Troubleshooting Windows 723 as a starting point for troubleshooting a computer. Here are the diagnostic utilities you can expect to see on the A+ technician exams:  Bootable media  Startup modes  Documentation resources  Task Manager  Device Manager  Event Viewer  MSCONFIG  Recovery CD / recovery partition  Remote Desktop Connection and Assistance  System File Checker (SFC) Several of these resources are covered in this section. Startup modes are discussed in the “Advanced Startup Modes” section earlier in this chapter. Task Manager, Device Manager, Event Viewer, and MSCONFIG are talked about in the “System Management Tools” section earlier in this chapter. Remote Desktop Connection and Assistance is covered in the “Remote Desktop Connection and Assistance” section earlier in this chapter. Bootable Media In the old days of computer troubleshooting, one of the items that every technician needed to carry was a bootable floppy disk. When CD-ROMs became common, you made sure that your floppy had the CD-ROM drivers on it too, because operating systems (and their installation files) were being offered on that media as well. Today it seems fewer and fewer computers even have floppy disk drives. And most, if not all, of today’s computer BIOSs are capable of booting from the CD-ROM or DVD drives. The moral of the story is, even though technology has changed, the fundamental reason we carried and still need to carry bootable media has not. If the operating system won’t start but the computer appears to POST just fine, you need to somehow find a way to figure out exactly what’s wrong. Booting to a command line or to an installation program gets you a step closer to solving the problem. I would still recommend carrying a bootable floppy disk, just because you never know when you’ll need it. It’s also a good idea to carry bootable CD-ROMs of popular operating systems, such as Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP. Documentation Resources Whenever troubleshooting, always consider the use of the following resources. User/Installation Manuals Technicians are the most guilty of not using this readily available resource when troubleshooting a system. In fact, most often, a technician will rely on their own experience and try to install a 4831xc14.fm Page 723 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM 724 Chapter 14  Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading OSs new component without reading the manual. Then, when the installation doesn’t work, the tech- nician might go back and look at the manual after spending time looking for the solution to a problem that might have been avoided in the first place. Typically, in addition to the steps needed to install software or a device, a manual includes a section on the most common problems and the solutions to those problems. This area of the manual would be especially useful for the technician we just described. Internet/Web Resources Possibly the most useful resource to the technician is the Internet. As mentioned throughout this book, a manufacturer’s website is the best place to get the most current drivers, fixes, and technical information. Often you can search a hardware or software vendor’s website for a problem you might be having with that hardware or software, and find the fix for it. In addition, Microsoft’s website contains a wide variety of known problems and issues with Windows and its interaction with other software. Sometimes an issue that can’t be solved at the software vendor’s website can be solved by viewing the Microsoft support website, because Microsoft has a larger staff and has been able to document a larger variety of problems. If you can’t find an answer at the manufac- turer’s or Microsoft’s website, you might try entering your problem into one of the many search engines, such as Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) or Google (http://www.google.com). There are websites dedicated to communities of technical individuals (such as yourself) that can be a great source of information. Chances are, if you’re having a computer or technical problem, someone else, somewhere in the world, has the solution—and the Internet can bring you together. You can post your problem to any number of website bulletin boards and news- groups and receive a response, possibly within minutes. Training Materials The final resource is one that most people overlook. Individuals do not acquire knowledge magically—they either learn it by themselves with self-study materials or are taught by an experienced instructor. In either case, books and other training materials (such as the one you are reading right now) are excellent sources of information. Although training materials don’t often contain patches or updates, they can and do teach concepts that you can apply to help you with troubleshooting. After all, if you had not read this book, you might not have gotten the information you needed to pass the A+ exam. Now ask yourself: Did I learn anything? Will the information I learned be able to help me troubleshoot a computer problem? Recovery CD / Recovery Partition Many times a computer will have more problems than can be fixed easily, or the fix may result in only a temporary solution. Usually such a case calls for a complete formatting and reinstalla- tion of the OS