Windows 2K Notes

Windows 2000 is a multipurpose OS with integrated support for client/server and peer to peer networks.

Windows 2000 platform consists of the following 4 versions:



Windows 2000 Professional -A high performance network client OS

Windows 2000 Server - A OS that provides file, print, web and application platform

Windows Advanced Server - More powerful OS for larger networks

Windows 2000 Datacenter Server - The most powerful NOS of the Windows 2000 family

Windows 2000 Professional Hardware Requirements

CPU - Pentium 133 is required the recommended is Pentium II 350MHz or higher
Memory - 64MB is required the recommended is 128MB
Hard Disk - 2GB is required the recommended is 6.4 GB
Video - VGA is required the recommended is SVGA
Mouse and Keyboard must be present

Installing Windows 2000

Install from CD ROM
Install from another Windows OS but install from another directory (dual boot scenario) or upgrade
Install from boot disks (makeboot disk)
Install from Network
Automated Installation (Remote Installation, Disk Imaging and Unattended Installation)

WINNT.EXE - Setup options from DOS and Windows 9x
WINNT32.EXE - Setup options from Windows NT and XP

Windows 2000 System Folder (WINNT)

File Systems

FAT -File Allocation Table compatible with DOS and Windows 9x dual boot configuration, excellent on small drives, however no file level security
Windows 2K supports both FAT16 and FAT32

NTFS - New Technology File System supports larger partition, allows file and folder level security, protect system resources, supports disk compression, encryption, disk quotas and file ownership

To convert FAT to NTFS the CONVERT command is used:

CONVERT drive: /FS:NTFS or CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS

NTFS Folder permissions

Right click a folder > Sharing > Security

Read - Can only read files and folder (RASH)
Write - Create folder, files, change folder attributes and view folder ownership and permissions
List Folder contents - See the names of files and subfolders in folder
Read & Execute - Read and Execute
Modify - Delete folder, plus perform actions permitted by the write and read & execute permissions
Full Control - Full Control

Share Folder Permissions

Right click a folder > Sharing

Read
Change
Full Control

Windows 2000 4 Setup options

Typical - allows setup to choose standard options
Portable - allows laptops dealing with PC cards and Advance power management
Compact - minimum space
Custom - users have control of the installation process

Advanced Options
Archiving - Backup
Indexing - Index files for fast searching
Compression - Dynamically compressed or uncompressed
Encryption - Secure files
Disk Quotas - Limits the amount of disk space a user may use
Dynamic Drives - Windows 2000 new drive organization

Logging On to Windows 2000
Username - A unique user logon name that is assigned by an administrator
Password - personal identifier that is used to verify the user
Log on to - Log on to Domain or Workgroup

Security Dialog Box

You can access this by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del

Lock Computer - Allows you to secure the computer without logging off
Log Off - Allows you to log off
Shut Down - Allows you to shutdown Windows 2000
Change Password - Allows you to change the user account password
Task Manager - Allows you to access the task manager
Cancel - Closes the Windows Security Dialog Box

Windows 2000 Key Boot Files

NTLDR - In the MBR this file boots up the Windows 2000 operating system
BOOT.INI - Holds information about what OS are installed on the computer
BOOTSECT.DOS - It locates the IO.SYS file so lets you start another OS dual boot environment
NTDETECT.COM - Installs Windows 2000 into protected mode and also detect the installed hardware on the system
NTBOOTDD.SYS - On a system with a SCSI boot device, this file is used to recognize and load the SCSI interface.
NTOSKRNL.EXE- Windows 2000 Core Files
WIN.COM - Windows 2000 command file
HAL.DLL - Hardware Abstraction layer

Desktop settings in Windows 2000

My computer icon - Displays all the disk drives and properties settings

Recycle Bin - Where deleted files are stored until completely erased

Windows explorer - Windows 2000 user interface

Right Click Start>Explore or
Start>Programs>Accessories>Windows Explorer

The desktop is a virtual desk upon which of all your programs and utilities will run.

Display properties

Right click desktop > Properties or
Start>Settings>Control Panel>Display

Background - Use to select a picture or document to display on desktop
Screen saver - Allow you to setup a screen saver on your desktop
Appearance - Use to collect color scheme for your desktop
Effects - Contains numerous options for visual effects
Web - Allow for configuration of Active desktop settings
Settings - Use to set color depth, resolution and monitor configuration settings

System Properties

Right Click My Computer>Properties or
Start>Settings>Control Panel>System

General - Contains information about OS version, service packs, updates, User information, license, serial number, CPU and memory

Network Identification - Contains how to setup a network in a Windows 2000 environment

Hardware - Contains information on the following components:
Add Hardware Wizard - use to configure legacy devices

Device Manager - Central location use to manage all your devices you can check status of devices, resources and driver details if there is a problem with devices the following will show:

