Menu
Is free
registration
home  /  Programs/ Installing MSDOS: computer and virtual machine. Running old DOS programs under Windows x64 How to install ms dos on a laptop

Installing MSDOS: Computer and Virtual Machine. Running old DOS programs under Windows x64 How to install ms dos on a laptop


In any organization, it may turn out that when upgrading old computers to new ones, you may be faced with the fact that the computers are new, but the need to use old programs has not disappeared. And one of the old programs may well be some application written in the 90s under MS-DOS, which completely refuses to run on modern operating systems. In this case, the MS-DOS emulator called DOSBox, the use of which this article is devoted.


Download the latest version, then install it. No unusual steps are required when installing the program.

Now we are looking for the DOS program you need. Let's say it is located on disk D in folder Prog and called Prog.exe... Go to this folder, and create a text file there with any name and extension conf... We write in it:

Mount c D: \ Prog c: Prog.exe exit

  • mount c D: \ Prog- mounts the D: \ Prog folder in the emulator as a partition hard disk WITH;
  • c:- navigates to the section C hard drive;
  • Prog.exe- Launches the desired program... Instead of an exe file, there can also be files with the extension bat or pif.
  • exit- closes DOSBox after program termination. Works ONLY with exe files.

If you need DOSBox to close after starting the bat file, then instead of just starting prog.bat, write:

Call prog.bat

Now we create another text file with the bat extension. We write in it:

Start "" "C: \ Program Files (x86) \ DOSBox-0.74 \ DOSBox.exe" -conf "D: \ Prog \ prog.conf"

Instead of "C: \ Program Files (x86) \ DOSBox-0.74" specify the path where the DOSBox program was installed. Instead of D: \ Prog specify the path to the required DOS program, and instead of prog.conf specify the name of the file created above.
We save and try to run. If everything went well, then a DOSBox window will appear, in which the desired program will be launched.

Adding support for displaying the Russian language

However, the moment of triumph may be overshadowed by the complete absence of the Russian language - but this is a fixable matter.
First, we download the official localization from the official website - after which we unpack the contents of the archive into the directory with the program. Now we open the conf file created above, and add the following to the very top there:

Language = russian.txt keyboardlayout = RU

Where "C: \ Program Files (x86) \ DOSBox-0.74 \ russian.txt" is the path to the russian.txt file unpacked into the program folder.

If the path to the russian.txt file contains spaces, be sure to close it in quotes, as in the example above. If there are no spaces in the path, the quotes are not needed, and most likely DOSBox will not work correctly.

We save and try to run the program.


Now Russian characters are displayed and printed.

Switching the language in DOSBox is carried out by simultaneously pressing the left Alt and right Shift.

Refinement

If, when starting the program, the second DOSBox window, which opens together with the main window, confuses, then you can add the parameter to the bat file -noconsole, as a result, the bat file for launch will acquire the following form:

Start "" "C: \ Program Files (x86) \ DOSBox-0.74 \ DOSBox.exe" -conf "D: \ Prog \ prog.conf" -noconsole

Rate article

Other articles:

FEDERAL EDUCATION AGENCY

State educational institution of higher professional education

"TOMSK POLYTECHNICAL UNIVERSITY"

______________________________________________________________________

APPROVED

Dean of AVTF

"____" __________________ 2008

INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
IN THE OPERATING SYSTEM
MS- DOS

Methodical instructions for laboratory work

in the discipline "Administration computer networks and systems "

for students of direction 010500 "Applied Mathematics and Informatics"

Compilers ,

Publisher

Tomsk Polytechnic University

Installation and operation in the MS-DOS operating system: method. decree. to the implementation of laboratory work on the discipline "Administration of computer networks and systems" for students of the direction 510200 "Applied Mathematics and Informatics" / comp. , .– Tomsk: Publishing house of the Tomsk Polytechnic University, 2008. - 28p.

Reviewer: Assoc., Cand. tech. sciences

Head department, prof., Ph.D. n. ______________

LABORATORY WORK No.1

INSTALLATION AND OPERATION IN THE OPERATING SYSTEMMS- DOS

1. Purpose of work

A modern personal computer is controlled by a special program - an operating system (OS), which takes over all the routine work of managing a computer, providing the user with a much more convenient working environment. Previously, before the creation of perfect operating systems, anyone who decided to use a computing machine had to be a programmer to some extent. One of the first and widespread at one time systems for the IBM PC was the MS-DOS system by Microsoft, created on the basis of the CP / M operating system. In fact, the Windows 9x OS family was created on its basis.


Installation operating system Is one of the tasks of system administration. Installing MS-DOS, due to its simplicity, requires a minimum of knowledge and skills, but most of them are required to install all operating systems (partially - even for non-PC platforms).

In addition to installing the operating system, the user must have knowledge of the syntax of MS-DOS OS commands and the skills of working with the most common commands.

Currently, software has been created that allows several operating systems to work simultaneously on the same hardware. These programs include VMWare - software support for virtual machines (Virtual Machine). This class of programs can be used for various purposes. In this work, VMWare is used to install and work with MS-DOS.

The purpose of this laboratory work is the acquisition of basic knowledge of the installation of the MS-DOS operating system, skills in the installation process and work with the most common commands of this OS, as well as training in working with the virtual machine of the VMWare program.

2. Theoretical information

2.4. General information about the DOS family of operating systems

For the successful functioning of a personal computer, in addition to technical means, software (software) is required, which is divided into system and application. System software primarily includes operating systems (OS). In principle, one OS can be loaded on a PC, and several operating systems can be loaded sequentially in time. For example, IBM-compatible computers can run MS-DOS, UNIX, XENIX, QNX, etc. The simplest general-purpose operating system is MS-DOS.

There is a whole family of DOS (Disk Operating System) operating systems. First of all, they differ from each other by the manufacturer. For example, DR-DOS was developed by Digital Research, PC-DOS by IBM, and MS-DOS was created and supported by Microsoft. Basically, all these operating systems are very similar to each other. At present, the operating systems of the DOS family are installed on a computer along with the Windows operating system, and it is mainly the MS-DOS operating system. Below you will find information about the functions and structure of DOS. Operating system commands use the Arial font to denote symbols that refer to files.

Operating system is called a complex of programs that provides control of computer resources and processes that use these resources in calculations. The operating system allows you to automate many routine operations with computer devices, thereby greatly facilitating the process of user interaction with a PC.

The main resources are processor (CPU time), main memory and peripherals. When managing resources, there are basically two things to do:

· Simplify access to the resource;

· To distribute resources between competing processes (tasks).

Process (task) is a sequence of actions that are determined by the program or part of it, as well as the data used in the calculations. A process (task) is the smallest unit of work for which resources are allocated.


The operating system supports two interfaces, the level of which is significantly higher than the hardware (technical):

· User interface (UI - User Interface) (command language for controlling the functioning of a computer and a set of services that free the user from performing routine operations);

· Program interface (API - Applied Program Interface) (a set of services that frees the user from programming routine operations).

The interaction between the user and the computer can be depicted as follows (Fig. 1).

Note that resource allocation is inherent in those operating systems that allow the simultaneous execution, or at least storage in RAM, of several processes (tasks).

Rice. 1. Operating system interfaces

DOS includes the following structural components:

1. basic input-output system (BIOS);

2.system loader (SB - System Bootstrap);

3. expansion module (MP) BIOS;

4. external (installed) device drivers;

5. basic module (BM) DOS;

6. command processor (CP), or command interpreter;

7. utilities (commands) DOS.

BIOS contains:

Drivers of standard peripheral devices,

· Test programs for monitoring the performance of PC equipment;

· Bootstrap program.

Driver is a program that serves peripheral devices, that is, it processes requests directed both to and from peripheral devices according to certain rules.

After turning on the power of the PC, the loading of structural components 1-6 occurs. The user accesses DOS utilities (commands) during a session. The BIOS and the basic DOS module are permanently (resident) in RAM during operation.

BIOS, BIOS expansion module and basic DOS module manage the resources of the PC, the command processor is responsible for maintaining user interface, that is, it translates the user's commands into a language understandable by the PC.

For long-term storage of information is used external memory... For the convenience of working with this information, it is placed in files. This is one of basic concepts software.

File a named integral (linked) collection of data on an external storage medium is called. Data means any information, including programs and initial data for execution, results of program execution, texts, graphics, illustrations, etc.

The files are merged into file system operating system, which also contains commands for working with files, providing such operations as creating and deleting files, reading their contents and writing information to them. Thus, the file system is one of the essential components of the operating system.

Each file in DOS is associated with:

1.differentiated file name;

2. file attributes;

3. the date and time of the file creation;

4. date and time of file modification;

5. informational volume of the file.

Composite (fully qualified) filename is a combination of the file name and the file name extension. File name- this is a sequence of no more than eight characters, as which it is allowed to use letters of the Latin alphabet from A before Z, numbers from 0 before 9 as well as symbols ! , @ , # , $ , % , ^ , & , (, ) , - , _ , ~ , { , } .

Uppercase and lowercase letters in the file name do not differ, so the names PROFI and profi will be perceived the same way.

The file name is a required element and must always be specified when working with a file.

File name extension usually characterizes the type (content) of a file and is a sequence of no more than three characters allowed for a file name. The file extension may be missing.

The name and extension of the file name are separated by a period. If the full name of the file does not contain an extension, then when referring to the file, the period can be omitted, but if it is necessary to emphasize the absence of the extension, then the period is indicated. There is a rule for naming files: " 8.3 ", Which means that the file name can contain no more than 8 characters, and the extension can contain no more than 3 characters.

There are several dozen file name extensions that are reserved to denote software products and their data. For example: pas- a file containing a program written in the PASCAL language; exe and com - executable programs, txt, doc- files containing text information.

Example full filenames: PROG2.PAS, PROG1, Fi567, KPAB8

File attributes define the ways of its use and access rights to it. The DOS operating system allows setting the following attributes (flags):

1. R (Read-only)- the file is read-only and cannot be deleted or changed (however, you can copy the file and change or delete a copy of it);

2. A (Archive)- file intended for archiving. This attribute is assigned to every newly created file and cleared by file archiving and backup. Typically used by these tools to determine which files should be backed up or backed up;

3. H (Hidden)- a hidden file that is ignored by many DOS commands;

4. S (System)- system file.

Date and time of creation (modification) attributed to the file according to the PC system clock when it is created (modified).

