Summary

140 IT Essentials: PC Hardware and Software Companion Guide■■Safe Mode with Command Prompt: Starts Windows and loads the command promptinstead of the GUI.Last Known Good Configuration: Enables a user to load the configuration settings ofWindows that were used the last time that Windows successfully started. It does this byaccessing a copy of the registry that is created for this purpose.NoteThe Last Known Good Configuration option is not useful unless it is applied immediately after a failureoccurs. If the machine is restarted and, despite its difficulties, manages to open Windows, the registrykey for Last Known Good Configuration will probably be updated with the faulty information.Describe Directory StructuresIn Windows, files are organized in a directory structure. The root level of the Windows partitionis usually labeled drive C:\. Next, there is an initial set of standardized directories,called folders, for the operating system, applications, configuration information, and datafiles. Following the initial installation, users can install most applications and data in whateverdirectory they choose.Files in the directory structure adhere to a Windows naming convention:■■■■Maximum of 255 characters can be used.Characters such as a period (.), a slash (/), and a backslash (\) are not allowed.An extension of three or four letters is added to the filename to identify the file type.Filenames are not case sensitive.The following filename extensions are commonly used:■■■■■.doc: Microsoft Word.txt: ASCII text only.jpg: Graphics format.ppt: Microsoft PowerPoint.zip: Compression formatThe directory structure maintains a set of attributes for each file that controls how the filecan be viewed or altered. The most common file attributes are as follows:■■R: The file is read-only.A: The file will be archived the next time that the disk is backed up.