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DOS (Disk Operating System)

DOS (Disk Operating System) was the original operating system for PCs that used only a keyboard for input and displayed everything in black and white or green text. It organized files hierarchically using directories and subdirectories and allowed users to run programs and control hardware devices using text commands. The main components of DOS were the IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files that initialized hardware and the COMMAND.COM file that interpreted commands.

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706 views

DOS (Disk Operating System)

DOS (Disk Operating System) was the original operating system for PCs that used only a keyboard for input and displayed everything in black and white or green text. It organized files hierarchically using directories and subdirectories and allowed users to run programs and control hardware devices using text commands. The main components of DOS were the IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS files that initialized hardware and the COMMAND.COM file that interpreted commands.

Uploaded by

Babu Mazumder
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DOS (Disk Operating System)

What is DOS?
DOS is the acronym for disk operating system. Was designed principally to perform a single task for a single user. In the old days, before the graphical user interface (GUI) came out, there was no mouse, only keyboard was used to give instruction to the pc. The screen was monochrome means everything was black and white (or green and black). There's no colorful menu or icons. Those was the era of MS-DOS .

What is DOS?
Using mouse to give instruction is like driving an auto car; using keyboard is like driving a manual car.

Using keyboard is slower and troublesome because you have to type and remember the commands.

As with any other operating system, its function is to oversee the operation of the system by providing support for executing programs, controlling I/O devices, handling errors, and providing the user interface.
MS-DOS is a disk-based, single-user, single-task operating system. These qualities make it one of the easiest disk operating systems to understand.

The main functions of DOS


DOS translate the command issued of the user in the format that is understood by the computer to execute it, also error message in the format for the user to understand. Manage disk files. Allocate system resources according to the requirement. DOS provides features essential to control hardware devices such as Keyboard, Screen, Disk Devices, Printers, Modems and programs.

DOS FILES

The DOS File System


The file is the primary unit of data storage. Files are organized into directories. File and directory names can be up to eight characters long, followed by a period and a three-character extension. Some universal extensions are .exe, .com, .sys, .bat, .txt, .doc, and .drv. File and directory names are not casesensitive.

MS-DOS is a "Disk Operating System". That means it is simply: "a System for Operating the Disks. In practice however, just as Windows does more than just print windows, DOS does more than just operate the disks. It enables the user to organize data files, load and execute (run) program files, and control the input and output devices attached to the computer. DOS is an entirely text based system. All it provides for the user is a prompt: "C:>" or "A:>", where the user can type in commands from the keyboard.

The main portions of MS-DOS are the IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COM files. IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS are special, hidden system files The IO.SYS file moves the systems basic I/O functions into memory and then implements the MS-DOS default control programs, referred to as device drivers, for various hardware components. These include the following: The boot disk drive The console display and keyboard The systems time-of-day clock
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COMMAND.COM
The COMMAND.COM command interpreter accepts commands issued through the keyboard, or other input device, and carries them out according to the commands definition When DOS runs an application, COMMAND.COM finds the program, loads it into memory, and then gives it control of the system. When the program is shut down, it passes control back to the command interpreter.
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Loading of DOS
The system start-up routine of ROM runs a test called Power On Self Test (POST) which check whether peripherals connected to the computer are working or not & RAM memory. The ROM bootstrap loader attempts to read the Boot record and if successful, passes the control on to it. The instructions/programs in the boot record then load the rest of the program. The boot tries to load the DOS into the memory by reading the two hidden files IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, If these two are found, they are loaded along with the DOS command interpreter COMMAND.COM.

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COMPUTER FILES IN DOS


A file may contain a program or any other kind of information. DOS permits the user to assign a name consisting of two parts to a file - primary (a maximum of eight characters consisting of Characters, Alphabets, Number and Hyphen), and secondary names( should consist of three characters, which is optional) this two parts separated by a dot (.).
Using an extension is specified, using the complete name . Using extensions can be an excellent way of naming a file so that it can be identified easily.

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Examples:
Filename
Employee
Employee.Exe Employee.Dbf

Primary Name Employee


Employee Employee

Separator

Secondary Name
. Exe . Dbf

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DOS has a way of showing which disk drive is currently active. The floppy disk drives are assigned alphabets A and B, whereas the hard disk drive is assigned the alphabet C.

Ex: If your PC includes a hard disk, besides a FDD (Floppy Disk Drive), the drive names would be A and C. If the prompt is A, then it implies that the first floppy disk drive is active. Where as the DOS prompt would be C, if the hard disk is active. Data as well as instructions reside in a file stored in a disk.

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4.3 DIRECTORY STRUCTURE IN DOS


Directory is just like a file folder, which contain all the logically related files. DOS files are organized in a hierarchical or an inverted tree-like structure.

DOS enables the user to organize the files in a disk into directories and sub-directories
A directory within another directory is called a subdirectory Of course, there may be sub-directories of subdirectories, sub-sub-directories.

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Levels of Directory Systems

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Understanding Tree Structure

DIRECTORY COMMAND
The directory, the user is in at any point of time, is called the WORKING/PRESENT/CURRENT directory.

DOS indicates which directory you are in by displaying the directory's name in the command prompt.
For example, the following command prompt indicate that you are in the DOS directory: C:\DOS>. Knowing which directory is current helps you find files, and to move from one directory to another more easily.

Typically, the ROOT DIRECTORY (\) is the initial working directory. The entire specification of directory from root is called a PATH. By itself, the DIR command is applicable to the working/present directory. The names of the sub-directories at adjacent levels are separated by backslash 18 (\), while specifying the path to be followed while traveling to a sub-directory.

4.5 USING PATH TO SPECIFY THE LOCATION OF FILES


A path is the route that leads from the root directory of a drive to the file you want to use. For example , to access C:\NOS\LETTER\NOS.LET Where (C:) represent the drive the file is on, 1st (\) is the root directory. 2 nd (\) separates the NOS the LETTER sub-directory . (\) separates the LETTER sub-directories from the name, NOS.LET.

directory from 3rd

file
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