory has been used and by whom. It has to decide which
process needs memory space and how much. OS also has to allocate and deallocate the
memory space.
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 10
 Security/Privacy Management: Privacy is also provided by the Operating system by means
of passwords so that unauthorized applications can’t access programs or data. For example,
Windows uses Kerberos authentication to prevent unauthorized access to data.

The process operating system as User Interface:

1. User
2. System and application programs
3. Operating system
4. Hardware

Every general-purpose computer consists of the hardware, operating system, system

programs, and application programs. The hardware consists of memory, CPU, ALU, and I/O
devices, peripheral devices, and storage devices. System program consists of compilers, loaders,
editors, OS, etc. The application program consists of business programs, database programs.

Conceptual view of a computer system :

Every computer must have an operating system to run other programs. The operating system
coordinates the use of the hardware among the various system programs and application
programs for various users. It simply provides an environment within which other programs can
do useful work.
The operating system is a set of special programs that run on a computer system that allows it to
work properly. It performs basic tasks such as recognizing input from the keyboard, keeping track
of files and directories on the disk, sending output to the display screen, and controlling
peripheral devices.

OS is designed to serve two basic purposes:

1. It controls the allocation and use of the computing System’s resources among the various user
and tasks.
2. It provides an interface between the computer hardware and the programmer that simplifies
and makes it feasible for coding, creation, debugging of application programs.

The Operating system must support the following tasks. The tasks are:

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 11

1. Provides the facilities to create, modification of programs and data files using an editor.
2. Access to the compiler for translating the user program from high-level language to machine
language.
3. Provide a loader program to move the compiled program code to the computer’s memory for
execution.
4. Provide routines that handle the details of I/O programming.

I/O System Management :

The module that keeps track of the status of devices is called the I/O traffic controller. Each
I/O device has a device handler that resides in a separate process associated with that device.

The I/O subsystem consists of

 A memory Management component that includes buffering caching and spooling.

 A general device driver interface.

Drivers for specific hardware devices :

Assembler –
The input to an assembler is an assembly language program. The output is an object
program plus information that enables the loader to prepare the object program for execution. At
one time, the computer programmer had at his disposal a basic machine that interpreted, through
hardware, certain fundamental instructions.

Compiler –
The High-level languages- examples are FORTRAN, COBOL, ALGOL, and PL/I are processed
by compilers and interpreters. A compiler is a program that accepts a source program in a “high-
level language “and produces a corresponding object program. An interpreter is a program that
appears to execute a source program as if it was machine language. The same name (FORTRAN,
COBOL, etc.) is often used to designate both a compiler and its associated language.

Loader :
A Loader is a routine that loads an object program and prepares it for execution. There are
various loading schemes: absolute, relocating, and direct-linking. In general, the loader must load,
relocate and link the object program. The loader is a program that places programs into memory
and prepares them for execution. In a simple loading scheme, the assembler outputs the machine
language translation of a program on a secondary device and a loader places it in the core.

History of Operating system :

The operating system has been evolving through the years. The following table shows the
history of OS.

Generation Year Electronic device used Types of OS Device

First 1945-55 Vacuum Tubes Plug Boards
Second 1955-65 Transistors Batch Systems
Third 1965-80 Integrated Circuits(IC) Multiprogramming
Fourth Since 1980 Large Scale Integration PC

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Types of Operating System
 Batch Operating System- Sequence of jobs in a program on a computer without manual
interventions.
 Time-sharing operating System- allows many users to share the computer resources. (Max
utilization of the resources).
 Distributed operating System- Manages a group of different computers and makes appear to
be a single computer.
 Network operating system- computers running in different operating systems can participate
in a common network (It is used for security purposes).
 Real-time operating system – meant applications to fix the deadlines.

Examples of Operating System :

 Windows (GUI based, PC)

 GNU/Linux (Personal, Workstations, ISP, File and print server, Three-tier client/Server)
 macOS (Macintosh), used for Apple’s personal computers and workstations (MacBook, iMac).
 Android (Google’s Operating System for smartphones/tablets/smartwatches)
 iOS (Apple’s OS for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch)

Operating System :
An Operating System (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardware
resources and provides common services for computer programs. When you start using a
Computer System then it's the Operating System (OS) which acts as an interface between you and
the computer hardware. The operating system is really a low level Software which is categorised
as a System Software and supports a computer's basic functions, such as memory management,
tasks scheduling and controlling peripherals etc.

What is Operating System :

An Operating System (OS) is an interface between a computer user and computer
hardware. An operating system is a software which performs all the basic tasks like file
management, memory management, process management, handling input and output, and
controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.

Generally, a Computer System consists of the following components:

 Computer Users are the users who use the overall computer system.
 Application Softwares are the softwares which users use directly to perform different
activities. These softwares are simple and easy to use like Browsers, Word, Excel, different
Editors, Games etc. These are usually written in high-level languages, such as Python, Java
and C++.
 System Softwares are the softwares which are more complex in nature and they are more
near to computer hardware. These software are usually written in low-level languages like
assembly language and includes Operating Systems (Microsoft Windows, macOS, and
Linux), Compiler, and Assembler etc.
 Computer Hardware includes Monitor, Keyboard, CPU, Disks, Memory, etc.

Operating System - Examples

There are plenty of Operating Systems available in the market which include paid and unpaid
(Open Source). Following are the examples of the few most popular Operating Systems:
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 13
  Windows: This is one of the most popular and commercial operating systems developed
and marketed by Microsoft. It has different versions in the market like Windows 8,
Windows 10 etc and most of them are paid.
 Linux This is a Unix based and the most loved operating system first released on
September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Today, it has 30+ variants available like Fedora,
OpenSUSE, CentOS, UBuntu etc. Most of them are available free of charges though you can
have their enterprise versions by paying a nominal license fee.
 MacOS This is again a kind of Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc.
since 2001.
 iOS This is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for
its mobile devices like iPhone and iPad etc.
 Android This is a mobile Operating System based on a modified version of the Linux
kernel and other open source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices
such as smartphones and tablets.

