Title: Survey%20of%20Operating%20Systems
1(No Transcript)
2A Look under the Hood
Chapter
8
- Understanding the Registry
- Working with Device Drivers
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Windows File Systems
- The Windows Startup Process
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
3Learning Objectives
- Define the role of the registry in Windows and
back up and modify the registry when needed - Install, configure, and manage device drivers
- Monitor and optimize performance in Windows
- Compare the file systems supported by Windows
- Describe the Windows startup process
- Troubleshoot common Windows problems
4Understanding the Registry
- The Registry Defined
- The registry is a database that includes
settings for - Device drivers
- Services
- Installed applications
- Operating system components
- User preferences
5Understanding the Registry
- Automatic registry changes occur when
- Windows starts up or shuts down
- Windows Setup is run
- Changes are made with a Control Panel applet
- A new device is installed
- Changes to Windows configuration
- Changes are made to user desktop preferences
- An application is installed or modified
- Changes are made to preferences in any application
6Understanding the Registry
- Registry Files
- SYSTEM
- SOFTWARE
- SECURITY
- SAM
- DEFAULT
- NTUSER.DAT
7Understanding the Registry
- Registry Files (continued)
- SYSTEM
- Information used at startup, including device
drivers to be loaded, the order of their loading
and configuration settings, the starting and
configuring of services, and other settings - SOFTWARE
- Configuration settings for software installed on
the local computer - SECURITY
- Local security policy settings for the computer
8Understanding the Registry
- Registry Files (continued)
- SAM
- Local security accounts database
- DEFAULT
- User desktop settings used when no user is logged
on - NTUSER.DAT
- User profile for a single user
- The first time a user logs on the NTUSER.DAT file
from the DEFAULT USER folder is used - File is saved in the top-level personal folder
9Understanding the Registry
- Viewing the Registry Structure
- View as a hierarchical structure
- Use REGEDIT.EXE or REGEDT32.EXE
- Navigation similar to disk folders
- root keys five folders at the top
- subtrees root keys and their contents
- subkey key that exists within another key
- value entries settings within a key
10Understanding the Registry
- Data Types in Value Entries
- Format of the data within a key
- The Short List
- REG_BINARY
- REG_DWORD
- REG_EXPAND_SZ
- REG_MULTI-SZ
- REG_SZ
11Understanding the Registry
- Permanent Portions of the Registry Registry
Hives - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SECURITY
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SAM
- HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER and HKEY_USER
12Understanding the Registry
- Temporary Portion of the Registry
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware
- Information from the hardware detection process
during Windows startup - It is not saved to a file
13Working with Device Drivers
- Finding Device Drivers
- Windows distribution CD
- On floppy disk or CD that came with the device
- Web site of the manufacturer
14Working with Device Drivers
- Permissions Required for Installing and
Configuring Device Drivers - Administrator or member of Administrators group
to install any device driver in Windows - Any member of Users group may disconnect and
reconnect a device - Driver is not uninstalled during disconnect, just
given a status of not present
15Working with Device Drivers
- Working with Signed vs. Unsigned Device Drivers
- Code signing of device drivers (driver signing)
- Windows uses file signature verification
- Administrator can control how Windows reacts to
unsigned drivers - Driver Signing Options
- Ignore
- Warn
- Block
16Working with Device Drivers
- Disconnecting a Plug-and-Play Device
- Can disconnect USB and IEE 1394 external
plug-and-play devices while powered up - First warn Windows using the Safely Remove
Hardware icon in the System Tray - Safely Remove Hardware dialog box
- Stop a Hardware Device dialog box
17Working with Device Drivers
- Installing and Configuring a Non-PnP Device
- Follow instructions in documentation
- Manufacturers installation program preferred
- If no installation program for driver, use Add
Hardware applet
18Working with Device Drivers
- Using Device Manager to Manage Device Drivers
- View and change device properties
- Update device drivers
- Configure device settings
- Uninstall devices
- Available since Windows 95 (except NT)
- Roll back a driver update in Windows XP
- System Hardware Device Manager button
19Working with Device Drivers
- Step-by-Step 8.01
- Getting to Know Device Manager
- Page 389
20Working with Device Drivers
- Hardware Profiles
- Include registry keys that contain
- Settings defining the devices that must be
started during Windows startup - The list of files associated with each device
- Configuration settings for each device
- Profile 1 is created during Windows installation
- Defines all the existing hardware at the time of
