Lesson Activating and Updating Windows XP Professional 2-49 When you install new operating system components after a service pack has been installed, Setup requires both the operating system and service pack installation files This allows Setup to install the updated version of the component To Uninstal a Service Pack By default, the service pack setup program automatically creates a backup of the files and settings that are changed during the service pack installation and places them in an uninstall folder named \$NTServicepackUninstall$\ in %systemroot% You can uninstall the service pack through Add/Remove Programs on Control Panel or from a command line by running Spuninst.exe from the %systemroot%\$NTServicepackUninstall\Spuninst\ folder Note If you installed a service pack without creating a backup, you cannot uninstall the service pack Practice: Configuring Automatic Updates In this practice, you will configure Automatic Updates to download and install critical updates automatically From the Start menu, click Control Panel In the Control Panel window, click Performance And Maintenance In the Performance And Maintenance window, click System On the Automatic Updates tab, click the Automatic option Click OK Lesson Review Use the following questions to help determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next lesson If you have difficulty answering these questions, review the material in this lesson before beginning the next lesson You can find answers to these questions in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter A(n) _ is a collection of all updates released to a particular point, and often includes new features What is the recommended way to configure the Automatic Updates feature in Windows XP? 2-50 Chapter Installing Windows XP Professional For how many days does Windows XP function if you not activate Windows or are not part of a volume licensing agreement? Choose the correct answer a 10 days b 14 days c 30 days d 60 days e 120 days Lesson Summary ■ You can use the Windows Update site to scan a computer and display available critical, Windows, and driver updates ■ Automatic Updates is a Windows XP feature that downloads and installs critical updates automatically Although you can specify that Automatic Updates prompt users before downloading or installing, Microsoft recommends that you configure it to download and install automatically according to a preset schedule ■ Service packs are collections of updates (and sometimes new features) that have been tested to ensure that they work together correctly Microsoft occasionally issues new service packs for its products Case Scenario Exercises Read the following two scenarios and answer the associated questions You can use the scenarios to help determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next chapter If you have difficulty completing this work, review the material in this chapter before beginning the next chapter You can find answers to these questions in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter Scenario 2.1 You have been given a computer running Windows 98 Second Edition with the following hardware installed: ■ 200 MHz Pentium II processor ■ 32 MB of RAM ■ GB hard disk, 500 MB free ■ 24x CD-ROM drive Case Scenario Exercises ■ Floppy drive, mouse, keyboard ■ SVGA monitor and video card ■ 2-51 10 Mbps Ethernet network card You will reformat the hard disk, create one partition that uses the entire hard disk, and install Windows XP Professional Question What additional hardware you need to install onto the computer prior to installing Windows XP? Scenario 2.2 One of your users wants you to install Windows XP Professional on his workstation Currently, the workstation is running Windows 98 The user wants to continue having Windows 98 running on the computer because he often must test the software he develops on that system The user’s computer is configured with the following hardware: ■ 2.4 GHz Pentium processor ■ 512 MB of RAM ■ 60 GB hard disk There are currently partitions on the hard disk: a 20 GB partition on which Windows 98 and the user’s current applications are installed and a 15 GB partition on which the user stores his documents Both partitions are formatted using the FAT32 file system There is 25 GB of unpartitioned space ■ 24x CD-ROM drive ■ Floppy drive, mouse, keyboard ■ SVGA monitor and video card ■ 10 Mbps Ethernet network card 2-52 Chapter Installing Windows XP Professional Question How should you configure this computer to run both Windows 98 and Windows XP Professional? Troubleshooting Lab Read the following troubleshooting scenario and then answer the question that follows You can use this lab to help determine whether you have learned enough to move on to the next chapter If you have difficulty completing this work, review the material in this chapter before beginning the next chapter You can find the answer to this question in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter Scenario One of your users is attempting to upgrade to Windows XP Professional on a computer that has been running Windows 98 Her computer has one hard disk that is configured with a single partition She has already backed up her computer and plans to reformat the partition, and then perform a clean installation of Windows XP Professional She has configured her BIOS to start the computer from CD-ROM When she starts the computer, the text mode stage of Windows XP Professional Setup begins as expected However, when the user tries to reformat the partition, her computer presents an error message stating that a virus is attempting to infect the boot sector of her hard disk She is certain that she is using a genuine Windows XP Professional installation CD Question What you suspect is the problem? Exam Highlights 2-53 Chapter Summary ■ Before installing Windows XP Professional, you should first ensure that your hardware meets the minimum hardware requirements and that your hardware is in the Windows Catalog Additional preinstallation tasks include determining how to partition the hard disk on which you will install Windows