1/15/2003 -- Although it has been available for almost a year, the "Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional" exam remains the most recent operating system certification test to become available from Microsoft. This exam can be used as credit on both the MCSA and MCSE tracks, and consists of seven major objective categories:

• Installing Windows XP Professional
• Implementing and Conducting Administration of Resources
• Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers
• Monitoring and Optimizing System Performance and Reliability
• Configuring and Troubleshooting the Desktop Environment
• Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Network Protocols and Services
• Configuring, Managing, and Troubleshooting Security

The complete list of objectives for this exam can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/traincert/exams/70-270.asp.

In this article we will look at first two objective areas in-depth. Over the next few weeks, we'll examine the other five objectives.

Objective #1: Installing Windows XP Professional
Regardless of the type of installation you plan to perform, the first step is to make certain that the system you're using can run Windows XP Professional. Though outdated, you must know of the presence (and purpose) of the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List). Microsoft's set of minimum requirements can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.asp.

The second step to perform before any installation is to back up your existing files to removable media. This provides you with an insurance policy in the event of an unforeseen disaster and is, therefore, highly recommended.

You also must decide whether you're performing a new installation (objectives 1.1 and 1.2) or an upgrade of an existing operating system (objective 1.3). During an upgrade, you replace the existing operating system with Windows XP Professional. The biggest benefit of an upgrade, versus another installation, is that it allows you to keep many of your application settings.

1.1: Perform an Attended Installation of Windows XP Professional
The simplest installation is always the attended installation. This is the one to use when you have only one machine to install on or are creating a lab environment before doing a full-scale conversion. The key utility employed in the installation is WINNT32.EXE, and the three major phases of installation are: Setup Loader, Text-Mode Setup and GUI-Mode Setup.

Microsoft divides the two acts of deploying/installing XP into planning and deploying. An excellent planning overview can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/deployment/planning/default.asp, while the information on implementing can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/deployment/implementing/default.asp.

One key difference between XP and previous Microsoft operating systems is the concept of Product Activation. This is a required step used to prevent piracy. Information on what Windows Product Activation (WPA) is and how it works is located at http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/pro/techinfo/deployment/activation/default.asp.

1.2: Perform an Unattended Installation of Windows XP Professional
Installations of Windows XP follow the same phases whether they are done in "attended" mode or "unattended" mode. The difference with the latter is that answer files and uniqueness database files (UDFs) are used in place of an actual individual sitting in front of the keyboard entering input.

The various methods of installing, along with the pros and cons of each, are visually displayed at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/deployment/implementing/choosetool.asp#tab1 and all of the unattended installation information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/techinfo/deployment/implementing/default.asp.

When studying for this portion of the exam, one tool to pay particular attention to is Sysprep: the System Preparation tool. How it can be used to automate setup is detailed at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/itpro/deploying/minisetup.asp.

1.3: Upgrade from a Previous Version of Windows to Windows XP Professional
The Upgrading System Requirements can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/sysreqs.asp, and you should also read the Questions and Answers About Setup that can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/guide/installqa.asp.

You can perform an upgrade from the following programs:

• Windows 98
• Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (w/Service Pack 6)
• Windows Me
• Windows 2000 Professional

1.4: Perform Post-Installation Updates and Product Activation
Product Activation was discussed in objective 1.2 and the same information should be consulted for this objective. Upgrades to Microsoft operating systems come in the form of service packs. Each service pack contains patches and fixes for operating system components needing such, as well as additional features. A service pack is a self-running program that modifies your operating system. It isn't uncommon within the lifetime of an operating system to have two or three service packs.
Successive service packs include all files that have been in previous ones. Therefore, if you perform a new installation and the latest service pack is Service Pack 4, you do not need to install Service Packs 1, 2 and 3. You need install only Service Pack 4 after the installation to bring the operating system up to the current feature set. As they are released, service packs are shipped monthly for all Microsoft Operating Systems with TechNet. TechNet is a subscription CD service available through Microsoft.

1.5: Troubleshoot Failed Installations
The Windows XP Setup program makes installation errors much less common than they used to be with earlier operating systems, and most failures can be traced to hardware not appearing on the HCL. A step-by-step guide to troubleshooting Windows XP Professional Setup can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/guide/troubleshoot.asp.

Objective #2: Implementing and Conducting Administration of Resources
The permissions, attributes and characteristics of files and folders depend greatly on the file system on which Windows XP is installed and the location of the user accessing them. The sections examine aspects of file and folder attributes and access on the local machine.

2.1: Monitor, Manage and Troubleshoot Access to Files and Folders
With FAT32, you do not have the ability to assign "extended" or "extensible" permissions, and the user sitting at the console effectively is the owner of all resources on the system. As such, he can add, change and delete any data or file that he wants.

