Title :
MS-DOS and Windows installation.
Module :
Computers and Networking.
Course :
EIMC Year 1, Semester 2.
Student :
Michael Briggs.
E-mail :
[email protected].
Who am I ?
Hello.
My name is Michael Briggs and I'm a first year student on the Electronic Imaging and Media Communication BSc course at the University of Bradford.
Before arriving at Bradford, armed with only my wits, my PC and a tupperware tub of Dairylea sandwiches lovingly packed by my mum, I used to be a computer programmer.
So why university and why this course ? Well, one day I was sat at my desk bored when it suddenly struck me that any minute now I'd blink and before I knew what was happening it would be time to collect my pension. I decided that computers, unless used correctly, could be very boring. Purchase ledgers, sales ledgers, nominal ledgers, I decided were not what I wanted to spend the rest of my life working with. So I decided to investigate the more creative side of computers, hence this course.
So I've put my career in the cupboard for three years and have adopted the hunched shouldered, apathetic, can't-be-bothered stance of the full time student.
Who is Dave Forbes ?
Glad you asked.
Dave Forbes is my lecturer for Computer Systems and Networks. He's probably reading this now (Hello). Don't be fooled by his boyish smile, his low slung pants and his "take a break" attitude - he's on the university's payroll just like the rest of them.
Actually, he's one of the better lecturers. He reminds me of the techies from my programming days. From my experience there are two types of techie :
I won't tell you which type Mr. Forbes is more reminiscent of...
Introduction
This purpose of this report is to document the installation of an OS (MS-DOS version 5.0) and a GUI (Windows 3.1) onto a typical PC. This task was undertaken by first year students on the EIMC course during February 1998 under the supervision of David Forbes.
Throughout this report the following concepts will be used :
SCREEN DISPLAY WILL BE IN GREEN
USER INPUT WILL BE IN CYAN
What is an OS ?
It's an Operating System!
The purpose of the operating system is to manage the flow of information passing between the various parts of a computer. Commands entered via the keyboard direct the system to perform these tasks. These tasks include :
Without the presence of an operating system, application software is unable to communicate with the computer hardware and manipulate data.
What is a GUI ?
It stands for Graphical User Interface!
Windows is a GUI, designed to assist the visual entering and interpretation of data. Much use is made of pictorial icons to launch software applications, and to format text and graphics. This reduces considerably the need for command line expertise, where text must be entered with the correct syntax or else the application refuses to run. Also available to the user is the mouse, which allows the use of a software pointer to indicate and highlight text and graphical information.
Why does everything have to be in initials ?
I know, ridiculous isn't it ?
Initials add to computer jargon to make it sound deliberately more complicated than it really is.
Jargon is the key to everything with computers. As Al Pacino said in Scarface : First you get the Jargon, then you get the money, then you get the power and then you get the girls.
Well, okay he was talking about narcotics, but in principle it's the same. If you know plenty of jargon and can throw it into conversation, you're halfway there. It doesn't matter if you don't know what it means - use it anyway...
FIFO, WYSIWYG, RAM, GUI, TCPIP, FTP, IRQ, URL - Use them and the world is your oyster (and as a bonus they're like gold dust for Scrabble!)
The Scenario
PC : Viglen P5/100
Serial Number : 1070699-CE
When I arrived at my PC the hard disk had already been reformatted. No operating system, no windows, no data - no problem! But wait, no Minesweeper or Solitaire - the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up and beads of sweat began trickling down my brow.
The screen display read :
Non-system disk.
Please insert DOS (system) disk
And press any key when ready.
I stroked my chin in a most intellectual manner and did my best to look thoughtful.
Installing the OS
Having secured a set of MS-DOS v5.0 installation disks (3.5" floppies), I inserted the first into the A: drive and hit the reset button. Various boot-time messages were displayed including :
BIOS Ver: 1.00.05.CBO
Memory: 0016384 KB
Hard Disk 0 Installed M1614TA
The PC now executed the DOS operating system from the floppy and presented the MS-DOS welcome screen. After pressing 'enter' an installation menu appeared :
Date/time : This showed the correct date and time.
Country : US I amended this to UK
Keyboard : US I amended this to UK
Install to : Hard disk
The next screen asked where to install DOS to, and if the shell option was to be installed. I selected the default for installation (c:\dos) and chose not use the shell option. The DOS installation then started. When prompted I switched disks. After installation I removed the final disk from the A: drive and reset the PC.
