What are the 2 ways to determine which XP version/service pack you are running?

1. Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> General tab.
2. Start -> Run -> winver.exe -> Enter

/f Forces all applications to close prior to restarting the system.
/n Does not back up uninstall files. You cannot uninstall the service pack if this switch is used.
/o Overwrites OEM-provided files without prompting the user.
/q Installation runs in quiet mode with no user interaction required (requires /o to update OEM-supplied files).
/s:[path to distribution folder] Creates an integration installation point.
/u Unattended installation (requires /o to update OEM-supplied files).
/x Extracts files without starting Setup. This is useful if you want to move installation files to another location.
/z Disables automatic restart when installation is finished.

1. Unattended Installation - uses the Winnt or Winnt32 commands to start the install and an Answer File created with the Windows Setup Manager.
2. Disk Duplication - the System Preparation Tool (SysPrep.exe) is used to create an image, which is then copied to new systems via a third-party tool (such as Norton Ghost).
3. Remote Installation Services - an XP installation is stored on the network using the RIS server software. The client is booted from the network or by using a special RIS Boot Disk, contacts the RIS Server and installs the image from the server.

Uniqueness Database File - used in conjunction with an Answer File to address the configuration parameters which must be unique for each PC on the network such as the computer name.

A text script file that provides answers for the common configuration settings in an unattended install. It is created using the Windows Setup Manager.

They are located on the Windows XP Pro installation CD in the Support\Tools folder. To use them, browse to the Tools folder and double-click 'deploy.cab' to open the compressed file containing the tools. Copy & paste them into an appropriate folder on your hard disk.

1. PROVIDE DEFAULTS - you provide the defaults that are displayed, but the user can select other options
2. FULLY AUTOMATED - no user intervention
3. HIDE PAGES - the user only sees pages for which all answers are not provided in the answer file
4. READ ONLY - the user can view the scripted answers on unhidden pages, but can not change them
5. GUI ATTENDED - the text mode portion of the installation is automated, but the user must provide answers during the GUI portion.

1. Preboot Sequence
2. Boot Sequence
3. Kernel Load
4. Kernel Initialization
5. Logon

1. NTLDR - Preboot and boot
2. BOOT.INI - (Boot
3. BOOTSECT.DOS - Boot (optional)
4. NTDETECT.COM - Boot
5. NTBOOTDD.SYS - Boot (optional)
6. NTOSKRNL.EXE - Kernel load
7. HAL.DLL - Kernel load
8. SYSTEM - Kernel initialization
9. Device drivers (.sys) - Kernel initialization

1. POST
2. BIOS locates boot device and loads & runs MBR
3. The MBR scans the partition table to locate the active partition, loads the boot sector on the active partition into memory, and then executes it.
4. The computer loads and initializes the NTLDR file, which is the operating system loader.

1. Improper hardware configuration or malfunctioning hardware
2. Corrupt MBR
3. Floppy or USB disk inserted (results in a non-system disk error, disk error, or no OS found error)

1. Initial Boot Loader Phase
2. Operating System Selection
3. Hardware Detection
4. Configuration Selection

1. NTLDR switches microprocessor from real to 32-bit flat memory mode.
2. NTLDR starts the minifile system drivers which enable it to find XP in the file system.

During the Kernel Initialization Phase. The Kernel.

After you reboot the computer, the kernel copies the information in the Current control set to the Clone control set during the kernel initialization phase. When you successfully log on to Windows XP Professional, the information in the Clone control set is copied to the Last Known Good control set.

An index of the files and folders from a backup job that Windows XP Professional automatically creates and stores with the backup job and on the computer running the Backup Utility.

A backup set is a collection of files or folders from one volume that you back up during a backup job.

1. Leave Existing Files (Recommended),
2. Replace Existing Files If They Are Older Than The Backup Files
3. Replace Existing Files

You should try replacing (one at a time) the System and Software files from the
%systemroot%/Repair folder using the Recovery Console.

1. The Backup And Restore Wizard
2. The Backup Wizard (Advanced)
3. The Restore Wizard (Advanced)
4. The Automated System Recovery Wizard.

1. A floppy disk containing your hard drive configuration
2. A backup of your local system partition.

1. The appropriate media type
2. The backup media or file name

1. Performance
2. User Profiles
3. Startup and Recovery
4. Environment Variables
5. Error Reporting

1. How does Processor Scheduling allocate resources differently for Programs and Background Services?
2. Where are these configuration options located?