File information volume specified in bytes and associated with it after creation and update. For text files, the length does not really matter, since the file is delimited at the end by the EOF (End Of File) marker. For binaries, length is significant because they are read in relation to their values.

File system DOS allows you to merge files into directories (directories). Catalog is a special file in which other files are registered, that is, information about these files.

The rules for naming directories are the same as for naming files, although usually the extension is not used and the period is not put.

For each section of the magnetic disk, there is one root directory, referred to by the symbol \ which may include other directories and files. The root directory cannot be deleted by the user.

Thus, the DOS file system allows you to form a hierarchical multi-level, in other words, tree-like file structure, which is, figuratively speaking, an inverted tree, at the root of which is the root directory, branches are subdirectories, and leaves are files or empty subdirectories.

If one directory is included in another, then the first is called the child directory (subdirectory) of the second, and the second is called the parent directory of the first.

To identify a file in the file system, the full path (path) to the file is specified as a sequence of directories leading from the root directory to this file - an enumeration of subdirectories separated by the symbol ‘ \ ’.

For example, you can give several routes:

1. \ USER \ 8B60

2. \ PROGRAM

3. \ (root directory)

At the end of this section, here is the DOS syntax for specifying files:

[drive:] [route \] filename [.extension]

where disk is the name of the device on which the magnetic disk is installed. Square brackets ( […] ) indicate the optional element.

2.2. Disks, partitions, file systems, boot

A computer hard disk is a series of thin concentric disks, each of which is divided into tracks (rings), and each track into sectors. The same tracks on different discs form a cylinder. At the low level, writing and reading data from the disk occurs on one disk sector (512 bytes). No data organization, as well as the familiar concepts of "file", "(logical) disk" does not exist here.

Storing all data together is inconvenient for many reasons: both because of the need to structure user information, and in connection with solutions to the problems of secure data storage. Therefore, the disks are split into partitions (volumes)... One physical disk can be split into multiple partitions ( partitions). Partitions are basic (for operating systems) and additional. In the DOS operating system, the main partition is called primary (primary), a additional - extended (extended). You can create up to 4 main sections and one additional; logical drives are created in the additional partition. From the user's point of view, the primary partition and the logical disk are no different. The operating system can only boot from the primary partition, so usually one primary partition is created for each operating system, and all other disks are made logical (in the secondary partition).

Hereinafter, “disk” refers to a partition on a physical disk (primary or logical disk). The MS-DOS operating system gives each disk a name - a Latin letter with the addition of “ : ". Names A: and B: are reserved for floppy drives. Usually disk C: is the primary partition, and the logical drives are named after the primary partitions in alphabetical order - D:, E: and so on. The additional section does not receive a name (it is just a storage of logical disks). Some programs may temporarily add their own disks that are not partitions on the local disk. This is done by CD drivers, disk emulators, NetWare client for DOS. It should be noted that at the physical level, disks are numbered - 1 , 2 , 3 , .

Data (information) on disk is stored in separate files. A file has a name and several attributes (in particular, in MS-DOS, there are four attributes for each file). The file can be of variable length, that is, you can append new data to the end or delete part of it.

As noted in the previous section, files are organized on disk as file system... File systems used in MS-DOS can be of the following types: FAT12 (DOS versions earlier than 3.0), FAT16 , and FAT32 (MS-DOS 7.0 and 7.10, part of Windows 95). They store data in the following way: at the beginning of the disk, two copies of the file allocation table are stored FAT (File Allocation Table). This table stores data about each file: name (exactly 11 characters, 8 for the name, and 3 for the extension), length, attributes (hidden, system, read-only, archived, catalog, creation time, last modification time) and the starting sector number. Each sector of the file at the end contains the number of the next sector, etc. When the file size increases, new sectors can be added to completely different places on the disk (because the next sector is occupied by another file), and physically the file is distributed throughout the disk in small portions. It is called fragmentation file. The more fragmented a file is, the longer it takes to read / write it. Therefore, after a certain period of time, administrators carry out a disk defragmentation operation, which optimizes the access time to data (files) on the disk.

Almost all file systems (including FAT) also have a special file type - directories (directories, or on Windows "Folders" -folders). These are files that do not store user data, but information about other files and folders “contained” in them. Thus, a tree-like structure of files and folders is obtained. More advanced file systems ( HPFS, NTFS, ext2 , ufs), intended for the organization of multi-user work, store much more information about the file - data about the owner of the file, access groups, NTFS- flags "compressed", "encrypted" (it can automatically compress and encrypt files when writing and recover when reading).

The very first sector on the physical disk stores the bootloader program. It is called MBR(Master Boot Record) and contains a short program that selects (or provides the user with a choice) the partition from which to continue booting (i.e., you can select an operating system if there are several of them). The standard bootloader simply contains the partition number, and without asking anything, it starts downloading from the specified partition. MS-DOS program Fdisk allows you to change this number by making the required disk partition active. Modern bootloaders ( multiboot) provide the user with a kind of menu with which you can select the desired section.

2.3. MS-DOS operating system commands

So, after turning on the personal computer, the DOS operating system is loaded, and usually a "prompt" of the OS is displayed on a black display screen in the form of a sign > preceded by the user's location in the file system, i.e. the drive and / or full path.

For example, C: \> or C: \ USER>.

A user working at a computer can use the keyboard to set certain commands, send them for execution to the operating system by pressing a key<Enter> and receive a response or a command execution result.

By functionality and use, DOS commands are divided into five groups:

1. general commands;

2. instrumental teams;

3. filters;

4. commands for batch files;

5. commands for configuring the system.

In this work, we will be more interested in the first group of commands that allow us to:

· Manipulate magnetic disks in general;

· Manipulate directories of the file structure;

· Manipulate files;

· Manage by character devices;

· Reconfigure the operating system during operation;

· Manage the operating system;

· To receive information about the state of PC resources.

Let's consider in more detail the rules for writing commands in the DOS operating system. Keep in mind the following conventions used throughout all computer literature:

[a]- indicates an optional element a;

- says that there should be only one of the elements ai but there can be no items;

(a1 | a2 | ... aN)- says that there should be one of the elements ai but not more than one;

- groups (but only when describing) elements a1, a2, ... aN... Symbols <> play the role of parentheses in arithmetic expressions;

... - indicates that the previous element can be repeated;

- indicates a key press k.

Using these conventions, a typical DOS command structure (command syntax) is represented as follows:

command_name [argument] ... [switch] ...

There are several dozen DOS operating system commands. The command name can be followed by arguments (file, directory specifications, etc.), usually separated by at least one space. Arguments are needed to indicate the objects on which you need to perform certain actions. Files and directories are often such objects.

The command line can be terminated by switches (flags) that specify or modify the action of the command. Each switch starts with the symbol " / "And therefore does not have to be separated from the previous element by spaces. Arguments are generally strictly sequenced, and switches can be written in any order.

All commands have at least one "/?" Switch, which provides information about the syntax and parameters of the command. This switch (optional) is available for commands on almost all command line operating systems.

Here's an example of using some specific DOS commands.

1. Change (selection) and display of the current directory.

2. CHDIR C: \ USER \ 8B60- set current directory \ USER \ 8B60 for disk in drive C ( CHange DIRectory).

3. CD ..- set the parent directory of the old working directory as the working directory ( Change directory).

4. CHDIR and CD are one and the same command.

5. COPY 1.txt 2.txt- copy file 1.txt to file 2.txt.

6. TYPE 1.txt- display the contents of the file 1.txt on the display screen ( TYPE= "Print").

7. CLS- clear the display screen ( Clear screen).

8. TIME- display of the current time in the PC.

9. format a: / S- format (by default) a floppy disk and transfer system files to it, that is, make a bootable floppy disk.

Some MS-DOS commands are called internal commands, because they are inside the command processor. The rest of the operating system commands are - external, they are sometimes called utilities. Usually the latter commands are stored in the C: \ DOS directory.

Let's list some commands, grouping them according to the object of influence. An asterisk (*) marks internal DOS commands. When reading, pay attention - external commands (programs on disk) are listed along with extensions (EXE or COM).

Team name

Command Description

Disk manipulation commands

(*) Install drive D, where D is the drive letter

Formatting drive disks

Fdisk. EXE

Configuring the hard drive for use in a DOS environment

Directory manipulation commands

CHDIR (CD)

(*) Change (select) and display the current disc

MKDIR (MD)

(*) Create a new directory

RMDIR (RD)

(*) Deleting an existing directory

(*) Display the contents of a directory or a subset of it

TREE. EXE

Displaying the file structure of a disk or directory

File manipulation commands

ERASE (DEL)

(*) Delete file

RENAME (REN)

(*) Rename file

(*) Copying and concatenating (concatenating) files

Viewing a file on the screen

Printing a file on a printer

Commands for controlling character-by-character devices

(*) Clearing the display screen

Displaying the status and setting the operation of character-by-character devices (printer, display, etc.)

System Reconfiguration Commands

(*) Setting the value of a global variable in the DOS environment and displaying the environment

(*) Setting and displaying search routes for executable files ( SET PATH = "...")

(*) Setting and displaying the control mode for correct recording on a disc

(*) Setting and displaying the date for DOS

(*) Setting and displaying the keystroke control mode +

(*) Setting and displaying time for DOS

(*) Changing the DOS prompt

Some other commands

Running a secondary copy of the DOS shell

Exit the shell and exit to the previous level

(*) Display manufacturer and version number of loaded DOS

Page (screen-by-screen) display of a text file

Search for a specified sequence of characters in one or more text files

2.4. Installing the MS-DOS operating system

The MS-DOS operating system is supplied on several floppy disks (the latest versions - on four). The first diskette contains the minimum installed MS-DOS and the program SETUP. EXE that installs, it starts automatically. If the installation is interrupted, the user is in MS-DOS, booted from this floppy. To resume the installation, you need to run SETUP again:

A: \> SETUP. EXE

Program SETUP and the files it uses are called distribution kit operating system ( distribution), or installation files ( installation files); installation process ( setup) is also called installation ( install). If the distribution kit is copied from floppy disks to a hard disk, the program SETUP has an option to copy the distribution back to four floppy disks. You can get information about the parameters by running it with the switch " ? »:

A: \> SETUP /?

