Nimbus Water Systems PC-286, User Manual

Page 1: ...r I I I I MS DOS 4A USERS GUIDE RI ...

Page 2: ...I I I I I I MS DOS 4 O USERS GUIDE PN23550 ...

Page 3: ...um except as specifically allowed in the license or non disclosure agreement No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying and recording for any purpose without the express wrinen permission of Microsoft Copynght Research Machines March 1989 Reprinted by Research Machines with permission of Microsoft Corporation ...

Page 4: ... DOS command in detail this is available from RM or your supplier In addition programmers may be interested in the MS DOS Progmmmer s Reference which introduces programmers to MS DOS and describes all the MS DOS system calls Before You Begin tsefore you begin using this MS DOS User s Guide you should have started up yorrr computer as shown in the PC 286 and 386 Guide The MS DOS operating system is...

Page 5: ...t e g where a filename is expected you see filename o the terms Kb and Mb after certain numbers stand for kilobytes and megabytes respectively How to Use this Guide This manual infroduces you to the MS DOS operating system and teaches you how to use several MS DOS features The manual is organized so that you can easily find what you need to know The following list gives you a quick overview of the...

Page 6: ...program and use Edlin What the config sys file does What the autoexec bat file does How to modiry ftese two files About MS DOS terms To learn more about MS DOS refer to the MS DOS lJser s Reference To learn about using your computer see the RM Nimbus PC 286 PC 386 Guide ...

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Page 8: ...sks Master disks Write protecting your disks Winchester hard disks Formatting your disks How to name your files Directories SuMirectories Paths and pathnames What Comes Next Chapter 3 Getting Started Where to Find MS DOS Making a Backup Copy of Your MS DOS Disk If you have two floppy disk drives If you have a single floppy disk drive How to Restore MS DOS to a Winchester Disk How to Quit MS DOS Wh...

Page 9: ... 5 Using Applications with MS DOS How to Run Application Programs Starting an application from a floppy disk Starting an application from a winchester disk A note about using application programs How to Create a File with Edlin What Comes Next Chapter 6 Setting Up MS DOS Special MS DOS Files The Config sys file The Autoexec bat file How the Special Files Differ What Comes Next Glossary Index 23 23...

Page 10: ...following pages explain some terrns you will need to know so that you can read and use this manual If you are already familiar with MS DOS you may find the MS DOS User s Reference more helpful Program Programs often called application progams applications or software are series of instructions written in computer languages These instmctions are stored in files and tell your computer to perform a t...

Page 11: ...since they are useful for describing the contents of a file to you and to MS DOS For inscance if you want to be able to quickly identify your text files you could add re filename extension TXT to each one Here s an example of a filename with this extension letter txt When you look at the list of files on your MS DOS system disk you will see many files with the extension EXE or COM The extension EX...

Page 12: ... the disk ttl to afloppy disk drive Floppy disk drives are commonly referred to by the letters A and B A winchester disk drive is usually referred to as tle C drive Check your PC 286 and 386 Guide to see what drives your computer has Your computer probably has one or two floppy disk drives If it has two the first drive is drive A and the second is drive B If it has only ane the drive can be referr...

Page 13: ...for files and progmms unless you tell it to search in another drive Changing the default drive To change the default drive you simply type the letter of the desired drive followed by a colon and press ENTER For example if you will be working primarily with files on drive B it is easier to change the default drive to B so that you do not have to type the letter B followed by a colon with every comm...

Page 14: ...ans that the command has to be loaded from the MS DOS disk each time you type the command Other commands are internal which means they are loaded into memory when you start MS DOS and remain there until you switch off so you do not need the disk o be present when using these commands Devices Whenever you use your computer you supply the information input and expect a result output Your computer us...

Page 15: ... general errors such as misspelling a command or to device errors such as trying to use a printer that is out of paper For example if you misspell a command you see Bad conrnand or fi le name For a complete list and explanation of each MS DOS error message see the MS DOS User s Reference Appendix F Memory When you run a program MS DOS stores that program and the files it uses in the computer s ava...