XP Professional and deciding whether to format the partition as NTFS, FAT, or FAT32 ■ Your computer can join a domain or a workgroup during or after installation ■ When you install Windows XP Professional, the main difference between an overthe-network installation and an installation from CD-ROM is the location of the source files ■ After you connect to the shared folder containing the source files and start Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe, the installation proceeds as an installation from CDROM Several switches for Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe allow you to modify the installation process The /checkupgradeonly switch specifies that Winnt32.exe should check your computer only for upgrade compatibility with Windows XP Professional ■ Before you upgrade a client computer to Windows XP Professional, use the Windows XP Professional Compatibility tool to generate a hardware and software compatibility report For client systems that test as compatible with Windows XP Professional, run the Windows XP Professional Setup program (Winnt32.exe) to complete the upgrade ■ The Setupact.log action log records and describes in chronological order the actions that Setup performs The Setuperr.log error log describes errors that occur during Setup and indicates the severity of each error ■ You can use the Windows Update site to scan a computer and display available critical, Windows, and driver updates Automatic Updates is a Windows XP feature that downloads and installs critical updates automatically Although you can specify that Automatic Updates prompt users before downloading or installing, Microsoft recommends that you configure it to download and install automatically according to a preset schedule Service packs are collections of updates (and sometimes new features) that have been tested to ensure that they work together correctly Microsoft issues new service packs for its products occasionally Exam Highlights Before taking the exam, review the key points and terms that are presented in this chapter You need to know this information 2-54 Chapter Installing Windows XP Professional Key Points ■ You should memorize the basic hardware requirements for running Windows XP A 233MHz processor, 64MB RAM, and a 2GB hard disk with 1.5GB of free space are required ■ Unless you are installing Windows XP Professional on a multiple-boot computer that also has an operating system that cannot access NTFS partitions (such as Windows 98), you should always use NTFS ■ You can use Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe to install Windows XP Professional from the command line by using optional parameters to modify the installation Winnt.exe runs under MS-DOS and Windows 3.0/3.1 Winnt32.exe runs under the 32-bit Windows operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000 Key Terms Automatic Update A feature that automatically downloads and installs new updates when they become available boot partition The disk partition that possesses the system files required to load the operating system into memory disk partition A logical section of a hard disk on which the computer might write data File Allocation Table (FAT) A file system used in older versions of Windows and still supported in Windows XP Professional The 16-bit FAT system for older versions of Windows is called FAT16, and the 32-bit system for newer versions of Windows is called FAT32 Files And Settings Transfer Wizard One of two methods used by administrators to transfer user configuration settings and files from systems running Windows 95 or later to a clean Windows XP installation NTFS The native file management system for Windows XP However, Windows XP is also capable of working with FAT and FAT32 file systems so that it can remain compatible with older Microsoft operating systems service pack A collection of all updates for a Microsoft product released to a certain point Service packs sometimes include new features, as well stop errors Occur when the system detects a condition from which it cannot recover (Also referred to as blue screen errors.) Exam Highlights 2-55 system partition Normally the same partition as the boot partition, this partition contains the hardware-specific files required to load and start Windows XP User State Migration Tools (USMT) Tools that let administrators transfer user configuration settings and files from systems running Windows 95 or later to a clean Windows XP installation Windows Catalog A site that lists all hardware and software tested for compatibility with Windows XP by Microsoft Windows Product Activation (WPA) The process of activating a copy of Windows with Microsoft after installation Windows XP Professional requires that the operating system be activated with Microsoft within 30 days of installation Windows Update An online service that provides enhancements to the Windows family of operating systems Winnt.exe The command used for starting Windows XP Professional installation in MS-DOS and Windows 3.0/3.1 Winnt32.exe The command used for starting Windows XP Professional installation in Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 2000 Professional 2-56 Chapter Installing Windows XP Professional Questions and Answers Lesson Review Page 2-10 What are the minimum and recommended memory requirements for installing Windows XP Professional? The minimum amount of memory required to install Windows XP Professional is 64 MB, and the recommended amount of memory is 128 MB What is the minimum hard disk space required for installing Windows XP Professional? Choose the correct answer a 500 MB b GB c 1.5 GB d GB C is the correct answer Windows XP Professional requires 1.5 GB of free disk space What information is required when joining a domain during the Windows XP Professional installation? Choose all that apply a You must know the DNS name for the domain the computer will join b You must have a user account in the domain c At least one domain controller in the domain must be online when you install a computer in the domain d At least one DNS server must be online when you install a