Operating System – Functions :

 Process Management
 I/O Device Management
 File Management
 Network Management
 Main Memory Management
 Secondary Storage Management
 Security Management
 Command Interpreter System
 Control over system performance
 Job Accounting
 Error Detection and Correction
 Coordination between other software and users
 Many more other important tasks

Operating Systems – History :

Operating systems have been evolving through the years. In the 1950s, computers were
limited to running one program at a time like a calculator, but later in the following decades,
computers began to include more and more software programs, sometimes called libraries, that
formed the basis for today’s operating systems.
The first Operating System was created by General Motors in 1956 to run a single IBM
mainframe computer, its name was the IBM 704. IBM was the first computer manufacturer to
develop operating systems and distribute them in its computers in the 1960s.

There are few facts about Operating System evaluation:

 Stanford Research Institute developed the oN-Line System (NLS) in the late 1960s, which
was the first operating system that resembled the desktop operating system we use today.
 Microsoft bought QDOS (Quick and Dirty Operating System) in 1981 and branded it as
Microsoft Operating System (MS-DOS). As of 1994, Microsoft had stopped supporting MS-
DOS.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 14

  Unix was developed in the mid-1960s by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AT&T
Bell Labs, and General Electric as a joint effort. Initially it was named MULTICS, which
stands for Multiplexed Operating and Computing System.
 FreeBSD is also a popular UNIX derivative, originating from the BSD project at Berkeley. All
modern Macintosh computers run a modified version of FreeBSD (OS X).
 Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system built
on top of MS-DOS. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft as part of its Windows
9x family of operating systems.
 Solaris is a proprietary Unix operating system originally developed by Sun Microsystems in
1991. After the Sun acquisition by Oracle in 2010 it was renamed Oracle Solaris.

Booting in Operating System :

Booting is the process of starting a computer. It can be initiated by hardware such as a
button press or by a software command. After it is switched on, a CPU has no software in its main
memory, so some processes must load software into memory before execution. This may be done
by hardware or firmware in the CPU or by a separate processor in the computer system.
Restarting a computer also is called rebooting, which can be "hard", e.g., after electrical
power to the CPU is switched from off to on, or "soft", where the power is not cut. On some
systems, a soft boot may optionally clear RAM to zero. Hard and soft booting can be initiated by
hardware such as a button press or a software command. Booting is complete when the operative
runtime system, typically the operating system and some applications, is attained.
The process of returning a computer from a state of sleep does not involve booting;
however, restoring it from a state of hibernation does. Minimally, some embedded systems do not
require a noticeable boot sequence to begin functioning and, when turned on, may run
operational programs that are stored in ROM. All computer systems are state machines and a
reboot may be the only method to return to a designated zero-state from an unintended, locked
state.

Sequencing of Booting :
Booting is a start-up sequence that starts the operating system of a computer when it is
turned on. A boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the computer performs when it is
switched on. Every computer has a boot sequence.

1. Boot Loader: Computers powered by the central processing unit can only execute code found
in the system's memory. Modern operating systems and application program code and data are
stored on nonvolatile memories. When a computer is first powered on, it must initially rely only
on the code and data stored in nonvolatile portions of the system's memory. The operating system
is not really loaded at boot time, and the computer's hardware cannot perform many complex
systems actions.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 15

The program that starts the chain reaction that ends with the entire operating system being
loaded is the boot loader or bootstrap loader. The boot loader's only job is to load other software
for the operating system to start.

2. Boot Devices: The boot device is the device from which the operating system is loaded. A
modern PC BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) supports booting from various devices. These
include the local hard disk drive, optical drive, floppy drive, a network interface card, and a USB
device. The BIOS will allow the user to configure a boot order. If the boot order is set to:
o CD Drive
o Hard Disk Drive
o Network
The BIOS will try to boot from the CD drive first, and if that fails, then it will try to boot from
the hard disk drive, and if that fails, then it will try to boot from the network, and if that fails, then
it won't boot at all.

3. Boot Sequence: There is a standard boot sequence that all personal computers use. First, the
CPU runs an instruction in memory for the BIOS. That instruction contains a jump instruction that
transfers to the BIOS start-up program. This program runs a power-on self-test (POST) to check
that devices the computer will rely on are functioning properly. Then, the BIOS goes through the
configured boot sequence until it finds a bootable device. Once BIOS has found a bootable device,
BIOS loads the bootsector and transfers execution to the boot sector. If the boot device is a hard
drive, it will be a Master Boot Record (MBR).

The MBR code checks the partition table for an active partition. If one is found, the MBR
code loads that partition's boot sector and executes it. The boot sector is often operating system
specific, and however, in most operating systems, its main function is to load and execute the
operating system kernel, which continues start-up. Suppose there is no active partition, or the
active partition's boot sector is invalid. In that case, the MBR may load a secondary boot loader
which will select a partition and load its boot sector, which usually loads the corresponding
operating system kernel.

Types of Booting :
There are two types of booting in an operating system.

1. Cold Booting: When the computer starts for the first time or is in a shut-down state and
switch on the power button to start the system, this type of process to start the computer
is called cold booting. During cold booting, the system will read all the instructions from
the ROM (BIOS) and the Operating System will be automatically get loaded into the system.
This booting takes more time than Hot or Warm Booting.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 16

 2. Warm Booting: Warm or Hot Booting process is when computer systems come to no
response or hang state, and then the system is allowed to restart during on condition. It is
also referred to as rebooting. There are many reasons for this state, and the only solution is
to reboot the computer. Rebooting may be required when we install new software or
hardware. The system requires a reboot to set software or hardware configuration
changes, or sometimes systems may behave abnormally or may not respond properly. In
such a case, the system has to be a force restart. Most commonly Ctrl+Alt+Del button is
used to reboot the system. Else, in some systems, the external reset button may be
available to reboot the system.

