Omnino HS Quick Start Guide – Ver 1.0
17
The Real Time Clock
Viglen PC’s are IBM AT compatible computers and hence the whole system
configuration is set up in battery-backed CMOS RAM. This information indicates the
type of hardware and memory configuration that the system includes. It is important
that this information is set up correctly; otherwise the computer may find errors and
may not be able to access the hardware correctly. The correct information is preset
for you; however, you can change this information if required by running the SETUP
utility. Refer to the motherboard manual for further details. The time and date
information is also stored in the battery-backed RAM. Thus, when the power is
switched off, the time and date is kept running and will be correctly set up the next
time that the computer is switched on again. The correct time and date is also
preset for you but can be changed if required by double clicking on the clock in the
lower right hand side of your Windows desktop.
Floppy and Hard Disk Drives
Your computer requires storage and memory devices in order to store programs and
data and any other information. This memory can be either volatile or non-volatile.
Information stored in volatile memory is lost when the power is switched off - but with
non-volatile memory, the information is retained.
The most important type of non-volatile memory is obtained by storing information on
magnetic media called disks or diskettes. System Information is also stored in
battery backed memory where a battery supplies power to maintain the information
when the mains power is turned off. The hardware units that are used to store
information on magnetic disks are called disk drives.
The two most common types of disk drives are Floppy Disk Drives and Hard Disk
Drives.
Floppy Disk Drives
Floppy Disk Drives enable the computer to read from, or write to, floppy disks that
are inserted into the drive. These disks can then be removed or taken to another
computer where they can also be used. The information is stored as a ‘magnetic
picture’, and held permanently on the disk until deletion of the data.
A 1.44MB drive can read and write both 720KB and 1.44MB format disks. If a 720KB
formatted disk is inserted the drive will automatically read and write in the 720KB
format. Likewise, if a 1.44MB formatted disk is inserted; the system will
automatically read and write in the 1.44MB format. The 3.5” FDD is the standard
drive for flexible data storage and transferral – you might buy some software that
comes on 3.5” floppy disk for instance.