computer in the domain A, C, and D are correct To join a domain during the installation of Windows XP Professional, you must know the DNS name for the domain the computer will join To add an account for the computer to the domain, a domain controller must be available Also, a DNS server must be available so that the computer on which you are installing Windows XP can locate the domain controller for the domain B is not correct because you not need to have a user account to join a computer to a domain However, the computer must already have an account in the domain, or you must have sufficient privileges in the domain so that you can create a computer account during the installation Which of the following statements about file systems are correct? Choose all that apply a File- and folder-level security is available only with NTFS b Disk compression is available with FAT, FAT32, and NTFS Questions and Answers 2-57 c Dual booting between Windows 98 and Windows XP Professional is available only with NTFS d Encryption is available only with NTFS A and D are correct NTFS provides file-level security and encryption B is not correct because only NTFS offers disk compression; FAT and FAT32 not C is not correct because Windows 98 cannot access a drive formatted with NTFS Lesson Review Page 2-22 If TCP/IP is installed on your computer, what is the maximum length for the computer name you specify during installation? 63 characters Can you change the computer name after installation without having to reinstall Windows XP Professional? If you can change the name, how you it? If you cannot change the name, why not? Yes To change the computer name after installation is complete, click Start, click My Computer, click View System Information, click the Computer Name tab, and then click Change Which of the following statements about joining a workgroup or a domain are correct? Choose all that apply a You can add your computer to a workgroup or a domain only during installation b If you add your computer to a workgroup during installation, you can join the computer to a domain later c If you add your computer to a domain during installation, you can join the computer to a workgroup later d You cannot add your computer to a workgroup or a domain during installation B and C are correct You can join a domain or a workgroup during installation or at any time following installation A and D are not correct because you can join a domain or workgroup during or after installation When you install networking components with typical settings, what components are installed? What does each component do? There are four components Client For Microsoft Networks allows your computer to access network resources File And Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks allows other computers to access file and print resources on your computer The QoS Packet Scheduler helps provide a guaranteed delivery system for network traffic, such as TCP/IP packets TCP/IP is the default networking protocol that allows your computer to communicate over LANs and WANs 2-58 Chapter Installing Windows XP Professional Lesson Review Page 2-30 On which of the following operating systems running on the client computer you use Winnt32.exe to install Windows XP Professional? Choose all that apply a Windows 3.0 b Windows 95 c Windows 98 d Windows NT 4.0 B, C, and D are correct A is not correct because you use the Winnt.exe command with MS-DOS and Windows 3.0 Which Windows XP Professional command allows you to verify that your computer is compatible with Windows XP Professional before you begin installing it? Winnt32.exe with the /checkupgradeonly switch You use the switch with Winnt32.exe to prevent Setup from restarting the computer after completing the file-copy phase /noreboot You use the _ switch with Winnt32.exe to tell Setup to copy all installation source files to your local hard disk /makelocalsource Lesson Review Page 2-35 Which of the following operating systems can be upgraded directly to Windows XP Professional? Choose all that apply a Windows NT Workstation 4.0 b Windows NT 3.51 c Windows 2000 Professional d Windows NT Server 4.0 A and C are correct B is not correct because you must first upgrade Windows NT 3.51 to Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, and then upgrade to Windows XP Professional D is not correct because you cannot upgrade to Windows XP Professional from a server product How can you upgrade a computer running Windows 95 to Windows XP Professional? Upgrade the computer to Windows 98 first, and then upgrade to Windows XP Professional Before you upgrade a computer running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, which of the following actions should you perform? Choose all that apply a Create a GB partition on which to install Windows XP Professional 5-14 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Note Your hardware must support powering off the monitor and hard disk for you to configure power schemes Almost all modern monitors and hard disks support this feature However, some applications (particularly older applications) not respond well to monitors and hard disks being turned off, causing loss of data or even crashing Power schemes allow you to configure Windows XP Professional to turn off the power to your monitor and your hard disk, conserving energy In the Power Options Properties dialog box, click the Power Schemes tab Windows XP Professional provides the following six built-in power schemes: ■ Home/Office Desk This power scheme is designed for a desktop computer After 20 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off ■ Portable/Laptop This power scheme is optimized for portable computers that will be running on batteries After 15 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off; after 30 minutes of inactivity, the hard disks are turned off ■ Presentation This power scheme is designed for use with presentations for which the computer display is always to remain on The monitor and the hard disks are never turned off ■ Always On This power scheme is designed for use with personal servers