What PC Users Should Know
A Do It Yourself Quiz

Basic MS-DOS Literacy

Files:

99% of Everything that does anything we care about on a computer is stored on a disk.
Check all of the words below which apply to the way we store things on a diskette, CD or hard disk.
pictures
programs
files
IP
shoeboxes
URL
directories
NIC
COM
MIL
EDU
folders
For the 1% exceptions to the last question, Check the terms below which apply to this exception
- PROM
- ROM
- CMOS
- BIOS
- COM
There are two broad types of files. Name the two basic types of files
- ____________________________________
- ____________________________________
Other than editing it, there are only three things you can do with a file. (Hint a Move involves two of them) Name all three.
- ____________________________________
- ____________________________________
- ____________________________________
A file move is really a combination of what two of the above basic things you can do with a file.
What's a wild card?
Give three examples of a wild card operation
If you try to copy a file from one place to another and there is already a file with the exact same name at the destination, what happens when you are doing the copy from a DOS prompt?
If you try to copy a file from one place to another and there is already a file with the exact same name at the destination, what happens when you are doing the copy from Windows Explorer?
You are at the dos prompt in a child directory of windows called system32 on a C drive. What does the prompt look like?
system32 as above, has a child directory called coolstuf.
There is a file on the C drive in My Documents called morestuff.
Enter the DOS command line which will copy morestuff to coolstuf
system32 (as above) has a child directory called coolstuf.
There are only 3 files in My Documents which are called more.001 more.003 and more.002
From the root directory of the C drive enter two single command lines which will copy all of these files to coolstuf
system32 (as above) has a child directory called coolstuf.
There are 100 files in My Documents, three (3) of these files which are called: more.001 more.003 and more.002
From the root directory of the C drive enter the single DOS command line which will copy more.001, moore.002, moore.003 to coolstuf
Is it possible that your command line above will copy files you didn't intend to copy? Y/N
Can you change the name of a file as you copy it? [Y/N]
Give an example of copying a file and changing its name without changing locations
Give an example of copying a file and changing it's name from one location to another.
What three attributes of files are shown with a DOS DIR command?
There are four "attributes" associated with files that do not show up with a DOS DIR command. Name them.
What command line switch do you need to use to find those attributes?
If you forgot how to do that, what command do you execute from DOS to find out?
What characters from the keyboard are NOT allowed in a file or folder name?
Describe the relationship of the members in a directory "tree" to a family of people.
If a file named goop.doc is in the child directory of system32 called stuff on a normal system hard disk, what is goop's full name?
What was the limitation on file names before Win95/98/NT/2000?
Does this still affect us?
If it does affect us, does it affect us a little, medium or a lot?
What happens when a file named ThisIsReallyGoodStuff.doc is displayed with DIR /w?
What is the displayed name of that file with DIR /w?
How will a file named "Good old.doc" be displayed with DIR /w
How long can a file name be on Win95 win98 and WinNT
Can the file name include spaces?
Many experts say that is usually a bad idea to have spaces in the name of a file, even though you can now do that. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Data files come in two Major types with lots of sub types. What are the two major data file types?

A text file named data.txt can be displayed at the dos prompt with what command line?

File types:

Data Files are where we store our precious data.
A simple data file contains just letters, numbers and the punctuation you'd see on a typewriter.
Complex data files contain special computer codes which tell programs like Microsoft Word, or Microsoft Excel special things about the data in this file, like what words are to be presented as bold orItalic.

Is a data file created by Microsoft Word the same as a data file created by Corel WordPerfect? Y/N
Can Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect read each other's data files
- Never
- Rarely
- Usually
- Always
If Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect were each able to open and read a data file created by the other, will all of the page layout and font information translate from one to the other?
- Never
- Rarely
- Usually
- Always
Why or why not?

Data files are often specific to one program, but they also can be grouped in categories.
Here are some major data file categories. Do you know what these concepts all mean?

ASCII Text files
Web content (HTML) files
Word Processing Files
Spreadsheet Files
Database files
Graphics files
Multi-media (sound, movie, animation) files

Program Files contain the instruction codes that tell a computer do the work that humans want done.

