CompTIA^® A+^™ Core 1 Exam Notes : Annexure: Windows 2000, Windows Xp

5. The Windows 2000 Performance tool is composed of two parts:

1. a. System Monitor: With System Monitor, you can collect and view real-time data about memory, disk, processor, network, and other activity in chart (graph), histogram, or report form

2. Some of the important System Monitor counters are:

   1. 1. Memory>Available Mbytes: measures the amount of physical memory that is available. Typically > 4MB. If less than 4 MB, consider adding more memory.

   2. 2. Memory>Pages/Sec: Shows the number of times that the disk has been accessed, because requested information was not available in memory. If the value of the counter is not below 20, you should add more memory. A value of 4 or 5 is typical.

   3. 3. Paging File>%Usage: Indicates the % of allocated page file utilization. Should be less than 99%.

   4. 4. Processor>%Processor Time: measure the time that the processor is busy. Should be typically less than 80%

   5. 5. Processor>Interrupts/Sec: Indicates the average number of hardware interrupts that the processor receives each second. If more than 3,500, you can suspect a program or faulty hardware.

   6. 6. PhysicalDisk>%Disk Time: Measures the amount of time that the physical disk is busy servicing read or write requests. If more than 90%, you can improve the performance by adding another disk channel.

   7. 7. PhysicalDisk>%Current Disk Queue Length: indicates the number of pending disk requests that need to be processed. The value should be less than 2. The disk problems might arise from less memory, resulting in usage of excessive paging. Ensure that the memory is sufficient before attending to the disk problem.

   8. 8. LogicalDisk > %Free Space counter: Indicates the amount of logical disk’s free disk space. Typical value is 10% or above.

3. b. Performance Logs and Alerts: Through Performance Logs and Alerts you can configure logs to record performance data and set system alerts to notify you when a specified counter's value is above or below a defined threshold.

6. Event Viewer maintains logs about program, security, and system events. You can use Event Viewer to view and manage the event logs, gather information about hardware and software problems, and monitor Windows 2000 security events.

7. To open Event Viewer, click 'Start', point to 'Settings', and then click 'Control Panel'. Double-click 'Administrative Tools', and then double-click Event Viewer.

8. Encrypting File System (EFS) keeps your documents safe from intruders who might gain unauthorized physical access to your sensitive stored data by stealing your laptop or Zip disk, or by other means.

9. You need to ensure the following before the upgrade:

1. a. The hardware is adequate for upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional

2. b. Also, check the hardware, software adequacy by running “Winnt32.exe / checkupgradeonly”. Note that the switch “checkupgradeonly” will output a report on the adequacy of hardware and software. It will also warn you if any applications need upgrade packs, which may be obtained from respective application vendors, if available. If the software upgrade pack is not installed for any application, the application may be rendered unusable!

10. If you are creating a Striped volume on a new Windows 2000 machine, it can only be created on dynamic disks. However, if you are upgrading a Windows NT computer to Windows 2000, any existing stripe set will be supported.

11. For creating Stripe set with parity, we need at least 3 disk volumes.

12. Placing the paging file on different physical disks is optimal. This will improve faster access to the Paging file, and also distribute the load.

13. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Explorer can be used for assigning Share and NTFS permissions on a Windows 2000 computer.

14. To insert a new file extension, you use Windows explorer, and select the application. Then, Tools -> Folder Option -> File Types. Configure the extension appropriately.

15. Windows 2000 Operating systems support 5 different volume types:

1. a. Simple volumes :A simple volume consists of a formatted disk on a single hard disk.

2. b. Spanned volumes: A Spanned volume consists of disk space on more than one hard disk.

3. c. Striped volumes: A Striped volume has disk space on 2 or more disks. The disk spaces must be same on all disks. Fastest disk access among all volume types. RAID level 0.

4. d. Mirrored volumes: A mirrored volume consists of a Simple volume that is mirrored in total, onto a second dynamic disk. Provides highest level of fault tolerance. RAID level 1

5. e. RAID-5 volumes: A RAID-5 volume consists of identical sized disk space located on three or more dynamic disks. Here any single disk failures can be recovered. RAID level 5

6. f. Note that Windows 2000 Professional doesn’t support Disk Mirroring, RAID-5 volumes, where as other Windows 2000 Operating Systems (2000 Server, Advanced Server) support.

16. Fault tolerance boot disk is a floppy disk that enables you to boot a computer in the event that the first disk in a mirrored volume fails. If you mirror the installation folder in a Windows 2000 Server, you will not be able to boot because boot.ini points to the first volume. Therefore, you need to create a fault tolerance boot disk that contain an appropriately edited Boot.ini file, that points to the mirrored volume.

17. By default, you can start recovery console (in Windows 2000) using,

1. a. The Windows 2000 Professional Setup Disks

2. b. From the CD ROM drive using Windows 2000 Professional CD (if the CD –ROM drive is bootable).

3. c. Also, you can have “Recovery Console” as a start up option by typing \i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons at the command prompt, after switching to the CD ROM drive letter.