and applications, and restoration of data. However, many new computers today don’t come with a true OS CD-ROM. Instead, they come with one or more recovery CDs. A recovery CD is a CD-ROM that comes with a particular model and brand of computer. The CD-ROM contains an image of the entire Windows installation, along with applications, utilities, and drivers specifically for that computer. In the case of a serious system failure, you can insert this CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive of your computer, boot to it, and completely restore the system back to the way it was when you bought it. 4831xc14.fm Page 724 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM Troubleshooting Windows 725 These CDs are also known as restoration CDs. However, these CDs will erase the hard drive first! Therefore, any data and settings that you’ve created will be gone, including data files, e-mail configuration settings, Internet favorites, and so on. The computer will be exactly as it was out of the box. If you ever need to use a recovery CD-ROM, back up your data before booting to the CD. Most recovery CDs don’t give you the option of backing up before the restoration. You will lose all your data when you use one of these CDs for a recovery. A recovery partition is basically the same as a recovery CD. The difference is that instead of being portable, it’s a partition on a hard drive. There are numerous third-party utilities on the market that can help you create recovery partitions, such as Norton’s Ghost. To use a recovery partition, you would boot the problematic computer by using a boot disk (or CD). Depending on how you have it configured, the recovery process starts automatically or you enter a simple command to begin the process. Just as with a recovery CD, all informa- tion previously on the computer will be removed. System File Checker (SFC) The System File Checker (SFC) is a command line–based utility that checks and verifies the versions of system files on your computer. If system files are corrupt, the SFC will replace the corrupt files with correct versions. The syntax for the System File Checker is as follows: SFC [switch] Table 14.9 lists the switches available for SFC. TABLE 14.9 SFC Switches Switch Purpose /CACHESIZE=X Sets the Windows File Protection cache size, in megabytes /PURGECACHE Purges the Windows File Protection cache and scans all protected system files immediately /REVERT Reverts SFC to its default operation /SCANNOW Immediately scans all protected system files 4831xc14.fm Page 725 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM 726 Chapter 14  Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading OSs To run the SFC, you must be logged in as an administrator or have administrative privi- leges. If the System File Checker discovers a corrupt system file, it will automatically overwrite the file by using a copy held in the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache directory. If you believe that the dllcache directory is corrupt, you can use SFC /SCANNOW, SFC /SCANONCE, or SFC /SCANBOOT, or SFC /PURGECACHE to repair its contents. Performing Preventative Maintenance In this section you’ll take a look at some preventative steps you can take to help keep Windows 2000 and Windows XP running smoothly. They include the following:  Updating Windows regularly  Scheduling backups  Creating restore points Updating Windows Windows 2000 and Windows XP include Windows Update, a feature designed to keep Windows current by automatically downloading and installing updates such as patches and security fixes. By default, Windows Update will run automatically when any Administrator user is logged in. However, if you want to run it manually, you can do so by clicking Start  All Programs  Win- dows Update in Windows XP, or by clicking Start Windows Update (Windows XP), or by clicking Start  Windows Update in Windows 2000. You can also go to http://windowsupdate .microsoft.com to start the process. Often, updates to Windows are called service packs. Here is an overview of how Windows Update works: 1. Windows Update starts (either by itself or manually). 2. Windows Update goes online to check what updates are available. It compares the update list to the updates that have already been applied to the computer or have been refused by the Administrator. /SCANONCE Scans all protected system files once /SCANBOOT Scans all protected system files every time the computer is rebooted TABLE 14.9 SFC Switches (continued) Switch Purpose 4831xc14.fm Page 726 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM Performing Preventative Maintenance 727 3. If updates are available, they are downloaded automatically in the background. 