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Section 2 Getting Started

Section 2

Getting Started

INTRODUCTION

This section guides you through the process of turning on your computer, checking for important control files, setting the system time and date, and then determining what version of DOS you are using.

Commands introduced include:
DATE                 Display and sets the system date.
TIME                 Display and sets the system time.
VER                   Display the current DOS version in use by the system.

Commonly used DOS files that are introduced and examined include:
CONFIG.SYS     Configures memory and loads special device drivers at system turn on.
AUTOEXEC.BAT    Automatically executes DOS commands that are included in this file.

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