Booting Process in Operating System :

When our computer is switched on, it can be started by hardware such as a button press,
or by software command, a computer's central processing unit (CPU) has no software in its main
memory, there is some process which must load software into main memory before it can be
executed. Below are the six steps to describe the boot process in the operating system, such as:

Step 1: Once the computer system is turned on, BIOS (Basic Input /Output System) performs a
series of activities or functionality tests on programs stored in ROM, called on POST (Power-on
Self Test) that checks to see whether peripherals in the system are in perfect order or not.

Step 2: After the BIOS is done with pre-boot activities or functionality test, it read bootable
sequence from CMOS (Common Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and looks for master boot record in
the first physical sector of the bootable disk as per boot device sequence specified in CMOS. For
example, if the boot device sequence is:
o Floppy Disk
o Hard Disk
o CDROM

Step 3: After this, the master boot record will search first in a floppy disk drive. If not found, then
the hard disk drive will search for the master boot record. But if the master boot record is not
even present on the hard disk, then the CDROM drive will search. If the system cannot read the
master boot record from any of these sources, ROM displays "No Boot device found" and halted
the system. On finding the master boot record from a particular bootable disk drive, the operating
system loader, also called Bootstrap loader, is loaded from the boot sector of that bootable drive·
into memory. A bootstrap loader is a special program that is present in the boot sector of a
bootable drive.

Step 4: The bootstrap loader first loads the IO.SYS file. After this, MSDOS.SYS file is loaded, which
is the core file of the DOS operating system.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 17

 Booting Process in DOS Operating System :
Booting may be defined as process of loading the operating system into memory. The
booting process starts from the moment when we power on computer and continues till moment,
computer is ready for use. In the case of DOS, booting process starts when we start computer and
continues till DOS prompt is displayed. The booting process of DOS mainly deals with loading
three main system files of DOS into memory. These files are IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and
COMMAND.COM.

In the booting process of DOS, the following steps are performed when we start a computer

1. Once the computer system is turned on, BIOS (Basic Input /Output System) performs a series of
activities or functionality test on programs stored in ROM, called on Power-on Self Test (POST)
that checks to see whether peripherals in system are in perfect order or not.

2. After the BIOS is done with pre-boot activities or functionality test, it read bootable sequence
from CMOS (Common Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and looks for master boot record in first
physical sector of the bootable disk as per boot device sequence specified in CMOS. For example,
if the boot device sequence is

1. Floppy Disk
2. Hard Disk
3. CDROM

3. After this, master boot record will be searched first in a floppy disk drive. If not found, then hard
disk drive will be searched for master boot record. But if the master boot record is not even
present on hard disk, then CDROM drive will be searched. If the system is not able to read master
boot record from any of these sources, ROM displays the message “No Boot device found” and
system is halted. On finding master boot record from a particular bootable disk drive, operating
system loader, also called Bootstrap loader is loaded from boot sector of that bootable drive· into
memory. A bootstrap loader is a special program that is present in boot sector of bootable drive.

4. Bootstrap loader first loads the IO.SYS file. After this, MSDOS.SYS file is loaded which is core file
of DOS operating system.

5. After this, MSDOS.SYS file searches to find Command Interpreter in CONFIG.SYS file and when it
finds, it loads into memory. If no Command Interpreter specified in the CONFIG.SYS file,
the COMMAND.COM file is loaded as default Command Interpreter of DOS operating system.

6. The last file is to be loaded and executed is the AUTOEXEC.BAT file that contains a sequence of
DOS commands. After this, the prompt is displayed, and we can see drive letter of bootable drive
displayed on the computer system, which indicates that operating system has been successfully
on the system from that drive.

Types of Booting :

1. Cold Booting/Switch Booting

When the user starts computer by pressing power switch on system unit, the operating system is
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 18
 loaded from disk to main memory this type of booting is called Cold Booting. This booting takes
more time than Hot or Warm Booting.

2. Hot or Warm Booting

Hot booting is done when computer system comes to no response state/hang state. Computer
does not respond to commands supplied by user. There are many reasons for this state, only
solution is to reboot computer by using the Reset button on cabinet or by pressing a combination
of ALT + CTRL + DEL keys from keyboard

Installing & Activating Windows XP Mode :

Now, the time has come to install and activate Windows XP Mode on your Windows 7
computer. So, to use Windows XP Mode in Windows 7, you need to download and install Windows
XP Mode, and Windows Virtual PC, the program that runs virtual operating systems on your
computer.

Download & Install Windows XP Mode :

To activate Windows XP mode in Windows 7 environment, you’ve to download and install
Windows XP mode on your PC. Have a look at the following simple steps to download and install
Windows XP mode on your Windows 7 computer.

 After downloaded, double click on the installer and follow the instructions to complete the
installation. Finally, when setup is completed, click on Finish.
Download & Install Virtual PC

As I already mentioned that it is also a must-have part of using Windows XP mode in

Windows 7 PC. So, look on the following steps to download and install a virtual PC on your
Windows 7 computer.

 Go to the Windows Virtual PC Page and download it on Windows 7.

 After downloading, double click on the downloaded package and follow the instructions to
complete the setup.
 Finally, click on Restart Now to reboot the system to work Virtual PC properly.

Activate Windows XP Mode in Windows 7

To activate Windows XP Mode in Windows 7, you’ll have to set
up Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 for first use. Here are the
steps to do so.
 Go to the Start button, click on All Programs, open folder
“Windows Virtual PC” and then click on Windows XP Mode.

 Now, accept the license and terms and click on Next.

 Choose a default location or new location for Windows XP
Mode files to be stored.
 Now, type the password twice and click on Next.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 19

 On the Help protect your computer page, decide whether you want to help protect your
computer by turning on automatic updates, and then click Next.
 Finally, start the setup

Turn on Windows Automatic Update for Windows 7

Windows install important updates as they become available, turn on automatic updating.
Important updates provide significant benefits, such as improved security and reliability. You can
also set Windows to automatically install recommended updates, which can address non-critical
problems and help enhance your computing experience. Optional updates and Microsoft updates
are not downloaded or installed automatically.