installation - Every device is enabled
21Working with Device Drivers
- Hardware Profiles (continued)
- On a desktop computer, you will probably always
have a single hardware profile - View, create, copy, rename, and modify hardware
profiles by clicking the Hardware Profiles button
on the Hardware page in System Properties - If two or more hardware profiles, Windows
startup pauses and displays the Hardware Profile
/Configuration Recovery menu - Useful on a laptop with a docking station
22Managing Performance in Windows
- Windows Performance Settings
- Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Performance
Settings - Limited compared to Windows XP
- Windows XP Visual Effects
- Let Windows Choose What's Best for My Computer
- Adjust for Best Appearance
- Adjust for Best Performance
- Custom
23Managing Performance in Windows
- Step-by-Step 8.02
- Experiment with Visual Effects
- Page 395
24Managing Performance in Windows
- Windows Performance Settings (continued)
- Processor Scheduling
- Programs
- Background Services
- Memory Usage
- Programs
- System Cache
- Virtual Memory
- Custom size
- System managed size
- No paging file
25Managing Performance in Windows
- Performance Monitoring
- Frequently done on network servers
- Not usually done on Windows desktop computers
- Few performance monitoring tools in desktop OSs
26Managing Performance in Windows
- Performance Monitoring (continued)
- System Monitor
- Gathers and displays performance data
- Monitors counters belonging to objects
- Displays results in report, graph, or histogram
- Performance Logs and Alerts
- Create alerts
- Create counter logs
- Create trace logs
27Windows File Systems
- FAT File Systems in Windows
- Logical structure
- File allocation table (FAT)
- Directories
- FAT16 used by DOS and Windows
- FAT32 introduced in Windows 95 OEM Service
Release 2 - Allows larger partitions
- Allocates disk space more efficiently
- FAT12 is used on floppy disks
28Windows File Systems
- Windows NTFS File System
- Available since Windows NT, excluding Windows 9x
- Logical structure Master File Table
- Includes a transaction processing system
- Allocates disk space more efficiently than FAT
- NTFS5 theoretically supports a volume size of
256TB
29Windows File Systems
- Windows NTFS File System (continued)
- Actual hardware limit is 2TB
- Offers file and folder security through
permissions - Pre-Windows 2000 NTFS is now called NTFS4
- Since NTFS4 is supports file compressions
- NTFS5 supports file encryption and indexing
30Windows File Systems
- File Systems for CDs and DVDs
- CD-ROM File System (CDFS) for
- CD-ROMS
- Writeable CDs (CD-R)
- Rewriteable CDs (CD-RW)
- Universal disk format (UDF)
- DVD ROMs
- DVD-R
- DVD-RW
- DVD-RAM driver (new in Windows XP)
- Supports 4.7GB DVD-RAM disk standard
-
31The Windows Startup Process
- Windows Boot and System Files
- Boot files reside in the root of drive C
- System files reside in the folder in which
Windows is installed (default location is
C\Windows or C\WINNT) - System partition contains the boot files
- Boot partition contains the system files
- In most cases they are both drive C
- Sometimes C is system and D or E is boot
32The Windows Startup Process
- Windows Boot Files
- Located in C\
- BOOT.INI
- BOOTSECT.DOS (not always present)
- NTBOOTDD.SYS (not always present)
- NTDETECT.COM
- NTLDR
33The Windows Startup Process
- Windows System Files
- CSRSS.EXE systemroot\SYSTEM32\
- Device drivers systemroot\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS
- HAL.DLL systemroot\SYSTEM32\
34The Windows Startup Process
- Windows registry files loaded during system
startup - DEFAULT The default user profile until user
logon - SAM The security accounts data base
- SECURITY The security hive of the registry
- SOFTWARE The software hive of the registry
- SYSTEM The system hive of the registry
35The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process
- Phase I Power-on Self-Test
- CPU loads BIOS programs beginning with POST
- POST
- Tests system hardware
- Determines the amount of memory present
- Verifies devices required for OS startup are
working - Loads configuration settings from CMOS memory
- Briefly displays information on the screen
36The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase II Initial Startup
- CMOS settings used to locate drive with boot
files - Loads MBR from first physical sector of the hard
disk - MBR code loads the boot sector from the primary
active partition of the first hard disk - Boot code from the boot sector loads NTLDR
37The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase III Boot Loader Phase
- NTLDR (the boot loader) takes control
- Switches the processor to protected mode
- Starts the files system code
- Reads the BOOT.INI file
- In some cases, displays the OS Selection menu
- If a Windows NT family OS is selected, NTLDR
remains in control and moves to the next phase
38The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase IV Detect and Configure Hardware
- NTLDR starts NTDETECT.COM
- NTDETECT.COM scans the hardware and gives the
list to NTLDR for later inclusion in the registry