To start the installation, you need to insert the first floppy disk and restart your computer. After booting the computer from this floppy disk and starting the program SETUP, the latter displays the splash screen. Here you can proceed with the installation (< Enter> ) or abort (<F3 >). When you continue to install the OS, the floppy disks are removed and installed into the drive at the request of the program.

Unfortunately, MS-DOS is absolutely unfriendly to all other operating systems (except Windows 95/98 / ME, but this is due to the fact that they are nothing more than DOS + graphical shell). If the hard disk is not partitioned, formatted, or the first partition contains an unfamiliar MS-DOS file system (not FAT), you will be prompted to delete it and create in its place FAT-section (or cancel the installation), so if you install multiple systems, DOS must be installed first. It is recommended to save the data to disks if there was no DOS installed there before. If the first disc is FAT-disk, you will be offered a choice of three options:

· Allocate all hard disk space for MS-DOS- one main partition is created in size for the entire disk. This option is recommended for beginners. All data on to all hard drive will be destroyed.

· Allocate all free hard disk space for MS-DOS- the FDISK program from a set of DOS utilities is launched and you can create and delete partitions on the disk.

· Do not allocate space for MS-DOS- canceling the installation.

Note: « DOS-section "and" FAT-section "are synonymous. MS-DOS only works with FAT-systems - FAT12 , FAT16 , FAT32 .

When installing an MS-DOS system, one of its commands is often used - the utility Fdisk... A similar utility is available in almost all operating systems. Detailed description of the user's work with the utility Fdisk presented in the next section. As you can see, the program SETUP does not provide for installation in a section prepared in advance for it.

If, as a result of the previous operation, the configuration of the partitions has changed, SETUP will format the disk C:(main DOS partition) and asks for the directory where the DOS utilities will be installed. The main operating system files are, IO. SYS, MSDOS. SYS, AUTOEXEC. BAT, CONFIG. SYS, DBLSPACE. BIN(or DRVSPACE. BIN) are always written to the root of the disk. The recommended name for the directory is " DOS» ( C: \ DOS). When all preparatory work is completed, SETUP will start copying files. During this process, the user will be asked to change the floppy disks in the drive.

2.5. Additional installation options

MS-DOS supports a variety of keyboard layouts and display code pages. Each character is 1 byte in size, that is, there are a total of 256 characters that can be displayed or entered from the keyboard. Of these, the first 128 represent the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII); they include 32 control characters, large and small Latin letters, numbers, various punctuation marks. The remaining 128 characters are used for various purposes. For example, the extended ACSII table assigns them pseudo-graphic characters, Greek letters, and additional letters from European languages.

A keyboard layout maps keys and symbols. For example, the standard layout, hardwired into the BIOS, enters small Latin letters when you press the corresponding keys on the keyboard, large - if the key is pressed or indicator is on Caps Lock... You can assign a different layout to the keyboard, for example, when the key is pressed characters from other languages ​​will be entered. MS-DOS can contain up to three Russian layouts, which by keys ,
+ or + emit a sound signal and switch to the mode of entering Russian letters and vice versa.

Codepage ( CP- Code Page) contains Images each character. That is, in one code page the character # 000 can be a "turtle", and in another - the Russian letter "e". The first 128 characters are always displayed the same - in accordance with ASCII. There are several Russian code pages: KOI8-R, ISO8859-5, 866 (DOS), 1251 (Windows). In each of them, Russian letters are in different places, so the text written for the KOI8-R encoding will be a meaningless set of characters in a different encoding.

During installation, MS-DOS prompts you to configure your keyboard and display, as well as your country. Here it is necessary to set "Russia" or "Russian", if such values ​​are present in the list (in Russian MS-DOS they are set by default, while others may or may not be present).

The latest DOS versions include a fourth diskette with additional utilities - backup ( BACKUP), disk compression ( DRIVESPACE or DOUBLESPACE), etc. Program SETUP will ask whether to install these utilities and what versions (DOS, Windows, or both).

2.6. Working with the FDISK utility

Program (utility) Fdisk is intended for configuring hard drives for the DOS operating system.

Latest Versions Fdisk support disks larger than 2 GB ( FAT32 ) and at startup will ask you to enable support for large disks. Nowadays, you must always answer "Y / Yes", this will allow you to create large disks and save space.

This program only distinguishes three partitions on the hard disk:

1. Primary DOS partition.

2. Extended DOS partition.

3. Non-DOS partition.

Each physical hard drive can have one primary and one extended partition and several (no more than 3) non-DOS partitions. As noted above, for DOS, the primary partition is required and the extended partition is not (optional). Non-DOS partitions for the MS-DOS operating system are not available.

Create Primary Partition: Requires at least one primary partition on which to install the operating system. If you need disks other than C:, they should be made logical.

The secondary partition serves as storage for logical drives. By itself, it contains no data and will not appear as a disk in DOS. There can be only one additional partition on a disk. If you need disks other than C:, an additional partition is always created that takes up all the free space; inside an additional partition, you can create up to 16 logical disks (they will be disks D:, E: etc.). They are created inside an additional section. Select the desired disk sizes and create them.

One of the main sections must be active. Installed in MBR the loader will start loading the operating system from it. The main section must be made active.

If more than one hard drive is detected on the computer, the program Fdisk an option will appear allowing you to change your current hard drive.

After the program finishes Fdisk will reboot the machine if it was started "manually" (from DOS), or start formatting the disk C:, if Fdisk was launched from the program SETUP.

Fdisk has an undocumented key " / MBR"Which restores MBR on your hard drive. MBR- a great place where a computer virus can log itself to boot "before anyone else." Therefore, modern computers offer an option in the BIOS that protects MBR from the record. When installing any operating system, this function should be temporarily disabled.

Thus, the utility Fdisk is an interactive program and performs the following functions:

1. Create a primary DOS partition.

2. Creation of an extended DOS partition.

3. Creation of logical disks (drives) in the extended DOS partition.

4. Installing or changing the active partition on the disk from which the operating system will be loaded.

5. Removing logical drives and DOS partitions.

6. Displays the configuration information of the hard disk.

7. Configuring the second (physical) hard drive, if available in the computer.

After launching the FDISK utility, its main menu appears on the screen:

FDISK Options

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Choose one of the following:

1. Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS drive

2. Set Active Partition

3. Delete DOS Partition or Logical drive

4. Display Partition Data

5. Select Next Fixed Disk Drive

Enter choice _

Press Esc to returns DOS

If there is no second (physical) disk on the computer, then the fifth menu item is not displayed.

Usually, information about the state of partitions on the disk is viewed first, option 4. The sizes of logical disks are displayed (and entered when they are created) as a percentage of free space (on the disk or on an additional partition), or in megabytes. The number entered is assumed to be the number of megabytes by default. In addition, this command option is executed after each change in the state of partitions on the disk.

After establishing a new active partition (option 2), the computer must be restarted.

The primary OS partition must be created before the extended disk partition. Therefore, 1 menu item is used, which in turn contains a submenu:

1. Create Primary DOS Partition

2. Create Extended DOS Partition

3. Create Logical DOS Drive (s) in Extended DOS Partition

Enter choice _

Press Esc to returns in FDISK Options

When executed, each of the 3 specified submenu options Create DOS Partition or Logical DOS drive issues a series of prompts to the screen, in English and which can be found in the.

When executing 3 options of the main menu of the program Fdisk an additional clarifying query is issued to ensure that the user is confident in his intention to delete a DOS partition or logical drive. Moreover, when deleting a logical disk, its label is additionally requested. These actions are taken in view of the fact that after the removal of the logical drive, the data on it will be lost.

After partitioning the physical disk, the logical drives must be formatted.

2.7. VMWare virtual machine

Operating system installation requires a separate computer and a free hard disk partition. On modern computers usually a large amount of system and application software is installed, requiring time-consuming installation and configuration. It is impractical to delete everything for the sake of one educational DOS installation, so another solution was applied - using a virtual machine and the software product that supports it - VMWare. Below is the basic window of this application.

VMWare (VM -Virtual Machine) is a software emulation of an IBM PC, a virtual machine that completely repeats a real computer, but works as an independent process in the operating system. Naturally, this requires a real multitasking system (UNIX-type or Windows NT) and large resources - minimum configuration: 300 MHz processor and 96 MB random access memory, as well as a fast video system (when working in a window of Windows NT or X-Window operating systems). To play a game like DOOM 2 or work in Linux or Windows systems under VMWare, you need to have a real machine with a 1 GHz processor and 192..256 MB of memory. VMWare is available in different configurations and runs under Windows NT or Linux, there are versions for other UNIX systems.

VMWare is used for many purposes, for example, when working under Linux, you can run Windows in a virtual machine and fully work in it (to work in Windows applications without restarting the machine), or run Windows 95/98 / ME / NT / 2000 from under Windows XP (an indispensable thing for a programmer who wants to test a new build of his program under all versions of Windows, without rebooting every time, without creating separate partitions on the hard disk). In this case, VMWare will be used to teach how to install MS-DOS without modifying existing configurations in computer labs.

VMWare is a very simple application from the user's point of view, with few settings. After starting, the basic VMWare window will appear, where there is standard menu, toolbar, as well as a list of virtual machines, if they were previously installed. You can select the required virtual machine by double-clicking, or by using the command “ File | Open"The required file with the virtual machine is opened. Powering on the virtual machine is performed by the commands “ Power On" and "". There are also missing commands on real computers “ Pause" and " Resume". After turning on the power in the window of the VMWare application, you can observe the standard boot process of the computer.

A virtual machine can use real or virtual devices such as floppy drives. In the case of a real floppy drive, you will have to insert real floppies into the floppy drive of your computer; in the case of a virtual floppy drive, the floppy disks will be files (diskette images) on the disk of the real computer. You need to change virtual floppy disks and CDs in the Device menu when the machine is turned on (for example, "Device | Floppy 0 -> A:").

It is also important to note the separation of mouse and keyboard between real and virtual machines. VMWare has a capture mode ( grab input) when all keystrokes and mouse movements are related to the virtual machine, and background mode, where keystrokes and mouse actions are passed to the VMWare window or other Windows programs. To capture input, you need to do any from actions:

· Click<Ctrl>+<G> or

· Click the mouse inside the virtual machine screen (client part of the window).

To release the input, you must press<Ctrl>+<Alt>.