1. Open Windows Update by clicking the Start button . In the search box, type Update, and
then, in the list of results, click Windows Update.
2. In the left pane, click Change settings.
3. Under Important updates, choose the option that you want.
4. Under Recommended updates, select the Give me recommended updates the same way I
receive important updates check box, and then click OK. If you're prompted for an
administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

You can also choose if you want to allow anyone to install updates by selecting the Allow
all users to install updates on this computer check box. This applies only to updates and
software that are installed manually; automatic updates will be installed regardless of the user.

Computer Management Overview

Computer Management is a collection of Windows administrative tools that you can use to
manage a local or remote computer. The tools are organized into a single console, which makes it
easy to view administrative properties and to gain access to the tools that are necessary to
perform your computer-management tasks.

The Computer Management Console:

The Computer Management console consists of a window divided into two panes. The left
pane contains the console tree; the right pane contains details. When you click an item in the
console tree, information about that item is displayed in the details pane. The information that is
displayed is specific to the item that you select.

The administrative tools in Computer Management are grouped into the following three
categories in the console tree:

 System Tools
 Storage
 Services and Applications

Each category includes several tools or services.

System Tools :

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 20

 Event Viewer : Use the Event Viewer tool to manage and view events that are recorded in the
Application, Security, and System logs. You can monitor the logs to track security events and to
identify possible software, hardware, and system problems.

 Shared Folders : Use the Shared Folders tool to view connections and resource in use on the
computer. You can create, view, and manage shares, view open files and sessions, and close files
and disconnect sessions.

 Local Users and Groups : Use the Local Users and Groups tool to create and manage your local
user accounts and groups. Local Users and Groups is available only in Windows XP Professional.

 Performance Logs and Alerts : Use the Performance Logs and Alerts tool to configure performance
logs and alerts to monitor and collect data about your computer's performance.

 Device Manager :Use Device Manager to view the hardware devices installed in your computer,
update device drivers, modify hardware settings, and troubleshoot device conflicts.

Storage :
 Removable Storage : Use the Removable Storage tool to track your removable storage media and
manage the libraries, or data-storage systems, that contain them.

 Disk Defragmenter : Use the Disk Defragmenter tool to analyze and defragment volumes on your
hard disks.

 Disk Management : Use the Disk Management tool to perform disk-related tasks such as
converting disks or creating and formatting volumes. Disk Management helps you manage your
hard disks, and the partitions or volumes that they contain.

Services and Applications :

 Services : Use Services to manage services on local and remote computers. You can start, stop,
pause, resume, or disable a service.

 WMI Control : Use WMI Control to configure and manage the Windows Management
Instrumentation (WMI) service.

 Indexing Service : Use Indexing Service to manage the Indexing service, and to create and
configure additional catalogs to store index information.

Computer Management on the Local Computer :

NOTE: You must be logged on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group view
and modify most properties and perform most computer-management tasks.

Start and use Computer Management on the local computer :

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, click
Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. The Computer Management
window for the local computer is displayed. "Computer Management (Local)" is displayed at the
root of the console tree.
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 21
2. In the console tree, expand System Tools, Storage, or Services and Applications to view the tools
and services in each of these containers.

3. Click the item that you want (for example, Event Viewer) to use the tool, and then view the
information that is associated with it.

Computer Management on a Remote Computer :

To connect to and use Computer Management on another computer:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, click
Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
2. Right-click Computer Management (Local), and then click Connect to another computer.
3. Click Another Computer, and then type the name of the computer that you want to manage
remotely, or click Browse to locate the computer. Click OK and then click OK to return to the
Computer Management window. The Computer Management window of the remote computer is
displayed. The name of the remote computer is displayed at the root of the console tree.
4. In the console tree, expand System Tools, Storage, or Services and Applications to view the tools
and services in each of these containers.
5. Click the item that you want (for example, Event Viewer) to use the tool, and then view the
information that is associated with it.

How to Use Help in Computer Management To use Computer Management Help or to use the
Help files for any of the individual administrative tools that are contained in

Computer Management:

1. Start Computer Management.

2. Use either of the following steps:
 In the console tree, right-click the item that you want (for example, Computer
Management or Device Manager), and then click Help.
 Click the item in the console tree (for example, Device Manager or Computer
Management), and then click Help on the Action menu.

DISK MANAGEMENT :

Open Disk Management Go to Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative
Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management (under Storage).

To open the Disk Management tool if you want to partition a hard drive, format a hard drive,
change a drive letter, or perform other disk-related tasks. You won't find a shortcut to Disk
Management in the Windows Start menu or Apps screen because it's not a program in the same
sense that most other software on your computer is.

How to Open Disk Management in Windows :

The most common, and operating system independent, way to open Disk Management is
through the Computer Management utility, described below.
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 22
1. Open Control Panel.
In most versions of Windows, Control Panel is most easily available from its shortcut on the
Start menu or Apps screen.

2. Select System and Security.

System and Security is only found in Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7. In Windows
Vista, the equivalent link is System and Maintenance, and in Windows XP, it's
called Performance and Maintenance.
If you're viewing the Large icons or Small icons view of Control Panel, you won't see this
link. If you're on one of those views, select Administrative Tools and then skip to Step 4.

3. Select Administrative Tools. It's located near the bottom of the window, so you might need to
scroll down to see it.
4. In the Administrative Tools window that's now open, double-tap or double-click Computer
Management. Choose Disk Management on the left side of the window. It's located
under Storage. You can now partition a hard drive, format a hard drive, change a drive's letter,
or do whatever else you need to do in Windows' disk manager tool. These hard drive tasks can
also be accomplished with most free disk partitioning software tools.

DEFRAGMENTATION :
Defragmentation, also known as “defrag” or “defragging”, is the process of
reorganizing the data stored on the hard drive so that related pieces of data are put back
together, all lined up in a continuous fashion.
You could say that defragmentation is like cleaning house for your Servers or PCs, it
picks up all of the pieces of data that are spread across your hard drive and puts them back
together again, nice and neat and clean. Defragmentation increases computer performance.