After 20 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off ■ Minimal Power Management This power scheme disables some power management features such as timed hibernation After 15 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off ■ Max Battery This power scheme is designed to conserve as much battery power as possible After 15 minutes of inactivity, the monitor is turned off, but the hard disks are never turned off To select a power scheme, use the following steps: Ensure that you are logged on with a user account that is a member of the Administrators local group Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance Click Power Options Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active Click the arrow at the end of the Power Schemes box to display the pull-down menu listing the available power schemes Click the power scheme you want to use Click OK to close the Power Options Properties dialog box Lesson Configuring Power Options 5-15 If none of these power schemes is appropriate for your computer environment, you can modify one of the built-in power schemes or configure a new power scheme To modify a power scheme or to create a new power scheme, use the following steps: Ensure that you are logged on with a user account that is a member of the Administrators group Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance Click Power Options Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active Click the arrow at the end of the Power Schemes box to display the pull-down menu listing the available power schemes Click the power scheme you want to base your new power scheme on In the Settings For Power_Scheme_Name Power Scheme text box, modify the amount of inactive time before the monitor or hard drives are turned off Do one of the following: ❑ Click OK to modify the existing power scheme and close the Power Options Properties dialog box ❑ Click Save As to create a new power scheme How to Configure Advanced Power Options To configure your computer to use advanced power options, open the Power Options Properties dialog box and click the Advanced tab There are two options that always appear on the Advanced tab If you want an icon to appear in the notification area that displays the current power status for your computer (plugged-in or on battery power) and provides quick power-management access, select the Always Show Icon On The Taskbar check box The second check box on the Advanced tab is Prompt For Password When Computer Resumes From Standby Selecting this check box causes Windows to prompt you for your Windows password when your computer comes out of standby mode If you have a portable computer, you will also see a Power Buttons section on the Advanced tab This section allows you to configure what happens when you press the power button on the computer, when you close the lid (thereby pressing the small button signaling that the lid is closed, and when you press the sleep button (if your computer has one) Options that you can choose for each of these buttons include shutting down the computer, sending the computer to standby mode, and having the computer enter hibernation 5-16 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Note The Prompt For Password When Computer Resumes From Standby box will not be displayed if the computer does not support standby mode (this is the case with many desktop computers) How to Enable Hibernate Mode Hibernate mode works in a way that is a bit different from standby mode When a computer enters standby mode, Windows XP turns off most of the devices in the computer (including the display, hard disks, and peripherals), but keeps just enough power flowing to keep the information in memory intact—information that includes open windows and running programs When you exit standby mode (typically by moving the mouse or pressing a key), Windows is returned to the state in which you left it However, when a computer is in standby mode, it is still reliant on a power source If the power source is interrupted (for example, if the battery runs out), information in memory is lost When your computer enters hibernate mode, Windows saves the information in memory (including open programs and windows) to your hard disk, and then your computer shuts down When you start the computer after it has been hibernating, Windows returns to its previous state Restarting to the previous state includes automatically restarting any programs that were running when it went into hibernate mode, and it even restores any network connections that were active at the time The advantage of hibernation mode over standby mode is that when a computer is in hibernation mode, it is not reliant on a power source—the computer is completely shut down To configure your computer to use hibernate mode, use the Power Options Properties dialog box Click the Hibernate tab and select the Enable Hibernation check box If the Hibernate tab is unavailable, your computer does not support this mode Hibernation works by saving the information currently stored in your computer’s memory to hard disk To this, Windows creates a hibernation file on the root of your system partition This file changes size, depending on the amount of memory you have, but always consumes the amount of space it will need—even if you have never hibernated Unless you plan to use hibernation, you should disable this option to save disk space How to Configure Advanced Power Management Windows XP Professional supports Advanced Power Management (APM), which helps reduce the power consumption of your system To configure your computer to use APM, use the Power Options Properties dialog box Click the APM tab and select the Enable Advanced Power Management Support check box If the APM tab is unavailable, your computer is compliant with a newer standard named Advanced Lesson Configuring Power Options 5-17 Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), which automatically enables Advanced Power Management Support and disables the APM tab You must be logged on as a member of the Administrators group to configure APM If your computer does not have