{"id":157,"date":"2011-11-22T22:48:16","date_gmt":"2011-11-22T22:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/?p=157"},"modified":"2011-11-22T22:48:16","modified_gmt":"2011-11-22T22:48:16","slug":"major-operating-system-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/?p=157","title":{"rendered":"Major Operating System Files"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows 9x <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
AUTOEXEC.BAT <\/strong><\/td>\nPlain text file. Batch file that executes command prompt instructions. Configures command prompt environment and loads TSRs.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
COMMAND.COM <\/strong><\/td>\nCommand interpreter. Provides user interface to command prompt & processes keyboard commands. Contains other internal commands such as CD, COPY, VER, DIR.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CONFIG.SYS <\/strong><\/td>\nPlain text file. Activates memory areas and loads real-mode device drivers using \u201cDEVICE=\u201d (Always use full path)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EMM386.exe <\/strong><\/td>\nSimulates expanded memory for Windows. Requires HIMEM.SYS.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HIMEM.SYS <\/strong><\/td>\nExtended memory manager (above 1 MB) that makes extended memory available to MS-DOS programs. Protects memory from being used by two programs at once. Use \/TESTMEM:OFF to avoid memory test for faster boot.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
IO.SYS <\/strong><\/td>\nHidden, System file. Must be first directory entry in the root in order to boot and first physical file on volume boot sector. Real-mode configuration manager. Contains information to start computer and read file system (FAT\/FAT32). Reads MSDOS.SYS and load files and commands specified in CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
MSDOS.SYS <\/strong><\/td>\nHidden, System file. Must be second directory entry in the root to in order to boot. Specifies startup options (e.g., splash screen to use) and identifies location of boot files and registry. Provides backward application compatibility for MS-DOS based apps.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SYSTEM.DAT (HKLM)<\/strong><\/td>\nOperating system registry file.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SYSTEM.INI <\/strong><\/td>\nLoads windows settings and drivers, provides MS-DOS application details.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
USER.DAT (HKU)<\/strong><\/td>\nUser settings registry file.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VMM32.EXE<\/strong><\/td>\nVirtual memory manager. Loads 3.xx device drivers having a DRV or 386 file extension (virtual mode drivers). These drivers will be located in the SYSTEM.INI file in the [ENH386] section.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WIN.COM <\/strong><\/td>\nStarts Windows and takes control from IO.SYS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
WIN.INI <\/strong><\/td>\nWindows settings such as desktop, mouse, screen, keyboard, installed fonts, apps that run during startup.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Windows 2000\/XP <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
BOOT.INI <\/strong><\/td>\nIdentifies disk information used for boot process.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTBOOTDD.SYS <\/strong><\/td>\nContains SCSI boot drivers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTDETECT.COM <\/strong><\/td>\nDetects base system hardware.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTLDR <\/strong><\/td>\nSwitches from real to protected mode. Starts minifile system drivers to read file system. Reads BOOT.INI and then loads the operating system. Also loads NTDETECT.COM and NTOSKRNL.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTOSKRNL<\/strong><\/td>\nLoaded by NTLDR to take control of system. Switches to graphical mode.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
HKLM <\/strong><\/td>\nWindows\\System32\\Config \u00a0files: Software, System, SAM, security, Default, UserDiff)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NTUSER.DAT (HKU) <\/strong><\/td>\nUser settings registry file<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Windows 9x AUTOEXEC.BAT Plain text file. Batch file that executes command prompt instructions. Configures command prompt environment and loads TSRs. COMMAND.COM Command interpreter. Provides user interface to command prompt & processes keyboard commands. Contains other internal commands such as CD, COPY, VER, DIR. CONFIG.SYS Plain text file. Activates memory areas and loads real-mode device drivers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-computer-tech-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=157"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157\/revisions\/158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsoftgeek.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}