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Installation
The following are the installation requirements for a Windows 2000 Professional workstation:
133 MHz or higher Pentium-compatible processor
64MB minimum; 4GB maximum)
2GB hard drive with a minimum of 650 MB of free space(Additional free hard disk space is required if you are installing over a network).
Windows 2000 Professional supports up to 2 processors.
Always check the HCL before beginning any installation. Installations can be created on any type of partition-FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. NTFS is recommended, but use FAT or FAT 32 for dual booting. Upgrades can be performed on Windows 9x machines and NT 3.51 and higher OSs. To upgrade a Windows 3.1 or NT 3.5, first upgrade to Windows 9x or NT 4.0, respectively. To install over a network, install a distribution server first. Slipstreaming is the ability to install Windows 2000 and the service packs at the same time, and can be done using a distribution image for many computers. There are four logs for troubleshooting failed installations: Setupact.log, Setuperr.log, Setupapi.log and Setuplog.txt.
The following table lists some of the common switches available for use with WINNT.EXE
WINNT.EXE:
/e: command
Executes a command before the last phase of setup.
/r: foldername
Creates an additional folder in the folder where the Windows 2000 files are installed. The folder IS NOT DELETED after Setup finishes. You can use additional /r switches to install additional folders.
/rx: foldername
Creates a folder to be copied as a part of setup – into the Windows 2000 directory, but the folder IS DELETED as setup finishes.
Use Winnt32.exe for a clean installation or upgrade from Windows 9.x or NT Workstation. There are a number of switches that can be used with winnt32.exe. Below are a couple of the important ones:
WINNT32.EXE:
/copydir: foldername
Creates an additional folder in the folder where the Windows 2000 files are installed. The folder IS NOT DELETED after Setup finishes. You can use additional /r switches to install additional folders. Same as /r for winnt.exe.
/copysource: foldername
Creates a folder to be copied as a part of setup – into the Windows 2000 directory, but the folder IS DELETED as setup finishes. Same as /rx for winnt.exe.
/cmd:
Executes a command before the last phase of setup. Same as /e: for winnt.exe.
/cmdcons
Installs the appropriate files to restart the system in command-line non-graphical mode for repair purposes.
/syspart
Prepares a hard disk to be transferred to another computer system. This switch installs setup files and marks the partition active. Requires the use of /tempdrive switch.
/tempdrive
Specifies which drive to install Windows 2000 temporary files during setup.
/makelocalsource
Copies all of the Windows 2000 source files to the target drive during installation.
/noreboot
Avoids reboot after installation so that another command can be run.
/checkupgradeonly
Checks your system for incompatibilities that will prevent a successful upgrade.
/unattend
Upgrades your previous version of Windows by using unattended Setup mode. All user settings are taken from the previous installation so that no user intervention is required during Setup. You can also use this command in an unattended installation by specifying the [seconds][:answer_file] variables.
Windows 2000 Professional supports unattended installations. The /U switch is used for unattended installations and is followed by the location of the answer and installation files. Unattended installations can be done for clean installs as well as upgrades. Unattended installations can be fully automated. The default answer file that ships with Win2K is called unattend.txt and can be modified. Setup Manager can also create answer files. For more in depth information about unattended installations, read our tutorial Windows 2000 Unattended Installations.
Windows 2000 comes with a variety of tools that can be helpful during installations. Understand the following concepts:
Disk duplication is used when the computers have identical hardware configurations, and is only used for clean installs.
Sysprep is used when you need to prepare an image of a computer for cloning but does not provide the actual distribution of this image. That is done with third-party tools.
To use Remote Installation Service(RIS), there must be DHCP server service, DNS server service, and AD running on the network.
Scripting is used when computers have different hardware configurations and when disk duplication cannot be used. Answer files offer information that is normally manually input into installation dialog boxes like user name, password, domain name, time zones, etc.
Backup and Recovery
Recovery Console:
Now that you have installed Windows 2000, you should immediately take steps to protect your installation by installing the Recovery Console. Recovery Console is similar to the emergency repair disk in NT 4.0, but with many functionality enhancements. Recovery Console will allow you to You can start and stop services, read and write data on a local drive (including drives formatted with the NTFS file system), copy data from a floppy disk or CD, format drives, fix the boot sector or master boot record, and perform other administrative tasks. With Windows NT 4.0, many administrators would create a FAT partition that would allow them to boot to a DOS prompt. The recovery console eliminates the need to create a FAT partition for this purpose.
Recovery Console is set up as follows:
Insert the installation CD and switch to the I386 directory. Type C:>winnt32 /cmdcons. When asked for confirmation, answer “yes”. The file will be copied to the hard disk. After rebooting the computer you will be able to select “Microsoft Windows 2000 Command Console” and start Windows 2000 in command mode. You will be prompted for a Windows 2000 installation that you wish to repair and will be prompted for the Adminstrator password. Once you are in, there is a wide variety