Page 16: ...eys will differ depending on whether you are typing MS DOS commands or running programs the cursor arrow keys are an example as described later Differences between keys First note that there are two important differences between a ty pewriter keyboard and a computer keyboard a computer understands the difference between a one and a lowercase L Be sure you don t type a lowercase when you mean a one...

Page 17: ... template in memory This means that when you return to the MS DOS prompt and press the right arrow key you see the characters retyped one at a time Up and down arrow keys have no effect In these manuals the arrow keys are also referred to as the RIGHT LEFT Up and DOWN keys See the MS DOS User s Reference for more details Control key combinations The CONTROL key has a special task It lets you give ...

Page 18: ...the MS DOS special terms and seen what the keys on your keyboard can do Now you are ready to go on o Chapter 2 Learning About Disks Files and Directories There you ll learn about floppy disks and winchester disks about preparing formatting your disks and about naming your files ...

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Page 20: ...telling them apart is by the two square holes in the cover of a high densiry disk one of which is the write protect notch Low density disks have only the write protect notch explained in the next section The plastic covers are fitted with metal shields that guard the disk from dirt and fingerprints When you place the disk into the disk drive the computer automatically moves this shield aside to re...

Page 21: ...ou keep track of the information on your disks but you may also need to protect the disks themselves Some floppy disks are protected letting you examine information on them without lening you change anything These are calledwrite protected disks Notice that 3 5 disks have a write protect notch This notch can be covered wittr a built in sliding tab When the write protection notch is uncovered no da...

Page 22: ...on your winchester disk either see the coPY command in this Guide or preferably refer o the MS DOS User s Reference Formatting your disks The FORMAT command Before you can use your new disks for storing information you must format them You do this with the FORMAT command a special progam that structures a disk so that MS DOS can find information on it The pro am also checks ttre disk for defective...

Page 23: ... not let you use all of these symbols If in doubt use only letten and numbers A maximum of eight characters is allowed in a filename three in an extension Spaces are not allowed Filenames you can t use Although you do have some freedom when naming your files there are certain names that you cannot use because MS DOS reserves them for specific devices that your computer uses These invalid names are...

Page 24: ...e sizes and dates you see on your screen may differ from the ones shown here depending on your version of MS DOS Don t worry ttrough Such variations do not affect the way you use MS DOS or the way MS DOS responds to your commands You can also get information about any file on your disk by typing the DIR command followed by a filename For example to display directory information for the file named ...

Page 25: ... would type cd dos ENTER To list the command files simply type dir ENTER Then to return to the root directory type cd ENTER In this example the root directory is called the parent of the DOS subdfuectory When you listed the DOS directory one of the entries was DIR The npo dots indicate that DOS has a parent directory Finally a mention of paths Paths and pathnames As an example assume you want to f...

Page 26: ...und in the MS DOS Users Reference What Comes Next So far you have learned ttre basic background information that you need in order to use the MS DOS operating system In the final three chapters of this guide you ll learn to make your computer work for you while you build a worting knowledge of MS DOS 17 ...

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Page 28: ... of the commands described in this MS DOS guide You will be loading the operating system from either a winchester disk if you have one or from the floppy disk labelled MS DOS System and Utilities Disk Find out which one it is if you re not sure Making a Backup Copy of Your MS DOS Disk In this section you ll learn how to make a backup copy of your MS DOS disk MS DOS comes with a command named DISKC...

Page 29: ...S DOS asks Copy another Y N 4 Type N if you only have one disk to back up or press Yto copy the next disk When you complete the disk copying process label and write protect the new disk s Then store the original disks in a safe place away from dust moisture and magnetism If anything should happen to the copy or copies that you have just made you ll have to use your original disk s to make another ...

