TOPIC 5 : Introduction to Operating Systems
BTC/ETC 1062 – COMPUTING FOR TECHNOLOGY
MADUSHIKA HANSAMALI
CONTENT
➔ Operating Systems
➔ File Management
➔ User Management
➔ Application Management
➔ Device Management
➔ Utility tools
OPERATING SYSTEMS
● An operating system is the primary software that manages all the hardware and the
software in the computer. It manages the hardware resources for the application software.
● e.g. Windows, Linux, macOS, Android etc.
● The operating system acts as an interface between the humans and the computer.
FUNCTIONS OF OPERATINMG SYSTEMS
● Resource management.
● Establish user interface – Graphical User Interface.
● Memory management.
● Process management.
● File management.
● Security.
● Networking.
OPERATING SYSTEMS: WINDOWS
● Windows is an Operating System by Microsoft. Windows 11 is the latest version
of the Windows OS. Earlier versions of Windows OS (DOS) used to have CLIs,
while modern versions primarily have GUIs.
● We will be using Windows 10 for this topic.
The main difference between GUI and CLI is that the Graphical User Interface (GUI) allows the user to interact
with the system using graphical elements such as windows, icons, menus while the Command Line Interface
(CLI) allows the user to interact with the system using commands.
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILE BASICS
● A file is an object in a computer that stores data, information, settings etc. which
is used by a computer program or application. In Windows, a file has attributes
such as name, extension, time, date, size etc.
● When saving a file you must adhere to file naming conventions such as:
○ Some special characters are not allowed (\ / : * ? " < > | )
○ Some filenames are not allowed (con, nul, prn)
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILENAME EXTENSIONS
Filename extensions are used by
programs and they indicate the file
format.
By default, Windows doesn’t show
common filename extensions, but it
can be enabled in “File Explorer Options”.
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILESYSTEM HIERARCHY
An OS provides an
organizational and hierarchical
structure to store the files in a
computer. It consists of drives,
file directories (folders) and
files.
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILE SYSTEMS
➢ Windows mainly supports FAT (File Allocation Table), NTFS (New Technology File
System). Newer versions of Windows also support the exFAT (Extensible FAT) file
system.
➢ FAT32 file system has a limitation of only being able to store files smaller than 4GB.
➢ exFAT filesystem is frequently used in removable disks to overcome the file size
issue of FAT32. It is a lightweight file system compared to NTFS.
https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/ /
FILE MANAGEMENT : DRIVES AND PARTITIONS
● Files Systems are based on physical storage devices known as Drives.
● Drives can be local or remote (network or cloud).
● Drives can be internal or external disks.
● In Windows 10, a list of drives can be seen in “This PC”.
● Partition is not a physical drive, but it looks like one to the OS.
● Partitions make the OS think that one drive is two or more drives, with their
own filesystem.
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILE DIRECTORIES AND FOLDERS
Every storage device has a directory containing a list of files.
▪ Root directory (e. g. C:\)
▪ Subdirectory (e. g. C:\Windows)
A location of a file is determined by the file path.
D:\ is the root of the D drive.
D:\hello\man\files\list.txt is the path of the file “list.txt”.
D:\hello\man is the path of the file directory “man”.
FILE MANAGEMENT : FILE EXPLORER
● File Explorer or Windows Explorer is used to manipulate
files and folders in a Windows system.
○ Rename
○ Copy
○ Move
○ Delete
● Windows has a personalized set of folders for each user
in the computer.
FILE MANAGEMENT : COMMAND PROMPT
● Rather than using the File Explorer, you can also use the Command
Prompt (CMD) to manage files in Windows. It has a CLI which is
based on the MS-DOS operating system (earlier version of Windows)
FILE MANAGEMENT : BASIC CMD COMMANDS
● echo – Displays messages or turns on or off the command echoing feature.
If used without parameters, echo displays the current echo setting.
● dir – shows all the files in the current directory.
● type – displays the contents of a file in the command prompt.
● cd – change the current directory.
● mkdir/md – makes a directory in the current directory.
● copy – copies files.
FILE MANAGEMENT : BASIC CMD COMMANDS
● move – moves files.
● rmdir – removes directories.
● del – deletes files.
● ren – renames files and folders.
● ipconfig – show you the basic network information from your network adapters.
● ping – check the fundamental TCP/IP connectivity to an IP address or alias.
USER MANAGEMENT : ACCOUNT TYPES
On Windows 10, you have two main account types for users, including Administrator and Standard User,
each one offering a different set of privileges to use a device and apps.
■ The Administrator type provides complete system control, which means that users can
change settings globally, install apps, execute elevated tasks, and perform pretty much
anything.
■ In comparison, the Standard User account type is more restrictive. Users with the standard
account can work with apps, but they can't install new applications. They can change
settings, but only those that won't affect other accounts, which means that global system
configurations aren't allowed. If an app or a command requires elevation, they'll need
administrative credentials to complete the task.
APPLICATION MANAGEMENT : APPS AND FEATURES
“Apps & Features” can be found
under settings. There you can
find a list of installed application
s in your computer. It can be
used to search, terminate,
repair, reset and uninstall
applications.
APPLICATION MANAGEMENT : PROGRAMS AND FEATURES
Alternatively you can also
use “Programs and
Features” in “Control
Panel” to manage
applications.
DEVICE MANAGEMENT : DEVICE MANAGER
Device manager shows a list
of all the devices available in
your computer in groups. You
can
update, disable and uninstall
the drivers relevant to each
device.
UTILITY TOOLS : COMPUTER MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS
● Task Manager
● Resource Monitor
● Performance Monitor
● Disk Clean-up
● Registry Editor
● System Configuration
● System Information
UTILITY TOOLS : COMPUTER MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS
● Task Scheduler
● Event Viewer
● Shared Folders
● Device Manager
● Disk Management
● Defragment and Optimize Drives
● Services