39The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase V Kernel Loading
- NTLDR looks in BOOT.INI for location of NTOSKRNL
- NTLDR starts NTOSKRNL.EXE (the kernel)
- NTLDR passes on the hardware information
- NTLDR loads HAL.DLL
- NTLDR loads SYSTEM
- NTLDR loads drivers required at startup
- Kernel scans the registry for other components
40The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase V Kernel Loading (continued)
- Kernel loads and initializes the components
- Kernel starts SMSS.EXE
- SMSS.EXE loads the kernel-mode Windows subsystem
- Windows switches from text mode to graphics mode
- Session manager starts user-mode Windows
subsystem - Session manager creates pagefile.sys
- Session manager starts the Windows logon service
41The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase VI Logon
- WINLOGON supports logging on and logging off
- WINLOGON starts SERVICES.EXE
- WINLOGON starts LSASS.EXE
- The Begin Logon prompt appears
- WINLOGON responds to Ctrl-Alt-Delete by
displaying the Logon to Windows dialog box
42The Windows Startup Process
- Phases of the Startup Process (continued)
- Phase VI Logon (continued)
- User enters a user name and password
- Logon scripts are run
- Startup programs for various applications are run
- Non-critical services are started
- Programs and services are started from several
locations - Various registry settings
- Startup folders created in the profiles for All
Users and for currently logged on user
43The Windows Startup Process
- Modifying System Startup with the BOOT.INI File
- Contains the locations of systemroot
- Contains location for system files of an
alternate OS - Text file that can be edited directly or
indirectly
44The Windows Startup Process
- Modifying System Startup with the BOOT.INI File
(continued) - Lines beginning with "Multi" provide location of
systemroot. - boot loader
- timeout30
- defaultmulti(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOW
S - operating systems
- multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS"Micr
osoft XP" /fastdetect
45Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Cooperative Troubleshooting
- Elicit problem symptoms from customers
- Have customers reproduce errors as part of the
diagnostics process - Identify recent changes to the computer by the
user
46Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Proactive Tasks
- Keeping Windows Updated
- Windows XP Service Pack 2
- Configuring Automatic Update
- Working with Windows Update
- Using Runas
- Command-line program for running a single
command using a user account other than the one
currently logged on. - Use when logged on as an ordinary user, and
needing to run a single command requiring
administrative rights
47Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.03
- Create and Test a Runas Shortcut
- Page 409
48Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Create Startup Disks
- Windows NT/2000/XP startup disks
- Only contain the boot files
- Cannot start up Windows completely unless the
system files are located on the hard disk - Use when boot files are damaged on the hard drive
- Start with this disk to bypass the hard disk boot
files - Format floppy disk in Windows
- Copy to the floppy NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM,
BOOT.INI, and NTBOOTDD.SYS (if present)
49Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.04
- Creating and Testing a Windows Startup Disk
- Page 411
50Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Create Startup Disks (continued)
- MS-DOS and Windows 98 Startup Disks
- Both run MS-DOS
- Cannot start up Windows completely unless the
system files are located on the hard disk - Use when boot files are damaged on the hard drive
- Start with this disk to by-pass the hard disk
boot files - Format floppy disk in Windows
- Copy to the floppy NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM,
BOOT.INI, and NTBOOTDD.SYS (if present)
51Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Back up Data Files and the Registry
- Before making changes, back up data files and
registry - Back up a portion of the registry using Regedit
- Back up entire registry using a backup program
- Third-party backup programs
- More options and a greater variety of media
- Windows Backup (NTBACKUP)
- NT version only backs up to tape
- Windows 2000/XP versions back up to any hard
disk or network location (providing permissions
allows)
52Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Alerts
- Notification triggered by defined system event
- Windows NT 4.0 Control Panel Server applet
- Predefined events only cannot specify events
- Can only define who receives alerts
- Windows 2000/XP Performance Logs and Alerts node
of Computer Management - Selectable triggering events
- Example when disk space reaches 80 capacity
- Action can be more than an alert
53Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.05
- Configuring an Alert
- Page 414
54Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting with Event Viewer
- Event Logs
- System Events
- OS Components
- Drivers, services, etc.
