OS which have characters only. Eg.

DOS
FILE SYSTEM
An Operating System uses a file system to determine that how to manage files on a disk. A file system is
used to breakdown the sectors into a cluster or combines the clusters into a sector.
A Partition:
-> must be recognized by a Drive Letter.
-> must be formatted with a file system.
Disk Drive letters File system
Floppy A: FAT16, FAT32
B:
Hard Disk C: FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, HPFS
D:
E:
CD F: CDFS
DVD G: UDFS
Pen Drive H: FAT32

FAT- File Allocation Table

NTFS- Network Technology File System or New Technology File System
HPFS- High Power File System.
CDFS- Compact Disk File System
UDFS- Universal Disk File System
No. of partition in a Hard disk:

Structure of no. of partitions which can be created:

Primary Partition Extended Partition Logical partition
4 primary partitions (C: D: E: F: ) No extended No logical
3 primary partitions (C: D: E:) One extended partition 20 nos. of logical partitions (G: ,H: ,I: , ….)
2 primary partitions (C: D: ) One extended partition 21 nos. of logical partitions (F:, G:, H:, …..)
Only one primary partition (C:) One extended partition 22 nos. of logical partitions (E:, F:, G:, ….)
How to check which drive is using which file system?
 Open My Computer.
 Right Click on the drive of whose file system you want to see.
 Click on Properties
Now you can see the required information.
FAT 16:
This file system is used by the Microsoft Operating System. It supports upto 2047 MB (2.1GB) for each
partition. It uses 11 characters in DOS (8 Primary & 3 Secondary) & 111 characters in Windows to write file name.
It creates cluster size of 16 bits (2 Bytes).
No of cluster in a sector = Size of Sector ÷ Cluster Size
Using FAT16, no. of cluster in a sector = 512 bytes ÷ 16 bits = 512 bytes ÷ 2 bytes = 256 Clusters/Sector
FAT 32:

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 It is the enhanced/upgraded version of FAT file system which supports upto 2 TB of partition. It uses 128
clusters in a sector. (32 bits/2bytes of cluster size).
NTFS:
It is the Network Technology File System which also supports a larger disk space & this file system provides us the
facility for file folder security & quota management. It uses single cluster in a sector (512 bytes of a cluster size).
HPFS:
This file system was introduced by IBM for its own branded PCs for the OSs. Later Microsoft also added support to
this file system for Windows NT operating system.
CDFS/UDFS:
The CDFS file system is used for CD and UDFS file system is used for DVD.
Installation of Operating Software:
* Installation of Windows 98
Steps:
1. Create partitions
2. Format partitions
3. Run Setup
4.
How to create Partition using WIN 98?
To create partition using WIN 98 OS, we have “FDISK” command. This command is an external DOS
command. This command is used to create partition, delete partition and set active partition.
How to run “FDISK” command?
Creating Partitions
1. After assembling the computer system, go inside the BIOS and set its necessary settings.
2. Insert bootable CD of the WIN98 OS in CD-ROM drive and restart the computer.
3. Select “Boot from CD-ROM”.
Then System gives 3 options as below:
i) Start Window98 Setup from CD-ROM.
ii) Start Computer with CD-ROM support.
iii) Start Computer without CD-ROM support.
4. Select the ii option i.e. “Start Computer with CD-ROM support”.
5. Then the system displays the virtual drive i.e. drive A for working.
6. Type “fdisk” and press Enter key. i.e. A:\>fdisk
7. Then a message will be displayed as “Do you want to enable large disk support? [Y/N]
Note: Here by pressing “Y” we enable FAT32 file system and by pressing “N” we enable FAT16 file system
which support a partition size upto 2047 MB.
8. Select “Y” and press Enter key.
9. Then the “fdisk options” menu will be displayed as under:
i) Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive
ii) Set active partition.
iii) Delete partition of logical DOS drive.
iv) Display partition information.
Notes:
 While creating partitions, always create primary partition at first then extended partition and then
logical partition.
 While deleting the partitions, delete logical partition at first then extended partition and then primary
partition.
 Windows 98 OS doesn’t support NTFS file system. So, it detects such type of drives as “Non-DOS
partition”.
 Select the option “Delete Non DOS Partition” to delete the NTFS Primary partition. It cannot detect
and delete NTFS Logical partition by Windows 98 OS.
 Always save the activities like as Create partition, Set active partition and delete partition by pressing
“ESC” key until you get A:\> (A prompt or A drive. And then press “CTRL” + “ALT” + “DEL” keys.
 Always make “Set active” only Primary Partition.
 Always define the total available space for the Extended partition.
Formatting:

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 Formatting is a process to create the logical structure of the disk after creating partition. To format a
partition, we need a file named “FORMAT.COM” which is an external DOS command file. If we don’t have this
file, we can’t format a disk.
Process of Formatting;
1) After creating partition and making primary partition Set active, restart the computer with CD-ROM
support.
In the CD of Win98 OS, the “FORMAT.COM” file is available inside the “Win98” directory of folder. So
after booting the system with CD-ROM support, change the directory prompt as Win98 of CD-ROM i.e.
A:\>
A:\>F:
F:\>CD WIN98
F:\WIN98>DIR/P
F:\WIN98>
2) To format the drive, give the command as
F:\WIN98>FORMAT C:
Syntax:
Format drive letter followed by colon sign. Here, drive letter means the drive which you want to format.
3) Press “Y” to begin or start the formatting.
4) Provide volume label of upto 11 character when asked or simply press for making volume label empty.
LOW LEVEL FORMATTING
Low level formatting can be done only in Seagate hard disk.
Steps:
1) Boot from CD-ROM support using windows 98 OS.
2) Insert the CD containing the software DM (Disk Manager).
3) Go to CD-ROM drive. i.e.
 A:\>D: (Here D: means CD-ROM drive)
 D:\>DIR/P (Shows all files and folders)
Here we get “DM_2000” folder/directory
 D:\>CD DM_2000
 D:\DM_2000>dir/p
Here we get DM.EXE and DM1.EXE files among many other files. We go through any one of these two
files i.e. DM.EXE or DM1.EXE
 D:\DM_2000> DM
It shows a dialog box.
4) Press
5) Select “Advanced Options” and press
Installation of Win98 OS
1) First of all create different partitions as required.
2) Set active the primary partition.
3) Format the primary partition.
4) Now on the CD-ROM prompt or WIN98 prompt, type the command “Setup” and press
e.g. F:\WIN98>Setup
5) Press to begin the setup.
6) Now on wards follow the screen messages.
Product key
HQ6K2-QPC42-3HWDM- BF4KJ-W4XWJ
Installations of WIN 2000 PROFESSIONAL, WIN 2000 SERVER, WIN XP, WIN VISTA & so on:
Steps:
1. Set the necessary settings of BIOS and save it.
2. Insert the CD of OS which you want to install and restart the computer.
3. Now after a while you will be prompt with “Press any key to boot from CD” with 5 dots symbol. Before
appearing 5th dot press any key.
4. Now system will start loading the necessary files in the main memory of the computer i.e. RAM, which are
required to create or delete the partition, format the partition, etc.
5. Now you will be prompt with the following options:
a) Press “Enter” key to run Setup.

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 b) Press “R” to Repair.
c) Press “F3” to Quit.
6. Here we have to install the OS. So press “Enter” key.
7. Now accept the license agreement by pressing “F8” key.
8. Now you will get different partitions list which are already created.
a) To create partitions:
 Highlight the unpartitioned space.
 Press “C” key to create.
 Delete (Remove) the existing space (default defined) and specify the new space as your requirement to
allocate for the drive and then press “Enter” key.
9. To delete the partitions:
 To delete the partition, press “D” then “Enter” key and then press “L” key for the primary partition
which is previously created and formatted.
Press “D” and then press “L” key for deleting logical partitions.
10. Now to install, select the partition in which you want to install the OS and then press “Enter” key.
Note: If you have selected the different partition than “C:” then first of all it will format C: to create
MBR (Master Boot Record) location and copies the bootable files (NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM,
BOOT.INI, COMMAND.COM, IO.SYS, etc.) there in MBR location.
After formatting the C:, the system will prompt you to choose the file system to format the
selected drive. It is better to choose NTFS.
11. Now after formatting the drive, it will start copying the files that are needed to install the OS. After copying
the files the system will be restarted automatically.
12. Again you will be prompt with “Press any key to boot from CD”. Here let the system boot from Hard disk
drive afterwards.
13. Now on wards, follow the screen messages.
Note: Do not take out the CD with OS until you get the Desktop Screen on the monitor of your system.
14. At last you are asked to type the Product key of the OS.
Product key for the different OS:
Operating Software Product key
WIN 2000 PROFESSIONAL RBDC9 - VTRC8 - D7972 - J97JY - PRVMG
WIN XP PROFESSIONAL RHKG3 – 8YW4W – 4RHJG – 83M4Y – 7X9GW
WIN 2000 SERVER VX926 – WHFCF – DVFMV – HJD48 – P4678
WIN 2003 SERVER JB88F – WT2Q3 – DPXTT – Y8GHG – 7YYQY