an APM BIOS installed, Windows XP Professional does not install APM, so there will not be an APM tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box However, your computer can still function as an ACPI computer if it has an ACPIbased BIOS, which takes over system configuration and power management from the Plug and Play BIOS Note If your laptop has an ACPI-based BIOS, you can insert and remove PC cards on the fly, and Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures them without requiring you to restart your machine This is known as dynamic configuration of PC cards There are two other important features for mobile computers that rely on dynamic Plug and Play: hot and warm docking/undocking and hot swapping of Integrated Device Electronics (IDE) and floppy devices Hot and warm docking/undocking means you can dock and undock from the Windows XP Professional Start menu without turning off your computer Windows XP Professional automatically creates two hardware profiles for laptop computers: one for the docked state and one for the undocked state (For more information about hardware profiles see Chapter 6, “Installing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers.”) Hot swapping of IDE and floppy devices means that you can remove and swap devices such as floppy drives, DVD/CD drives, and hard drives without shutting down your system or restarting your system Windows XP Professional automatically detects and configures these devices How to Configure an Uninterruptible Power Supply An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device connected between a computer or another piece of electronic equipment and a power source, such as an electrical outlet The UPS ensures that the electrical flow to the computer is not interrupted because of a power outage and, in most cases, protects the computer against potentially damaging events such as power surges and brownouts When a power outage occurs, the UPS provides a limited amount of time for you to save documents, exit applications, and turn off the computer Different UPS models offer different levels of protection To configure your UPS, click the UPS tab in the Power Options Properties dialog box The UPS tab shows the current power source, the estimated UPS run time, the estimated UPS capacity, and the battery condition In the UPS tab, click Configure to display the UPS Selection dialog box It displays a list of manufacturers from which you can select the manufacturer of your UPS Note Check the Windows Catalog to make sure that the UPS you are considering is compatible with Windows XP Professional before you purchase it 5-18 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional If you want to configure a custom simple-signaling UPS, in the Select Manufacturer list box, click Generic In the Select Model list box, click Generic, and then click Next You can configure the conditions that trigger the UPS device to send a signal in the UPS Interface Configuration dialog box (see Figure 5-6) These conditions include power failures, a low battery, and the UPS shutting down F05us06.bmp Figure 5-6 Configure the UPS by using the UPS Configuration dialog box After you have configured the UPS service for your computer, you should test the configuration to ensure that your computer is protected from power failures Disconnect the main power supply to simulate a power failure During your test, the computer and the devices connected to the computer should remain operational You should let the test run long enough for the UPS battery to reach a low level so that you can verify that an orderly shutdown occurs Off the Record Although Windows XP Professional provides some level of support for UPSs, a good UPS usually comes with software of its own The manufacturer’s software is often better than Windows XP Professional at determining battery levels and estimated run time In addition, some software includes extra features such as the capability to automatically save documents, exit programs, and shut down the computer (or even to send the computer into hibernation) when a power outage occurs Practice: Configuring Power Options In this practice, you use Control Panel to configure Power Options Ensure that you are logged on with a user account that is a member of the Administrators group Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance And Maintenance Lesson Configuring Power Options 5-19 Click Power Options Windows XP Professional displays the Power Options Properties dialog box with the Power Schemes tab active In the Power Schemes list, select Portable/Laptop In the Turn Off Monitor box, select After 10 Mins In the Turn Off Hard Disks box, select After 20 Mins Click Save As, and then in the Save Scheme text box, type Airplane Click OK You have just created a new power scheme If you click the arrow at the end of the Power Scheme box, Airplane is now included in the list of available power schemes If you want to use this power scheme, click Apply Click the Advanced tab and select the Always Show Icon On The Taskbar check box 10 Click the Hibernate tab 11 If the Enable Hibernation check box is not selected, select it, and then click Apply 12 Click the APM tab 13 If you not see an APM tab on your computer, what are two reasons why it might not be there? 