A small program (ie: FORMAT.COM) can fit in to a single file.
A large program is usually delivered in pieces. There can be several hundred files which by themselves do nothing; but together do many wondrous tasks (ie: Microsoft Word).

File Extensions are the period and 3 characters at the end of a file name. (ie: MyData.DOC, FORMAT.COM)

These extensions are very important to the way your computer keeps track of things.
They identify the type of information or program in each file.
You need to have a pretty good idea of what the file extension says about the contents of the file, and what it is saying to your computer.

Extensions for Data files: See how many of these extensions for data files you can identify by the program with which they are associated.

.EXT	Translation	Associated with What Program(s)	Type of Data
.DOC	Document
.DOC	Documentation
.DBF
.WKS
.WK1
.WQ1
.WPF
.TXT
.ASC
.GIF
.TIF
.JPG
.PSF
.CSV
.PDF
.ZIP
.MOV
.MPG
.PDF
.BMP

Extensions for Program files:

.COM .EXE .REG

and .BAT. Large programs consist of an .EXE file plus one or more additional files which have instructions which are used "as needed." An example is a screen or printer font. It is less important that you know what each type of program helper file is about, only that you recognize that they should not be deleted unless you are removing the entire program, or if you really know what you're doing.

You may wish to test yourself here anyway. Can you identify the type of program associated with these filename extensions:

.EXT Translation Associated With What Types of Program(s)
.COM Command
.EXE Executable
.BAT
.DLL
.OVL
.DDE
.FON
.FNT
.TTF
.HLP
.DRV
.SCR
.REG
.INI
.GRP
.SYS
.PIF
.CFG
.NDX
.CAB
.386
.SCR
.VXD

What is the difference between a "resident" command, a "transient" command and a Terminate Stay Resident (TSR) command?

DOS COMMAND LINES:
Even in a Windows environment, you should know something about how MS-DOS does certain things.
MS-DOS has over a hundred commands. Some DOS commands are quite simple, others have several levels of complexity. Fortunately you only need to know a few of them. To progress beyond "beginner" you should MASTER the following commands and the concepts they describe:

Define what each of the following commands do and give and example of their use DIR, ( show at least 4 switches in your examples
COMMAND What does it do? Example of use 1 Example of Use 2
DIR
TYPE
COPY
XCOPY
MOVE
REN
RENAME
DEL
DELETE
CHKDSK
FORMAT
SYS
FDISK
MKDIR
MD
CHDIR
CD
RMDIR
RD
PATH
PROMPT
VER
SET
EDIT
MEM;

If you want to be a true intermediate level user, master the following dos commands:
SET, MEM, SMARTDRV
The users of the world have upgraded the basic DOS commands with programs that do the same jobs but better. Here are my favorites, and if you need a copy, link here.
SD, DDIR, STREE, Qedit, QFiler
There are some very important files you should understand, although you need not understand them perfectly. That is to say, if you simply have an idea of what these files are and do, you have a leg up on 80% of the PC users out there:
AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, DBLSPACE.SYS, DRVSPACE.SYS, WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI.

If you have questions or comments, please contact:
Scott Rainey
webmaster@webwheels.com Webwheels Corporation
P. O. Box 6500
Portland Oregon 97228-6500 503.452.7700
FAX: 503.452.7800
Pager: 503.795.3200

.EXT	Translation	Associated With What Types of Program(s)
.COM	Command
.EXE	Executable
.BAT
.DLL
.OVL
.DDE
.FON
.FNT
.TTF
.HLP
.DRV
.SCR
.REG
.INI
.GRP
.SYS
.PIF
.CFG
.NDX
.CAB
.386
.SCR
.VXD

COMMAND	What does it do?	Example of use 1	Example of Use 2
DIR
TYPE
COPY
XCOPY
MOVE
REN
RENAME
DEL
DELETE
CHKDSK
FORMAT
SYS
FDISK
MKDIR
MD
CHDIR
CD
RMDIR
RD
PATH
PROMPT
VER
SET
EDIT
MEM;

If you have questions or comments, please contact:
Scott Rainey webmaster@webwheels.com	Webwheels Corporation P. O. Box 6500 Portland Oregon 97228-6500	503.452.7700 FAX: 503.452.7800 Pager: 503.795.3200