- Application events
- Office suites, etc.
- Windows components that run in the GUI
- Events recorded by Dr. Watson applet
- Security events
- Only logged if auditing turned on and events
selected
55Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting with Event Viewer (continued)
- Configuring and Saving Event Logs
- Properties for each log file allow setting of
maximum size and action to take when the log
file is full - Actions clear each log file, save log file to
view later, open a previously saved log file,
and create multiple views - Use context menu of log file to access actions
56Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Solving Problems by Modifying the Registry
- Modified automatically when
- Windows Setup is run
- A new device is installed
- A device is configured
- Changes are made though Control Panel applets
- A change is made in the OS or an application
- Direct Registry modification is part of some
problem solutions - Only do this when there is no other choice
57Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.06
- Modifying the Registry
- Page 420
58Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Last Known Good Configuration Recovery
- Startup option in Windows NT family of OSs
- Selects the last configuration changes set before
the last successful user logon - How to
- Windows NT 4.0
- Select OS from OS selection menu
- Press space bar to bring up Last Known Good Menu
- Press L to switch to the last known good
configuration - Windows 2000 and Windows XP
- Press F8 after the POST and before Windows
splash screen appears - Select Last Known Good Configuration
59Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting Startup Problems with the
Windows Startup Disk - NTLDR or NTDETECT.COM is missing
- Boot with Windows startup disk, and copy the
missing file from A\ to C\ - NTOSKRNL is invalid or missing
- Usually indicates that BOOT.INI is missing,
damaged, or contains incorrect path - Boot with Windows startup disk, and copy
BOOT.INI file from A\ to C\
60Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting Startup Problems with Startup
Modes - Windows NT 4.0 Startup Options are limited
- Normal Windows startup
- Windows startup with standard VGA driver
- Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional
- Safe Mode minus several drivers and components
- Safe Mode with Networking like above, with
networking enabled - Safe Mode with command prompt a command prompt
as a user interface (EXPLORER not started)
61Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.07
- Using Safe Mode
- Page 424
62Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting Startup Problems with Startup
Modes (continued) - Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional
(continued) - Enable Boot Logging
- Enable VGA Mode
- Directory Services Restore Mode (domain
controllers) - Debugging Mode
- Start Windows Normally
- Reboot
- Return to OS Choices Menu
63Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Troubleshooting Device Problems
- Device manager shows a yellow exclamation mark
next to a device with a problem - Problem may be hardware, driver, or the ability
of the OS to automatically configure it - Double-click device icon to open Properties
- Use Troubleshoot button to find problem
resolution
64Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Step-by-Step 8.08
- Working with Device Manager
- Page 427
65Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Recovery Options
- Advanced options beyond Safe Mode
- Emergency Repair Process
- Recovery Console
- System Restore
- Automated System Recovery (ASR)
66Chapter Summary
- Understanding the Registry
- The registry is a database of all configuration
settings in Windows. Avoid directly editing the
registry, because you can cause severe damage.
The Control Panel applets provide a safe way to
edit the registry.
67Chapter Summary
- Understanding the Registry
- The registry is created during Windows setup,
(and modified) anytime a setup or installation
program is run after that, and during startup and
shutdown. It is also modified anytime a device
driver is installed, and whenever any
application, Windows component, or device is
configured.
68Chapter Summary
- Understanding the Registry
- Most of the registry is saved in several files,
called hives. They include SYSTEM, SOFTWARE,
SECURITY, SAM, DEFAULT, and NTUSER.DAT. - Two registry editors are found in
WindowsRegedit.exe and Regedt32.exe. Until
Windows XP, these were two separate editors with
different features. Beginning with Windows XP,
either command name brings up the same new and
improved version of the registry editor.
69Chapter Summary
- Understanding the Registry
- The registry is viewed in a hierarchical folder
structure in Registry Editor. - A key is a folder object that can contain one or
more sets of settings as well as other keys. - The five top-level keys, or root keys, in the
registry are called subtrees. - A key that exists within another key is called a
subkey.