How Fragmentation Occurs :

Disk fragmentation occurs when a file is broken up into pieces to fit on the disk.
Because files are constantly being written, deleted and resized, fragmentation is a natural
occurrence. When a file is spread out over several locations, it takes longer to read and write
resulting in slow computer performance.

SERVICES AND APPLICATIONS :

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 23

 Services and Applications

 Services : Use Services to manage services on local and remote computers. You can start, stop,
pause, resume, or disable a service.

 WMI Control : Use WMI Control to configure and manage the Windows Management
Instrumentation (WMI) service.

 Indexing Service : Use Indexing Service to manage the Indexing service, and to create and
configure additional catalogs to store index information.

 Locate compmgmt.msc in Windows\system32 or Windows\SysWOW64

 Right-click and select Author
 Expand Services and Applications and select Services
 File / Save As and specify a different name but same location
 Close Computer Management and click Yes if asked to save again
 Open the newly saved version - it should open with Services and Applications expanded
and Services selected (with System Tools and Storage expanded as before)

LOCAL USERS AND GROUPS :

In Windows 10, the Local Users and
Groups snap-in, also known as lusrmgr.msc, offers
the best way to see all the users and groups
configured on the system. This tool shows you the
“visible” user accounts, as well as all the hidden
user accounts and groups that are available on the
system but are disabled by default, such as
the Administrator account. Here’s how:
Open Computer Management - a quick way to do it
is to simultaneously press Win + X on your
keyboard and select Computer Management from
the menu.

Open Computer Management

In Computer Management, select “Local Users and
Groups” on the left panel.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 24

Local Users and Groups in Computer Management
An alternative way to open Local Users and Groups is to run the lusrmgr.msc command. You can do
it from the Run window (Win + R), Command Prompt, or PowerShell.

Run lusrmgr.msc in Windows 10

Running the lusrmgr.msc command opens the Local Users and Groups console directly, without
loading it in Computer Management.

lusrmgr.msc - Local Users and Groups

Regardless of how you chose to open Local Users
and Groups (lusrmgr.msc), this is where you find all
the user accounts and groups that are configured
on your Windows 10 computer or device, split into
two folders: Users and Groups.

How to find and manage users in Windows 10 with “Local Users and Groups” (lusrmgr.msc)
In the Users folder, you see all the user accounts available on your Windows 10 PC, including
accounts that are hidden or disabled.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 25

List of user accounts shown by lusrmgr.msc
What are the user accounts found on every Windows 10
computer? There are not as many as you might think. You
have:
 All the user accounts you have created on your
Windows 10 PC
 Administrator - a built-in account created by
Windows 10 even if you use it or not, made by the
operating system for administration purposes
 DefaultAccount - a user account that’s managed by
Windows 10
 Guest - another built-in account that can be used for
guest access on the computer or domain
 WDAGUtilityAccount - managed and used by the
Windows Defender antivirus in Windows 10 for
running certain processes (like the Microsoft Edge
browser) in sandboxed/virtualized environments.

Deactivated users are marked by arrows

Double-clicking or double-tapping on a user account opens a Properties window that displays
more information about it and different customization options. For instance, you can set its
password to expire, disable the account, or change the user groups to which it belongs. If you
want detailed information about every option available, we covered them in the second part of
this tutorial: Create new Windows user accounts and groups, like an IT Pro.

Properties of a user account

List of user groups in Windows 10 shown by lusrmgr.msc
On most Windows 10 PCs, you should have at least the following groups:
 Access Control Assistance Operators - members of this group can run remote queries for
authorization attributes and permissions on your Windows 10 computer. This group is
used on computers that are part of domains, so it’s mainly useful for network
administrators in large companies.
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 26
  Administrators – it includes all the user accounts with administrative permissions on your
computer. The Administrators group can’t be deleted or renamed.
 Backup Operators – user accounts with permissions to perform backup and restore
operations, using tools like Backup and Restore.
 Cryptographic Operators – user accounts with permissions to encrypt or decrypt data,
using tools such as BitLocker.
 Device Owners - Windows 10 says that the members of this group can change system-wide
settings. However, as far as we know, this group is not currently used in Windows 10.
 Distributed COM Objects – this user group is harder to explain. It is used mostly for user
accounts that need to participate in more complex scenarios, such as distributed
computing across computers on a network. Therefore it is used in business environments.
 Event Log Readers – this group gives permissions to its members to read Windows 10
event logs that show what is happening on the system.
 Guests – are regular user accounts that cannot perform any administrative tasks on your
computer. They can be used only for light computing activities such as browsing the
internet or running the installed applications. They are not able to perform any
modifications to the system’s configuration, to access or modify another user’s data, etc.
 Hyper-V Administrators - gives its members unrestricted access to all the features available
in Hyper-V.
 IIS_IUSRS – this group is used only by the Internet Information Services you may choose to
install using the Windows Features panel.
 Network Configuration Operators – this group gives its users permission to configure
networking features in Windows 10.
 Performance Log Users & Performance Monitor Users – members are given permissions to
perform advanced logging in Windows 10 and collect performance data.
 Power Users – this user group was used in older versions of Windows to provide limited
administrative permissions to specific user accounts. It is still present in Windows 10 but
only to provide backward compatibility for old legacy applications.
 Remote Desktop Users – this user group provides its members with permissions to logon
remotely to the computer via the Remote Desktop.
 Replicator – this user group is used in network domains, and it gives its members the
permissions required to do file replication across the domains.
 System Managed Accounts Group - the Windows 10 operating system manages the
members of this group.
 Users – it includes the standard user accounts defined on your Windows 10 computer or
device. Its members do not have administrative permissions. They can only run installed
applications and cannot make system changes that affect other users.
On your computer, you might find other groups installed by Windows 10 features, drivers, or
third-party applications.

Create new Windows user accounts and groups like an IT Pro.

