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Windows NT Notes

NT


Windows NT Workstation
: Designed for Networking in the Client side

Windows NT Server: Designer for Network OS for the Server side

Windows requirements
Windows NT Workstation
CPU – Intel 486 25MHz is required but Intel Pentium 150MHz recommended
Memory – 12MB required but 64MB is recommended
Hard Drive Space – 128MB required but 2GB with 1GB free space is recommended
Video - VGA or better
Mouse and Keyboard are required

Windows NT Installation methods

Install from CD ROM
Install from Windows 9x but install from another directory (dual boot scenario)
Install from Network


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

Windows NT System Files

FAT16 - File Allocation Table is a list of clusters available on a disk. It's a 16-bit program that stores clusters with wasted space. Under FAT16 your partition can only go up to 2GB
NTFS – New Technology File System support security features

(Note Windows NT does not support FAT32)

Windows 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


Windows NT Key Boot Files

NTLDR - In the MBR this file boots up the Windows NT 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 NT 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 NT Core Files
WIN.COM - Windows NT command file
HAL.DLL - Hardware Abstraction layer


Logging On to Windows NT
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

Security Dialog Box
You can access the Security Dialog Box by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del

Lock Workstation - Allows you to secure the computer without logging off
Log Off - Allows you to log off as the current user and close all running programs
Shut down - Allows you to shutdown your computer
Change password - Allows you to change your user account password
Task manager - Manages task of your computer that are running in the background
Cancel - Close the Windows Security dialog box

LFN- Long file name Support 

Windows supports up to 255 characters

Cannot use the following characters in a windows naming scheme
/ \ Forward and backward slash
? Question mark
< > Greater than and less than
: Semicolon
* Asterisk
" " Quotation marks
| Pipe character

Windows NT does not support PnP

Desktop settings in Windows NT 

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

Recycle Bin - Where deleted files are stored until complete erased


Windows NT explorer - Windows NT 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


Taskbar - contains the start menu and the system tray 
Right Click Taskbar>Properties

Taskbar Properties: Taskbar Options and Start Menu Programs

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

Performance - Contains information about Application Performance and setting the virtual memory

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

Startup/Shutdown- Contains information in how to configure the Windows NT startup/shutdown process

Hardware Profiles - Contains information about hardware profiles (useful with laptops)

User Profiles - Contains information about user profiles such as computer name, user and setting up local and roaming profiles


Start Menu Settings

Shutdown menu - Allow you to shutdown, restart or go into DOS mode in your computer
Run menu - Used to start programs if they don't have shortcut in the desktop
Help menu - Allow you to look for Windows 9x help topics
Find menu - Is use to search for files, folders, computer, Internet and people.
Settings submenu - Gives access to your control panel, printer and taskbar menu
Document menu - To keep track of the last 15 data files you opened
Programs menu - Contains the programs and applications you will use

Run Menu commands


Start>Run>Notepad
GUI Text Editor

Start > Run > EDIT
Command Line Text Editor

Start > Run > MSCONFIG
The system configuration editor has a number of tabs use for enabling and disabling drivers and startup and shutdown programs

Start > Run > CMD
Start the DOS operating system in a windows environment

Start > Run > REGEDIT
Start the Windows Registry

Control Panel Options

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

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


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


Console 
MS DOS Console

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

Devices
Allows you to configure devices in Windows NT

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

Fonts
Allows you to manage fonts installed on your computer

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

Keyboard 
Allows you configure keyboard settings

Mail
Allows you to configure your mail program

Modems 
Allows you to configure telephone dialing options and modem properties

Mouse
Allows you configure mouse settings

Multimedia
Configures audio and video options and settings

Network 
Allows you to configure network devices and settings

PC Card
Allows you to configure PCMCIA cards use on laptops

Ports
Provides a simple tool for configuring ports

Printers
Allows you to install and manage printers

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

SCSI
Allows you to configure SCSI Devices

Server
Allows you to configure Server settings

Services
Allows you to configure Services to run

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

System 
Allows you to configure system properties, including device manager, hardware profiles, and performance settings

Tape Devices
Allows you to configure Tape Devices use for backing up

Telephony
Allow you to configure settings for telephony

UPS
Allows you to configure an Uninterruptible Power Supply

Administrative Tools

Start>Programs>Administrative Tools

Backup
Makes backup of important files

Disk Administrator
Use by Windows NT to partition and format hard drives

Event Viewer
Use to view events in a Windows NT computer 

Performance Monitor
Use to view performance of computer

Remote Access Admin
Service use by Windows NT to access a Remote connection

User Manager
Use to add and remove Groups and Users in Windows NT

Windows NT Diagnostic
Use by Windows NT to diagnose computer problems

Windows NT Diagnostic Tabs

Version – Shows what version of Windows NT is running
System – Shows information about your system hardware and configuration
Display – Shows information about your display system
Drivers – Shows information about your drivers
Memory – Shows information about memory usage use by Windows NT
Services – Shows information about services running in Windows NT
Resources – Shows information about your IRQ/DMA/I/O addresses in Windows NT
Environment - define the system & user environment information 
Network – Shows the network settings in Windows NT

Windows NT Registry

Registry - Stores all the information on your PC, network information, user preferences, file types and any other Windows NT system files

To get to the Windows NT registry you type REGEDIT in the run command
The registry consists of six main root keys
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT - Contains information about class objects used by Windows 
HKEY_CURRENT_USER - Contains information about the current user settings
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - Contains information of every device ever installed in your PC
HKEY_USERS - Contains information of all the users on a PC
HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG - Contains information of your current device installed in your PC
HKEY_DYN_DATA - A registry data stored in RAM to speed up system configuration


Backup
A backup is a term for copies on your computer drive (data files, applications and even setup information.) You can choose from several types of backups, depending upon what information you want to safeguard and how you want to restore data in an event of a loss.


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.


Windows NT Troubleshooting

To Create and Emergency Repair Disk

Start>Run>RDISK

Last Known Good Configuration

When Rebooting Windows NT press spacebar during startup