With NTFS as the file system, however, you are allowed to assign more comprehensive security to your computer system. NTFS permissions are able to protect you at the file level. Share permissions (addressed later in this article) can be applied to the directory level only. NTFS permissions can affect users logged on locally or across the network to the system where the NTFS permissions are applied. Share permissions are in effect only when the user connects to the resource via the network.

Permissions can be allowed or denied individually on a per-folder basis. You can assign any combination of the values shown in the following table:

As with the folder, default permissions on newly created entities are equal to Everyone - Full Control. Additionally, by default, the determination of NTFS permissions is based on the cumulative NTFS permissions for a user. Rights can be assigned to users based on group membership and individually; the only time permissions do not accumulate is when the Deny permission is invoked.

NOTE: The Deny permission overrides all other permissions. In the absence of Deny, rights accumulate through individual and group assignments, as well as through folder and file assignments. (In the case of a conflict, file permissions override folder permissions.)

Moving or copying a file to a new directory could change the permissions on an NTFS file. This depends on whether the file is moved or copied and on whether the target directory is on the same NTFS volume as the original.

When a file is copied from one directory to another on the same NTFS volume, the file inherits the directory permissions for new files of the target directory. When a file is moved from one directory to another on the same NTFS volume, it retains the NTFS permissions it had from the original directory.

This concept gets confusing when files are moved or copied from one NTFS volume to another. When you copy a file from one NTFS volume to another, the file will always inherit the permissions of the target directory. The same is true when you move a file between NTFS volumes. This is due to the fact that the file is not actually moved between NTFS volumes. The actual process is outlined here:

1. The file is copied to the target directory. This causes the file to inherit the permissions of the target directory.
2. The file in the target directory is compared to the original file, and it's verified that the two are identical.
3. The original file is deleted from the original directory.

Using the NTFS file system, you can configure files and folders for file-level compression if you have Write permissions. Compression conserves disk space but does not reduce the estimation of how much space the user is utilizing when computing disk quotas. Compression can be enabled for an individual file or set at the folder level.

NOTE: Encryption and compression settings are mutually exclusive: You cannot compress encrypted files or encrypt compressed files.

When a file is copied or moved, the compression attribute resembles other NTFS permissions when deciding whether it will be kept or lost. When the file is copied, the compression attribute always becomes equal to that of the target folder (and if going to a non-NTFS partition, it's lost completely). The following table summarizes what becomes of the compression attribute during move operations:

Microsoft's information on restricting access control with NTFS permissions can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/security/accesscontrol.asp.

2.2: Manage and Troubleshoot Access to Shared Folders
Share permissions apply only when a user is accessing a file or folder through the network. Local permissions and attributes are used to protect the file when the user is local.

Share permissions differ significantly from NTFS permissions in a few ways:

• They apply to users accessing the resource remotely and not locally.
• They work with Windows- and DOS-based file systems (NTFS, FAT, or FAT32).
• They work in conjunction with other permissions.

Sharing is done at the folder level; it cannot be done individually at the file level. The only requirement is that you must install the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks service. A folder can be shared from the command line (difficult) or from within the graphical interface (simple). To share a folder graphically, highlight it within your browser and right-click on it. Choose Sharing from the pop-up menu and the dialog box appears.

Click the Share This Folder option button; the name of the shared folder automatically appears in the Share Name text box. You can keep this value or change it to any other value. The share name should be 15 characters or fewer (8 or fewer if you will be servicing DOS clients). The Comment field is completely optional, but it can be used to display information about the folder's contents to users.

NOTE: For users to see the comments, they must use the Details view.

From this dialog box, you can also set the maximum number of users who can access the folder concurrently. The default is unlimited, but you can specify a number if you must limit the access for licensing, design, or other reasons. Clicking the Permissions button brings up the permissions dialog box. Because the permissions apply to the entity only when it is accessed remotely, these are known as Access Through Share (ATS) permissions. The following table summarizes the share permissions that can be assigned:

You can add individual users and groups to or remove them from the permissions list. Click Add, and the dialog box to change users/groups appears. By default, all the Allow check boxes are selected. When you deselect Change or Read, it automatically unchecks Full Control, because Full Control requires having those other permissions. When the permissions are properly configured, click OK to exit. The folder icon now appears with a hand beneath it, indicating that the folder is shared.
A folder can be shared more than once, each time having a different share name associated with it. This is useful if you are combining folders -- for example, if you are placing what accounting used to call REPORTS in with what marketing used to call DATA. To share the folder under a different name, right-click it and then choose Sharing from the pop-up menu.

2.3: Connect to Local and Network Print Devices
The primary user interface to Windows XP Professional printing features is the Printers folder. This is accessible through the Control Panel or beneath the Settings item in the Start menu.

From the Printers folder, you can install, configure, administer and remove printers; watch print queues; pause, purge and restart print jobs; share printers; and set printer defaults.

Printers can be installed on the workstation or through a connection to a remote printer. The remote connection installation is easy to accomplish, whereas installing your own printer is much more involved and requires Administrative or Power User rights.