Properties of the Administrators group in Windows 10

What’s great about user groups is that you can use them to give
additional permissions to standard user accounts. For example, if you
create a user account that is a member of Users but not Administrators, that
user can’t connect remotely to the computer. If you make that user account
a member of Remote Desktop Users, it can connect remotely. This principle
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 27
applies to all user groups. Add a user account as a member, and it receives both the permissions
and restrictions of that user group.

Default users and groups from Windows 10 should not be altered

Deleting or changing standard user accounts
and groups from Windows 10 can make apps
and system features to malfunction.
Understanding all the connections between
standard user accounts, user groups, and
Windows 10 features is difficult. One minor
change can have unexpected effects on many
features and may deteriorate your computing
experience, so our strong recommendation
is “Don’t touch the standard users and groups
from Windows 10!”

ADVANCED SYSTEM SETTINGS :

This panel contains the settings for some

important features in Windows, including virtual
memory page file, system protection, data execution
protection, processor scheduling, environment
variables, and startup options for dual-boot
configurations.
Most of the settings aren’t things that you’ll need to
change often, and in most cases, you should probably
just leave them at the defaults, but it is useful to
understand why something is set a particular way, and
whether or not you need to mess with it.

Accessing the Advanced System Settings Panel

Getting to the System panel is really easy on Windows
8, because you can right-click on the Start button or the start corner and pick System from the
menu.

If you are using Windows 7 instead, you can browse

through Control Panel to the System page, or you can
right-click on Computer and select Properties. Either
one will get you to the same place, the System Panel.
From there, you’ll want to click the Advanced System
Settings link on the left-hand side.

It might seem a little odd, but Windows opens straight

to the middle tab of the System Properties dialog,
largely because the first two tabs aren’t that
interesting.

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The Advanced Tab :

There are a lot of different things to be found on the

Advanced tab, including performance, user profiles,
startup, and environment variables. The average user
doesn’t need to tweak things in here, but there are some
good configuration changes that you might need under
certain circumstances.
Clicking the Settings button in the Performance
section gives you a bunch of options – the Visual Effects
section will let you tweak all of the extra animations and
things that make Windows look better. We’d
recommend leaving that up to Windows unless you have
a good reason to change it. (Personally we’ve always disabled the annoying minimize animation
but left the others alone).

The Advanced tab gives you another option that

requires a little explaining. The Processor Scheduling
feature allows you to choose between Programs or
Background services. The quick explanation is that when
you are running a desktop system, you should always
leave this set to Programs for best performance.

Background services
When you change the radio button to this value, Windows uses a fixed (and longer)
quantum length to try and make sure that all processes get a nearly equal amount of time (if they
are the same priority, at least). This is much better for servers or workstations running as a
server, because system services will get equal time if they are set to the same priority and
everything else is equal.

Virtual Memory
It was really popular a number of years ago to
either disable the page file entirely, or make the page
file really gigantic, or somewhere in between. And then
there were all the people that split the page file up on
multiple disks, or insisted you had to remove it from
the system drive.
Everybody had a theory and their own
calculation on what would give you the fastest
performance. We’re not going to go back in time and
debate all of those people, because we’re not living in
G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 29
the days of 64 MB of RAM and Windows XP anymore.

Fun Fact: Since Vista, Windows changed the underlying memory management system to set
priorities for each page of RAM rather than just using first-in, first-out like XP did. So when
Windows decides to move something from RAM over to the page file, it will generally be moving
something that you really didn’t need in active memory anyway.

Don’t Disable the Page File

Disabling the page file will generally work if you do have enough RAM, but it will also mean that
any application that expects the page file to be there is going to just crash rather than slow down.
It’s not worth the trouble for the tiny performance gain you’re unlikely to get. Windows 7 and 8.1
do a good job of only paging when really necessary.

Trimming Down the Page File Size

If you are running on a smaller SSD as your boot drive and need to save some space, you can
tweak the size of the page file down a little by unchecking the “Automatically manage paging file
size for all drives” and changing the options to a custom size. We’d recommend not making the
size too small though – at least 1 GB is probably a good bet. An even safer bet is to just let
Windows deal with it. If you are using Windows 8.1, you’ll find that it is a lot more intelligent
about dealing with the page file.

Data Execution Prevention (DEP)

This tab allows you to tweak DEP so that it works for all programs instead of just being
enabled for Windows itself. What is DEP, you ask?
Data Execution Prevention is a feature that is available on 64-bit versions of Windows and
provides the ability to mark a page of memory as data, triggering a hardware feature in your
system processor that will prevent that memory from being executed at any point. This prevents
certain types of buffer overflow attacks, where an attacker puts executable code into a place in
memory that should contain regular data like a string value, and then tricks the application into
running that code.
The interesting thing about this dialog and this setting is not that it can be changed, but
rather that dozens of tech blogs over the years have written about it and claimed that it allows
you to turn off DEP on your system, which is not just false, but actually sorta backwards. Here are
the dialog options and what they mean:

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 Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only – this setting enables DEP
by default for Windows processes, 64-bit applications, and any 32-bit application that is
compiled in a way that turns on DEP.

 Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select – this setting turns on DEP
for every process unless you select a process in the box below to disable it for.
Note: There is actually a way to disable DEP entirely using BCD, but that’s something you should
never do. These days, the majority of good applications are going to be DEP enabled, so you don’t
need to worry about it.

If you want to check your system and see what is DEP-enabled, you can open up Task
Manager, go to the Details tab, right-click the column headers, and use the Select Columns feature
to add the Data Execution Prevention column. On our test system, every process that we used had
DEP enabled, including the 32-bit version of Chrome that was running.

User Profiles
The User Profiles feature isn’t terribly
useful in a home user environment, but you could
use it to copy user profile settings over to another
user profile. It’s more useful for setting up
roaming profiles in a Windows domain
environment.

