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CompTIA® A+™ Core 2 Exam Notes : Operating Systems : Windows Xp & Vista

30. The various file systems supported by Windows 2000 area.

  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.

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.

  4. d. Windows XP advanced startup options can be accessed by pressing F8 key when prompted during the beginning of the Windows XP boot process.

  5. e. On your Windows XP 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.

  6. f. You can access Computer Management screen through:

  7. 1. MyComputer on Desk Top -> Right Click -> Manage

  8. 2. Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management

  9. 3. One of the frequently used resource in "Computer Management" screen is System Tools. System tools contain the following:

    1. 1. Event Viewer

    2. 2. System Information

    3. 3. Performance logs

    4. 4. Device Manager

    5. 5. Shared folders

    6. 6. Local Users and Groups

    7. These are very useful tools to a system administrator.

Windows Vista

1.The minimum hardware requirements for installing Vista Operating System (Home Basic/Home Premium/Business/Ultimate) are given below:

  1. a. 800 MHz processor and 512 MB of system memory

  2. b. 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

  3. c. Support for Super VGA graphics

  4. d. CD-ROM drive

2. The recommended hardware requirements (for Home Premium/Business/Ultimate) are given as:

  1. a. 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

  2. b. 1 GB of system memory

  3. c. 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

  4. d. Support for DirectX 9

  5. e. DVDROM drive

3. For Home Basic, the recommended requirements are:

  1. a. 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

  2. b. 512 MB of system memory

  3. c. 20 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

  4. d. Support for DirectX 9 graphics

  5. e. DVD-ROM drive

4. You can upgrade to Windows Vista Ultimate from Windows XP Home, XP Professional, XP Media Center, and XP Tablet PC, Windows 2000 Professional can't be upgraded to Windows Vista directly.

5. Certain versions of Windows Vista uses BitLocker Drive Encryption. BitLocker Drive Encryption is a full disk encryption feature included with the Ultimate and Enterprise editions of Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows 7 desktop operating systems.

6. In order for BitLocker to operate, the hard disk requires at least two NTFS-formatted volumes: one for the operating system (usually C:) and another with a minimum size of 100MB from which the operating system boots. BitLocker requires the boot volume to remain unencrypted, so the boot should not be used to store confidential information.

7. Windows Sidebar is a pane on the side of the Microsoft Windows Vista desktop where you can keep your gadgets organized and always available. Gadgets are mini programs that give you information at a glance and provide access to frequently used tools. Windows Sidebar helps you to organize your gadgets. The Windows sidebar is also available in Windows 7 Operating System.

8. The parental controls built into Windows Vista help parents determine which games their children can play, which programs they can use, and which websites they can visit, and when. Parents can restrict computer use to specific times and trust that Windows Vista will enforce those restrictions, even when they're away from home.

9. Windows Vista introduces Sync Center, which enables users to synchronize their data with other computers and devices from one common user interface. There are several ways to interact with Sync Center, one of which is as a provider of synchronization information. Synchronization information consists of a synchronization engine, and the data that it synchronizes.

10. Driver Verifier is included in Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 to promote stability and reliability. You can use this tool to troubleshoot driver issues. You can start the tool by going to Run > verifier.exe Specifically, in the version of Driver Verifier included in Windows Vista:

  1. a. You can start verification of any driver without rebooting, even if Driver Verifier is not already running.

  2. b. You can start the verification of a driver that is already loaded.

  3. c. You can activate or deactivate most Driver Verifier options without rebooting.

11. The editions below support the Aero Feature:

  1. a. Windows Vista Home Premium

  2. b. Windows Vista Business Edition

  3. c. Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

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