To start either installation, double-click on the Add Printer icon in the Printers folder. The Add Printer Wizard appears.

Adding a Printer on Your Own Machine
As mentioned earlier, to add a printer, you must have Administrator or Power User rights. The wizard begins the process and then either initiates the Add New Hardware Wizard (if a printer is not already attached) or asks which port you want to use. You cannot proceed until you have checked one of the available ports or added a new port. Next, you must specify the manufacturer and model of the new printer, choosing from the list. If your printer is not listed, click the Have Disk button and install the driver from a disk.

Next you must supply a printer name. The only other choice you make here is whether you want the printer to become the default printer for Windows-based programs. The printer name can contain up to 32 characters; it doesn't have to reflect the name of the driver in use. As you can with other resources and shares, you can place a dollar sign ($) at the end of the name to prevent it from being visible to all other users even though you may choose to share it.

The next choice, coincidentally, is whether you want to share the printer with other computers on the network. You must provide a share name if you are going to share it. (The default is the name you entered in the previous screen.) If you are sharing the printer, you can specify free text (Location and Comment) to be associated with the printer. Finally, you are given the choice of printing a test page. (The default is yes.) When you finish the installation, the wizard shows you all your choices and allows you one last chance to make changes (which you do by using the Back command button) before finishing.

Adding a Network or Internet Printer
This is a much simpler operation than installing a printer locally. In the first screen of the Add Printer Wizard, click the Network Printer option. This opens the Locate Your Printer dialog box, which asks for the name of the shared printer you want to connect to. If the printer is networked and you do not know the path, you can leave the field blank and click Next to invoke the Browse feature. No such feature is available for the Internet printer option, however, so you must specify a URL in order to proceed to the next dialog box.

Prior to completion, the wizard asks if you want the printer to serve as a default printer. Then it completes the installation by placing an icon for the printer in the Printers folder.

2.4: Configure and Manage File Systems
The file system that is appropriate for Windows XP depends on the needs of the specific environment it will be used in. In an environment that requires dual-booting to another operating system, Microsoft recommends using a FAT-formatted file system. It recommends NTFS for situations in which security is a concern, however (dual booting/multibooting is addressed at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/multiboot.asp).

The following specific features make it desirable to implement NTFS, versus FAT32 on a Windows XP workstation:

• Transaction tracking
• File-level security support
• File-level compression support
• Large volume support

Anytime after the installation, the CONVERT.EXE utility allows you to convert a file system to NTFS without data loss. The syntax for this command is as follows:

CONVERT {volume} /FS:NTFS [/v]

wherein the volume is the drive to be converted, and /v is used to invoke verbose mode. Under all conditions, the /FS parameter must be used to specify the file system, and the only accepted file system is NTFS.

So, for example, to convert the C drive to NTFS from FAT/FAT32, you would use the following command:

CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS

Any other conversion you might want to perform requires you to back up your data, format the volume with the new file system, and then restore the data. This can be a touchy subject because other operating systems offer a utility for converting FAT to FAT32 without data loss. No such utility is included in Windows XP Professional, however.

2.5: Manage and Troubleshoot Access to and Synchronization of Offline Files
First introduced with Windows 2000, Windows XP has the capability to work with resources that are "online" (accessed through the network or other connection) and "offline" (replicated copies of the resource stored locally). When you select a networked resource, the first line in the left frame beneath the location of the resource shows whether it is currently online -- meaning whether you are accessing it through the network or offline.

The pop-up menu for the resource offers a selection entitled Make Available Offline. The item you choose to make available offline can be a folder, file, or even a mapped drive. When you select the Make Available Offline choice, the Offline File Wizard starts, walking you through the steps of replicating this data locally.

Synchronization between the copy and the original can be done manually (choose File, Synchronize from Explorer) or automatically (you log on and log off).

The last screen of the wizard offers two important check boxes where you can:

• Have reminders pop up regularly when you are working offline to tell you that you are not connected to the network. This is the default action.
• Add a shortcut to the desktop for the offline material. By default, this option is not enabled; you reach the offline data the same way you would access the original data.

If the object you want to make available offline is a folder, a confirmation dialog box will ask whether you want to make available just the contents of the folder, or if you want to make available all subfolders of the original folder as well.

As a final item of note, the offline files and folders do consume hard drive space, so you need to allot for this appropriately. All offline content is stored beneath the %systemroot% directory in subdirectories of a hidden, system folder named CSC.

Microsoft details everything you need to know about offline files at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gomobile/offlinefiles.asp and offline Web pages at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gomobile/offlineviewing.asp.

Observations
The Windows 2000 Professional (70-210) exam was used as a blueprint for creating this exam, as is evidenced by the significant overlap in topic areas. While this is an important point, do not allow it to lull you into a false sense of confidence. There are enough tiny differences between the Windows 2000 Professional exam and this one that 70-210can prove tricky in places. Make sure to prepare for it as you would any other exam. Until next time, happy studying!

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