70Chapter Summary
- Understanding the Registry
- Settings within a key are called value entries.
Each value entry has a name, type, and data. - The permanent portions of the registry are
contained in the registry hives, saved in the
files. - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Hardware contains the
temporary portion of the registry, the
information gathered during hardware detection
during each Windows startup.
71Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- A device driver is program code created by the
device manufacturer that allows an OS to control
a physical device. - Look for device drivers on the floppy disk or CD
that comes with a device, or at the web site of
the manufacturer. - You must be logged on as Administrator or a
member of the Administrators group to install
any device driver in Windows.
72Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Once a device has been installed, a user may
disconnect and reconnect the device without
restrictionthe driver will not be uninstalled. - Code signing is designed to avoid problems
caused by badly written code. It involves a
digital signature, provided by Microsoft as a
seal of approval of program code.
73Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Windows uses a process called file signature
verification to check for code signing, and an
administrator can configure what action Windows
takes when it detects code that does not contain
a digital signature. Con-figure with the Driver
Signing button located on the Hardware page of
the System applet.
74Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Always read the manufacturers docu-mentation,
and follow the instructions before attempting to
install a device driver, whether it is
plug-and-play or not.
75Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- When an administrator installs or connects a
plug-and-play device to a Windows computer, the
device will be automatically detected, and the
driver will be installed and configured with
little or no interaction from the user, except
to provide the device driver disk if requested.
76Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Plug-and-play devices connected to USB or IEEE
1394 (FireWire) can be disconnected without
restarting Windows. - Install non-plug-and-play devices by using the
manufacturer's instructions and installa-tion
program, if available. If the device does not
come with an installation program, and you have
the correct device drivers, use the Add New
Hardware applet in Control Panel.
77Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Device Manager is the tool in Windows 2000 and
Windows XP for managing and troubleshooting
device problems. - A hardware profile includes the registry keys
that contain the settings defining the devices
that must be started during Windows startup, the
files associated with each device, and
configuration settings for each device.
78Chapter Summary
- Working with Device Drivers
- Most Windows computers, especially desktops,
only have a single hardware profile. - Hardware profiles are very handy for a laptop
computer that has two or more configurations,
usually including one when it is connected to a
docking station and another when it is undocked.
79Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Windows performance settings are available on
the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog
box, but you should not have to make any changes
to these settings, because Windows automatically
adjusts to system changes to provide good
performance.
80Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Visual effects include treatments of the GUI
that make Windows more visually interesting and
even fun to use, but which may come at a
pricethe use of processor and memory. - The Advanced page of Performance Options has even
more settings, including Processor Scheduling,
Memory Usage, and Virtual Memory.
81Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- When a Windows computer is running low on memory
for the operating system and any loaded
application programs, it will use and manage a
portion of disk space as RAM. This is called
virtual memory. - Windows virtual memory uses a paging file called
PAGEFILE.SYS, which is usually located on the
root of C.
82Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Normally, Windows manages virtual memory,
adjusting for changing memory needs, but an
administrator can control the size, location,
and even the number of paging files.
83Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Performance monitoring is something that is
usually done on network servers, not on Windows
desktop computers. Server administrators use
performance monitoring to ensure that the
quality of service is maintained, and as an early
warning of potential problems that can show up
first as performance problems.
84Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- Beginning with Windows 2000, Performance Monitor
is replaced by a console called Performance
containing two nodes System Monitor and
Performance Logs and Alerts. - System Monitor, available in both Windows 2000
and Windows XP Professional, allows an
administrator to gather and view perform-ance
data involving memory, disk, processor, network,
and other objects.
85Chapter Summary
- Managing Performance in Windows
- The Performance Logs and Alert node in the
Performance console actually allows three types
of activitiescreating alerts and creating two
types of log files counter and trace. - The FAT file system supported in Windows 2000 and
Windows XP includes FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32. -
86Chapter Summary
- Windows File Systems
- Windows NT 4.0 supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, and
NTFS4. - The NTFS5 file system is supported in both
Windows 2000 and Windows XP.
87Chapter Summary
- Windows File Systems
- The CD-ROM File System (CDFS) allows Windows OSs
to read CD-ROMs and to read and write to
writeable CDs (CD-R) and rewriteable CDs
(CD-RW). Windows NT 4.0 does not natively
support any writeable or rewriteable CDs.