The rest of the work in VMWare is the same as on a personal computer (only it works much slower).

2.7. Creating a new virtual machine

To create a new virtual machine, you need to start VMWare and select the command " File | New | New Virtual Machine". A dialog box will appear for creating a configuration step by step with the title “ New Virtual Machine Wizard". Click the " Further».

On request " Virtual machine configuration"You should answer" Custom". In this case, you will be asked to additionally decide how much memory to allocate to the machine and some other issues.

On request " Select a Guest Operating System", According to the topic of this lab, select" Other" and " MS- DOS". After reviewing the proposed list, you can also see which operating systems are supported by this version of VMWare. In theory, the emulator can work with any operating system, but in reality, most operating systems work so tightly with the hardware that problems are inevitable. Therefore, VMWare developers built into the emulator knowledge about the behavior of the most common operating systems, and this allows it to prevent known problems and avoid them.

The next step, entitled " Name the Virtual Machine»Offers to select a name for the created configuration, and the folder on the disk where it will be located. Specify the required virtual machine name and location route.

On request " Network Type" to answer " Do not use a network connection", Because working with the network and setting network cards not included in this lab. Other suggested options are as follows: direct work with an Ethernet network - in this case, the virtual machine is included in the network as a real one, the use of NAT (masking packets outgoing from the virtual machine for packets of a real computer and unmasking the incoming ones), and a "private virtual network" of the two computers - a real and running emulator.

In the window " Specify Disk Capacity? »You need to specify the size of the hard disk for the virtual machine, according to the assignment of the lab. The size is indicated in gigabytes and for this work it should be minimal - 0.1 GB, that is, about 100 MB ( be careful!). Flag " Allocate all disk space now"Will allow you to immediately pick up the specified volume from a real disk; turning it on will significantly speed up the virtual disk, and turning it off will save a lot of real disk space. For sizes less than 0.3 GB, this check box is irrelevant. The second flag is " Split disk into 2 GB files"- will allow you to split disks larger than 2 GB into parts of this size (operating systems developed before Windows 2000 cannot work with larger files).

After finishing the configuration, VMWare will save the configuration and open it. You will be able to see that the machine has 16 MB of RAM, a hard drive, a CD-ROM (using a real device, but this can be changed) and a floppy drive (using a real drive " A:»).

Double click in the section Devices on the line (" Floppy auto detect»), The drive settings window opens.

Select the option " Use floppy image"To replace the actual floppy drive with a floppy image containing the DOS installer. By pressing the button " Browse", Select the image file of the first floppy disk (in the figure it is" H: \ Temp \ dos-ru-1.flp»).

2.8. Working in a virtual machine

The created and configured virtual machine is turned on by the command “ VM | Power | Power On". By issuing this command, you will see the normal boot process occurring in the VMWare window. Command " View | Full Screen"Will switch to full screen mode, and clicking on the virtual machine screen will capture input. Exit from both modes is done by the combination<Ctrl>+<Alt>.

For keystrokes on the keyboard to be transmitted to the virtual machine, you must first capture the input!

If a virtual diskette is installed in virtual floppy drive, then, after turning on the virtual machine, you can observe the loading of the installation program. If no diskette is installed, VMWare will report that there is no bootable diskette.

Floppy disks are replaced by the command “ VM | Removable Devices | Floppy 1 | Edit».

There are five MS-DOS installation floppies, but only the first three need to be replaced during installation. The other two are additional floppy disks that allow you to set additional OS properties. Installation of a floppy disk is done in the same way - by pressing the button " Browse"In the window that appears and select the desired image file (* .flp). After the installation is complete, you will need to remove the floppy disk from the drive. This can be done with the command “ VM | Removable Devices | Floppy 1 | Disconnect».

3. The order of laboratory work

2. Become familiar with the content of section 4, and plan the writing of a report on the laboratory work.

3. Consecutively complete the tasks of section 6.

4. Analyze the experience gained as a result of the work and draw conclusions, including the achievement of the goal of the work.

5. Prepare a written report.

1. Title page.

2. The purpose of the work.

3. Brief theoretical information on the installation of the operating system (how MS-DOS is installed, what tasks have to be solved in this case, what operations are performed in this case), according to DOS commands and how to work with VMWare.

4. An individual task for laboratory work and a description of its implementation.

5. Conclusions.

5. Questions for self-control

1. What operating systems from the DOS family do you know?

2. What are the files for? What are the characteristics of the files?

3. What are the rules for forming compound filenames in DOS.

4. What is the difference between files and directories.

5. How does the MS-DOS (FAT) file system work? How is the tree structure of files and directories organized in it? What other file systems can DOS work with?

6. What are the basic rules (syntax) of forming DOS commands. Give examples.

7. What groups of commands are available in DOS? Bring teams from these groups.

8. In what form can a DOS distribution kit exist?

9. How does the installation start (how does the installer start)?

10. What questions can the installer suggest to solve?

11. What operations can the FDISK program perform, and what is it intended for?

12. How do the concepts of "hard drive", "primary partition", "extended partition" and "logical drives" relate to each other?

13. How many primary MS-DOS file system partitions can there be on one physical disk?

14. How many extended MS-DOS partitions can there be on one physical disk?

15. What are the extended partitions on the hard disk used for?

16. What tasks should be solved in advance, before installing the operating system?

17. What is the purpose of programs like VMWare?

18. What are the similarities and differences between the operation of a real computer and a virtual machine supported by VMWare?

19. What is the process of loading the OS of a virtual computer?

20. What are the main points of the technology for creating a new virtual machine in the VMWare environment?

21. How to intercept input to work with a virtual machine?

22. How to return input to the real machine?

23. What are the differences between working with real and virtual floppy disks in VMWare?

6. Options for individual tasks for laboratory work

All subgroups perform one task, described below.

1. Copy the images of the installation floppies (files with the extension flp) located in the folder X: \ Guidelines \ Air Force Administration \ Lab 1 \ Installation Floppy Disks to its own folder on the local drive.

2. Copy the files of the Volkov Commander file manager located in the folder X: \ Guidelines \ Air Force Administration \ Laboratory 1 \VC to a floppy disk. You can use one floppy disk for the whole group - let each one copy its contents to a virtual disk (after installationDOS). If there is a program on the computerWinImage, and you know how to use it, you can create a virtual floppy disk (floppy image file).

3. Start the VMWare Workstation application.

4. Explore the structure and content of the base VMWare window, as well as the contents of the menus for this application, using the Help section of the VMWare application.

5. Agree with the teacher and establish the virtual machine configuration, preparing it for the installation of MS-DOS, using the recommendations of section 2.

6. Insert the first virtual installation diskette into the floppy drive of the virtual machine. Turn on the virtual machine.

7. Install the operating system using the information in section 2. When installing the DOS operating system, virtual floppies located on the local disk are used.

8. Make sure the installation was successful. Create several directories and files with arbitrary content, placing them on the hard disk of the virtual machine. Execute the most commonly used DOS commands on files and directories. Run the MS-DOS OS commands listed in the table in Section 2. Report the commands you run.

9. Copy the contents of the VC directory from the floppy disk to the hard disk of the virtual machine. Run the Volkov Commander file manager on a virtual machine and explore its capabilities for administering (managing) the MS-DOS file system.

10. Select and agree with the teacher the configuration of the second virtual machine and the DOS operating system. Install the second DOS OS using VMWare, using the recommendations specified in section 2. Using the program Fdisk partition the disk space of the virtual machine into 3 logical disks ( C:, D: and E:) in a ratio of 2: 1: 1, respectively.

11. Make sure the installation was successful. Create several directories and files with arbitrary content, placing them on all three logical drives of the virtual machine. Execute the most commonly used DOS commands on files and directories. Execute the MS-DOS OS commands listed in the table in section 2. Report the commands being executed.

1. Bohumirskiy PC user: In 2 parts. Part 1. - SPb .: Printing House, 1994 .-- 356s.

2. Web site of VMWare Inc. - Access mode: http: // www. , Free admission.

INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
IN THE OPERATING SYSTEM
MS- DOS

Methodical instructions for laboratory work

Compilers

Reviewer

candidate of technical sciences,

Associate Professor of the Department of PM AVTF

Signed for printing Format 60x84 / 16. Paper "Snow Maiden".

Xerox stamp. CONV. print l. 1.74.-ed. l. 1.58.

Order. Circulation of copies

Tomsk Polytechnic University

Quality Management System

Tomsk Polytechnic University is certified

NATIONAL QUALITY ASSURANCE according to ISO 9001: 2000

... Tomsk, Lenin Ave., 30.

Despite the fact that DOS is not the operating system that we use widely today, it may still be needed. For example, in many tutorials on BIOS update it is reported that all operations should be performed in this OS. So, here is an instruction on how to make a bootable DOS flash drive.

The process of creating a bootable DOS flash drive in WinToFlash is no more complicated than in the previous described case:

  1. Run the program
  2. Select the "Advanced Mode" tab
  3. In the "Task" field, select "Create a drive with MS-DOS" and click the "Create" button

After that, you will be prompted to select a USB drive that you want to make bootable and, in less than a minute, you will receive a USB flash drive to boot your computer into MS DOS.

Another way

Well last way, for some reason the most common on Russian-language sites. Apparently, one instruction went to all. Anyway, this method does not seem optimal to me in order to create a bootable MS-DOS flash drive.

In this case, you need to download this archive: http://files.fobosworld.ru/index.php?f=usb_and_dos.zip, which contains a folder with the DOS operating system itself and a program for preparing a USB flash drive.

  1. Run the USB Storage Tool (file HPUSBFW.exe), indicate that formatting should be done in FAT32, and also check the box that we intend to create a bootable USB flash drive specifically for MS-DOS.
  2. In the corresponding field, specify the path to the DOS OS files (dos folder in the archive). Start the process.

Using a bootable DOS flash drive

I dare to assume that you made a bootable USB flash drive with DOS in order to boot from it and run some program designed for DOS. In this case, I recommend, before restarting your computer, copy the program files to the same USB flash drive. After rebooting, set the boot from USB to BIOS, how to do this is described in detail in the manual:. Then, when the computer boots into DOS, to run the program, you just need to specify the path to it, for example: D: /program/program.exe.

