Creating Users and Groups
Every time you use your Windows XP machine, you must provide a valid user
account to log in and access the local machine.This user account must have the
appropriate permissions to use the machine or access will be denied.You can
assign permissions directly to the user account, or you can assign them to groups.
When assigning permissions to groups, you affect all of the users within the
group. In this section, we define the different types of user accounts and groups
available.We also learn how to create and manage each type of user and group.
What Are User Accounts?
What exactly is a user account? Think of it as your passport to access resources,
such as printers and files.Windows XP requires mandatory logon, which means
that to interact with your machine, you must have a valid user account and password.
Depending on the types of resources you want to access—local or network—
you need either a local user account or a domain user account.
Local User Accounts
Local user accounts are just that, “local” to the machine that you are logging into.
Every XP machine maintains its own database. If you were logging into XP’s
database, it would mean that you are logging on to the local computer, or logging
on locally.A local user account gives you rights that are associated only with that
specific machine, and not the entire network. Remember:“Local” means just
that, local to the machine you are logging into.
Table 4.1 shows the default user accounts provided by Windows XP
Professional during installation.The two accounts created are Administrator and
Guest. Exercise 4.1 walks you through creating local users.
Table 4.1 Default Local User Accounts Provided with Windows XP Professional
Account Account Function
Administrator The Administrator account is the first account you will ever
use to log into Windows XP. Once you log in, you may
create new accounts and begin to configure your workstation.
A few important features of the Administrator
account are that you can never delete or disable it nor can
you remove it from the Local Administrators group.
However, you can rename the account.
Guest The Guest account is used by users who do not have an
actual account on the workstation for them to log in with,
so they can log in as guests. The Guest account does not
have a password. The Guest account is disabled by default
so you need to enable it to use it.
Exercise 4.1 Creating Local User Accounts
with the Computer Management Console
To create a local user, you must first navigate to the Computer Management
MMC:
1. Navigate to the Computer Management applet in your administrative
tools program group (Start | Control Panel | Administrative Tools
| Computer Management).
2. Expand System Tools in Computer Management; you will see the
Local Users and Groups Icon.
3. Expand Local Users and Groups.You will see two folders, Users and
Groups. Figure 4.1 shows these folders.
4. Right-click the Users folder and select the option New User…. This
will bring you to the New User dialog box shown in Figure 4.2.
5. Supply the following information:
User name The name that will be used by this account to log on.
Full name The actual name of the user (this may be different from
the user name).
Description Adds other details about the user or account (such as
what floor the user works on).
6. Enter the password and confirm it.
7. Check the desired account options:
User must change password at logon Requires the user to enter
a new password when he logs on.
User cannot change password Makes it impossible for the user
to change her password.
Password never expires Ensures that the password does not have
to be constantly changed by the user.
Account is disabled Disables the account, preventing it from being
used by anyone trying to log on.This is not the same as deleting the
account, because it still exists, but it is technically inoperable.
8. To finish, click Create, and the new user account will be created.
The new account will appear in the contents pane of the MMC.To find
more options or to change other options on your new user, simply right-click
new user for a pop-up menu of options, including the following:
Set password
Rename
Delete
Properties
One thing you may want to investigate is the user’s properties. Clicking on
the Properties field allows you to apply a few more important options for this
user.You will find the following two new tabs:
Member of Allows you to add specific groups to the user account you
have created (groups are covered in the next section).
Profile tab (shown in Figure 4.3) The Profile path field assigns the
profile used by your new Local User account upon logon to the
machine.The Logon script field assigns a batch file–based login script.
The Home Folder section sets the user account to a local path for its
home folder or maps the user account to a home folder on a network
share. A home folder is where users should save all of their data.
Remember, it is best to have all data in one centralized area so that it
can easily be located and backed up.
Let’s look at another way to create a user account. First, we have to get to the
command prompt, which is a 32-bit program that runs text-based commands. It
looks like DOS (Disk Operating System), but it is not DOS. It is called
Command (abbreviated CMD) and can be run from the Run dialog box. Click
Start | Run. From the Run dialog box, type in the CMD and click OK.Typing
net and pressing ENTER will give you the window shown in Figure 4.4.