Startup and Recovery

The Startup and Recovery settings has two
really useful features for a dual-booting
environment – you can choose the default
operating system, and change the time that the menu displays.
You can also configure whether or not Windows automatically restarts after a blue screen
of death, and whether it writes out a memory dump file. You can generally leave those settings
alone, although when you are troubleshooting intermittent blue screens, it can be useful to disable
the reboot so you can have time to write down the error message.

Environment Variables
Environment variables are common
settings that are available to applications across
the system, whether that is something like the
location of the temp directory, or the system path,
which holds the list of directories that Windows
will look through if you try to run an executable
without the full path, like “notepad.exe”.
You can see any of these environment
variables on the command prompt by typing
something like the following, replacing path with
the name of the environment variable.
echo %path%

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The most useful setting in there is probably the path, but you can create other environment
variables and use them in batch scripts if you need to.

System Protection Tab

System Protection is the feature that powers System Restore – Windows will automatically take
snapshots of important system files and allow you to undo those changes.
The Configure button opens the properties panel where you can choose the amount of space that
is used to store these snapshots or disable it entirely. If you are running on a small SSD, you might
want the slider a little to the left to save yourself some space. Our advice would be to generally
leave the settings alone otherwise.
You can use the Create button to make a new restore point manually, or you can use System
Restore to undo changes that you didn’t want.
If you are running Windows 8.x, you can use the Refresh and Reset features to restore your
computer back to defaults instead.

Remote Tab
The Remote tab is really simple – you can choose
whether or not Remote Assistance will be enabled,
and if you are using Windows Pro, whether
Remote Desktop is enabled. If you aren’t using
either feature, you should disable Remote
Assistance and leave Remote Desktop disabled,
which it is by default.
Remote Assistance is a great feature that allows
you to control somebody else’s computer similar
to services like TeamViewer,

Computer Name Tab

If you never do any networking, you probably won’t care about changing the computer name, but
if you do, and you failed to setup an interesting and useful name during setup, you can change it
here.

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Device Manager is a component of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It allows users to
view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not
working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with. The list of hardware can
be sorted by various criteria.

For each device, users can:

 Supply device drivers in accordance with the Windows Driver Model
 Enable or disable devices
 Tell Windows to ignore malfunctioning devices
 View other technical properties
Device Manager was introduced with Windows 95 and later added to Windows 2000.
On Windows 9x, Device Manager is part of the System applet in Control Panel. On Windows 2000
and all other Windows NT-based versions of Windows,

TASK MANAGER :
Windows Task Manager is an advanced utility tool that helps you manage your apps that are
running.
Task Manager lets you see which apps are open and which you're using. You can also see which
apps are running in the background that you didn't open yourself.
One important reason that you might want to open Task Manager is to stop apps that are making
windows unresponsive.

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 There are a few different ways to open Task Manager. So in this article, I will walk you through 7
ways you can open Task Manager on Windows 10.

1. How to Open Task Manager with Windows Search

The easiest way to find anything on a Windows machine is to search for it. Task Manager is not an
exception.
 Click on the search icon then type "Task Manager" in the search bar.
 Task Manager will pop up as a search result, and you can open it from there.

2. How to Open Task Manager with Keyboard Shortcuts

Some apps might go rogue and stop Windows from responding, so you might not have access to
Windows Search in such situations.
Windows has two different key combinations with which you can open up Task Manager in case
you want to see running apps or stop an app.
 You can open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc all together. This opens Task Manager
straightaway
 You can also open Task Manager from the GINA screen by pressing and holding Ctrl + Alt + Del.
Some apps might prevent you from accessing Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc, but
pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del will always open up the Graphical Identification and Authentication
(GINA) screen for you so you can select and open Task Manager from there.

3. How to Open Task Manager through the Control Panel

You can use the Control Panel search option to open Task Manager.
Type "Task Manager" in the search bar and you will see a link to Task Manager under "System".

4. How to Open Task Manger through the Start Menu

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 A lot of people prefer opening apps from the start menu. You can open Task Manager from there
too.
 Click on the Windows icon, or press the WIN Key on the keyboard.
 Scroll to the bottom and open up the Windows system folder
 Task Manager will be shown alongside some other apps – just select it there to open it.


5. How to Open Task Manager with the Run Command

Many apps and folders can be opened with the run dialogue on Windows 10. There's a command
for opening Task Manager from there too.
 Press the WIN + R keys on the keyboard to open the run dialogue
 Type "taskmgr" and click "Ok" to open the Task Manager.

6. How to Open Task Manager from the Taskbar

You can open the Task Manager from Taskbar too.

Right-click on an empty space in the taskbar then select "Task Manager".

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How to Access the Windows Registry
The Windows Registry is accessed and configured using the Registry Editor program, a free
registry editing utility included by default with every version of Microsoft Windows going back
to Windows 95.
Registry Editor isn't a program you download. Instead, it can be accessed by
executing regedit from the Command Prompt or from the search or Run box from the Start
menu. See How to Open Registry Editor if you need help.
This editor is the face of the registry and is the way to view and make changes to the
registry, but it's not the registry itself. Technically, the registry is the collective name for various
database files located in the Windows installation directory.
How to Use the Windows Registry
The registry contains registry values (which are instructions), located within registry
keys (folders that contain more data), all within one of several registry hives (folders that
categorize all the data in the registry using subfolders). Making changes to these values and
keys change the configuration that a particular value controls.

How to Add, Change, & Delete Keys and Values in the Windows Registry:

Making changes to registry values solves a problem, answers a question, or alters a program in
some way:
 How to Auto Login to Windows
 How to Prevent Programs From Stealing Focus in Windows
 How to Delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters Registry Values
 How to Check Your PC's BIOS Version in the Windows Registry

The registry is constantly referenced by Windows and other programs. When you make changes
to nearly any setting, changes are also made to the appropriate areas in the registry, though
these changes are sometimes not realized until you reboot the computer.
Considering how important the Windows Registry is, backing up the parts of it you're
changing, before you change them, is very important. Registry backup files are saved as REG files.

Windows Registry Availability :

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 The Windows Registry and the Microsoft Registry Editor program are available in nearly every
Windows version including Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows
Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, and Windows 95.