It should be noted that booting into DOS is usually required only to run those programs that need low-level access to the system and computer hardware - flashing BIOS and other chips. If you want to run an old game or program that does not start in Windows, try using DOSBOX - this is a better solution.

That's all for this topic. I hope you will solve your problems.

The MS-DOS operating system consists of many different files. They include the actual operating system files IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and the COMMAND.COM command processor. In addition to these three files, which are a workable MS-DOS kernel, the operating system distribution includes files of so-called external commands, for example FORMAT, FDISK, SYS, drivers various devices and some other files.

The IO.SYS file contains an extension to the basic I / O system and is used by the operating system to communicate with the computer hardware and BIOS.

The MSDOS.SYS file is, in a sense, a set of interrupt handling routines, in particular INT 21H interrupts.

The command processor COMMAND.COM is designed to organize a dialogue with a computer user. It analyzes the commands entered by the user and organizes their execution. The so-called internal commands - DIR, COPY, etc., are processed by the command processor.

The rest of the operating system commands are called external. External commands are so named because they are located in separate files. Files of external commands of the operating system contain utility programs for performing various operations, such as formatting disks, sorting files, printing texts.

Drivers (usually files with the SYS or EXE name extension) are programs that serve various hardware. The use of drivers easily solves the problems of using new hardware - just connect the appropriate driver to the operating system.

Application programs interact with the device through the driver, so they will not change when the hardware changes. For example, a new disk device may have a different number of tracks and sectors, different control commands. All this is taken into account by the driver, and application program will work with the new disk as before, using DOS interrupts.

The operating system files IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and COMMAND.COM must be written to the disk in a specific location. You should not copy them to other directories on the disk.

If you need to make a bootable floppy disk with which you can boot MS-DOS on your computer, it is not enough just to copy the main operating system files — IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM — to the floppy.

To make a system diskette, you must use either the FORMAT or SYS commands, or special programs, such as the Safe Format program from the Norton Utilities package.

The easiest way to make a blank floppy bootable is to use the external MS-DOS command SYS. To use it, insert a blank floppy disk into the drive and from the root directory of the C: drive issue the command:

SYS A: or SYS B:

After executing the SYS command, the floppy disk will contain the files IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and COMMAND.COM written in specific locations on the floppy disk. You can boot MS-DOS from this floppy if you insert the system floppy into drive A: before turning on the power.

9.2.

When you turn on the power of the computer, control is transferred to the boot procedure located in the read-only memory located on motherboard computer. The boot procedure checks the hardware nodes of the computer, forms the initial part of the interrupt vector table, initializes external devices, and begins the process of loading the operating system.

Booting the operating system begins with the boot procedure attempting to read the very first sector of the floppy disk inserted into drive A: (on the boot floppy, this sector contains the operating system loader). If a system diskette is inserted into the drive, the bootloader is read from it and control is transferred to it.

If the diskette is not a system disk, that is, it does not contain a boot record, a message appears on the screen asking you to replace the diskette.

If there are no floppy disks in drive A: at all, then the BIOS reads the main boot record drive C: (Master Boot Record). This is usually the very first sector on the disk. Control is transferred to the loader, which is located in this sector. The loader analyzes the contents of the partition table (it is also located in this sector), selects the active partition and reads the boot record of this partition. The boot record of the active partition (Boot Record) is similar to the boot record found in the first sector of the system floppy disk.

The boot record of the active partition reads the IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files from disk and loads them into the computer's RAM. Then the contents of the configuration file - CONFIG.SYS are analyzed. This file specifies the drivers and resident programs that need to be loaded into RAM. After loading the drivers and resident programs specified in the CONFIG.SYS file, control is transferred to the command processor COMMAND.COM.

The command processor consists of three parts - resident, initializing, and transit. The resident part is loaded first. It processes interrupts INT 22H, INT 23H, INT 24H and controls the loading of the transit part. This part of the shell handles MS-DOS errors and prompts the user for action when errors are encountered.

The transit part of the command processor is located in the higher memory addresses. This part contains DOS internal command handlers and an interpreter for batch files with the name extension .BAT. The transit part issues a system prompt (for example, A:>), waits for an operator command to be entered from the keyboard or from a batch file, and organizes their execution.

The initializing part is used only during the boot process of the operating system and does not remain resident in the RAM. The initializing part, in addition to some other actions, initializes the execution of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The command file AUTOEXEC.BAT can list the programs that must be executed when the operating system is loaded on the computer.

After loading the command processor and performing the initial procedures listed in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the system is ready for work.

9.3. What are the types of MS-DOS distributions

The MS-DOS operating system comes in two flavors. The first option is intended for installation on an unprepared (unformatted) computer disk and is usually supplied with the computer. The second option is designed to upgrade the version of an already installed operating system, is sold separately, and has the word "Upgrade" in its name.

To install the startup option, you just need to insert the first floppy disk of the distribution kit into drive A: before turning on the computer. After turning on the power and checking the computer systems, the MS-DOS operating system will start from the floppy disk you inserted. Once the download process is complete, the installer will automatically launch. The installer will guide you through all the steps required to install MS-DOS on your computer's hard drive.

If your computer disk already contains the MS-DOS operating system, you should check the MS-DOS version. This can be done using the VER command, in response to which the following line will be displayed on the console:

MS-DOS Version 5.0

If the version of the operating system installed on your computer is lower than 6.0, you should (although not required) update it to 6.0. This can be done using the upgradeable variant of the MS-DOS distribution.

9.4. How to install MS-DOS version 5.0

In this section, we will walk you through installing the MS-DOS 5.0 operating system on a computer with an unprepared (unformatted) hard drive.

If your computer has an unformatted or unpartitioned disk, then the MS-DOS installation must be performed using the starting version of the distribution kit.

In the section "How to upgrade the version of the MS-DOS operating system to 6.0" we will study the version of the MS-DOS distribution kit intended for the upgrade.

To start the installation program of the starting version of the distribution kit, you must insert the first diskette of the distribution kit into drive A: before turning on the computer. After turning on the power and checking the computer systems, the MS-DOS operating system will start from the floppy disk you inserted. Once the download process is complete, the installer will automatically launch.

After determining the configuration of your computer, the installer displays a splash screen on the display screen. You can either continue the MS-DOS installation process by pressing the key , or abort the installation process and return to DOS by pressing the F3 key. You can also get a hint by pressing the key ... If you press the F5 key, the installer will display messages in monochrome.

In case you continued installing MS-DOS by pressing the key , the configuration menu appears on the screen:

DATE / TIME: 11-22-93 16:14 COUNTRY: United States KEYBOARD: US Default INSTALL TO: Hard disk The settings are correct.

This menu sets the current date and time, the name of your country, keyboard parameters, the media on which MS-DOS will be installed. If you would like to change the current date, time, country name or keyboard settings, select the desired menu item and press the key .

If you have an IBM PC AT computer, the changes in the current date and time will be recorded in the CMOS memory and the correct time will be automatically set at the next MS-DOS boot.

International support is set using the "COUNTRY" and "KEYBOARD" items in this menu. Select the item "COUNTRY" and press the key ... You will see a list of countries for which character sets are supported:

Belgium Hungary Spain Brazil Int "l English Sweden Canada (French) Italy Switzerland Czechoslovakia Latin America United Kingdom Denmark Netherlands United States Finland Norway Yugoslavia France Poland Germany Portugal

If Russia is in this list, move the cursor to the appropriate position and press the ... If the Cyrillic character set is not supported, leave the United States character set and click

If you changed "COUNTRY", make the same changes with the "KEYBOARD" element.

After you finish making changes in this menu, continue the MS-DOS installation process by selecting the "The settings are correct" line and click .

The following menu will appear on the screen:

Install to: C: DOS Run Shell on startup: YES The listed optionst are correct.

The "Install to" line specifies the directory where MS-DOS will be installed. By default, MS-DOS files will be written to the C: DOS directory. You can change the location of the MS-DOS directory if necessary. To do this, select the "Install to" line and click ... You should now be able to edit the operating system directory path.

The line "Run Shell on startup: YES" means that in the future, after the operating system is loaded, the Dos Shell will automatically start. If you do not intend to use the Dos Shell, select the line "Run Shell on startup:" and press the key ... An additional menu with two elements will appear in front of you:

Run MS-DOS Shell on startup Do not run MS-DOS Shell on startup

To prevent MS-DOS Shell from starting automatically, select the "Do not run MS-DOS Shell on startup" line and click ... Then you will return to the previous menu.

When finished, select the line "The listed optionst are correct" and press .

If your computer's hard drive is not formatted, a message will appear on the screen:

Your system has one or more hard disks with free space. This space need to be partitooned and formatted before MS-DOS version 5.0 can use it.

This message informs you that the computer has one or more hard drives. To use them, you must first create partitions and logical disks on them, and then format them. A menu of three items will be displayed below:

Allocate all free hard space for MS-DOS Allocate all free hard space for MS-DOS Do not allocate free hard space for MS-DOS

If you select the line "Allocate all free hard space for MS-DOS", then all the space on the hard disk of the computer will be allocated for MS-DOS. The installation program will partition and format the computer disk itself. This will create one C: drive.

If you want to leave disk space for another operating system or are going to create several logical disks, select the line "Allocate all free hard space for MS-DOS" and press the key .

In this case, the installer will start the FDISK.EXE program first. You will have to partition the hard disk yourself using FDISK - create partitions and logical disks on it. Instructions for using the FDISK.EXE program can be found in the "How to create logical drives" section.

After finishing work with FDISK.EXE control will return to the installation program and it will automatically perform high-level formatting of the logical drives you created.

The line "Do not allocate free hard space for MS-DOS" means that you do not want to allocate disk space for MS-DOS, and thus refuse to install the operating system on the hard disk.

During the first self-installation of the MS-DOS operating system, we recommend that you create one logical disk by selecting the line "Allocate all free hard space for MS-DOS" from the menu.

Press the key to continue the installation process. ... The computer restarts and starts formatting the hard drive. The progress of the formatting will be reflected on the display screen:

Formatting Drive C: 67% of Disk Formatted.

When 100% of the disk is formatted, the process of copying the operating system files from the distribution kit to the hard disk of the computer will begin.

As you copy the distribution's floppy disks, the installer will ask you to insert new disks into the drive:

Insert the disk labled MS-DOS 5.0 Disk 2 into drive A: When ready, press ENTER.

