Operating System Lab 1: House Keeping in DOS and Windows

Introduction The Operating System will accumulate wasted space and resources during the course of processing, and often under unusual situations. It is common for Windows to run short of resources and display a message to that effect or sometimes cause the system to "hang" with no apparent reason. This often happens when you have processed a large file or a have opened a number of different applications; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access. Many Microsoft products reserve memory and other resources in Windows while processing. When the application is terminated, there may be resources that are not released for use by other programs. Eventually, the system runs short. This is a Microsoft syndrome and has occurred in all of the versions of Windows. Restarting the system recovers all resources and memory. Memory Memory is dynamically allocated to each Windows application. Each program has minimum requirements and when there is excess memory available Windows uses it for its own housekeeping. If more than the available memory is needed for housekeeping, Windows uses a hidden disk file called the "Swap" file for storing parts of Windows which are not currently in use. This "Swap" file keeps track of open files, printer status, network connections and system resource allocation and allows Windows to recover when a power failure occurs. It is this process that sometimes makes the noise on the CPU when no apparent processing is taking place. Hard Drive Space Clean up old files and data - Once a month . Data that is no longer needed should be removed. Software no longer in use should also be removed. If the software was installed through the Windows installation process, you may be able to remove it by going to the Control Panel from the Start Menu, then Settings function. There you will find an icon marked Add/Remove Programs. Be sure you are removing the correct item. This will usually delete the software and make the appropriate changes in the system environment. Older software may not appear on this list and will have to be removed manually. A simple guideline for data removal decisions is if you dont own it, dont touch it. Many system tables and support files appear in areas where they could be mistaken for data; removal of these items could cause many problems.

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Cache - IE orNetscape Image trails for all pages accessed during a session will accumulate and eventually take a considerable amount of space. The intended function of these images was to save "load" time of a page previously accessed if the contents of that page have not changed. Look on the options or preferences menu of your browser to delete the cache files. Temp Files These are usually left on the system when a system function is interrupted, caused by any number of conditions. The most common is when a system is restarted without going through the normal shutdown process. Temp files are always work files that the process uses while running and are normally deleted by the process when done. Another process that will leave temp files is software installation/upgrades that may be asked to skip certain routines. It is recommended that you use "My Computer" for finding and removing these files. These files are normally located in the C:\windows\temp folder and have a file type of "TMP". They are easily identified by the file name extension of ".tmp". Scandisk This is a System function that checks the validity of the file system including the folder/directories, and the File Allocation Table (FAT). Abnormal shutdown or restart can cause errors. Errors are also caused by application or system work files that have not been closed or deleted while a program is running. When a file is opened, the system puts a "status flag" on this file indicating that it is in use. When the file is closed the flag is removed. When a file is being updated or created, there is a flag set "File Allocation Table" that keeps track of the file and the space it has in use at the time. As the file changes, the pointers are changed in this table. There are two copies of this table, and while the file is in use, only one copy gets changed. When the file is saved, the second copy of the table is updated to reflect the actual space in use by the file. If a file is NOT saved, then the first copy of the table is changed to put it back to where it was before. If the system is interrupted while these tables are being updated, then a "FAT" error occurs and Scandisk is automatically invoked the next time the system is started. Scandisk can be manually started from the "RUN" section of the "START" Menu. Type "Scandisk" in Open field of the dialog box and click OK. Run Scandisk when your system appears to be sluggish. It may find errors and possibly improve system Prepared by: Gurung Nar Kaji@apexcollege

throughput. When Scandisk is running, if any "bad" areas are found they may be deleted under normal circumstances. A prompt is also shown for an "Undo" disk. This will record any changes made by Scandisk. Normally you will skip this function. Defragmentation A file is fragmented when it becomes too large for the computer to store in a single location. When this happens, the computer splits the file up and stores it in pieces. You can use fragmented files, but it takes the computer longer to access them. The Defrag process speeds up disk access by rearranging the files and free space on the hard drive so files are stored in a contiguous space. This tool is located in the Start Menu, Programs; Accessories under System Tools. Start the Disk Defragmenter and its first function is the evaluation of the hard drive space. Defrag will make a recommendation based on pre-set factors. Summary of Things to Do. See detailed explanations below. Shut down your computer every night to free up memory and system resources. Delete old files on your hard disk ( c: ) Check amount of space used on hard disk regularly to make sure it isn't too full. Clear disk cache in browsers Clear temp (.TMP) files in the Windows Temp folder Run Scandisk to look for bad areas on the hard disk Run Defrag to rearrange fragmented files on the hard disk Organize files in a limited number of directories for ease in backing up Keep virus software updated

Note: Be sure that there are NO ACTIVE programs running when cleaning up these files because there may be some attached to active jobs. The best time to do this, or any other housekeeping is immediately after logging in, before starting Notes or any other program. If your MS Windows toolbar is active at startup, be sure to shut it down. Questions 1. What are the House Keeping Commands in DOS? Explain. 2. What changes occur in the entire System after the House Keeping is performed? Discuss the enhancements. 3. Explore how house Keeping is achieved in UNIX based Systems.

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