Even though the registry is available in almost every Windows version, some very small
differences do exist between them.
The registry has replaced autoexec.bat, config.sys, and nearly all the INI files that contained
configuration information in MS-DOS and in very early versions of Windows.

Where Is the Windows Registry Stored :

The SAM, SECURITY, SOFTWARE, SYSTEM, and DEFAULT registry files, among
others, are stored in newer versions of Windows (Windows XP through Windows 11) in
this System32 folder:

Older versions of Windows use the %WINDIR% folder to store registry data
as DAT files. Windows 3.11 uses only one registry file for the entire Windows Registry,
called REG.DAT.

Partition your hard disk drive in Windows 7 and Windows 10 :

A partition is a virtual section of a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). The
computer operating system treats each partition as an independent storage area and typically
assigns a drive letter to it. From a user’s perspective, each partition looks like a separate drive.
You might want to create one or more partitions for purposes such as:

 Keeping your personal data separate from where the operating system is stored for data security
 Installing multiple operating systems on your computer
 Creating a storage area for backing up the operating system, program data, or personal data.

Note:Backing up to a partition on the same physical drive leaves you exposed to data loss in case
of a severe drive failure. It is a safer, more secure, and more effective solution to back up to a
different physical drive or network drive.

The following procedure provides instruction on how to create, format, and name a new data
partition using the most common choices.

1. Open the Disk Management console by doing one of the following:

 For Windows 7: Click the Start button and search “diskmgmt.msc”. In the search result,
click diskmgmt.msc.
 For Windows 10: Right-click
the Start button and select Disk Management.
2. In the Disk Management console,
right-click the drive from which you are going
to separate storage space for the new
partition, and then select Shrink Volume.

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 A window opens to inform you that the tool is querying for available shrink space.
Depending on the size of drive, it might take seconds or minutes for the query to complete.

3. A new window opens. Locate the field labeled Enter the amount of space to shrink in MB.

a. Type in the amount of space that you want to allocate for the new partition.

Note: Ensure that you type in the value in MB instead of GB. For example, if you need 100 GB, type
in “102400” (1 GB = 1024 MB).
Click Shrink.

4. In the Disk Management console, locate the unallocated area that has just been separated.
Right-click the unallocated area and select New Simple Volume.

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5. The New Simple Volume Wizard opens. Click Next.

6. Locate the field labeled Simple volume size in MB.

a. Verify that the default value is the amount of space you want to allocate for your new partition.
Change the value if needed.
b. Click Next.

7. Locate the field labeled Assign the following drive letter.

a. Select a drive letter for the new partition from the dropdown menu.

G. Hemasundara Rao, M.CA., | 39

b. Click Next.

8. Locate the field named as Volume label.

a. Change the default value “New Volume” to a more descriptive name such as “My Data.”
b. Click Next.

9. Click Finish to complete the partitioning process.

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 Your new partition is now shown in the Disk Management console as a healthy primary partition
with the name and drive letter you defined.

Your new partition is ready to use.

PARTITION OF HARD DRIVE :

Primary Partition and Active Partition:

What is primary partition? A primary partition is in which an Operating System can be
installed. One MBR hard disk may contain a maximum of 4 primary partitions. An active partition
is based on primary partition. Any one of the 4 primary partitions can be set as active partition.
Since there can be 4 primary partitions with 4 different Operating Systems installed, one of the
partition that is marked active is used for the initial booting. The active partition contains the boot
loader (such as ntldr or bootmgr) to load operating systems from a disk.

 Primary Partition: A primary partition contains one file system. In DOS and all early versions of
Microsoft Windows systems, Microsoft required what it called the system partition to be the first
partition. All Windows operating systems from Windows 95 onwards can be located on (almost) any
partition, but the boot files (io.sys, bootmgr, ntldr, etc.) must reside on a primary partition.

 Active Partition:The active partition is the partition where theboot flagis set. DOS and Windows
allow only one boot partition to be set with the boot flag.

 If there is only one partition installed system on a hard disk, then it is automatically activated. If
there are more than one system (more than one system partition), users can manually set a
system partition as active partition.

Extended Partition and Logical Partition:

Because the primary only can be created four maximum, this need to use extended
partition to break the limitation of 4 partitions. In an Extended Partition you can create unlimited
logical drives. You can store data in the logical partitions similar with primary partition, but the
extended partition is not used to store data, because the Extended Partition is used to hold logical
partitions, at the same time, there can only be one extended partition on a single disk.

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 Tips:
 Extended Partition: An HDD may contain only one extended partition, but that extended partition
can be subdivided into multiple logical partitions. DOS/Windows systems may then assign a unique
drive letter to each logical partition.
 Logical Drive: Also called logical partition. A volume created within an extended partition on a
basic disk. A logical drive can be formatted and assigned a drive letter, but cannot host an operating
system. (By Microsoft) fortunately, you can convert logical to primary.

 MBR and GPT: On a MBR disk, there can only be maximum 4 primary partitions or less than 4
primary partitions plus one extended partition. On a GPT disk, there is no concept of primary or
logical, thus, the primary partition limitation does not exist.

The Rules of Partitioning a Hard Drive :

A hard disk drive must be partitioned before you can use it. There are some rules as follows:
◤ A maximum of four primary partitions can be created on any MBR hard disk. The limitation of
four primary partitions is that when one primary partition is applied to the system the master
boot record is structured.
◤ There is only one primary partition can be designated as active partition and this partition is
used to boot system.
◤ BIOS will only recognize the active partition for loading operating system. Other partitions can’t
be recognized.
◤ To break the limitation of at most 4 primary partitions, you have to create 3 or less primary
partitions plus an extended partition and there is only one extend partition.

Partition Table :
Partition Table is a storage space which records some information about primary,
extended and logical partitions. Further, the create/delete/resize of any partition all will modify
the partition table to reflect the changes permanently. If partition table is crashed by virus or
other stuffs, you partition will lost, so the table is extremely important.

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