After copying the last diskette of the distribution kit, the installer will inform you that the MS-DOS installation is complete:

Setup is now complete. Please remove any floppy disks from your drives and then press ENTER to start MS-DOS version 5.0.

At this point, the installation process of the operating system MS-DOS version 5.0 can be considered complete. Remove the latest distribution diskette from the floppy drive and press the key ... The computer restarts and the MS-DOS prompt appears on the screen:

C:>

The installer will automatically create the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration files. Their content depends on the hardware configuration of your computer.

The CONFIG.SYS file will look like this:

DEVICE = C: DOSSETVER.EXE DEVICE = C: DOSHIMEM.SYS DOS = HIGH FILES = 10

The automatically generated CONFIG.SYS file loads the SETVER.EXE TSR and the HIMEM.SYS driver (only on machines with 80286, 80386, and 80486 processors).

The HIMEM.SYS driver is used to manage extended memory. Without this or another similar driver, it is impossible to use extended memory.

SETVER.EXE is required for programs designed for older versions of MS-DOS. When such programs ask for a version number, SETVER.EXE cheats them and returns predefined values ​​for them.

The DOS = HIGH command tells MS-DOS to use a portion of extended memory (high memory area) to allocate its own modules and buffers. In this case, the amount of main memory available for programs increases slightly.

The FILES = 10 command means that MS-DOS can open up to 10 files for reading or writing at the same time. Depending on what software you intend to use, you may need to change this value. For example, when using databases, as a rule, it is necessary to increase the number of possible open files from 10 to 50. Such an increase is not in vain, an increase in the number of FILES entails additional consumption of computer memory.

For novice users, we do not recommend changing the contents of the CONFIG.SYS file without special need, as incorrect changes may decrease the performance of the operating system or cause other troubles.

In addition to the CONFIG.SYS file, an AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file is automatically generated. It can contain the following commands:

The @ECHO OFF command cancels the display of the command file text while it is executing. In this case, this means that when the computer boots up, the text of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file will not be displayed on the screen.

The PROMPT command defines appearance MS-DOS prompt strings. In our case, the PROMPT $ p $ g command generates a prompt string that displays the full path of the current directory followed by the ">" symbol. By giving the PROMPT command other options, you can customize the MS-DOS prompt you want.

The PATH command sets the paths of directories in which the search for executable files will be performed.

SET TEMP = C: DOS sets the TEMP environment variable. This variable specifies the directory in which temporary MS-DOS files will be created.

9.5. How to upgrade your MS-DOS operating system to 6.0

In this section, we walk you through the procedure for upgrading the MS-DOS operating system to version 6.0.

To update the MS-DOS version, you need to insert the first diskette of the distribution and run the SETUP.EXE program, which is on this diskette. The floppy disk can be inserted into any floppy drive. For example, if you inserted a floppy disk into drive B :, then you would enter the following command:

B: SETUP.EXE / G

The / G switch instructs the installer not to keep the old version of MS-DOS.

Once launched, the installer (installer) checks the hardware and software configuration of your computer.

After determining the configuration of the computer, SETUP.EXE displays a splash screen on the display screen. You can either continue the MS-DOS installation process by pressing the key , or abort the installation process and return to DOS by pressing the key ... You can also get a hint by pressing the key .

In case you continued the installation process by pressing the key , the configuration menu appears on the screen (see Fig. 9.1).

Rice. 9.1. Defining the configuration

This menu determines the type of operating system previously installed on the computer, the location of the directory where the operating system files will be placed, and the type of video adapter. The location of the MS-DOS directory is most interesting for us. The operating system type and video adapter type are automatically detected by the SETUP program and, as a rule, do not need to be changed.

By default, MS-DOS files will be written to the directory containing the old MS-DOS files. You can change the location of this directory, although this should not be done unnecessarily. To change the location of the directory, select the "MS-DOS Path" item from the menu and press the ... You should now be able to edit the MS-DOS directory path. Having installed the required directory, press the key again ... This will return you to the previous menu.

If you agree with the proposed configuration or have already made all the necessary changes, select the item "The setting are correct" from the menu and press the key .

MS-DOS version 6.0 includes the Microsoft Backup program designed to unload the contents of computer hard drives to floppy disks, Microsoft Undelete program for recovering deleted files and Microsoft package Anti-Virus to detect and remove viruses. The distribution kit includes versions of these programs for MS-DOS and for Windows. After defining your MS-DOS configuration, you can choose which of these programs to install on your computer's hard drive. To do this, the installation program displays a menu (see Fig. 9.2).

Sequentially selecting using the cursor keys from the menu fig. 9.2 items "Backup:", "Undelete:", "Anti-Virus:", responsible for these programs and pressing the key you will get an on-screen menu (see fig. 9.3).

Rice. 9.3. Menu for selecting software version

The first line in the menu - "Windows and MS-DOS" means that the DOS and Windows versions of this program will be installed. The second is for Windows only, the third is for DOS only and the line "None" means that you will not install this program for either MS-DOS or Windows. Select the desired configuration and click , after which you will return to the previous menu.

Windows versions of programs can be installed only if the operating Windows system already installed on the computer. Otherwise, in the first step, you can install only programs for MS-DOS. After Windows installations you can repeat the MS-DOS installation process by running SETUP.EXE with the / E option. In this case, the installation occurs Microsoft programs Backup, Microsoft Undelete and Microsoft Anti-Virus, the rest of the operating system files are not copied.

When you finally determine which programs you want to install, select from the menu fig. 9.2 item "Install the listed programs" and press the key .

The installer will now give you the option to abort the MS-DOS installation process for the last time. To interrupt the installation process, press the F3 key. If you intend to continue installing MS-DOS, press the key .

After you press the key , the process of copying the MS-DOS files from the distribution floppies to the directory you selected earlier begins. In this case, the process of copying files is displayed on the screen. When the files from the first distribution diskette are copied, the installer will ask you to insert the second disk instead of the first one and press the key (see fig. 9.4).

When all the floppies have been copied, the installer will correct the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Then it will ask you to remove the last floppy disk from the drive and press the key .

A message will appear on the screen stating that the installation of the operating system is complete. Press the key again ... The computer will then restart. This completes the MS-DOS installation process.

If before installing MS-DOS there were no CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on your hard disk (you install the starter distribution kit or deleted these files yourself), they are automatically created by the installer. Their content depends on the hardware configuration of your computer.

The CONFIG.SYS file might look like this:

DEVICE = C: DOSSETVER.EXE DEVICE = C: DOSHIMEM.SYS DOS = HIGH FILES = 30 SHELL = C: DOSCOMMAND.COM C: DOS / p

The FILES value has been increased and the SHELL command has been added compared to the CONFIG.SYS file that was automatically generated during the installation of MS-DOS version 5.0. SHELL = C: DOSCOMMAND.COM C: DOS / p specifies that the shell is located in the C: DOS directory.

In addition to the CONFIG.SYS file, an AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file is automatically generated. The contents of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file are similar to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file created during the installation of MS-DOS version 5.0:

@ECHO OFF PROMPT $ p $ g PATH C: DOS SET TEMP = C: DOS

After installing MS-DOS from the distribution, you will not be able to get started yet. Without additional settings, the display screen may not display Russian characters; instead, other characters will be displayed. Moreover, even if the video adapter of your computer is Russified at the hardware level and the Cyrillic characters are still displayed, you will not be able to type them on the keyboard.

Thus, right after installing MS-DOS, it's time to start Russifying it. The Russification process is described in the section "How to Russify MS-DOS".

9.6. How MS-DOS version 6.0 differs from MS-DOS version 5.0

The new operating system MS-DOS version 6.0 has several important features that were not provided in earlier versions:

  • the possibility of branching when executing the CONFIG.SYS file;

MS-DOS version 6.0 allows, at the time of execution of the CONFIG.SYS file, to create on-screen menus and perform branching depending on the line selected by the user. In this case, using a special variable, branching can be further carried out in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

  • means dynamic compression files - DoubleSpace, similar to the Stacker package from Stack Inc .;

Using the dynamic compressor DoubleSpace, by compressing information on hard drives you can increase their capacity. At the same time, there is no need to separately purchase dynamic compression tools such as the Stacker package, since DoubleSpace is included in the MS-DOS version 6.0 distribution kit.

  • the set of MS-DOS version 6.0 includes a file defragmentation program - Defrag;

Microsoft Defrag allows you to defragment files on disks, increasing their performance. Until now, software like this had to be purchased separately.

  • MS-DOS version 6.0 includes Microsoft Anti-Virus;

Using the Microsoft Anti-Virus program, you can perform preventive work to detect and remove viruses from the computer's operating system.

  • program for unloading discs Microsoft Backup;

With Microsoft Backup, you can periodically perform backup information from computer disks. Backing up will save valuable data stored on hard drives in case of various emergencies.

  • Availability of versions of Microsoft Undelete, Microsoft Anti-Virus and Microsoft Backup system maintenance programs for Windows;

For the first time, MS-DOS includes programs specially designed to work in the Microsoft Windows operating system.

After installing Microsoft Undelete, Microsoft Anti-Virus and Microsoft Backup, the "Microsoft Tools" group is added to the main window of Program Manager, containing their icons. The "Tools" menu is added to the main Program Manager menu.

  • new driver version EMM386.EXE;

The new version of the EMM386.EXE driver provides access to more high memory blocks. This frees up more main memory for MS-DOS programs.

  • new versions of LOADHIGH and DEVICEHIGH commands;

The newer versions of the LOADHIGH and DEVICEHIGH commands allow you to specify an area of ​​memory where programs and drivers are loaded.

  • a tool for optimizing the use of computer RAM - the MemMaker program;

MS-DOS version 6.0 includes the MemMaker program, which allows you to optimize the use of RAM on computers with 80386 processors and above. MemMaker adjusts the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files so that drivers and TSRs are loaded into extended memory whenever possible. This increases the amount of main memory available to MS-DOS programs.

  • the ability to step-by-step execution of commands in the CONFIG.SYS file.

If, when loading the operating system, when the message "Starting MS-DOS ..." is displayed on the screen, press the , then the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration files are not executed and the MS-DOS prompt appears immediately.

You can also step through the commands in the CONFIG.SYS file to confirm that each command has been completed. To do this, at the time of loading MS-DOS, you need to press the key .