Again the PC showed it's boot-time messages but this time began to install DOS from it's own hard disk.
Eventually I was faced with the C:\ prompt. So, it seemed the DOS installation was successful.
After clearing the screen (CLS), I ran some checks including :
C:\VER to check the version of dos installed
MS-DOS Version 5.00
C:\DIR to check the contents of C:
Volume in drive C is MS-DOS_5
Volume Serial Number is 2450-511C
Directory of C:\
DOS <DIR> 05/12/97 16.23
COMMAND COM 47845 11/11/91 5.00
WINA20 386 9349 11/11/91 5.00
CONFIG SYS 144 05/12/97 16.27
AUTOEXEC BAT 164 05/12/97 16.27
5 file(s) 57502 bytes
540803072 bytes free
NB. DOS is a directory.
Hidden files are not shown i.e. IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS etc.
C:\TYPE CONFIG.SYS to examine the contents of the CONFIG file.
DEVICE=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DOS=HIGH
COUNTRY=044,,C:\DOS\COUNTRY.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\DISPLAY.SYS CON=(EGA,,1)
FILES=30
C:\TYPE AUTOEXEC.BAT to examine the contents of the AUTOEXEC file.
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $p$g
PATH C:\DOS
SET TEMP=C:\DOS
MODE CON CODEPAGE PREPARE=((437) C:\DOS\EGA.CPI)
MODE CON CODEPAGE SELECT=437
KEYB UK,,C:\DOS\KEYBOARD.SYS
C:\MEM /C|MORE to show memory available info.
Bytes available to programs 622256
Largest executable program size 622112
15728640 bytes total contiguous extended memory
0 bytes available contiguous extended memory
15663104 bytes available XMS memory
MS-DOS resident in High Memory Area
C:\TREE to show the directory structure on C:
Directory PATH listing for Voloume M.S-DOS_5
Volume Serial Number is 2385-82F3
C:.
|____ DOS
I was now happy with my DOS Installation.
Making a boot disk
Following D.forbes notes, I now needed to make a boot disk.
I inserted a blank floppy in the A: drive and formatted it using
C:\FORMAT A:
To copy the system files onto the floppy, thus creating a boot disk I used the command :
C:\SYS A:
As a precaution I took the liberty of copying some other files onto the disk from the C: drive, namely :
Installing the GUI
Now was the time to install Windows. I swapped my DOS disks for Windows 3.1 disks, inserted volume 1and began installation by switching to the A drive and running SETUP.
C:\A:
A:\SETUP
The Windows installation is pretty straight foward. You are given the option of an express or custom set up :
NB. If you unsure which set up you want help is available by pressing F1.
I swapped disks when prompted and the installation continued without any real problems. It did ask me to set up a printer but I declined this offer.
Post GUI installation modifications
During installation Windows made changes to the CONFIG and AUTOEXEC files :
In the file CONFIG.SYS :-
The second line had changed
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS became DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
Also, two more lines were added
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\SMARTDRV.EXE /DOUBLE_BUFFER
STACKS=9,256
In the autoexec.bat file:-
The fourth line has changed
PATH C:\DOS became PATH C:\WINDOWS;C:\DOS
Also Dave Forbes had supplied us with a list of minor modifications to be made to the PC configuration including :
SET TEMP=C:\TEMP
The SYSEDIT option is a handy feature. When run it opens notebook and allows quick and easy editing of several system files, namely :
What went wrong ?
The installation of MS-DOS and Windows went without major incident.
The only problem I encountered was when changing the resolution from VGA to SVGA. To do this the PC needed to install more configuration files and requested insertion of the first Windows floppy. When I inserted it, it repeated the request to insert the first disk.
What it should have done was to request the third disk. On insertion of the third disk, the files were transferred and the resolution could be changed.
Conclusion
Personally I am no stranger to operating system installation having been sentenced to eight years as a software programmer. During which time I've performed several Xenix and Unix installations / rebuilds. However from a PC point of view, prior to these lab sessions I've only ever installed Windows 95, (usually after a 3am do-I-or-don't-I reformatting session).
Installing an older version of Windows, i.e. 3.1 instead of 95, I found particularly interesting.
I am always keen to learn more about PCs and the DOS operating system. The knowledge and experience gained by this lab session, I think, will prove to be invaluable both to myself and to my peers.