14 If the Enable Advanced Power Management Support check box is not selected, select it, and then click Apply 15 To apply these changes you would click OK Click Cancel Windows XP Professional closes the Power Options Properties dialog box 16 Close all open windows Lesson Review The following questions are intended to reinforce key information presented in this lesson If you are unable to answer a question, review the lesson materials and try the question again You can find answers to the questions in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter What is a power scheme and why would you use one? 5-20 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Which of the following statements about Windows XP Professional power schemes are true? (Choose all that apply.) a Windows XP Professional ships with six built-in power schemes b Windows XP Professional allows you to create your own power schemes c Windows XP Professional allows you to modify existing power schemes, but you cannot create new ones d Windows XP Professional does not ship with any built-in power schemes A(n) _ is a device that connects between a computer and a power source to ensure that the electrical flow to the computer is not abruptly stopped because of a blackout What does hibernate mode do? Lesson Summary ■ A power scheme is a collection of energy-saving power options You can configure a power scheme to turn off your monitor or hard disk, or even send the computer to standby after a certain amount of idle time ■ The advanced power management options allow you to add an icon for quick access to Power Management to the taskbar and choose to be prompted for your Windows password when your computer comes out of standby mode ■ When your computer hibernates, it saves the current system state to your hard disk, and then your computer shuts down When you start the computer after it has been hibernating, it returns to its previous state ■ APM is a power standard that helps reduce the power consumption of your computer To support APM, you must have an APM-compatible BIOS in your computer A newer standard, ACPI, automatically enables APM support ■ A UPS is a device that ensures that the electrical flow to a computer is not interrupted because of power loss Lesson Configuring System Settings 5-21 Lesson 3: Configuring System Settings You use the System Properties dialog box (available in the Control Panel window) to configure operating system settings These system settings affect the operating system environment regardless of which user is logged on to the computer After this lesson, you will be able to ■ Configure system performance options ■ Create, modify, and manage user profiles ■ Configure startup and recovery settings ■ Configure environmental variables ■ Configure error reporting Estimated lesson time: 70 minutes How to Configure System Performance Options To configure system settings, in Control Panel, click Performance And Maintenance To view operating system performance configuration options, in the Performance And Maintenance window, click System, and then click the Advanced tab The Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box (see Figure 5-7) allows you to configure performance options, user profiles, startup and recovery settings, environment variables, and error reporting Tip You can open the System Properties dialog box quickly by right-clicking the My Computer icon and clicking Properties F05us07.bmp Figure 5-7 Use the Advanced tab of the System Properties dialog box to configure a number of system settings 5-22 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional On the Advanced tab, in the Performance section, click Settings to display the Performance Options dialog box There are three tabs on the Performance Options dialog box: Visual Effects, Advanced, and Data Execution Prevention Visual Effects Tab The Visual Effects tab of the Performance Options dialog box is shown in Figure 5-8 There are a number of options that you can select to manually control the visual effects on your computer Windows XP Professional provides four options to help you control the visual effects: Let Windows Choose What’s Best For My Computer, Adjust For Best Appearance, Adjust For Best Performance, and Custom If you want to manually indicate which visual effects to apply, click Custom F05us08.bmp Figure 5-8 Use the Visual Effects tab to control performance options Table 5-5 lists the visual effects along with descriptions of those that are not selfexplanatory Table 5-5 Windows XP Visual Effects Visual Effect Description Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing Causes a zoom effect when you minimize or maximize a window Disabling this effect makes windows minimize and maximize faster Fade or slide menus into view Causes menus to fade or slide into view instead of simply appearing Disabling this effect makes menus appear faster Fade or slide ToolTips Causes ToolTips to fade or slide into view instead of simply appearing into view ToolTips are the pop-up descriptions that appear beside certain items when you hold your pointer over them Disabling this effect makes ToolTips appear faster Lesson Table 5-5 Configuring System Settings 5-23 Windows XP Visual Effects Visual Effect Description Fade-out menu items after clicking Causes menus to fade out after you select a command Disabling this effect makes menus disappear instantly after selecting a command Show shadows under menus Causes Windows to display a drop shadow behind menus for a threedimensional effect Disabling this effect makes menus appear more quickly Show shadows under mouse pointer Causes Windows to display a drop shadow behind the mouse pointer Disabling this effect can make the mouse more responsive Also, some older applications not work well when this feature is enabled Show translucent selection rectangle Draws a filled-in rectangle when selecting multiple items on the desktop instead of just a rectangle outline Disabling this effect slightly increases the speed with which you can select items Show window contents while dragging Causes Windows to redraw a window while the window is being moved Disabling this command makes dragging open windows noticeably faster Slide open combo boxes Causes combo boxes to slide open instead of simply appear A combo box is a drop-down list of items that you open from within a dialog box Disabling this effect makes combo boxes appear more quickly Slide taskbar buttons Causes taskbar buttons to slide to the left when other programs are closed or to the right when new programs are opened Disabling this effect makes taskbar buttons appear instantly in the new location instead of sliding Disabling this effect makes taskbar buttons available more quickly when they change locations Smooth edges of screen fonts Makes screen fonts easier to read, especially at higher resolutions Disabling this effect increases the speed at which Windows displays