The next command and the following menu "?" Will be displayed on the screen. Now if you press the key the command will be executed, and if you press the command will be skipped. After executing all the commands in the CONFIG.SYS file, the message "Process AUTOEXEC.BAT?" Will appear on the screen. Press the key to go to the execution of commands in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. ... If you do not wish to execute AUTOEXEC.BAT, press the key .

9.7. How to create a menu in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT

Hardware configuration and software tools computer is defined in the CONFIG.SYS configuration file and in the AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file.

If several people work on the computer or you are using incompatible software products, then you have to store several CONFIG.SYS configuration files and several AUTOEXEC.BAT batch files. You will need to rename them and restart your computer as needed.

MS-DOS 6.0 provides a facility for defining several different configurations in a single CONFIG.SYS file. The required configuration is selected using the menu, which can be described in the CONFIG.SYS file.

Several special commands are defined to describe menus in MS-DOS 6.0:

Computer configuration commands and menu description commands are grouped in so-called command blocks and menu description blocks. Blocks start with headings. The title consists of the block name, enclosed in square brackets. The block ends with either the header of the next block or the end of the file.

To define several configurations in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, you need to perform several steps:

  • Define the main menu description block in the CONFIG.SYS file. Menu descriptions begin with a title followed by commands , , and ... Commands and define the main menu items and their corresponding configuration block names. Commands and determine the default menu item and menu color.
  • For each menu item, create a command block in which to describe the required configuration. This configuration will be installed when you select the appropriate menu item. Each block must start with a block header. The block header is the block name enclosed in square brackets.
  • If necessary, you can add a command block with a reserved name to the CONFIG.SYS file. Commands from this block are executed when any configuration is selected. It is recommended that you add an empty command block named.
  • When the user selects an item from the configuration menu, his name is stored in environment variable CONFIG. With the GOTO% CONFIG% command, you can organize the execution of various commands depending on the selected configuration. AUTOEXEC.BAT

Let's take a closer look at the individual commands for describing the menu.

INCLUDE

The command is used to include commands from one configuration block in another. The format of this command is shown below:

INCLUDE = blockname

The single parameter blockname specifies the name of the configuration block to include.

MENUCOLOR

Determines the text color and background color of menu items. This command can only be used within a menu description block. The MENUCOLOR command has the following format:

MENUCOLOR = x [, y]

The x parameter specifies the text color of the menu items, and the y parameter specifies the background color of the menu. The color is defined by numbers from 0 to 15 according to the following table:

Do not set the same values ​​for x and y, as this will merge the text of the menu items with the background.

MENUDEFAULT

Defines the configuration that is loaded after a specified time if the user has not selected another configuration. The MENUDEFAULT command can only be used within the menu description block of the CONFIG.SYS file. The format of this command is shown below:

MENUDEFAULT = blockname [, timeout]

The blockname parameter specifies the name of the configuration block to load after the time specified by the timeout parameter. The timeout parameter is set in seconds and can be from 0 to 90 seconds.

MENUITEM

The MENUITEM command defines the items in the configuration menu. This command can only be used within a menu description block. One menu can have up to nine items. If this is not enough for you, you can use the additional menu (command ). The format of the MENUITEM command follows:

MENUITEM = blockname [, menu_text]

The blockname parameter specifies the name of the configuration block corresponding to this menu item. When the user selects a menu item, commands from the configuration block named blockname will be executed. The block name must be shorter than 70 characters and must not contain the following characters: slash (), backslash (/), colon, semicolon, equal character, and square brackets.

The menu_text parameter defines the text you wish to display in this element menu. If the menu_text parameter is not defined, the name of the configuration block will be displayed in the menu. The text specified by the menu_text parameter must be less than 70 characters and can contain any characters.

SUBMENU

The SUBMENU command adds a new item to the main configuration menu. When you select a menu item specified by the SUBMENU command, an additional menu appears.

The format for calling this command is shown below:

SUBMENU = blockname [, menu_text]

The blockname parameter defines the name of the additional menu description block. In contrast to the block of the description of the main menu, which has a name, the additional menu must have a different name. The length of the name of the block of the additional menu should not exceed 70 characters. A block name must not contain a slash (), backslash (/), colon, semicolon, equal character, or square brackets.

The optional menu_text parameter defines the text corresponding to the new menu item. If you do not specify the menu_text parameter, the name of the additional menu description block specified by the first parameter of the SUBMENU command will be displayed in the new menu item.

An example of using new commands

Suppose there are three people working on an IBM PCAT 386 computer. The first one works in the operating room Microsoft system Windows and uses a word processor Microsoft Word. The second prefers to use the Lexicon text editor for editing documents. The third one does not work with either Microsoft Windows or the Lexicon.

In MS-DOS version 5.0, each of these users had to keep their own versions of the computer configuration files - CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT and constantly rename them.

The operating system MS-DOS version 6.0 has been supplemented with new commands (described above) designed to organize the configuration selection menu at the stage of interpreting the CONFIG.SYS file.

Here is an example of a CONFIG.SYS file that can be installed on a given computer:

menuitem = Windows, Configuration for Windows menuitem = Lexicon, Configuration for Lexicon menuitem = Standart, Standard configuration device = c: doshimem.sys dos = high buffers = 15 device = c: dosemm386 NOEMS dos = high, umb devicehigh = c: dosSMARTDRV. EXE 2048 1024 device = c: dosSMARTDRV.EXE 2048 device = c: dossetver.sys device = c: dosemm386 NOEMS dos = high, umb devicehigh = c: dosSMARTDRV.EXE 2048 devicehigh = c: dossetver.sys files = 40

This CONFIG.SYS file contains descriptions of three different configurations - Windows configuration, Lexicon word processor configuration, and MS-DOS configuration.

For all three configurations, the commands in the block are executed. There are two commands there: DEVICE = C: DOSHIMEM.SYS and DOS = HIGH. These commands load the extended memory manager HIMEM.SYS, and allow MS-DOS to use the high memory area (HMA).

After executing these two commands, the main menu appears on the screen, which is defined in the block:

_ Configuration for Windows Configuration for Lexicon Standard configuration

When you have selected the configuration you want to load, press the key ... After that, commands from the block corresponding to the selected menu item will be executed -, or.

Finally, the command files = 40, located in the last block, is executed. This concludes the interpretation of the CONFIG.SYS file and MS-DOS starts executing the AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file.

If necessary, you can branch within the AUTOEXEC.BAT file based on the configuration selected in the CONFIG.SYS file menu. A special environment variable CONFIG is intended for this. When the commands in the CONFIG.SYS file are executed, the CONFIG variable is assigned the name of the block of the selected configuration.

In the AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file, you can check the value of the CONFIG variable and execute various commands depending on its value. To check the state of the CONFIG environment variable, you can use the commands and .

Take AUTOEXEC.BAT as an example for the previous example.

set temp = c: temp c: dosmode> nul CON CP PREP = ((866) c: dosega.cpi) c: dosmode> nul CON CP SEL = 866 loadhigh c: utswakeyb.com rem !!! Let's go to the label corresponding to the rem value !!! environment variable CONFIG goto% config%: Windows path c: win; c: dos; e: nc; c: ut; d: nu7; e: bcbin; d: winword; loadhigh c: winSMARTDRV.EXE 2048 1024 loadhigh c: winmouse.com win goto end_: Lexicon path c: lex; c: dos; e: nc; c: ut; d: nu7; e: bcbin; c: dosSMARTDRV.EXE 2048 c: mousemouse.com lex goto end: Standart path c: dos; e: nc; c: ut; d: nu7; e: bcbin; loadhigh c: dosSMARTDRV.EXE 2048 loadhigh c: mousemouse.com nc goto end: end

When MS-DOS starts executing commands from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, it first sets the TEMP environment variable, then fonts containing Cyrillic characters are loaded.

Then, by command GOTO% CONFIG%, control is transferred to the label corresponding to the name of the selected configuration block. The names of the configuration blocks are listed in the menu description block in the CONFIG.SYS file.

Thus, depending on which configuration is selected in the menu, control will go to one of three labels - Windows, Lexicon or Standart. In this case, only its own commands are executed for each configuration. After executing the commands following the labels, control goes to the END label and the execution of the AUTOEXEC.BAT batch file ends.

For example, if, while interpreting the CONFIG.SYS file, you selected the main menu item labeled "Configuration for Windows", then the CONFIG environment variable is set to Windows and control will go to the label: Windows.

This is where the PATH environment variable is set, the disk cache driver and the mouse driver are loaded. Then the Windows operating system is loaded.

9.8. Why MS-DOS lacks Russian characters

The set of characters that can be displayed on the screen of your computers in MS-DOS text and graphics modes is located in the read-only memory (ROM) chip of the video adapter.

The Windows operating system, unlike MS-DOS, does not use characters from the video adapter ROM. To display characters, Windows uses font sets stored in special files.

Usually, the so-called standard extended ASCII character set is written in the ROM of the video adapter. This set does not contain Cyrillic characters and, therefore, the computer cannot display them on the display screen.

To "Russify" video adapters, you can either reprogram the adapter's ROM, or use special resident programs that replace the video adapter's character set with their own.

"Russification" of video adapters at the ROM level allows in the future to save several kilobytes of computer RAM, since there will be no need to use special resident programs. In addition, if you are unlucky and you have a CGA or Hercules video adapter installed on your computer, then reprogramming the ROM is the only option (except, of course, replacing the video adapter, which, by the way, is preferable in this case) for displaying Cyrillic characters in text modes.

However, to reprogram the video adapter ROM, you need special hardware and information about the location in the ROM of the set of fonts. Thus, reprogramming the ROM is a very difficult task and can only be performed by highly qualified specialists.

When the video adapter is "Russified" with the help of special programs, it is necessary to load a small resident module into the computer's RAM. This resident module will replace the character set written in the ROM of the video adapter.

The section "How to Russify MS-DOS" will describe in more detail the process of Russification of the video adapter.

In addition to performing the Russification of the video adapter, it is necessary to "Russify" the computer keyboard. Typically keyboards do not contain special keys for entering Russian characters. Special resident programs are used to "russify" the keyboard. After loading, they remain in RAM and track the user presses a certain key combination, for example, the right key and left key ... After the user presses this key combination, the characters corresponding to the keyboard keys are redefined.