Normal icon - Hardware is operating properly
Yellow exclamation point- Hardware device not configured or its drivers are missing
Red with x or Stop sign icon- means the device has been disabled
Question mark - device drivers has not been loaded or recognized

Driver Signing - You can ignore, warn or block drivers that has been signed by Microsoft

Hardware Profiles - Use to set multiple hardware profiles useful in a portable PC environment

User Profiles - Contains information about user profiles such as computer name, user and setting up local, roaming and mandatory profiles (NTUSER.DAT)

Advance - Contains information about advance settings such as setting up environment variables, start and shutdown features, application response and virtual memory

Physical Memory refers to hardware chips inside your computer
Virtual Memory refers to the way an OS makes this physical memory available to an application
Windows 2K Pro Paging file should be 1.5 times the total amount of RAM (Pagefile.sys)

Environment Variables define the system and user environment information and they contain information such as a drive, path or filename

Start up and Recovery Settings - Contains information in how Windows 2k start or shutdown

Start Menu Settings

Taskbar/Start Menu - contains the start menu and the system tray (General and Advanced Tab)

Shutdown menu - Allow you to shutdown, restart or have other users log into your computer

Log Off menu - Allow you to log off and have someone else log into your computer

Run menu - Used to start programs if they don't have a shortcut in the desktop

Start > Run > EDIT
Command Line Text Editor

Start > Run > NOTEPAD
Windows 2K GUI Text Editor

Start > Run > SYSEDIT
Use to modify settings such as the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS, WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI

Start > Run > CMD
Start the command prompt in a windows 2K environment

Start > Run > REGEDIT
Starts the Windows Registry

Start > Run > DRWATSON
Starts the Dr. Watson utility useful for taking snapshots of windows 2K environment

Start > Run > WINMSD
Starts the System Information Utility in Windows 2K

Help menu - Allow you to look for Windows 2000 help topics

Search menu - Is use to search for files, folders, computer, Internet and people.

Settings submenu - Gives access to your control panel, printer and taskbar/start menu

Document menu - To keep track of the last 15 data files you opened

Programs menu - Contains the programs and applications you will use

Windows Update – Allows your Windows 2000 to update files

Windows 2000 Management Utilities

Control Panel is the main utility for configuring your computer's setup. You can access the control panel by selecting Start>Settings>Control Panel.

Control Panel Options

Accessibility Options
Allows you to configure options that make Windows more accessible to users with limited sight, hearing and mobility

Add/Remove Hardware
Allows you to install, remove, and troubleshoot your hardware (especially non plug-Plug-play hardware)

Add/Remove Programs
Allows you to change or remove programs that are currently installed in your computer or add or remove windows components

Administrative Tools
Provides Windows 2000 administrative utilities, including:

Component Services

Computer Management

Right Click My Computer > Manage

System Tools - Provides access for managing your computer

Event Viewer – Utility that tracks information about your hardware and software
Performance logs and alerts – Use to configure logs of performance related files and charts
Shared Folders – Utility use to manage shared folders
Device Manager – Utility use to manage your devices
Local users and groups – Utility use to create local users and groups

Storage - Provides access to managing your computer disks and storage devices

Disk Management – Utility use to manage your disks
Disk Defragmenter – Utility use to analyze and defrag your hard drives
Logical Drives – Utility use to manage properties of all your drives
Removable Storage – Utility that provides info about your removable storage devices
Windows 2K supports two types of disk management

Basic storage (Primary, Extended and Logical partitions)
Dynamic storage (Simple, Spanned, Mirrored, Striped and RAID 5 volumes)

Services and Applications - Provides access to services, WMI and Indexing services

WMI - Windows Management Instrumentation
Services – List all the services that your computer can run
Indexing Service – Use to create and index based on the contents of files stored in your PC

Data Sources (ODBC)
Event Viewer
Local Security
Performance
Services

Date/Time
Allows you to set date, time and time zone for your computer

Display
Allows you to configure your computer's display, including background, screen saver, appearance, Active Desktop, resolution, colors and visual effects

Folder Options
Allows you to configure folder option, such as general folder properties, file associations and offline files and folders

Fonts
Allows you to manage fonts installed on your computer

Game Controllers
Allows you to add, remove, and configure game controllers, including joysticks and game pads

Internet Options
Allows you to configure Internet Connection properties, security, content settings, and Internet programs

Keyboard
Allows you configure keyboard settings

Mouse
Allows you configure mouse settings

Network and Dial Up Connections
Contains settings for network and dial up connections and wizards to create new connections

Phone and Modem Options
Allows you to configure telephone dialing options and modem properties

Power Options
Allows you to configure power schemes, hibernation, APM and UPS options