18. Windows 2000 provides two versions of Registry Editor

1. a. Regedt32.exe (32-bit): Regedt32.exe is automatically installed in the systemroot\system32 folder.

2. b. Regedit.exe (16-bit): Regedit.exe is automatically installed in the systemroot folder. c. Regedit.exe is primarily used for its search capabilities as it doesn’t support all functions and data types.

19. On a Windows 2000 computer, the default spool folder is located at: Systemroot\System32\spool\printers. For example, if the OS is residing on C drive, the default location will be: “C:\\WINNT\System32\spool\printers”.You can access this location through:

1. Start -> Printers -> File -> Server Properties -> Advanced tab. Type in the new spool location over the default location.

20. Up-grade to Windows 2000:

1. a. You can upgrade Windows 95/98, Windows NT 3.51Work Station, Windows NT 4.0 WS can be upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional.

2. b. You can’t upgrade Windows 3.1 and Windows for workgroups to Windows 2000 Professional. If you need to install 2000 Prof. On Windows 3.x, you need to upgrade first to Windows 95/98 or NT and then upgrade to 2000 Prof. It is easy to do a clean install of Windows 2000 on Windows 3.x machines.

21. By default, Windows 2000 stores a user’s profile in the C:\Documents and Settings\ user_name folder on the computer the user logs on.When a new user logs on, his initial user profile is an exact copy of either the local or domain-wide “default user” profile folder.The local default user profile folder is located in %root%\Documents and Settings.

22. If you have installed Windows 2000 in C drive, it is C:\Documents and Settings.

23. Pressing F8 during boot process in Windows 2000 desk top bring up the following options:

1. a. Safe Mode: Safe Mode loads only the drivers necessary to get the desk top up and running. The drivers loaded with Safe Mode include mouse, monitor, keyboard, hard drive, and standard video driver.

2. b. Safe Mode with Networking: Safe Mode with Networking is same as Safe Mode with networking enabled.

3. c. Safe Mode with Command prompt: Safe Mode with Command Prompt option loads the command prompt instead of Windows 2000 graphical interface.

4. d. Enable Boot Logging

5. e. Enable VGA Mode: Enable VGA Mode option loads a standard VGA driver. This option is good if you have any problem with newly installed video driver.

6. f. Last Known Good Configuration: Last Known Good Configuration enables the desk top to load the configuration that was stored when it was booted successfully last time. This option can’t take care of any hardware related problems.

7. g. Debugging Mode: The Debugging Mode option runs the Kernel Debugger, if that utility is installed.

8. h. Boot Normally: The Boot Normally is same as not pressing the F8 key. The Windows boots normally

24. You can access Task Manager by pressing < Alt > < Ctrl > < Del >. The applications tab lists all the applications that are currently running on the computer. The current status of the application is also displayed as either “Running” or “not responding” or “stopped”.

25. Blue screen messages are also called STOP messages. You will not be allowed to proceed, when a blue screen message appears. The most likely cause of blue screen messages are:

1. a. Boot sector virus

2. b. IRQ/ IO address conflicts.

3. c. You can check for any boot sector virus, and also for any conflicting IRQ / IO addresses.

26. You can configure support for multiple displays on your Windows 2000 computer. This is done through the use of Control Panel -> Display -> Settings. A Windows 2000 computer can support up to ten display monitors at the same time. Use additional video cards as required.

27. On a Windows 2000 computer, disk quotas can be used on NTFS volumes. Windows Explorer can be used to configure and monitor disk quotas.

28. On a Windows computer, you can use the View tab in Folder Options applet in the Control Panel to show / hide files and folders that have “Hidden” attribute set. You can also use Windows Explorer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View tab.

29. If you want to install Windows 2000 on the same partition as that of Windows 98, install 2000 Professional either on the FAT file systems or on the FAT32 for dual boot. Windows 98 supports FAT (FAT16) and FAT32. It doesn’t support NTFS file system.

30. The various file systems supported by Windows 2000 are:

1. a. FAT: Also called FAT16, supported by all Microsoft Operating Systems.

2. b. FAT32: Also supported by Win 95 OSR2 and Win98

3. c. NTFS: This is not supported by Win95/98

4. d. CDFS (Compact Disk File System, used to access CDs)

5. e. UDF (Universal Disk Format, used to access DVDs)

31. If you want to have dual boot between Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000, ensure that Service Pack 4 is installed on Windows NT 4. This is required since Windows 2000 upgrades the NTFS to NTFS 5. NT4 requires Service Pack 4 to read and write to NTFS 5.

32. If you encrypt a folder on an NTFS volume, all files and sub folders created in the encrypted folder are automatically encrypted. Therefore, it is recommended that you use encryption at the parent folder level.

33. Also note that you can’t encrypt a file or folder that is compressed. If you want to encrypt a file or folder that is compressed, you need to first decompress the file or folder and then encrypt. Only NTFS volumes support file or folder encryption.