windows and dialog boxes Smooth-scroll list boxes Causes the contents of a list box to scroll smoothly when you click the scroll bar rather than just jump down a few items in the list Disabling this effect makes scrolling list boxes faster, but often disorienting Use a background image for each folder type Different types of folders in Windows XP can use different background images Many of the special Windows folders, such as Control Panel, make use of this effect Use common tasks in folders Causes folders in Windows to display a task pane on the left side of the folder that lists tasks that are related to the files in the folder Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop Creates a transparency effect on text labels for icons, but this transparency really allows you to see only any other icons obscured by an icon on top The transparency does not allow you to “see through” to the actual desktop background Disabling this effect causes Windows to display the desktop more quickly Use visual styles on windows and buttons This setting is an important one in that it controls the new look of Windows XP If you disable it, your desktop will look like previous versions of Windows 5-24 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Advanced Performance Options The Advanced tab of the Performance Options dialog box is shown in Figure 5-9 The options in this dialog box allow you to adjust the application response, which is the priority of foreground programs versus background programs, and virtual memory F05us09.bmp Figure 5-9 Configure additional settings on the Advanced tab of the Performance Options dialog box Processor Scheduling Windows XP Professional uses the Processor Scheduling settings to distribute microprocessor resources among running programs Selecting Programs assigns more resources to the foreground program (the active program that is responding to user input) Windows XP Professional assigns more resources to the foreground program by allocating short, variable time slices, or quanta, to running programs A time slice, or quantum, is a brief period of time during which a particular task is given control of the microprocessor When you select Background Services, Windows assigns an equal number of resources to all programs by assigning long fixed quanta instead You should select Background Services only when a computer is used as a server ! Exam Tip Understand the difference between the Programs and Background Services options Memory Usage Windows XP Professional uses the Memory Usage settings to distribute memory resources between running programs Select Programs if your computer is being used primarily as a workstation With the Programs option, your programs will work faster, and your system cache will be the default size for Windows XP Lesson Configuring System Settings 5-25 Professional Select System Cache if you are using your computer as a server or if the programs you are running require a large system cache Virtual Memory For virtual memory, Windows XP Professional uses a process called demand paging to exchange data between random access memory (RAM) and paging files on the hard disk When you install Windows XP Professional, Setup creates a virtual-memory paging file, PAGEFILE.SYS, on the partition in which you installed Windows XP Professional The default or recommended paging file size for Windows XP Professional is equal to 1.5 times the total amount of RAM For best results, never set the value of the paging file size to less than the recommended amount Typically, you can leave the size of the paging file set to the default value and let Windows XP Professional manage the file size In some circumstances, such as when you run a large number of applications simultaneously, you might find it advantageous to use a larger paging file or multiple paging files ! Exam Tip By default, Windows XP manages the paging file size, but you can designate a file size for special circumstances The recommended paging file size is equal to 1.5 times the total amount of RAM To configure the paging file, in the Performance Options dialog box, click the Change button in the Virtual Memory section The Virtual Memory dialog box (see Figure 5-10) identifies the drives in which the paging files reside and allows you to modify the paging file size for the selected drive F05us10.bmp Figure 5-10 Configure paging file settings in the Virtual Memory dialog box 5-26 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Important Only users with administrative rights can use the Performance Options dialog box to increase the paging file size Paging files never decrease below the value found in the Initial Size text box that was set during installation Unused space in the paging file remains available to the internal Windows XP Professional Virtual Memory Manager (VMM) As needed, a paging file grows from its initial size to the maximum configured size, which is listed in the Maximum Size text box When a paging file reaches the maximum size, but a running program still needs to allocate more virtual memory, Windows XP Professional will refuse that allocation, which can cause an error, or even a crash, in applications When you restart a computer running Windows XP Professional, the system resizes all paging files to the initial size Data Execution Prevention Data Execution Prevention (DEP) is a set of hardware and software technologies that perform additional checks on memory to help prevent malicious code from running on a computer In Windows XP Professional, DEP can be enforced by compatible hardware and by software Note DEP is an update included with Windows XP Service Pack Hardware DEP is available with compatible devices and runs only on the 32-bit version of Windows XP Professional and Home Edition Hardware DEP works by marking all pages in memory as non-executable unless the page explicitly contains executable code This process helps prevent malicious attacks that try to insert and run executable code into memory To use hardware DEP, a computer must have a compatible processor that allows Windows to mark memory pages as