In Windows XP/2000:• To use all of the space in the disk, make sure that Unpartitioned Space is highlighted and press Enter  • To us

There are three different file systems supported by Windows Vista/XP:    • NTFS    • FAT32    • FAT16 (also known as FAT)Which file system should you use for the operating system installation? Most of the time you will use NTFS, unless you want to insta

Windows Vista will recognize and install most networking devices automatically. However, Windows XP recognizes dial-up modems, network adapters, and IEEE-1394 adapters as network devices, but during installation you might receive the following prompts:    • If you have a dial-up modem installed *rare

Server 2003 has a directory partition type, the Application directory partition, only on Windows 2003 DCs. Applications and services use this partition for application-specific data. Creating, modifying, moving, and deleting an object trigger a replication between domain controllers. Replications are either:

Server replication copies changes made to a replica on one domain controller (DC) to replicas on all the other DCs in the network. Each DC stores 3 types of replica partitions:Schemas store definitions & attributes of objects that can be created in the forest and changes made in this partition

All LANs connect devices in a way specifying how they're arranged & how they communicate with each other. The cables or wireless system that moves data, the physical structure, is the physical topology. The logical topology, defines how the signals act on the network media, or the way that the data passes through &

There are several options to consider when installing Windows, including unattended versus attended installations, the type of file system to select, and the network configuration.  In an attended installation, you must provide information at various points during the process.

If you need to install Windows XP to a system that cannot be booted from the CD or DVD drive, you can download a file that can be used to make boot disks. Use these disks to start the installation process. The system will prompt you for each floppy disk, one by one, and after you have inserted the last one i

Most vendors no longer provide a full installation DVD/CD of Windows for computers with preinstalled Windows installations. Instead, a recovery DVD/CD (or sometimes a hidden hard disk partition, or both) containing a special image of the Windows installation is provided. Systems that store the image on a hidden disk partiti

A cloned system is identical in every way to the original, including having the same Security Identifier (SID). This can cause conflicts in a network. The SID and other

Windows can be installed from a disk image of another installation created with a program such as Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost. This process is called disk cloning.For disk cloning to work, the systems must be identical in every major feature, including

You can install Windows from a network drive by starting the computer with a network client and logging on to the server to start the process. If you want to automate the process, Windows 7, Vista, XP, and 2000 can all be installed from a network drive automatically using either Windows Deployment Services (made specificall

To start the install process from the Windows XP distribution CD, follow these steps:    Step 1. Make sure the CD or DVD drive is configured as the first boot device in the system BIOS.    Step 2. Insert the Windows XP CD into the system’s CD or DVD drive.    Step 3. R

The Windows Vista installation is much easier and more simplified than earlier versions of Windows. After the installation has begun, you should see a GUI-based window.When you run a default installation of Windows Vista from the distribution DVD, you are prompted to provide the following information during the

There are two ways to perform a clean install of Windows Vista from the distribution DVD:    • Install Windows Vista by running the Setup program from within the current version of Windows. (This is the recommended method.) Insert the Windows Vista DVD. Otherwise, go to the DVD drive in Windows Explo

A variety of installation methods can be used to install Windows, including the following:    • Booting from the distribution DVD or CD— This method can be used to install Windows to an individual PC and to create a master PC from which disk images can be created.    • Insta

    Files and Settings Transfer (FAST) Wizard: This is the older version of Windows Easy Transfer and is installed by default on Windows XP. It is meant for transferring files and settings from a Windows XP, 2000, or 9x computer to a Windows XP computer but otherwise works in a similar fashion to Windows Easy Tran

An alternative for moving data is the User State Migration Tool (USMT), a command-line tool that can be used to migrate user files and settings for one or more computers. The program can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com. When installed, two different tools are used: Scanstate.exe saves all the files and settings of the

If a user will be using a new operating system, either on the same computer or on a new computer, you might need to move his files and settings to the new system. When doing so, make sure that the destination computer has the latest service packs and updates and the same programs that are currently runnin

Windows System Information gives information about your hardware; launch it with {Win-R}msinfo32.exe{Enter}. The earlier winmsd can still be run on Window XP and 2000 as well as msinfo32.Belarc Advisor is a free download at http://www.b

Any system built in the last few years can easily achieve the hardware requirements needed for installing Windows Vista or 7 and will far surpass the requirements of Windows XP. However, in the real world, digital dinosaurs that might not be fast enough or have enough free disk space to support some versions of Windows stil

PCs without an operating system (or 'OS') are lumps of metal, fiberglass and solder and silicon. The OS is a foundation, a collection of low level programs which are like a uniform and consistent floor, walls and ceiling you can furnish to do your work and make the computer useful. To get ready to put an OS on a PC, you nee

You can also shut down an unresponsive application, preferably through the Applications tab of the Task Manager. A program listed as Not Responsive might start working again in a few moments. However, if it does not, select the program, click End Task, and Windows will (eventually) shut down the program.If you a

The Windows Task Manager’s Processes tab lists processes currently taking place by the name of the executable file. To adjust the priority for a particular process from the default (Normal) to a higher or lower priority, right-click the process, select Set Priority, and choose a priority from the listing 

ApplicationsWindows offers several ways to fine-tune application performance. These include    • Adjusting the balance between background services and application response    • Adjusting the priority of a process belonging to an application   

Most systems are configured to run programs at startup as well as services. In addition to starting some services at start up, Windows can also start programs automatically from these locations:    • The Startup folder in the Start menu for all users— To view the contents of this folder, open the R

Since Windows 2000, many core functions are implemented as services, including features such as the print spooler, wireless network zero configuration, DHCP client service, and many more. Services can be run automatically or manually and are controlled through the Services node of the Computer Management Console. To open th

The default location for temporary files in Windows versions prior to Windows Vista/XP is the TEMP folder beneath the default Windows folder (\Windows or \WinNT). Windows Vista and XP use \Windows for system temporary files, and XP uses \Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temp for user-specific temporary files.

To optimize the performance of the hard disk, you can use the following methods:    • Upgrade to a hard disk with a faster spin rate and larger cache buffer— Typically, newer SATA hard disks have faster spin rates and larger cache buffer sizes than older SATA or most PATA hard disks. To determine t

If the Performance Monitor/System Monitor indicates that the Paging File % Usage is consistently near 100% or the Memory Pages/Sec counter is consistently higher than 5, add RAM to improve performance.   low levels of usage of the Paging File % Usage and Memory Pages/Sec counters indicate adequate memory.Th