Introductory Exercise
for students in beginning computer classes

What's here?

• Who this is for
• Objectives
• General Instructions
• Part 1: Formatting your Disk
• Part 2: Downloading files from the Network
• Part 3: Printing Directories of your Disk
• Using the Printer
• Part 4: Finishing Up
• To Print your Directory after leaving the Lab

Who is this for?

Ifyou are viewing this with a Web Browser, you can click this symbol whereverit appears, if you need to to return to the top of this Web page. 

Objectives:

• Have a formatted diskette
• Be able to start Microsoft Windows programs using the mouse
• Be familiar with the process of formatting a diskette using MS Windows"My Computer"
• Be able to recognize the important parts of a directory listing
• Have WCC course files on your diskette
• Be familiar with simple forms of the DOS directory (dir) command

General Instructions

Needed:

• This handout
• The diskette from your lab book; or if you don't have a diskette from yourlab book, any other diskette. (The diskette must not have informationyou want to keep.)

Turn in:

• 2 printed pages as described below. Note: Please turn in both requiredpages at once. Do not

    turn in partial assignments.

This exercise is designed to help you get started with Windows 95, andget a few useful job done, too! Here's what you'll be doing:

• Formatting your disk;
• "Downloading" files from the network that is, getting a copy from the networkdisk to your own;
• Printing directories of your disk.

Part 1: Formatting your Disk

When a disk is new, it has no internal organization. The disk drivemechanism has no way to find its place. So before you use a disk, you haveto "format" it. This is not hard to do, and we use the Windows menu systemto make it even simpler. Here's how...

1. Log in to the WCC network as described in the folder that comes with yourindividual user ID.
2. Is your disk in the slot? If not, now is the time to put it in. The metalshutter goes in first, with the metal circular hub underneath. If thereis more than one diskette slot on your computer, use the upper one.
3. Along the left of the screen is a row of icons. One of them is called MyComputer. Open this icon. 

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To OPEN (activate) a program in Windows, you may either

Click once with the left mouse button and then press theEnter<Enter>key, or

Double click - that is, click the left mouse button twicein rapid succession, without moving the mouse. 

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4. My Computer will open a window showing a list of disks available from yourcomputer. Click once on the item called 3½ floppy (A:) Itshould now be highlighted (often with a blue background).
5. Click the File menu in My Computer's window.
6. The File menu will show, with several options. Most of the way down isthe Format option, which you should select by clicking.
7. The file formatting program will show you a "Dialog Box". In it,you will need to make several selections.
8. First, check the capacity of your disk. There are two kinds of 3½-inchdiskettes. This chart shows you how to tell which kind you have:

3½ inch disks	Capacity	Description	Embossed mark	Holes
Double Density	720 Kb	DD	(none)	1
High Density	1.44 Mb  (1440 Kb)	HD	HD	2

9. If your disk is high-density (1.44 MB ), go on to the next step.

If it is double-density (720KB), pull down the Capacity boxwith the arrow and select
720 Kb 3.5"
10. In the Format Type section, select Full by clicking the littlewhite circle with your mouse pointer.
11. Before actually formatting the disk, we need to give it a label. This isthe electronic label, and on it you have only 11 characters space to workin, and no punctuation marks can be used. Put in:
• your first initial
• a space
• your last name, up to 11 characters, separated by a space. Example: RichardLongstreet would type R LONGSTREE (capital and small lettersdon't matter here).