Page 30: ...that your winchester disk may become damaged and cannot load the operating system In this case you need to start up your computer with the floppy system disk format the winchester disk using the FOR MAT progarn and copy files from the floppy disk onto the winchester using the XCOPY command FORMAT is described in the next chapter See ttre MS DOS User s Reference for more details of both FORMAT and ...

Page 31: ...me simple commands to make backup copies of your disks In the next chapter you ll learn how o use more MS DOS commands As you read about these commands and start to use them you ll begin to understand how the MS DOS operating system works And once you understand the operating system you ll see what it can do for you 22 ...

Page 32: ...e Also many of these examples use filenames which are intended for illustrative purposes only To use these commands you need to substitute the name of a real file on disk Some MS DOS commands will not work il your computer is operating in RM Mode Refer to the PC 28fl386 Guide for more informaticn on RM Mode You are told in this guide when this is the case The DIR command If you want to find out wh...

Page 33: ...e disk isn t inserted properly into drive A when you try o use this command MS DOS displays the following error message Not ready error reading drj ve A Abort Retry Fail _ To fix this error make sure the disk is properly inserted and type R for Ret y 4 MS DOS then displays the directory If necessary you can stop the directory listing from scrolling by pressing the PAUSE key then continue by pressi...

Page 34: ...n the same disk or from one disk to another For instance suppose you need a copy of a file named sales doc tiat you have on a disk in drive A and suppose you want to call this new copy monthly doc Example copying a file To copy the sales doc file and call the new copy monthlJ doc you would follow these steps 1 Make sure that the disk with the sales doc file is in drive A and that A is the default ...

Page 35: ... up your file system When you want to erase a file from a disk you can use the DEL delete command Remember though ttrat this command permanently erases the file To delete an old sales doc file from ttre disk in drive B at the MS DOS prompt you would use the following command deI b sales doc Example deleting a file Suppose you have an old copy of lhe sales doc file that you no longer need To delete...

Page 36: ...ing a file Suppose you want to rename a file namedpayroll dac on the disk in the default drive to salary doc You would follow these steps 1 Make sure that the disk with the payroll dac file is on the disk in the default drive normally A 2 At ttre MS DOS prompt type the following command rename payroll doc salary doc ENTER Note TheRENAME command can be abbreviated to REN The TYPE command If you wan...

Page 37: ...u try o display a pro am file one with an extension of COM or EXE you will see only strange symbols on the screen If you have an application progmm that creates files you may need to run the application to view them For example if you use Microsoft Multiplan to create a file Multiplan automatically adds the extension MP to the filename You would then have to start Multiplan to view the file The Pr...

Page 38: ...mmunications port that the printer cable connects to If you are using a parallel printer press ENTER If you have a serial printer type coml ENTER If you have two floppy disk drives printing now begins If you have a single floppy disk drive you are prompted to put the disk containing readme doc into drive B Remove ttre MS DOS disk insert the new disk and press ENTER to start printing Hinls While a ...

Page 39: ...ould use the following command format b ENTER You can also format a blank disk in such a way that some special MS DOS files are copied onto it during formatting These files are necessary only if you want to use the disk to stail MS DOS To format a blank disk in drive B and include these special MS DOS files you would use the following command format b s If you don t want to use the disk to start M...

Page 40: ...in drive B a floppy disk drive You can format your winchester disk in the same way Your winchester disk is delivered to you already formaned and will rarely need to be reformatted However il you do need to format this disk take great care when doing so See the MS DOS User s Refercnce for details Now your disk is formatted and ready to use Be sure to label it on the outside cover and rememhr o incl...

Page 41: ...oppy disk Instead you must use t re COpy or XCOPY commands Example copying a floppy disk Suppose you want to bring a data disk with you on a business trip but you don t want to take your original disk because it might get damaged All you have to do is use tle DISKCOPY command to make a copy of the disk For example to copy the contents of a disk in drive A to a disk in drive B on a dual floppy disk...