4. After the updates are downloaded, Windows Update notifies you that the download is complete and asks whether you want to install them. If you choose not to install the updates right away, Windows will do so for you when you shut off the computer. Instead of shutting off right away, Windows Update will install the updates first and then perform a proper shutdown. By default, Windows Update is enabled. But at times you might want to configure it. Exercise 14.11 shows you how to configure Windows Update in Windows XP. It’s not a problem if you want to choose to have control over which updates get installed and when. However, it really is in your best interest to have Windows Update enabled to ensure that you have the most current patches available. Scheduling Backups This is one of the areas that most users, and even most companies, fail to manage properly. At the same time, it’s one of the most important. Backups serve several key purposes, such as protecting against hard drive failure, protecting against accidental deletion, protecting against malicious deletion or attacks, and making an archive of important files for later use. Any time you make major changes to your system, including installing new software, you should per- form a backup of important files before making the changes. EXERCISE 14.11 Configuring Windows Update in Windows XP Windows Update should be enabled by default. However, you can change this option if you prefer. This exercise shows you how to do that. 1. Open the System Properties dialog box (right-click My Computer and choose Properties, or double-click the System icon in Control Panel). 2. Click the Automatic Updates tab. 3. Choose the option that best suits your needs. You have four choices: Automatically download recommended updates for my computer and install them Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them Notify me but don’t automatically download or install them Turn off Automatic Updates 4831xc14.fm Page 727 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM 728 Chapter 14  Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading OSs Both Windows 2000 and Windows XP allow you to schedule backups, which is a great feature that not all versions of Windows have had. Now that you know you can schedule backups to make your life easy—and of course you want to make backups because it’s the right thing to do—the question becomes: How often do you need to back up your files? The answer really depends on what the computer does and what you do on the computer. How often does your data change? Every day? Every week or every month? How important are your files? Can you afford to lose them? How much time or money will it cost to replace lost files? Can they be replaced? By answering these questions, you can get an idea of how often you want to run scheduled backups. As a rule of thumb, the more important it is, and the more often it changes, the more often you want to back up. If you don’t care about losing the data, there’s no need for backups—but most of us do care about losing our stuff. Exercise 14.12 walks you through scheduling a backup in Windows XP. EXERCISE 14.12 Scheduling Backups in Windows XP Backups are critical, and not enough people make them. This exercise shows you how to do it, so now you have no excuses not to! 1. Open Windows Backup by choosing Start  All Programs  Accessories  System Tools  Backup. This opens up the Backup Or Restore Wizard. The wizard will walk you through all of the options you can use, or you can click the Advanced Mode link to set up things manually. 2. On the Backup Or Restore Wizard screen, click Next to continue. 3. Choose Back Up Files And Settings and click Next. 4. Choose what you want to back up (as shown in the following graphic), and click Next. 4831xc14.fm Page 728 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM Performing Preventative Maintenance 729 5. Confirm the backup type and destination, and give the backup file a name (it will have a .BKF extension). For the destination, you can click the Browse button to select the right location, which might be a floppy drive, CD or DVD burner, or a network drive. Click Next. 6. At the Completing the Backup Or Restore Wizard confirmation page, review the settings. If you’re happy with them, click Finish to begin the backup. Clicking on Advanced will give you more options; continue with step 7. 7. Specify the type of backup. If you’re not sure, choose Normal. Click Next. 8. Choose your backup options: Verify data, hardware compression, and disable volume shadow copy. It’s a good idea to verify data, but it does take extra time. Click Next. 9. Choose to replace the current backup file (if one exists) or append the data to the end of the backup. Click Next. 10. Here is where you can schedule the backup. Choose Later, and then click the Set Schedule button. (If you didn’t want to schedule, but just back up files now, click Now.) EXERCISE 14.12 (continued) 4831xc14.fm Page 729 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM 730 Chapter 14  Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading OSs One key point to remember is that for the backups to run properly as scheduled, the com- puter needs to be on when the scheduled backup is supposed to take place. 