34. You don’t need to have a network card installed for successful installation of Windows 2000 Professional. You can use loop back adapter for this purpose and proceed with the installation. Network card can be installed at a later time, when required.

35. In Windows 2000 computer, Disk Management is used to create, manage, and delete simple volumes, spanned volumes, mirrored volumes, striped, and stripe set with parity volumes. Disk Administrator is NT 4 tool and is not available in Windows 2000.

36. Only Windows NT Server 4 and Windows NT Server 3.51 can be upgraded to Windows 2000 Server. Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or Windows 95/98 can't be upgraded to 2000 Server.

6.4 Windows XP

1. In Windows XP computer, you can use Start -> Windows Update to connect to the Microsoft site. Windows Update is a catalog of items such as drivers, patches, the latest help files, and Internet products that you can download to keep your computer up to date. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to access the Product Updates section of Windows Update for downloading help files.

2. XP Professional supports multiple processors, multiple monitors (up to 9), Group Policy, Encrypting File System, Dynamic Disks, IIS, a built in backup program, and advanced networking capabilities (such as IPSec.) All of these features are missing from XP Home Edition. Another important distinction between the two versions is that XP Home Edition cannot join a Windows NT/2000/2003 domain.

3. Windows XP Operating System comes in the following flavors:

1. a. Windows XP Home: The basic XP OS intended for home users

2. b. Windows XP Professional: The XP OS intended for business users

3. c. Windows XP Media Center Edition: Windows Media Center provides a large-font, remotely accessible interface ("10-foot user interface") for television viewing on the computer as well as recording and playback, a TV guide, DVD playback, video playback, photo viewing, and music playback.

4. d. Windows XP Table PC: This edition is intended for specially-designed notebook/laptop computers called tablet PCs. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is compatible with a pen-sensitive screen, supporting handwritten notes and portrait-oriented screens.

4. Boot process (F8) in Windows XP desk top bring up the following options:

1. a. Safe Mode: This option uses a minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows. The drivers loaded with Safe Mode include mouse, monitor, keyboard, hard drive, and standard video driver.

2. b. Safe Mode with Networking: This option uses a minimal set of device drivers and services to start Windows together with the drivers that you must have to load networking.

3. c. Safe Mode with Command Prompt: This option is the same as Safe mode, except that Cmd.exe starts instead of Windows Explorer.

4. d. Enable VGA Mode: This option starts Windows in 640 x 480 mode by using the current video driver (not Vga.sys). This mode is useful if the display is configured for a setting that the monitor cannot display.

5. Note: Safe mode and Safe mode with Networking load the Vga.sys driver instead.

6. e. Last Known Good Configuration: This option starts Windows by using the previous good configuration.

7. f. Directory Service Restore Mode: This mode is valid only for Windows-based domain controllers. This mode performs a directory service repair.

8. g. Debugging Mode: This option turns on debug mode in Windows. Debugging information can be sent across a serial cable to another computer that is running a debugger. This mode is configured to use COM2.

9. h. Enable Boot Logging: This option turns on logging when the computer is started with any of the Safe Boot options except Last Known Good configuration. The Boot Logging text is recorded in the Ntbtlog.txt file in the %SystemRoot% folder.

10. i. Starts Windows Normally: This option starts Windows in its normal mode.

11. j. Reboot: This option restarts the computer.

12. k. Return to OS Choices Menu: On a computer that is configured to starting to more than one operating system, this option returns to the Boot menu.

5. You can configure support for multiple displays on your Windows XP computer. This is done through the use of Control Panel -> Display -> Settings. A Windows XP computer can support up to ten display monitors at the same time. Use additional video cards as required.

6. The Device Manager (It can be accessed using Add/Remove Hardware in XP) lists all the hardware devices installed on your system. You can also update any existing drivers, as well as change the hardware settings. You use Add/Remove Hardware to install new hardware. Accessibility options are primarily used to configure the keyboard, display, and mouse options on a computer to accommodate the users who are physically handicapped. The Add/ Remove Programs is used to install/uninstall 3rd party software. This is also used for installing/uninstalling Windows XP optional components.

7. Features supported by XP

1. a. On readable/writable disks, Microsoft Windows XP Professional supports the NTFS file system and three file allocation table (FAT) file systems: FAT12, FAT16, and FAT32. On CDROM and DVD media, Windows XP Professional supports two file systems: Compact Disc File System (CDFS) and Universal Disk Format (UDF).

2. b. While installing XP, if you have a standard desktop PC that uses integrated drive electronics (IDE) disk drives, then these will be detected during setup. If, however, you use SCSI disks or have Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID) storage systems, you will see, shortly after the reboot, the following line of text displayed at the bottom of the screen: “Press F6 if you need to install a third party SCSI or RAID driver...”

3. c. Pressing F6 will start a dialog that allows you to configure and install the drivers for your SCSI or other disk subsystem controllers. This option is usually used on server platforms that use large-capacity, high-speed, fault-tolerant disk subsystems. For most PCs, however, you won't need to use this option.