Printers
Allows you to install and manage printers

Regional Options
Allows you to set regional options, including numbers, currency, time, date and input locales

Scanners and Cameras
Allows you to configure cameras and scanners

Scheduled Tasks
Allows you to configure tasks to be run at specific times or intervals

Sounds and Multimedia
Allows you to configure sound devices and to assign sound to system events

System
Allows you to configure system properties, including network identification, hardware, user profiles and advanced settings

User and Passwords
Provides a simple tool for managing users and passwords

Managing windows 2000 User and Group Accounts

Built-in-user-accounts

Administrator - Is considered God in computer networking has full control rights over the network
Guest - Limited privileges

Local vs. Domain users
Local rights - only to the particular workstation
Domain rights - global rights anywhere within the Domain

Default Local Groups

Administrators - full permissions and privileges
Backup Operators - permission to backup and restore files
Guest - limited privileges
Power Users - less permission than an administrator
Replicator - supports directory replication
Users - end users with limited system access

MMC - Microsoft Management Console

A Microsoft Management Console is the console framework for management applications.
To access the MMC go to Start> Run>MMC

MMC Benefits
Highly Customized
Snap-ins
MMC can be shared or saved

MMC Console Modes

Author mode - Allows use of all MMC functions
User Mode-full access - Allows users full access to windows management commands, but they cannot add or remove snap-ins
User Mode- limited access - Allows user to create new windows, but can only access areas of the console tree that were visible when the console was last saved
User Mode - limited access, single window - Allows users to access only areas of the console tree that were visible when the console was last saved, but they cannot create new windows

System Tools

Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools

Backup
To create or restore backup also the place to create an Emergency Repair Disk

Types of Backup

Full Backup - A full backup copies everything
Incremental Backup - An incremental backup is faster to perform than a full backup because it records changes made to files since they were last backup (whether that last backup was full or incremental) Using a system of incremental backups, a user might perform a full backup once each week, with daily incremental backups recording the progressive changes to files
Differential Backup - A differential backup records all the changes made since the last full backup.

Disk Cleanup
A utility, which goes through the system and deletes, unneeded files to free up disk space

Disk Defragmenter
A utility use to make your drives contiguous

Maintenance Wizard
Sets up a system maintenance plan

Scheduled tasks
Enables to run tasks automatically

System Information
Finds information on the hardware and software installed in your PC

Troubleshooting in Windows 2000

F8 Boot Menu

Safe Mode - Troubleshooting tool that loads basic drivers
Safe Mode with networking - Safe mode with basic network support
Safe Mode Command Prompt Only - Safe mode in command prompt
Enable Boot Logging - Option log found in a file called NTBTLOG.TXT
Enable VGA Mode - Boots Windows 2000 with only standard VGA driver
Last Known Good Configuration - Provides a great way to recover from bad installation and restores from previous state
Debugging Mode - Advanced boot logging

Registry

The Registry is a database that the operating systems use to store hardware and software settings centrally in a hierarchical database
To access the registry select
Start>Run>REGEDIT32 (specific keys)
Start>Run> REGEDIT

Data in the Registry

NTOSKRNL.EXE
Device Drivers
User Profiles
Setup Programs
Hardware Profiles
NTDETECT.COM

Components that makeup the registry

Subtree (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USERS)
Keys (are analogous to folders and subfolders)
Entries (has three parts: name, data type and value)
Hive (a discrete body of keys, subkeys, and entries)
Data types (REG_DWORD, REG_SZ and so on)

Registry Keys

HKEY_CURRENT_USER - A log file of the current user log on to the computer
HKEY_USERS - A log file of all the users of the computer
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - A log file of all the computer hardware configuration settings ever installed in your machine
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT - A log file that is used by Windows explorer to properly associate with file association types
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG - A log file of the current hardware configuration settings installed in your machine

Windows 2000 registry located at \WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG and \WINNT\PROFILES folders

Windows 2K Peer to Peer Networking

1. Right Click My Network Places
2. Properties
3. Right Click Local Area Connection
4. Properties
5. Install
6. Client: Select Client for Microsoft Networks
7. Service: Select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
8. Protocol: Select NetBEUI and TCP/IP
9. Right Click My Computer
10. Properties
11. Network Identification
12. Properties
13. Computer name
14. Workgroup
15. Welcome to workgroup and restart PC
16. Log in as Administrator
17. Double Click My Network Places
18. Double Click Entire Network
19. Double Click Entire Contents
20. Double Click Microsoft Windows Network
21. Double Click Workgroup and find PC

Share Folders in Windows 2K
1. Double Click My Computer
2. Double Click a Drive
3. File>New>Folder
4. Right Click Folder>Sharing
5. Click on Share this folder and give it a share name
6. Apply
7. OK
8. (You will see a hand on the Folder that means it has been shared)