1. For Programs the system allocates short variable time slices (quanta) to applications running in the forground.
To give priority to system processes, the system allocates long fixed-length quanta to all programs.
2. Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Performance Options

1. Create a paging file on multiple controller/hard disk pairs.
2. Create a second paging file on a partition other than the one on which the %systemroot% folder resides (i.e. the Boot Partition).
3. Make the Initial Size of the paging file the same as the Maximum Size.

1. Write An Event To The System Log
2. Send An Administrative Alert
3. Automatically Restart
4. Write Debugging Information

1. Visual Effects (on the Visual Effects tab)
2. Processor Scheduling (on the Advanced tab)
3. Virtual Memory (on the Advanced tab)
4. Data Execution Prevention (on the tab of the same name)

False
The Shared Documents folder is only available on Windows XP computers that are part of a workgroup.

Processor\% Processor Time
System\Processor Queue Length

Welcome.osc
The file Multilng.osc can be used as a template for the updates to Welcome.osc. Welcome.osc will then display a welcome screen to the user with the list of languages supported.

1. Allow this computer to be controlled remotely (in System properties)
2. Turn off Simple File Sharing.
3. Add your local logon account and same password to each local computer.

Uniqueness Database File - used to provide the settings that each PC needs to distinguish it from other computers when doing multiple unattended installations.

1. Windows Setup Manager
2. unattend.txt & unattend.udb

Setupact.log & Setuperr.log.
They are located in C:\Windows by default.

0x0000000A - indicates that Windows attempted to access a memory address at too high an internal request level: usually an incorrect hardware memory address or an incompatible device driver.
0x0000007B - inaccessible boot device: boot sector virus, bad or incompatible hardware, or missing hardware drivers.

They are 'Answer Files'
Winnt.sif is copied to a floppy disk and used for an installation from CD.
Sysprep.inf is used to automate the Mini-Setup routine for a disk imaging deployment. The Answer file must be copied to the Sysprep folder before running Sysprep to create the disk image.

What action must you take to apply new credentials added to your user account as the result of being added to a new user group that has had a new Group Policy created for it?

You can either restart the computer and log back on

or

Log off, log back on, and then run the gpupdate command.

What are the 2 switches used with the WINNT setup command to copy a folder to the local setup directory and either leave it or delete it at setup's completion?

What are the equivalent switches for the WINNT32 command?

WINNT
/r: to copy and leave
/rx: to copy and delete

WINNT32
/copydir: /copysource:

What are 2 tools that can produce a list of installed drivers?

Driverquery.exe

Winmsd.exe (aka: msinfo32.exe)

What are the 2 snap-ins in the Performance Console?

1. System Monitor

2. Performancen Logs And Alerts

What are the 4 tabs in the Task Manager?

1. Applications
2. Processes
3. Performance
4. Networking

What are the 3 default counters in the Performance tool?

1. Pages/sec
2. Avg. Disk Queue Length
3. %Processor Time

What does Pages/sec represent?
How do you interpret the values?

Represents the rate at which pages are read from\written to disk during virtual memory operations.
Consistently high values can indicate that not enough memory is present on a computer.

What does Avg. Disk Queue Length represent?
How do you interpret the values?

Represents the average number of read and write requests queued for the selected disk.

Consistent values above 0 means that requests are backing up, which might indicate not enough memory or a slow disk system.

What does %Processor Time represent?
How do you interpret the values?

Indicates the percentage of time that the processor spends executing a nonidle thread, which is the percentage of time that the processor is active. During some operations this might reach 100 percent. Periods of 100 percent activity should occur only occasionally. This counter is the primary indicator of processor activity. Sustained values over 80 percent indicate a potential processor bottleneck.

Under Processor, what does '%Interrupt Time' represent, and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the time that the processor spends receiving and servicing hardware interrupts during sample intervals. This value is an indicator of the activity of devices that generate interrupts (such as the system clock, mouse, and disk drivers). Devices like these typically interrupt the processor when they complete a task or require the processor’s attention. If the %Processor Time value is greater than 90 percent, and the %Interrupt Time value is greater than 15 percent, this processor is probably in need of assistance to handle the interrupt load.

Under Processor, what does '% DPC Time' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates how much time the processor is spending processing DPCs. DPCs are software interrupts or tasks that require immediate processing, causing other tasks to be handled at a lower priority. DPCs represent further processing of client requests.