non-executable Both Intel and AMD provide hardware DEP–compatible processors Software DEP is a set of security checks that can run on any processor capable of running Windows XP However, the security provided by software DEP is limited compared to that provided by hardware DEP You can configure DEP by using the Data Execution Prevention tab of the Performance Options dialog box By default, DEP is enabled for only essential Windows programs and services However, you can turn DEP on for all programs and services, and then select specific programs and services for which you not want DEP enabled Lesson Configuring System Settings 5-27 How to Enhance System Performance You can enhance system performance in several ways First, if your computer has multiple hard disk controllers, you can create a paging file on a disk on each controller Distributing information across multiple paging files improves performance because Windows can read and write from disks on different controllers simultaneously When attempting to write to the paging file, VMM tries to write the page data to the paging file on the controller that is the least busy Second, you can enhance performance by moving the paging file off the drive that contains the Windows XP Professional %systemroot% folder (by default, the Windows folder), which avoids competition between the various reading and writing requests If you place a paging file on the Windows XP Professional system partition to facilitate the recovery feature, which is discussed in the section entitled “How to Configure Startup and Recovery Settings” later in this lesson, you can still increase performance by creating multiple paging files Because the VMM alternates write operations between paging files, the paging file on the boot partition is accessed less frequently Third, you can enhance system performance by setting the initial size of the paging file to the value displayed in the Virtual Memory dialog box’s Maximum Size box, which eliminates the time required to enlarge the file from the initial size to the maximum size Note When applying new settings, be sure to click Set before clicking OK How to Configure User Profiles Each user account in Windows XP has an associated user profile that stores userspecific configuration settings, such as a customized desktop or personalized application settings Understanding how user profiles function and how to control them lets you effectively manage the user’s desktop environment Windows XP supports three types of user profiles: ■ Local A local user profile is available only on the system on which it was created A unique local user profile is created and stored on each computer that a user logs on to ■ Roaming Roaming profiles, which are stored in a shared folder on a network server, are accessible from any location in the network ■ Mandatory Mandatory user profiles are roaming user profiles that users cannot make permanent changes to Mandatory profiles are used to enforce configuration settings 5-28 Chapter Configuring Windows XP Professional Where Local User Profiles Are Stored Windows stores local user profiles in the Documents And Settings folder hierarchy on the %systemroot% drive When a user logs on to a Windows XP system for the first time, Windows creates a folder in Documents And Settings that matches the user’s user name Within each user profile, several files and folders contain configuration information and data These files and folders include the following: ■ Application Data Contains application configuration information Applications that are Windows XP–aware can take advantage of this folder to store user-specific configuration settings This folder is hidden ■ Cookies Contains cookie files, which Web sites usually create to store user information and preferences on the local system When you return to a site, the cookie files allow the site to provide you with customized content and track your activity within the site ■ Desktop Contains files, folders, and shortcuts that have been placed on the Windows XP desktop ■ Favorites Used to store shortcuts to locations that a user has added to the Favorites list in Windows Explorer or Internet Explorer ■ Local Settings Holds application data, history, and temporary files (including temporary Internet files) This folder is hidden ■ My Documents Used to store documents and other user data My Documents is easily accessible from the Start menu ■ My Recent Documents Contains shortcuts to recently accessed documents and folders You can also access My Recent Documents from the Start Menu This folder is hidden ■ NetHood Holds shortcuts created by the Add Network Place option in My Network Places This folder is hidden ■ PrintHood Contains shortcuts to printer folder items This folder is hidden ■ SendTo Contains shortcuts to document-handling utilities, such as e-mail applications These shortcuts are displayed on the Send To option on the action menu for files and folders This folder is hidden ■ Start Menu Holds the shortcuts to programs that are displayed in the Start menu One way to modify the Start Menu is to add or delete folders and shortcuts to the Start Menu folder within a user’s profile folder ■ Templates Contains template items Created by user applications and are used by those applications when a user creates a new document This folder is hidden ■ NTUSER.DAT The user-specific portion of the Registry This file contains configuration changes made to Windows Explorer and the taskbar, as well as user-specific ... using the FAT 32 file system There is 25 GB of unpartitioned space ■ 24 x CD-ROM drive ■ Floppy drive, mouse, keyboard ■ SVGA monitor and video card ■ 10 Mbps Ethernet network card 2- 5 2 Chapter Installing... Choose all that apply a File- and folder-level security is available only with NTFS b Disk compression is available with FAT, FAT 32, and NTFS Questions and Answers 2- 5 7 c Dual booting between... Winnt.exe runs under MS-DOS and Windows 3.0/3.1 Winnt 32. exe runs under the 3 2- bit Windows operating systems such as Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 20 00 Key Terms Automatic