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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
June 18, 2006
Q.
While my computer was running a disk check
during its start up, I noticed that the type
of filing system was NTFS. I assume that the
FS stands for File System, but what about
the NT part?
A.
You are
correct in that FS stands File System. NTFS
stands for New Technology File System.
NT which originally stood for New
Technology, was a built from scratch
Operating System (OS) that was originally
written to be very secure, and usable on
many platforms, including the PowerPC chip
used then by the Mac and IBM OS-2 systems.
The multi-platform never really
materialized, but NT did become the basis
for all Microsoft operating systems from
then on.
In the
nineties, Microsoft had two main Windows
operating systems. Windows 3.1, which became
Windows 95, then 98, then 98SE, then ME. It
used a file system called FAT for File
Allocation Table, a carry over from DOS, the
operating system for the original PC.
The other
OS was Windows NT which was eventually
replaced with Windows 2000.
The
Windows 9X/ME OS and the Windows NT/2000 OS
were combined in 2002 and the new OS was
called Windows XP. XP comes from eXPerience.
XP will soon be replaced, scheduled for
January 2007, with Windows Vista.
Through
all this, the same file systems remained in
use. XP can use either the FAT or NTFS
system, but the NTFS is the default,
preferred one. The reference to New
Technology has been shortened, as it is no
longer New, and the file system is now
referred to simply as NTFS.
Vista was
supposed to have a new file system, but it
will not be ready for the initial release of
Windows Vista in January 2007. Maybe in a
later service pack.
Q.
When I try to ping an IP address using
the Start/Run command box in Windows,
the dialogue box opens and I can see it
processing, but then the box closes
before I have time to read anything. How
can I keep it open?
A. In the RUN box, enter cmd
and press OK. That will open the
command line window (it will
look like the old DOS). Enter the
ping command from there and the
window will stay open until you
close it. BTW, the correct way to
close it is to type in exit, and
press enter.
For those that do not know what this
"ping" is all about, loosely it
means "to get the attention of" or
"to check for the presence of"
another party online.
Ping is a basic Internet program
that lets you verify that a
particular IP address exists and can
accept requests. The verb ping means
the act of using the ping utility or
command.
Ping is used as a diagnostic tool to
ensure that a computer you are
trying to reach is actually
operating. If, for example, you
can't ping an IP address, then you
will not be able to communicate with
it using FTP, or any other protocol.
Ping can also be used to see how
long it takes to get a response back
from a computer. Ping operates
by sending a packet to a designated
address and waiting for a response.
The acronym PING (for Packet
Internet or Inter-Network Groper)
was probably contrived to match the
submariners' term for the sound of a
returned sonar pulse.
To see the parameters and use of
PING, Click Start, then Run, and
enter cmd (or command). Then from
the command prompt, enter ping /?
and press Enter. To leave the
command prompt type in exit and
press Enter.
You can use either the domain name
or the actual IP number. If the
domain name is used, the IP address
will be returned too. To check the
server that this web site is hosted
on, you can use this:
ping daddybob.com
ping 66.98.156.80
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