Now pressing the keyboard keys will cause the entry of not Latin, but Russian characters. Typically, the keys are reassigned according to the domestic standard for typewriters ("QWERTY"). We recommend placing stickers with Cyrillic symbols next to the Latin characters located on the keyboard keys. It is convenient if the Latin characters are black, and the Cyrillic characters are red.

For more information on the Russification of the keyboard, see the section "How to Russify MS-DOS".

9.9. How to Russify MS-DOS

The operating system MS-DOS version 6.0 contains commands and programs for international support.

We suggest you to carry out Russification, after installing MS-DOS version 6.0, replace the files of commands and programs of international support with the corresponding files from the Russian-language version of MS-DOS. Currently, Russian-language versions of MS-DOS 4.01, 5.0 and 6.0 have been released.

If you do not have the Russian version of MS-DOS, copy the following files from the Russian version 4.0 or 5.0 of the MS-DOS operating system: COUNTRY.SYS, DISPLAY.SYS, KEYBOARD.SYS, KEYB.COM, as well as files with the CPI extension. Replace these files with the corresponding files in the MS-DOS directory.

Since the DISPLAY.SYS driver and the KEYB.COM program check the operating system version, they must be "tricked". To do this, run the following commands:

C: DOSSETVER KEYB.COM 4.01 C: DOSSETVER DISPLAY.SYS 4.01

Then, using any text editor, you need to add international support commands in the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. In the CONFIG.SYS file, you must load the SETVER.EXE driver, add a COUNTRY command call, and load the DISPLAY.SYS driver:

DEVICE = C: DOSSETVER.EXE COUNTRY = 7, C: DOSCOUNTRY.SYS DEVICE = C: DOSDISPLAY.SYS CON = (EGA, 437,1)

In the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you need to add a call to two MODE commands and load the KEYB resident program:

c: dosmode CON CP PREP = ((866) C: DOSEGA.CPI) c: dosmode CON CP SEL = 866 D: DOSkeyb RU, D: DOSKEYBOARD.SYS / ID: 093

After making any changes to the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, restart your computer. When the computer is restarted, the resident modules of the Russification programs are loaded into the RAM.

Do not use word processors that save edited files in special formats to edit CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. When you save the edited text in a file with a special format, other control information will be written to it, in addition to the text. As a result, MS-DOS will not be able to interpret these files and the computer will not boot correctly.

Now you can view and edit documents written in Russian, in addition, you will retain all the advantages of MS-DOS version 6.0.

When editing texts in Russian, switch the keyboard to the Cyrillic character input mode. To do this, press the right key ... By pressing the right key the second time, you will switch the keyboard back to entering Latin characters.

9.10. What are viruses and Trojans

The most general definition of a virus can be given as a program code that spreads itself in the information environment of computers. By the way viruses spread, they can be divided into the following main groups:

  • embedded in executable files of programs - files with the COM and EXE extensions;
  • spreading through boot sectors floppy disks and hard disks, as well as through the boot sector of hard disks;
  • Infecting driver files - files with the SYS and EXE extensions;
  • distributed through translator object library files.

In addition to the above groups, there are others, for example, viruses that infect batch files - files with the BAT extension. "Progress" in the world of viruses does not stand still, and we can expect the emergence of new groups of viruses.

Most viruses, unfortunately, do more than replicate and spread. They can cause relatively harmless or destructive effects.

Outwardly, the effect of viruses can be expressed in the fact that periodically, for example, upon reaching a certain time, the virus is activated and performs some operations. In particular, viruses can: display extraneous inscriptions and symbols on the screen, "shower" characters already displayed on the screen, restart the computer, slow down the computer, play all kinds of melodies, delete files and directories, erase randomly selected sectors of hard and floppy disks.

In principle, viruses can perform any action. They are limited only by the imagination of the author of the virus and the capabilities of the computer.

Trojans are much less common than viruses. Trojan horses are programs that perform some useful function, but at some point they can additionally perform some malicious actions, for example, format the hard disk.

Currently, the spread of viruses has reached a truly gigantic proportions and threatens users with irrecoverable loss of data stored on the computer.

To increase the security of data on your computer, it is necessary to restrict the exchange of executable modules of programs, as well as periodically carry out preventive work to detect viruses. For more information on the means of fighting viruses, see the section "How to deal with viruses".

9.11. How to deal with viruses

If you do not periodically carry out work on the prevention and treatment of computers from viruses, the possibility of loss of stored information and destruction of the operating environment becomes more than real.

The negative consequences of your negligence can be different, depending on what kind of virus gets into your computer. You can lose either part of the information from the files stored on your computer, or entire files, or even all the files on the disk.

Work on the prevention and treatment of computers from viruses may include the following actions:

  • software installation should be carried out only from distributions;
  • restrict the exchange of programs and floppy disks, scan such programs and floppy disks for viruses;
  • periodically check the computer's RAM and disks for viruses using special anti-virus programs, for example, the AIDSTEST.EXE program;
  • use special programs- Protectors, which, after starting, remain resident in the computer's memory and monitor all suspicious actions of programs (for example, writing programs to a file or system areas of disks).

Currently, there are thousands of different viruses and hundreds of programs to combat them. The following antivirus programs for MS-DOS are best known: AIDSTEST, SCAN, ANTI4US, VAKCINA, ADINF.

The problem of fighting viruses has become so serious that Microsoft has included its own software tools in version 6.0 of the MS-DOS operating system: Microsoft Anti-Virus for MS-DOS and for Windows.

There are even special programs for fighting viruses on networks. For example, NetShield is loaded on a Nowell NetWare 3.11 server as an NLM process. It can scan the server disks for viruses once a day. If viruses are detected, a corresponding warning message will be sent to all network users. You can also set the mode in which the NLM anti-virus will scan all files written to or read from the server for virus infection.

Let's consider the most common software tools for detecting and removing viruses - AIDSTEST.EXE and Microsoft Anti-Virus.

AIDSTEST.EXE

The author of the antivirus program AIDSTEST.EXE is Dmitry Lozinsky. AIDSTEST can detect a wide variety of viruses, and can also perform removal of detected viruses.

Descriptions of AIDSTEST options can be obtained by running AIDSTEST with the / h option. We will allow ourselves to cite only the most important parameters of this program. The format for calling AIDSTEST is as follows:

AIDSTEST path [options]

The first, mandatory, parameter path must specify the directory in which the virus scan will be performed. This automatically checks all subdirectories. If you specify only the disk name as the first parameter (for example, AIDSTEST C :), then the entire disk will be checked.

If you do not set additional parameters to the AIDSTEST program, it will only scan for viruses. If you want to remove the found viruses, you need to specify the additional parameter / F. AIDSTEST will repair virus-infected programs and erase those that cannot be repaired. In order for AIDSTEST to request permission to remove corrupted program files, you must additionally set the / Q parameter.

Below is an example of using the AIDSTEST antivirus to detect and disinfect viruses on the C: drive.

AIDSTEST C: / F / Q

The use of antivirus software cannot guarantee you complete protection of your computer against virus infection. The fact is that antiviruses such as AIDSTEST are configured to detect already known viruses and their clones. New viruses may not be known to the AIDSTEST program and will not be able to detect them. We emphasize once again that, in our opinion, the most reliable way to protect your computer from virus attacks is to install software only from distributions and restrict the use of floppy disks for program exchange.

Microsoft Anti-Virus

Microsoft Anti-Virus is included in the MS-DOS version 6.0 distribution. At the same time, Microsoft Anti-Virus is presented in two versions - for MS-DOS and for Windows.

The installation procedure for these anti-virus programs is described in detail in the "How to Install MS-DOS" section. Here we will only note that installing Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows requires Windows to be present on your computer's hard drive.


3. Procedure for partitioning a hard disk
4.

Installing an operating system on a hard drive

If the user wants to complete the installation of the MS DOS operating system completely under his control, the Setup program should be run with the / M key. In this case, only system files IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS and COMMAND.COM. After the installation procedure is complete, additional files required for practical work (external commands, drivers, etc.) can be manually transferred to the hard disk by expanding them using the EXPAND command.

When you start the Setup program with the command

the initial frame with a message about the setting mode is displayed on the screen.

Because a minimal DOS installation will create a recovery disk, a warning is displayed to warn you about the need to prepare a disk to preserve the old DOS. Pressing the "Enter" key continues the installation procedure.

Next, the Setup program analyzes the configuration of the computer and displays a message about the system settings. If necessary, the ones offered by the installer can be changed (mainly, the specification of the directory with system files).

After receiving user confirmation, the Setup program displays a final warning message that the DOS changeover process has started, telling you not to interrupt the process. The user at this stage can still refuse to install the new DOS by pressing the "F3" key, or give permission to install by pressing the "Y" key.

After installation on hard drive new version DOS, you should carefully analyze and possibly modify the autorun file AUTOEXEC.BAT configuration file and CONFIG.SYS, so they may be partially incorrect.

After installing the MS DOS operating system in a minimal configuration, you should transfer files with external commands, drivers and other system files to the hard disk. This procedure can be performed manually by using the EXPAND command on the selected distribution diskette files.

If you want to transfer the entire DOS to your hard drive, it is convenient to use the same Setup program by running it with the / Q key:

This way of assembling the system has the advantage that files can be transferred not only to the system directory of the bootable C: drive, but also to any directory of any logical drive (D :, E :, etc.).

When run with the / Q switch, Setup displays a start-up frame that informs about the nature of the intended action.

After pressing the "Enter" key, a frame with system settings is displayed on the screen. If you want to move the system files not to the system directory specified in the frame (for example, C: \ DOS60), but to some other directory or even to another disk, you should move the cursor to the line

MS-DOS Path: C: \ DOS60

and press the "Enter" key. In the displayed frame, you can specify the required catalog specification, for example,

In this case, a new directory does not need to be created in advance; it will be created by Setup during the file transfer process.

After receiving the information about the required settings, Setup displays a warning message about starting the file transfer process, which is the same as the message about creating a new version of DOS.

When the system is installed on the disk in a minimal configuration, the composition of the newly created startup files (named by the CONFIG.NEW and AUTOEXEC.NEW systems) is likely to be incorrect, since there are no drivers or external MS DOS commands on the disk yet, and the startup files can be included lines of reference to them. Therefore, the composition of these files should be analyzed with particular care and appropriate changes should be made.