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Checklist before formatting: Did you...
• Choose the right drive (A: or B:)?
• Set the right capacity?
12. When these are all done, click on the Start button.
13. The formatting begins. Be patient. Your disk needs to have 80 circulartracks prepared for use, and other things besides!
14. When the computer finishes the formatting of one disk, click the Closebutton and take the disk out. Carefully write your name on the label. Disksall look pretty much alike, so yours should be labelled on the outsideas well as on the inside, electronically. Many disks are lost by studentsin WCC labs each term, and only the labelled ones are returned to theirowners! If you are using a new, blank disk, it should be supplied withan adhesive label. Your label should have:
• Your FULL name (first and last)
• Your class and section number, and meeting time, for example

CIS 100 Sec.99, 2-5 AM Sat.
• Your instructor's name

Part 2: Downloading Files from the Network

The people who wrote the lab book sent along a number of files to usein exercises and tutorials. In addition, your instructor may have providedspecial files for WCC-based projects. In order to use these, you'll wantto have them on your own disk. Here's how:

1. Make sure your disk is back in a drive - either A: or B:.
2. Locate the Start button on your screen. Usually, you'll see it in the lowerleft-hand corner. Click with your mouse pionter on it to open the StartMenu.
3. The third item from the bottom is Run. Click that.
4. A small Run window should open, with a space for you to type something.Just type the word

command
and press the <Enter> key on the keyboard.
5. In a few moments, you will see a black-and-white screen with no pictures.There should be a "prompt" at the left edge looking something like this(but it doesn't have to be exactly the same):

C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND>
6. We need to change to a network directory to get the files. First, get thecomputer to "look at" a shared disk drive on the network server:

t:
You will press the keyboard <Enter> key at the end of each command,to let the computer know you're done typing.
Now, tell the computer which directory (or folder) to look in.
If you're in CIS 100, type:
cd   \class\cis\cis100
If you're in CIS 101, type:
cd   \class\cis\cis101
Check to make sure: did you put a space after cd but nowhere else inthe line? Did you use the backward-pointing slash \ ? (You cannot substitutethe forward / slash!) Did you put CIS in two places? If everything is correct,press the <Enter> key.
7. Copy the files to your disk. You do this with the Copy command, like this:

copy  *.*  a:
You should see the name of each file on your screen as it is copied.
8. Your instructor may have special files for your section. If so, they maybe in a different part of the network disk. Check with your instructor,and if he or she asks you to get special files as well, use these two stepsto get them, assuming your computer is already pointed to the T: drive:
• Point the computer to your instructor's shared directory space.

If your instructor is Larry Krieg, use either this command for CIS100...
cd  \faculty\krieg\cis100
...or this command for CIS 101:
cd  \faculty\krieg\cis101
If you have a different instructor, write their directory name here:

cd  \faculty\____________________________

• Use this command to copy the files to your disk:

copy  *.*  a:

Part 3: Printing Directories of your Disk

Now your disk has several files on it. If you take it out and look atit, you'll see no difference. The names of the files have not appearedon the label! In order to find out what is really on the disk, we needto get a list. We do this by asking the computer to give us a "directory".

1. First, we need to let the computer know we're interested mainly in thediskette. We do that by changing the "default disk and directory". Thecommand is the letter of the disk drive, followed by a colon. For example,

A:
or
B:
(followed by the Enter key, of course).
2. On your screen, you should see:

A:\>
This is the "DOS prompt".
What is DOS? Every modern computer needs an "operating system"to run it. This is a program that acts as a sort of orchestra directorcombined with a secretary, to handle the basic organizing and communicationtasks for running any computer. The most widespread operating system isthe one used on IBM compatible microcomputers. It was developed by theMicrosoft corporation, and is called the "Disk Operating System:" MS-DOS(pronounced emm ess dawss), or DOS for short. The prompt tells youDOS is ready to accept your typed commands, and the letter A (or whatever)is the disk drive it will apply your commands to.
3. Create a subdirectory or "folder". You will use this for lessons you havecompleted. A (sub)directory gives you a way to sort files in groups andorganize your disk. Make one by typing this command:

md  lessons
As before, press the <Enter> key on the keyboard. You probably willnot see any response on the screen, but when we check the list of files,it should be there.
4. To do the directory, type this:

dir
(Capitals and small letters don't make any difference with DOS commands,but you must press the Enter <Enter> key to letit know when you are done typing.)
The computer should display the names of the files and some informationabout them. At the end of the display, it will tell you how many filesthere are, and how many bytes of space is left on the disk. Now: how aboutsome explanations? OK, here they are:
What's a file? All the information stored on a disk is put intoa unit called a "file" which is like the file folder in a filing cabinet.Think of the disk as a filing cabinet. If you want to be able to find papers,you put them in a folder with a label on the tab. The computer does thesame with the information it stores on the disk.
What's a byte? A byte is a unit of computer storage big enoughto hold one character. A character is a letter of the alphabet, a digit(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0), a punctuation mark, a special symbol, or a computercontrol code.
What is all the stuff in the directory display? First comes the file'sshort name, which is made up of 1 to 8 characters. It should describe what'sin the file. Then comes the extension, which is optional (some files don'thave them) and can have up to 3 characters. It usually tells what typeof information is stored in the file. Microsoft Works uses these extensions:
• WPS Word processing files
• WKS Spreadsheet files (this is also used by other spreadsheet programs)
• WDB Database files
The size comes next in bytes (characters); then the date and time whenthe file was last changed, and finally the file's full name.
5. Did your disk get labelled? Sometimes the Windows file manager doesn'tput a label on correctly. To check, type

dir  /w
You should see a "wide" listing of the files on your disk, and yourdisk label should be at the top. For example,
Volume in drive A is S STRONG
If not, a quick way to label the disk is just to type "label" andafter a space, your name:
label  s strong
6. Directories are so handy that you can get them several ways; you mightalso want a printed copy.

If you are in one of WCC's computer labs using a Novell network,you will need to prepare your computer to send printouts to the right printer.Otherwise, you can skip this step. Using a WCC Novell network computers,type the command for the room you are in:

If you are  in this room:	Type this command:
BE 272	CAPTURE Q=.Q-BE272.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10
BE 274	CAPTURE Q=.BE274_Q.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10
OE 150	CAPTURE Q=.Q_OE150L.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10
TI 108	CAPTURE Q=.TI108_Q.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10
TI 110	CAPTURE Q=.Q-TI110.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10
TI 112	CAPTURE Q=.Q-TI112.LAB_PRINTER.WCC NB L=1 TI=10

7. Let's send the file list to the printer. Type:

dir /s  >  prn
This command redirects the list of files (including those in subdirectories- that's what /s does) to a printer. Instead of seeing the list on yourscreen, you'll have to go to the printer and get your list from there.Here's some information about printing: 

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USING THE PRINTER
 

• Look to make sure you have the right paper before you leave.
• Is your name on the upper part of the page? Look for the disk label onthe directory!

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Now let's narrow down what we're looking at. Often, a list of filesis too long to read quickly, so we can use the program to narrow down thelist. Suppose we want to look for only the spreadsheet files. They allhave the extension .wks Here's how:
dir  *.wks
and press the <Enter> key

8. Type this command to get only spreadsheet files, and send the list to theprinter:

dir *.wks > prn
and press the <Enter> key
9. Again, find the printout on the printer. You should see only files withthe WKS extension on this list!

Part 4: Finishing Up

If the printouts look right, you're done! All you have to do is exitcleanly. Here's how:

1. Return to Windows by typing:

exit
and pressing the <Enter> key
2. Close Windows by pointing to the Start button menu; click the mouse(left) button to open the menu. In the same way, point and click on ShutDown.
3. Windows will give you a choice of ways to shut down. Choose "Close allprograms and log on as a different user"; a black spot should appearint he white circle by that choice.
4. Click the OK button.
5. On the main computer unit, push the button beside the disk drive to popout your disk. Did you label the outside? If not, better do it now! Stowit in a clean place (the pocket in the back of your book should work fine).

To Print your Directory after leavingthe Lab

1. A. If you are working in a WCC lab: log in to a network account(your own, CIS100.CLASS or GUEST)

B. If you are working at home and have a printer attached: startyour computer normally.
2. Put your disk in one of the drives, A: or B:
3. Start DOS by using the clicking the Start button, selecting Run,and typing command
4. Type A: or B: (depending on which drive your disk is in) and press the<Enter> key
5. Continue with Part 3 Step 3.