Figure 4.4 shows all of the possible options used with the net command.To
see a list of options (including the correct syntax) for creating a user, run the following
command from the command prompt:
NET USER /HELP
The output from this command will display more information than can fit on
one screen. Let’s view all of the output by scrolling back to the top of the command
prompt (use the scrollbar on the right side of the command prompt
window). Scroll down slowly and read all of the command’s switches.This may
appear to be a difficult way of creating users, but at times it is easier than going
through the graphical user interface (GUI).This is generally faster than using the
GUI.You also have the flexibility of adding these commands to a script or batch
file to automate your administrative task. Exercise 4.2 walks you through creating
a user from the command prompt. Exercise 4.3 walks you through deleting a user
account from the command prompt. Exercise 4.4 walks you through creating
local user accounts with the Control Panel User Accounts applet.
Exercise 4.2 Creating Local User
Accounts by Using the Command Line
1. Open a command prompt. Go to Start | Run. Type CMD and
click OK.
2. Next, type NET USER newuser1 /ADD.You should see “the command
completed successfully” message.This lets you know that your user
was created.
3. To use the GUI to verify that your user was created, Go to Start |
Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer Management
and navigate down to the Users folder.You will see the new account
NEWUSER1. Minimize Computer Management.
Exercise 4.3 Deleting Local User
Accounts by Using the Command Line
1. Go back to the command prompt and type NET USER newuser1
/DELETE.
2. This will delete the newly created user.To verify that the user account was
deleted, maximize Computer Management and refresh the right side contents
pane by pressing F5.The NEWUSER1 local account disappears.
Another way to check this is to pull up the command prompt and type
NET USER, which will show all the user accounts that are available on
the local machine.
Exercise 4.4 Creating Local User Accounts
with the Control Panel User Accounts Applet
Lastly, you can create a new local user account via the Control Panel by using the
following steps:
1. Go to Start | Control Panel | User Accounts Applet and doubleclick
the User Accounts Applet.
2. You will be asked to pick a task.You can change a current account,
create a new one, or change the way a user logs off. Select Create a
new user account from the menu.
3. In the Type a name for the new account box, type in XPTEST.
Afterwards, click Next to continue.
4. Choose whether to create a Computer Administrator or a Limited
account.The Computer Administrator account will give the new user
account administrative rights.The Limited account will give the new
user account rights to change their password, view files it creates, view
files in the shared documents folder, and change the settings for its profile.
Select the Computer Administrator radio button and click
Create Account.You will now see the account listed under the Pick an
account to change section of the User Accounts window.
Using the User Accounts Applet
Now that you have seen how to create local user accounts, let’s look at how to
manage them with the User Accounts applet (see Figure 4.5) from the Control
Panel.This applet provides many useful features:
Changing the login interface for users
Resetting users passwords
Changing the role of a user
Renaming an account
Enabling Fast User Switching
From the User Accounts window, you can create a new account or you can
modify an existing account.You can also change the way users log on and off.
(See Exercise 4.4 to learn how to create a new account.) Figure 4.6 shows the
logon and logoff options.
In Figure 4.6, you see two options—Use the Welcome screen and Use
Fast User Switching.The Welcome screen is an alternative way of logging onto
your computer. Instead of getting the normal Ctrl+Alt+Delete logon box, users
are given a screen that lists the available user accounts for their machine.The user
simply clicks on the user that he wishes to log on as (entering a password if
needed), and he is logged on. Disabling the Welcome screen returns the
Ctrl+Alt+Delete logon box.
Enabling the Welcome screen is a requirement for Fast User Switching. Fast
User Switching is a new feature in Windows XP. It is available only when your
PC is in workgroup mode.You use Fast User Switching by clicking Start | Log
Off. On the Log Off Windows dialog box, click Switch User.You will now be
at the Welcome screen.You can log on as the same user or a different user by
choosing her name from the list.