88Chapter Summary
- Windows File Systems
- The universal disk format (UDF) is a file system
driver required for Windows to read DVD ROMs and
to read and write DVD-R and DVD-RW. Windows XP
has a DVD-RAM driver that supports the 4.7GB
DVD-RAM disk standards.
89Chapter Summary
- Windows Startup Process
- The Windows boot files, used during the boot
sequence of startup, are NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM,
BOOT.INI, and NTBOOTDD.SYS. - The Windows system files, used during the load
sequence of Windows startup, are NTOSKRNL.EXE,
SYSTEM, and many components and driver files.
90Chapter Summary
- Windows Startup Process
- A Windows startup disk is created by formatting a
diskette and copying the boot files from the
root of C to the root of A. - A Windows startup disk can be used in case of
damage to the boot files on an NT computer.
91Chapter Summary
- Windows Startup Process
- There are several phases to the Windows startup
process Power-On Self-Test (POST), initial
startup, boot loader, detect and con-figure
hardware, logon, and plug-and-play device
detection. - You can view System, Application, and Security
logs in Event Viewer.
92Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Cooperative troubleshooting is a method to use
when troubleshooting problems on another person's
computer. It involves - Eliciting problem symptoms from customers
- Having customers reproduce errors as part of the
diagnostics process - Identifying recent changes to the computer by the
user
93Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Several proactive tasks make trouble-shooting
easier, or even preventable. These include
keeping Windows updated, knowing how to use
administrative tools like the Runas command,
preparing startup disks for each computer,
maintaining backups, backing up the registry,
and configuring alerts.
94Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Automatic Update is provided with Windows XP,
Windows 2000 (SP3 or later), and Windows Server
2003. It can be configured to automatically
download critical updates and, optionally, to
automatically install them.
95Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Windows Update is an application that connects to
Microsoft's Windows Update web site, checks the
status of your computer, and then provides a list
of critical and recommended updates that you may
choose to download and install. - Runas is a command-line command that allows you
to run a single command using a user account
other than the one with which you logged on.
96Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- A startup disk allows you to start up a computer
from the floppy disk drive, a handy thing to do
when you troubleshoot startup problems. - The Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP
startup disks are similar and can only be used
through the detect and configure hardware
phases after that, there must be Windows system
files on the hard disk to complete the Windows
startup.
97Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- A Windows 98 or MS-DOS startup disk will boot up
a computer to the command prompt from which you
can run a variety of MS-DOS programs, including
FDISK to partition a hard disk or FORMAT to
format a hard drive. - Maintain current backups of the entire system
and the registry so that you can restore a
system to its previous state after
troubleshooting.
98Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- The Windows Backup program in Windows NT 4.0
will back up the registry when the system
partition is selected for backup. In Windows 2000
and Windows XP Professional, the Windows Backup
program will back up the registry when System
State is selected.
99Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- An administrator can configure alerts to warn of
events that could lead to problems if not dealt
with. - Use Event Viewer to view logs of system,
security, and application events, paying
attention to the warning and error logs for
messages that can be used to solve problems. - While directly editing the registry should be
avoided, learn how to edit it in case a registry
edit is the only way to solve a problem.
100Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Last Known Good Configuration is a startup
option that will select the last set of
configuration changes since the last successful
user logon. - Use a Windows startup disk to troubleshoot and
solve problems with startup that involve damaged
or missing boot files.
101Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Win-dows XP
all have a startup option called VGA mode that
can be used successfully when there is a problem
with a manufactur-er's video driver. - Windows 2000 and Windows XP have Safe Mode
startup options, inherited from Windows 98. They
include Safe Mode, Safe Mode With Networking, and
Safe Mode With Command Prompt.
102Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Device Manager is the primary tool for
trouble-shooting device problems. A yellow
exclama-tion mark on a device in Device Manager
indicates a problem. Open the properties dialog
box to see an explanation. - Use Device Manager to uninstall, update, and
remove device drivers. You can also use it to
disable a device without removing the driver.
103Chapter Summary
- Troubleshooting Windows Problems
- Windows Recovery options include the Emergency
Repair Process (Windows NT 4.0 and Windows
2000), the Recovery Console (beginning with
Windows 2000), System Restore (beginning with
Windows Me), and Automated System Recovery
(beginning with Windows XP Professional).