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Preview

DS 2.9: Installing and setting up an operating system

This is the first page of the lesson. Read it and have a go at the activities. The rest is in the full lesson.

60 minutes

Fifty new laptops by Friday

Fifty laptops arrive on Monday. Each needs the system installed, the settings made, the updates added and the user's files kept safe.

Nobody wants to sit with 50 screens. So the install is done from a distance, in set stages.

Key words

WordWhat it means
Installationputting a system on a computer
Operating systemthe program that runs a computer and its other programs
Networkcomputers joined together so they can share data
Boot drivethe drive the computer starts from and keeps the system on
Partitiona separate section of a drive
Formatto prepare a partition with a file system so it can hold files
Domaina group of computers and accounts that are managed together
Drivera small program that lets the system use a piece of hardware
Updatea new version of software that fixes faults or adds features
Regionthe country setting that decides the date format and currency

The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.

By the end of this lesson

Note

I can list the stages of a remote operating system install and the settings made at each stage.

Starter

Have a go

Starter

3 questions
Have a go: your answers are marked here and then forgotten. Sign in if you would like your score kept, and to pick up where you left off.Sign in to keep your score

Your answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.

Drive, partitions and the domain

First choose the boot drive, the drive that will hold the system. Then make the right partitions and format them with a file system. The next lesson shows how.

Then set up the domain. The PC joins the organisation's domain. Its accounts and policies then come from the central server. The user can sign in with their work account.

Time, language, drivers and updates

Next set the time, date, region and language. A wrong time zone makes tickets and logs confusing, and a wrong region changes date formats.

Then add extra drivers: the printer, graphics or network card may need ones that the installer did not include. Last, install every update that is available, so the new PC is not built with known faults.

The time in London

Command
TZ=Europe/London date +"%H:%M %Z"

A command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.

The time in Tokyo

Command
TZ=Asia/Tokyo date +"%H:%M %Z"

A command for the lesson’s lab terminal. It is shown here and not run.

The lesson goes on

7 more parts of this lesson are in the full curriculum, with the tasks, the final check and the labs. A college account gives your students all of it.

Previous lesson: DS 2.9: Permissions and security when installingAll chaptersNext lesson: DS 2.9: Installing and updating office software