When you use Fast User Switching, users are not logged off. All of their programs
continue to run. XP puts their desktop in the background and allows
another user to open a new desktop (similar to how Terminal Server works).You
can switch back and forth between the user’s desktops without having to close all
applications and save your data. Pressing the Windows logo key + L takes you
directly to the Welcome screen.You may use this, for example, when you are at
home writing a paper and someone else wants to check her mail.You can switch
over to her desktop and let her check mail without disturbing your desktop.
Figure 4.7 shows the options available for configuring a user account.This is
an easy way to manage your accounts. If you desire more options, you will need
to use Local Users And Computers from within Computer Management or run
lusrmgr.msc from the Run line.The options available with the User Accounts
applet are listed here:
Change the user’s login name
Reset the user’s password
Change the icon that appears next to the user’s name on the Welcome
screen and on the Start menu
Change the account from a limited account to an Administrator account
and vice versa
Delete the account from the local accounts database
Domain User Accounts
Before we cover what a domain user account is, you need to understand
domains. In Microsoft technologies, a domain is created when you make a
Windows NT or 2000 server a domain controller. Domains provide a single
point of administration and a single point of logon. All domain controllers within
the domain share the same database. Users can log into this database from any
computer within the domain.This is different than the stand-alone machine
approach we have been dealing with thus far. Now instead of users having to
remember a different username and password for each machine that they log
into, they can use the same account on every machine.This makes administration
easier as well. Now administrators have to manage only one account.
The process of joining a Windows XP machine to a domain creates a logical
association between the machine and the domain controllers. Joining the domain
creates a computer account in the domain database.This allows administrators to
centrally manage your machine with the other machines joined to the domain.A
common example of this is to create Group Policy Objects that apply machine settings
to all machines in the domain.This allows administrators to apply the settings
once and have them apply to all machines versus having to assign policy locally on
each machine. Exercise 4.5 walks you through joining your PC to the domain.
Exercise 4.5 Joining a Domain
1. Click Start | Control Panel | System Applet and click the
Computer Name tab. Click Network ID.This will start the Network
Identification Wizard.
2. From the How Do You Use This Computer window, choose This
computer is part of a business network, and I use it to connect
to other computers at work. Click Next to continue.
3. You will now be asked what type of network your company uses.
Choose My company uses a network with a domain. Click Next
to continue.
4. You will now be told that you need to enter the following information:
Username
Password
User account domain
You may optionally need to enter the following information:
Computer name
Domain name
Click Next to continue.
5. You will be asked for a domain to join and the name and password of a
user account that has the rights to join this machine to the domain.
Follow the remaining prompts and click Finish.You will have to restart
your XP Professional machine.
6. After rebooting, use the System applet in Control Panel (Use the
Computer Name tab) to verify that you are now part of the correct
domain.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Installing Windows XP Professional
Introduction
In this chapter, we take a look at the installation of Windows XP Professional.We
walk through a clean install on a new PC, an upgrade from Windows 2000
Professional, and finally, we look at a few methods for automating the installation
of Windows XP Professional. First, let’s take a look at the requirements for
installing Windows XP Professional.Table 2.1 lists the requirements that
Microsoft specifies.
Table 2.1 Requirements for Windows XP Professional
Component Recommendation
Processor 233 MHz minimum
300 MHz recommended
Memory 64MB minimum
128MB recommended
Hard Disk 1.5GB available space
Video Super VGA (800x600) or higher
As you can see from the table, Microsoft has taken the additional steps to provide
both minimum and recommended hardware requirements for the new OS.
You will obviously need a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive if you plan to install
from CD, or a network adapter if you plan to install from a network distribution
point. An important feature to note about Windows XP Professional that isn’t
mentioned in the table is its support for multiple processors.WinXP Pro will
support up to two processors, whereas WinXP Home Edition only supports one
processor.
If you were in the position to purchase new computers for a Windows XP
deployment, the best advice would be to buy the fastest you could afford.This
should (hopefully) protect you from needing to turn over your PC inventory
every two years. In fact, many major corporations try to plan for new PCs
sticking around for a minimum of three years.