Under System, what does 'Processor Queue Length' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the number of threads in the processor queue. There is a single queue for processor time, even on computers with multiple processors. A sustained processor queue of greater than two threads usually indicates that the processor is slowing down the overall system performance.

Under Memory, what does 'Pages/sec' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the number of pages that were either read from disk or written to disk to make room in physical memory for other pages. This counter is the primary indicator of whether the computer has sufficient memory. An average value in excess of 20 can indicate insufficient memory in the computer.

Under Memory, what does 'Available Bytes' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the amount of physical memory that is unallocated in the computer. Does not include any memory that is allocated to working sets or file system cache.

Under Paging File, what does '%Usage' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the percentage of the paging file that is currently in use.

Under Paging File, what does '%Usage Peak' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the peak percentage of the paging file in use.

Under Cache, what does 'Copy Read Hits %' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the percentage of time that information was found in the file system cache and did not have to be read from disk during a file read operation (typically used by file systems and during small network transfers). A low value (lower than 70 percent) indicates that Windows might not have enough physical memory to keep up with the demands.

Under Logical Disk, what does '%Free Space' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the ratio of free disk space that is available to total usable disk space on a particular logical disk.

Under Physical Disk, what does '%Disk Time' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the percentage of time that the selected physical disk is busy servicing read or write requests. If this value is consistently over 50 percent, the hard disk is having trouble keeping up with the load that is being placed on it.

Under Physical Disk, what does 'Avg. Disk Queue Length' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Indicates the average number of both read and write requests that are queued for the selected disk. If this value averages 2 or more, the disk is a bottleneck.

Under Processor, what does 'Interrupts/Sec' represent and how are the values interpreted?

Represents the number of hardware interrupts per second being sent to the processor. A generally acceptable starting point is 1,000 to 2,000 interrupts per second. A value above that could indicate a problem with the network adapter - either hardware or drivers.

What is the DNS resolution process?

1. Check the specified host name against the local machine name.
2. Check the HOSTS file.
3. DNS query.
4. Check the NetBIOS name cache.
5. WINS query.
6. Broadcast query.
7. Scan LMHOSTS file.

What 3 tools can be used to apply Security Templates?

1. Secedit command line tool.
2. Security Configuration and Analysis snap-in.
3. Local Security Policy console: right-click Security Settings -> click 'Import Policy'.

Which file types, by default cannot be cached as offline files?

How would you configure them so that they could be?

By default, files with the extensions .slm, .ldb, .mdb, .mdw, .mde, .pst, and .db cannot be cached.

You can override this by removing the file extensions that you want to be cached from the Group Policy setting \Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Offline Files\Files not cached.

How can you restrict which users can be added be to a security group?

Link a Group Policy Object (GPO) to the OU containing the users that you wish to manage. Add the users who need to belong to the security group in Security Settings | Restricted Groups.

You have to use a GPO; you cannot manage group membership in the default local security policy.

Which Advanced Boot Options menu selection causes XP to boot using the default video driver?

Safe Mode

What does the Advanced Boot Options menu selection 'VGA Mode' do?

It causes the computer to boot using the currently installed video driver configured to a resolution of 640 x 480.

Which audit policy logs information about the modification of folders and files and identifies the user who made the modifications?

Privilege Use

False - Windows NT Workstation 4.0 was the last desktop OS that supported RAID 5.

In addition to providing Internet connectivity, what 3 roles does the ICS host fill when using Internet Connection Sharing?

1. DHCP Server
2. DNS Server
3. Acts as a Gateway

How can you replace an invalid product key without reinstalling XP?

Change the 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Current Version\WPAEvents\OOBETimer' registry value, and then run the Msoobe.exe tool to reset the product activation key.

Which caching option is selected by default for folders shared from a Windows XP Professional system?

Manual Caching of Documents

Which caching option is selected by default for folders shared from a Windows XP Professional system?

Manual Caching of Documents

Which caching option is selected by default for folders shared from a Windows XP Professional system?

Manual Caching of Documents

Which caching option is selected by default for folders shared from a Windows XP Professional system?

Manual Caching of Documents

1. Windows Update
2. Device Manager

Given \\server\winxp as the distribution point for a network XP installation, what would the correct command be for updating the installation image with SP2?

Update /integrate:\\server\winxp

OR

Update /s:\\server\winxp (the old syntax)

1. Workstation
2. Print Spooler

What are the 3 requirements for performing a Network Installation?

1. Distribution Server
2. FAT partition on target PC
3. Network Client