Page 42: ...rmatting you can use the LABEL command instead With the disk in the default drive type 1abel ENTER A message tells you if the disk already has a label and asks if you want o change it If you do not want to change it press ENTER Otherwise type a name ttren press ENTER RM Extensions to MS DOS RM have provided a number of additional commands which can be run under MS DOS These are called extensions t...

Page 43: ... deailed information about the commands in this chapter see your MS DOS User s Reference But if you are satisfied that you lnow enough about these commands you can go on to the next chapter in which you ll learn how to run some applications with MS DOS 34 ...

Page 44: ... can help you balance a budget write reports or manage information You should carcfully read the application s manual to find out how to install the application on your system and how best to run it The rest of this section assumes the simplest situatiur where an eplicatiut is in the root directory of the floppy or winchester disk Starting an application from a floppy disk Once you have started MS...

Page 45: ...ing an application from a winchester disk If you want to run an application that is on your winchester disk drive C follow these steps l Make sure the default drive is C the drive that contains the application progam Also change to the directory containing the application if necessary 2 Type the command for the program you want to run the manual tells you what it is 3 Press ENTER Example Suppose y...

Page 46: ...Greate a File with Edtin MS DOS includes a line editing pro am called Edlin that lets you create and edit files Edlin is called a line editor because it lets you edit files line by line To help you learn how to use Edlin the following section takes you through a sample editing session in which you ll use Edlin to create a small file Suppose you are asked to write an advertisement for an electric p...

Page 47: ...t line Introducing he X 1000 Automatic Pencil Sharpener From Sharpe Office Supplies The World Leader in Office Sharpeware If you make a mistake when typing a line use the Backspace key o erase the mistake before you press ENTER If you press ENTER before correcting the mistake don t worry about it you ll learn later how to correct a line Your screen should look like this A Ed1in pencil ad New fi 1e...

Page 48: ...hould see an entry for pencil ad You can also view this file by using the TYPE command as follows type pencil ad ENTER To learn more about how to use Edlin see the MS DOS User s Reference What Comes Next In ttris chapter you ve leamed how to run application programs in MS DOS and how to use the line editor Edlin In the next and final chapter you ll learn how to set up MS DOS for your needs for the...

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Page 50: ... t have these files but they help you take greater advantage of the operating system as you run commands and application programs and as you use devices In addition to taking geater advantage of the operating system these special files save you time by doing tasks for you each time you start MS DOS The Config sys flrle When you start MS DOS it automatically searches for a file named confi g sys on...

Page 51: ...re running If you don t set a value for files in your config sys frle MS DOS assumes a value of 8 which would not be enough open files for a large program like a database If you are using MS DOS on an RM network you should set the command to ftes 255 Other commands in the file are for configuring MS DOS for devices You may also want to add your own commands to the file to configure MS DOS for devi...

Page 52: ...o searches for a second file when you start your computer after it has searched for the config sys file This file is called autoexec bat It performs any set of commands you would normally give when you start MS DOS For example you might use tie file to prepare MS DOS for running an application program To see if the autoexcc bat fl re is already on your MS DOS disk type the DIR command If the file ...

Page 53: ...MS DOS for example Microsoft Word you could include the command to start that applicarion word in our example at the end of the autoexec bat file For more information abort autoexec bat fles see the MS DOS User s Reference How the Special Files Differ MS DOS uses the config sys utd autoexec bat files in different ways because they perform different types of commands While the autoexec bat file may...

Page 54: ...ection There you can browse tlrough the definitions and familiarize yourself with MS DOS terminology Then once you re confident in your abilities you can go on to t te more advanced MS DOS User s Reference In the MS DOS User s Reference you can read and leam about multilevel dirertories batch files additional features of Edlin and much more Also if you need a more detailed explanation or example o...