Now that you’ve seen the requirements for Windows XP Professional, let’s
move on to the basics of installation. Microsoft supports two methods of installing
Windows XP Professional on target workstations: either an upgrade or a clean
installation. Upgrading to Windows XP Professional implies that the target workstation
already has an existing operating system that may have its own settings and
configuration. If the target workstation is configured with an operating system
that is supported for upgrading, you can instruct the setup program to upgrade in
place, migrating all user settings and applications available.
If, however, the target workstation is a new machine, requires reinstallation, or
is configured with a nonsupported operating system, you must apply a clean
installation to the workstation.You can then install the primary drive of the target
workstation with Windows XP Professional without searching for existing data
(though you can preserve data), applications, or configuration settings.
Administrators and support engineers should take the time to perform the
upgrade and installation process numerous times to be aware of potential problems.
Identifying show-stopping problems (such as the application not working)
may be a great deal easier than handling issues (such as the profile directory
changing to the Documents and Settings folder) that manifest much more subtly.
Several factors will influence your decision whether to upgrade or to apply a
clean installation of Windows XP Professional.These include the following:
Current workstation management levels If modifications to the
workstation’s operating system and applications have followed strict
change controls, the current state of the workstation will be well known.
An upgrade would best suit a well-managed environment, preserving the
investment in your configuration information. If the state of the workstations
is indeterminate, a clean install of Windows XP Professional
would allow you to revert the configuration of the workstations back to
a known state.
User preferences and settings If your users have a level of control
over their workstation, they may have personalized certain settings and
preferences. Determining what settings exist can be difficult.To preserve
these settings, the best option would be to perform an upgrade.
Applications and data Some users may store data on their local
workstations, or install applications locally. An upgrade would be the best
choice to prevent inadvertently deleting data, and it would also ensure
that applications would still function (if compatible with Windows XP
Professional). Many businesses store data centrally for backup and management
purposes, and as a result, you could consider a clean install.
Existing operating systems on client workstations The installation
type you choose will also be dictated by the operating system of the
client prior to deployment. If, for example, you are using Windows 3.1,
the only option available would be to perform a clean installation.
Upgrading from previous versions of Windows NT (version 4.0) is
inherently easier than upgrading from Windows 9x.This is due to the
commonality between the operating system kernel architecture, device
driver models, registry database, security architecture, and file systems.
Upgrading from existing Windows 98/Me installations can present additional
issues that you would need to resolve.
Operating system history If your client workstations have been
through a regular cycle of upgrades, the preferred option would be to
perform a clean install, thus resolving possible legacy issues. Migrating
the workstation to Windows XP Professional from a platform that has
been repeatedly upgraded could negate some of the advantages (such as
stability) of deploying Windows XP Professional in the first place.
You can start the Windows XP Professional setup process in a number of
ways.You can initiate the setup or upgrade process by executing Winnt32.exe
from a command line on a host operating system that is compliant with the
upgrade paths discussed earlier.You can find the setup executable,Winnt32.exe,
in the i386 directory on the Windows XP Professional CD-ROM.You can also
execute setup from a bootable CD-ROM containing the relevant installation
files. Other solutions include using a network management application such as
Microsoft’s Systems Management Server (SMS), or a bootable floppy disk with
network drivers and a connection to the Windows XP Professional installation
source
When using the Winnt32.exe setup program to install Windows XP
Professional, you can use a number of command line parameters to modify the
installation.When attempting to install Windows XP from a bootable floppy disk,
you would use the Winnt.exe setup program.These bullets summarize the usage
for each of the setup programs:
To clean install Windows XP Professional on DOS,Windows 3.1,
Windows 3.11,Windows for Workgroups,Windows 95, or Windows NT
3.51 Workstation, run Winnt.exe from a DOS prompt.
To clean install or upgrade from Windows 98,Windows ME, or
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, use Winnt32.exe.
Clean Installation of
Windows XP Professional
The process of installing Windows XP on a workstation whose hard drive can be
formatted (thus erasing all data), or on a workstation that will be booting
between two operating systems is known as a clean install. In order to proceed
with a clean installation, the only requirements are that the workstation should
meet the minimum hardware specifications for Windows XP Professional and
that the hardware be present on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). A clean
install will not have any settings other than those entered during setup, and they
may require individual customization.
