China DOS Union

Cleverly Porting Needed System Tools Between Different Versions of Windows


2002-11-09 15:02:00 China Computer Education News



　　Speaking of operating systems, I think most people still choose the Microsoft line, and among them, users of Windows 98 and Windows 2000 make up by far the largest proportion. The reasons are nothing more than two points: Windows 98 is the game platform with the best compatibility, and Windows 2000 is the office platform people find easiest to use. Everyone is used to systems like these, so naturally they are not that interested in the later Windows Me and Windows XP. Since that is the case, why not take and use those functions in them whose performance has been improved?

　　I. The Windows Me Disk Defragmenter

　　As computer hardware keeps improving, the processing speed of our applications has also changed invisibly, but thinking back to the daily experience of defragmenting disks in Windows 98, it really was unbearable. In fact, users who have used Windows Me all know that Microsoft made major improvements to its disk defragmenter, and the speed is quite satisfying.

　　Since all the system programs in Windows Me are contained in the CAB archives on the installation disc, the installer decompresses them into the corresponding directories when Windows is installed. So the programs corresponding to the functions we want to port are all hidden in these CAB archives. The disk defragmenter defrag.exe is hidden in Win_16.CAB; we only need to use WinZip or WinRAR to extract it to C:Windows and replace the original Windows 98 defrag.exe.

　　II. The Windows Me Wubi input method

　　The Wangma Wubi input method 86 edition included with Windows Me has a very rich collection of everyday vocabulary and matches people's usage habits, which can effectively improve our input efficiency. Below, I will show everyone how to port it to the Windows 98 operating system as well.

　　(1) Before porting the input method, first click "Start" → "Programs" → "Accessories" at the lower left of the desktop, and check whether the Input Method Generator is already installed in Windows. If not, install it from "Start" → "Settings" → "Control Panel" → "Add/Remove Programs" → "Windows Setup" → Accessories".

　　(2) The Windows Me input method is hidden in Win_19.CAB. Use WinZip or WinRAR to extract Winwb86.MB from it into a folder.

　　(3) Click "Start" → "Programs" → "Accessories" → "Input Method Generator" → "Reverse Conversion" → "Open File", find Winwb86.MB in the folder just mentioned, then click "Reverse Conversion" below to convert Winwb86.MB into a code table file.

　　(4) Return to the "Create Input Method" window, click "Browse" to find the code table file just converted, then click "Create" with the mouse. After it is done, return to the Windows desktop, and now we can already use the Wubi Input Method 86 edition.

　　III. Windows XP's Movie Maker

　　I believe everyone is already very familiar with Movie Maker, this simple video production tool. Porting Movie Maker from Windows XP is very simple: just copy the Movie Maker folder from the Program Files folder on the partition where Windows XP is installed to any partition, and it can then be used in Windows 2000.

Usage Tips: Making a Windows Boot Disk in a DOS Environment


2002-09-30 11:25:00 China Computer Education News



　　Making a system boot disk lets you use the boot disk to start the system when a Windows system has problems, and then look for the fault and solve it. Below is an introduction to how to make a boot disk.

　　1. Create a boot disk in Windows

　　Open Control Panel, double-click the "Add/Remove Programs" icon, then select the "Startup Disk" tab. The boot disk made here has the most complete functions. It includes: a universal CD-ROM driver, which can boot the system and support the vast majority of ATAPIIDE and SCSI CD-ROM drives, making it possible to install operating systems such as Windows 98 directly from the CD-ROM drive. In addition, it also includes a virtual disk creation program. After booting, it will create a 2MB virtual disk, and the diagnostic tools and CD-ROM drivers that were originally compressed in CAB format can then be released onto the virtual disk, greatly speeding up the running of utility software such as disk scanning, partitioning, and formatting.

　　Click the "Create Startup Disk" button. The system will prompt you to insert a floppy disk into the floppy drive, and after a long wait, you will have a boot disk.

　　2. Create a boot disk under DOS

　　If our Windows 98 system has crashed and cannot enter Windows 98, and we want to reinstall the system but do not have a boot disk at hand, then if your system can still enter DOS mode, you can go into the Command subdirectory under the Windows 98 installation directory, then run the Bootdisk.bat batch file. After running it, it will prompt you to insert a formatted floppy disk, and after pressing Enter a boot disk will be made very quickly; otherwise, you can only make one on another machine.

　　3. Make your own universal boot disk

　　First use the Format A:/S command to make a boot disk that can boot the system. Execute the commands as follows:

　　Format A:/S
　　CD WindowsCommand
　　Copy mscdex.exe A:

　　After that, find the universal CD-ROM drive file from some utility CDs, such as Ide.sys or Cdrom.sys, and copy this file to the root directory of drive A.

　　Then you also need to make the two files Autoexec.bat and Config.sys, as follows:

　　First make the Autoexec.bat file:

　　C:>Copy con Autoexec.bat
　　a:mscdex.exe /d:cdrom1 /l:j
　　^z（press Ctrl+Z to end editing）

　　Now make the config.sys file:

　　C:>Copy con Config.sys
　　device=a:ide.sys或者cdrom.sys /d:cdrom1
　　^z（press Ctrl+Z to end editing）

　　After these two files are made, booting again with this floppy disk will load the CD-ROM drive.