11. In the Schedule Job dialog box, choose how often and at what time you would like to run backups, and click OK. Click Next. 12. You will be prompted for a username and password to run the backup. This is because only certain user accounts (such as the Administrator) have the ability to run backups. When the process starts, Windows will log itself in as the user account you specify to perform the backup. Click Next. 13. Review the information on the confirmation page and click Finish. Backup Lessons People don’t back up data enough, plain and simple. Scheduling regular backups is a good protective measure, but just because you are backing up your data doesn’t mean you’re com- pletely saved if something goes wrong. Several years ago, one of my former students related a story to me about a server crash at his company. A server had mysteriously died over the weekend, and the technicians were greeted with the problem first thing Monday morning. Not to worry, they thought, because they made regular backups. After several attempts to restore the backup tape, a second, more serious problem was readily apparent. The backup didn’t work. They couldn’t read data from the tape, and it was the only backup tape they had. It wasn’t going to be a very good Monday. Ultimately, they ended up losing a lot of data from the server, because their backup didn’t work. How do you prevent tragedies like this from happening? Test your backups. After you make a backup, ensure that you can read from it. If you’ve just backed up a small amount of data, restore it to an alternate location and make sure you can read it. If you are backing up entire computers, a good idea is to run a test restore on a separate computer. No matter your method, test your backups, especially when it’s the first one you’ve made after setting up backups or have made backup configuration changes. It isn’t necessary to fully test each single backup after that, but it is a good idea to spot-check backups on occasion. EXERCISE 14.12 (continued) 4831xc14.fm Page 730 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM Exam Essentials 731 Creating Restore Points As noted earlier in this chapter, Windows XP has a feature called System Restore, which lets you create and use restore points to “roll back” a system’s configuration to a previous state. Windows XP is configured to create restore points automatically, but you can also create them manually if you so choose. Detailed instructions on creating restore points are given earlier in this chapter in the “System Restore” section, as well as in Exercise 14.8. Summary In this chapter, you learned about several aspects of using, optimizing, and troubleshooting Windows. We started with an overview of several command-line utilities you can use in Win- dows, including proper syntax and switches. Then we showed you how to manage disks, directories, and files, as well as several useful Windows-based utilities. Next, we discussed ways to optimize Windows, including virtual memory, hard drives, temporary files, services, startup, and applications. We reviewed the Windows boot process, as well as how to recover Windows from a boot failure. From there, we presented several common Windows problems and solutions. Finally, we looked at preventative maintenance tasks to help keep Windows running smoothly. Exam Essentials Understand what each of the following command-line utilities does: CMD, HELP, DIR, ATTRIB, EDIT, COPY, XCOPY, FORMAT, MD, CD, and RD. Many utilities that come with Windows help you navigate through or manage files and directories from a command prompt. The CMD com- mand opens a command line, where you can type the rest of the commands. If you’re not sure which utility to use, HELP will give you information. The MD, CD, and RD commands make, change, and delete (remove) directories, respectively, and the DIR command shows you what’s inside the directory. To set file attributes, use ATTRIB; to modify file contents, use EDIT. The FORMAT command formats hard drives, and both COPY and XCOPY are used to copy files. Here are two more ideas that will help too. One, rotate backup tapes (or CDs). Alternate tapes every other backup period, or use a separate tape for each day of the week. This lessens the risk of having a bad tape bring you down. Two, store your backups off-site. If your backup is sitting on top of the server, and you have a fire that destroys the building, then your backup didn’t do you any good. There are data archiving firms that will, for a small fee, come and pick up your backup tapes and store them in their secure location. Be religious about backing up your data, and in the event of a failure, you’ll be back up and running in short order. 4831xc14.fm Page 731 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM 732 Chapter 14  Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading OSs Know what the IPCONFIG and PING utilities are for. Both IPCONFIG and PING are network troubleshooting commands. You can use IPCONFIG to view your computer’s IP configuration, and PING to test connectivity between two network hosts. Know how to create, format, and manage partitions in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The Disk Management utility is used to create, format, and manage partitions in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Know how and when to use Windows 2000 and Windows XP utilities. Utilities that you need to be familiar with include Device Manager, Task Manager, MSCONFIG, ATTRIB, REGEDIT and REGEDT32, Event Viewer, System Restore, Remote Desktop, and Windows Explorer. Understand ways in which you can optimize Windows performance. Some common areas for optimization include virtual memory, hard drives (disk defragmentation), temporary files, services, startup, and applications. Know how to fix common Windows problems. You need to be familiar with how to fix printing problems, boot and auto-restart errors, system lockups, driver failures, application failures, and Registry problems. Understand how to perform preventative maintenance in Windows. The maintenance you should do includes the following: Perform regular backups, apply current patches and service packs (generally through Windows Update), and create restore points. 