Get the Most out of Your PC © Copyright Michael Maardt
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Get the most out of your PC © Copyright Michael Maardt Acrobat Reader: How to ... F5/F6 open/closes bookmarks - F4 open/closes thumbnails In menu View you can set, how the file is displayed CTRL+0 = Fit in Window, CTRL+1 = Actual size, CTRL+2 = Fit width You can set SINGLE PAGE, CONTINUOUS VIEW or CONTINUOUS FACING .. try them out and you will see the differences. Navigation ARROW LEFT/RIGHT: forward/backwards one page ALT+ARROW LEFT/RIGHT: same as in a browser: forward/back CTRL++ zooms in AND CTRL +- zooms out 4 Table of Contents Directories and files ...................................................8 Windows................................................................... 42 Files .............................................................................9 Swap file............................................................. 42 Different types of files ..........................................9 32-bit disk access. .............................................. 42 Edit and BAT files....................................................10 Miscellaneous tips for Windows ........................ 43 ASCII ........................................................................12 DOS 6 ....................................................................... 44 16-number system ..................................................12 Installation ............................................................. 44 Memory.....................................................................13 Help........................................................................ 44 Forms of memory.....................................................14 EMM386.EXE....................................................... 44 Conventional memory.........................................14 MEMMAKER ....................................................... 45 Upper memory area.............................................14 Need expanded memory? ................................... 45 Expanded and extended memory ........................15 Custom................................................................ 45 High memory area (HMA)..................................15 More booting ......................................................... 47 The startup files .......................................................16 F5........................................................................ 47 The important files ..............................................16 F8 and ? .............................................................. 47 The boot process.....................................................19 Multiple Boots.................................................... 47 CONFIG.SYS.........................................................19 NumLock............................................................ 47 286.......................................................................20 MS-DOS 6.2 .......................................................... 48 386.......................................................................20 Disk compression with DBLSPACE.................. 48 Requires EMS memory.......................................21 Windows for Workgroups 3.11.............................. 52 AUTOEXEC.BAT .................................................26 Miscellaneous........................................................... 53 SMARTDRV disk cache..........................................29 Optimization tips ................................................... 53 Generally.............................................................29 Using upper memory.......................................... 53 SMARTDRV.EXE..............................................29 Looking in memory............................................ 54 Double buffering.................................................30 DOS tips................................................................. 55 The hard disk ...........................................................31 Deleting all files in a directory........................... 55 Disk optimization ...................................................31 CHKDSK /F ....................................................... 55 Norton Commander (NC) .......................................34 From, to .............................................................. 55 Introduction.........................................................34 Boot diskettes......................................................... 56 Configuration ......................................................35 Touch-typing.......................................................... 58 Using Norton Commander!.................................36 Your health ............................................................ 58 Copying files with XCOPY ................................36 What do you think? ............................................ 59 Hidden files.........................................................37 Selecting files......................................................37 Rename................................................................38 View/edit text files..............................................38 Searching for files ...............................................38 Creating a new file ..............................................39 Recent DOS commands ......................................39 Switching window on/off....................................39 Switching windows.............................................39 Changing directories ...........................................39 Leafing through directories.................................39 Comparing two directories..................................39 Practice makes perfect.........................................39 Menu ...................................................................40 Version 4.0..........................................................40 Version 5.0..........................................................40 Making backups ..................................................41 Introduction 5 Is this booklet for you? folded and laid down next to your computer, or put This is not a normal beginners’ book; it is more a in your back pocket. supplement to the many beginners’ books that are already available. The contents are of varying About myself degrees of difficulty. You will get the most out of I was born 1952, live in Denmark, and speak this book if you are running DOS 5 or above. It Danish, English and German. Between 1970 and includes a separate section on DOS 6. 1980, I studied sociology and psychology at the I do not deal with Windows 95 very much. University of Copenhagen, and also spent some However, a lot of things in this booklet are still years in Germany. I have worked with PCs since relevant when you use Windows 95. 1986. From 1988 to 1991, I worked with a main- frame computer. My purpose One of the aims of this project is to publish and Thank you distribute KnowWare booklets in as many countries To everyone who has supported me and taught me as possible, thereby helping as many people as many different things. Also thanks to all of you who possible to use their PCs. have helped to improve and publicize this booklet. If you would like to support the project, please Heartfelt and grateful thanks to my other guides. tell others about the guide and/or make suggestions to improve the text. Happy reading! - I hope that this booklet will bring you a greater Important understanding of your PC, insight into its secrets I have tried to keep the contents as up to date as and more pleasure when you work with it. possible. Remember that the first edition was written in the beginning of 1993. Even though )) Important (( everything happens very fast in the computer world, Something I must point out: everything you try most of us continue using programs longer than using ideas or suggestions given in this text is your their developers would wish. Therefore, things are own responsibility. That’s my disclaimer to avoid not happening quite as fast as many would like us to any litigation!! believe. We decide how fast things develop, My primary experience with PCs comes from because we users pay the bills. Remember that!! so-called “clones,” i.e. imitations of the IBM PC. If you are impatient and want to edit your The KnowWare philosophy CONFIG.SYS right away, then please remember to Is to pass on relevant and easy-to-understand have a boot diskette that works. Put a formatted disk information for a reasonable price. in the disk drive and type My main motive is to pass on what I know about PCs to as many people as possible – as cheaply as C:\>SYS A: possible. Computer books are generally too and also read Boot diskettes, on p. 55. expensive (or rather, were. The publication of My advice is to read all text in the order it ap- KnowWare books has forced prices down to a more pears, including the “references” (which admittedly reasonable level in Denmark). Users want force you to jump around a little). information and knowledge that makes their lives This applies especially to CONFIG.SYS if you easier. Whether this comes from a fine book with a have DOS 5, where you can easily write something four-color cover or from a booklet like this is that makes you unable to start your computer from unimportant. How much it costs is important. the hard disk, i.e. it locks your PC. The booklets are printed on a rotary press of the Now you have been warned. This problem does not type used for printing newspapers. They are printed exist with DOS 6. on long rolls of paper, all pages and