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Page 56: ...d projecr managemenL Software is written in a comprter language and cqrsists of a series of instmcrions thar tell the conputer to perform tasks utoexec bat A special MS DOS file that you use to customize the MS DOS operating system to your needs See also Config sys Backup disk A copy of any disk you make with the DISKCOPY COPY XCOPY or BACKUP command Buffer An area in the conputer s memory that MS...

Page 57: ...e screen that shows wherc the next characteryou type will app ar The cursor is usuelly a blinking line or small box Default disk drive The drive where MS DOS searches for any filenames that you may type Unless you specify a different drive MS DOS looks for files in the default drive The standard MS DOS prompt contains the default drive letter For example if the prunpt is A then A is the default dr...

Page 58: ...d o your computer Typically a disk drive is either a floppy or winchester disk drive You insert floppy disks in floppy disk drives Disk operating system A group of programs that act as a translator between you and your computer MS DOS is a disk op rating systern Drivename Consists of a drive lener and a colon A drivename tells MS DOS which drive to search for the file For example Ihe command type ...

Page 59: ...le on a disk could contain the same information and could also be named friends Programs are also sored in files Filename A filename can be from me to eight characters in length An example of a filename is letter See also Filenme iltension Filename extension An additiqr to a filename Extensions begin with a full stop and contain from one to three characters as in e g letter doc Most applicaticn pr...

Page 60: ... the computer helping you perform such tasks as creating files running programs and printing documents See also Disk operating system Print Printer An MS DOS cqnmand that prints files on your printer A printing device anached to your computer It lets you print files so that you have a pa per copy or printout A set of instructiurs written in ccnputer language that tells the computer how to perform ...

Page 61: ... the volume label in order to recognize disks Winchester disk A disk built into the computer It can store much more information than a floppy disk and the cornputer can retrieve information from it faster Sometimes referred to as a hard or fixed disk Write protected disk A floppy disk that you can examine information qr but cannot change These disks usually have a write protect tab If a disk does ...

Page 62: ...me 25 27 Colan use of with drivename 3 Command com file 37 Command Copy 25 DP t26 Dir 15 23 Diskcopy 4 31 Erase26 extemal5 Format 21 30 intemal 5 Print 28 PromP P g 43 Rename 27 Typ 21 Xcopy 2l Communications port 29 Cunputer memory 6 See also Memory Ccnfig sys file commands for 42 creating with Ej lln 42 differences from autoexec bat file 44 sample lile 42 Cmfiguration ccnmands config sys 42 Canf...

Page 63: ...t 38 creating a config sys file 42 creating a file 37 editing a file 42 End command e 39 End command e Edlin 39 Ending MS DOS sessiur 21 ENTER key 7 54 Erase 26 Erase command See Del Erasing a file 26 Error message definition 6 Executable file exe 2 Expanded memory definition 6 Extended memory definition 6 Extensiqr bas 2 cqrt2 dcc 2 ete2 rr 2 executable 2 filename 2 13 File commands 23 File autoe...

Page 64: ...lling a disk 3 31 33 LEFT ARROW key 8 I etters lowercase 3 leners uppe rcase 3 Line editor Edlin 37 Listing a directory 15 l owercase laters 3 Master disk MS DOS i 12 backing up 12 19 Memory buffen 43 definition 6 expanded mernory 6 extended memory 6 Message error 6 MicmsoftWindows 36 Microsoft Word 36 Mistakes in typing correcting 8 Moving the qrnor 8 MS DOS backup disks 19 MS DOS cunmand Buffers...

Page 65: ...ftwarc application 35 program l 35 word processing 35 Source diskene 32 SPACEBAR key 8 56 Special files autoexec bat 41 config sys 41 differences between config sys and autoexec bat 44 Startup disk i 19 Starting an application p rogram 35 Starting MS DOS 19 Stopping a command 8 Stopping scrolling 24 Storage area baffer 42 See also Memory Subdircctory 15 System prompt MS DOS 4 Tab write protect 12 ...

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