4831xc14.fm Page 732 Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:37 PM [...]... You cannot convert NTFS to FAT, however 19 C The PING command tests to see whether you can reach a remote host on the network 20 A The ATTRIB command is used to set file attributes To add attributes, use the plus sign (+) To remove attributes, use the minus sign (–) The Read-Only attribute is designated by R 4831xc15.fm Page 7 39 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM Chapter 15 Installing, Configuring,... magnet Test patterns 4.4 Perform preventative maintenance of printers and scanners Perform scheduled maintenance according to vendor guidelines (e.g install maintenance kits, reset page counts) Ensure a suitable environment Use recommended supplies THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ REMOTE SUPPORT TECHNICIAN EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER: 3.1 Identify the fundamental principles of using printers... before taking your A+ elective examination LED Laser Printer Print Process The other major category of laser printer is the light-emitting diode (LED) page printer This technology is primarily developed and used by Okidata and Panasonic Because the A+ exam does not currently cover LED page printers, we will discuss only the differences between them and laser printers 4831xc15.fm Page 7 49 Wednesday, September... Device Manager 9 Which of the following utilities creates backups of the system configuration called restore points? A Registry Backup B Backup C System Restore D Configuration Manager 10 Which of the following operating systems by default contain the software to act as a home computer using Remote Desktop? (Choose all that apply.) A Windows XP Home B Windows XP Professional C Windows 98 D Windows Me... printer/ scanner problems Troubleshoot a print failure (e.g lack of paper, clear queue, restart print spooler, recycle power on printer, inspect for jams, check for visual indicators) THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ DEPOT TECHNICIAN EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER: 3.1 Identify the fundamental principles of using printers and scanners Describe the processes used by printers and scanners including... 3.4 Perform preventative maintenance of printer and scanner problems Perform scheduled maintenance according to vendor guidelines (e.g install maintenance kits, reset page counts) Ensure a suitable environment Use recommended supplies 4831xc15.fm Page 743 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM There’s definitely been a movement in modern society to avoid the use of paper when possible Many office environments... 4831xc15.fm Page 748 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM 748 Chapter 15 Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading Printers 10 Once the page is finished, the feed-stepper motor is actuated and ejects the page from the printer into the output tray If more pages need to print, printing the next page begins again at step 7 11 Once printing is complete and the final page has been ejected from... Read-Only attribute is designated by R 4831xc15.fm Page 7 39 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM Chapter 15 Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading Printers and Scanners THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ IT TECHNICIAN EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER: 4.1 Identify the fundamental principles of using printers and scanners Describe processes used by printers and scanners including laser,... A+ exam does not currently cover LED page printers, we will discuss only the differences between them and laser printers 4831xc15.fm Page 7 49 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM Understanding Printer and Scanner Processes 7 49 The LED page printer uses the same process as a laser printer, with one major exception: It uses a row of small light-emitting diodes held very close to the photosensitive... 4831xc15.fm Page 751 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading Printers and Scanners 751 several things you can configure to enhance and optimize the peripheral’s performance If it’s still not performing the way you would like, perhaps it’s time to think of an upgrade, such as a memory upgrade for a printer As an A+ technician, you need to know the procedures . according to vendor guidelines (e.g. install maintenance kits, reset page counts)  Ensure a suitable environment  Use recommended supplies THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ REMOTE SUPPORT TECHNICIAN. Installing, Configuring, Optimizing, and Upgrading Printers and Scanners THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ IT TECHNICIAN EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER:  4.1 Identify the fundamental. performance including resolution, file format and default settings 4831xc15.fm Page 7 39 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 9: 56 AM  4.3 Identify tools and diagnostic procedures to troubleshooting printers