To speed up the installation process, you can run Winnt32 with the Syspart
switch.The Syspart switch causes all of the installation files to be copied to a formatted
hard drive on the preparation machine.When the drive is then removed
and placed in another workstation, it will continue with the next stage of setup.
This option is particularly useful for reducing deployment time in environments
with dissimilar hardware, or for use with disk imaging software.You must perform
a clean install in the following situations:
Target workstations are running Windows 3.1,Windows 3.11, and
Windows for Workgroups,Windows 95, and Windows 3.51 workstation
Target workstations are running a non-Microsoft operating system
Target workstations do not have an operating system installed
Target workstation must be built from CD-ROM
Let’s begin by walking through a clean installation of Windows XP from CD.
This installation method assumes that you have a new PC (one without an operating
system), or a PC that already has an operating system, but you do not
intend to preserve the existing OS. In each of the installation examples that you’ll
see in this chapter, we take the installation step-by-step, using screen shots to
illustrate the decision points of the process.
1. Power-on your system and insert the Windows XP Professional CDROM
in the tray.You will need to verify that your system is configured
to boot from the CD-ROM prior to performing this step.
2. After the system completes the POST, the setup routine for WinXP will
begin.This is also known as the text-based setup.The installation of
Windows XP involves four major steps:
Text-based setup
GUI-based setup
Installing the network components
Completing the setup
Figure 2.1 shows the initial file copy of the setup process. During
this process, the setup program is loading a minimal version of Windows
XP to support the setup process. Specifically, it is loading the drivers for
the common mass storage devices, as well as drivers for other common
hardware devices.This is done to allow WinXP to detect the correct
hardware in your system. Some manufacturers provide new drivers that
you need to load during this stage of the process. At one point in the
initial file copy,Windows XP will display a message prompting you to
press F6 to install third-party drivers. At this point, you can insert the
disk with the new driver, and the setup process will copy the driver to
hard disk.
3. Once the setup program has loaded the initial files and drivers, you will
have the ability to specify an installation partition, or if there are no partitions
on the system, you will have the chance to create new partitions.
Note: If your system has existing partitions, you can delete those partitions
during this stage of the setup.This is the point where you can erase
an existing operating system from your computer.You can also create
multiple partitions from this utility.
4. In Figure 2.2, you will notice that there aren’t any existing partitions.To
create a new partition, press C.
5. Figure 2.3 shows the Partition creation screen. It will show the minimum
and maximum possible size for the new partition, and ask for you
to type in the size partition you wish to create. Once you have typed in
a value that falls between the minimum and maximum, press Enter to
continue. Note that you will need to create a partition that is at least
1.5GB in size to meet the requirements of Windows XP Professional.
6. Your next decision is to choose how to format the new partition.Your
choices are NTFS (Quick), FAT (Quick), NTFS, and FAT (see Figure
2.4). Using the keyboard arrow keys, highlight the file system you want
to use, and then press Enter to continue.
7. The setup program will begin the format process on the new partition
that you created, as shown in Figure 2.5. Depending on the size of the
partition and the file system you have chosen, this may take anywhere
from 1 to 10 minutes to complete.
8. As shown in Figure 2.6, the next step in the setup process is to copy the
Windows XP source files from the CD to the new partition.This process
will take a few minutes. Once the file copy has completed, the system
will reboot, and the setup process will transition into the GUI mode.
9. Upon reboot, you will see the new GUI screen (see Figure 2.7).This
screen displays the status of the installation on the left-hand side.You will
also see an estimate of the remaining time left.
10. The next step is to discover and install the devices on your PC (see
Figure 2.8).This process may cause the screen to flicker as Windows XP
attempts to determine what video card your system is using.This step
will also generate the estimated time of completion.
11. Once the installation discovers all of your devices, you will be asked to
verify your Regional and Language Options, as shown in
From this dialog box, you can set the Regional settings, such as the
12. Figure 2.10 shows the dialog box for typing your name and organization
information that will now appear. Once you have entered this information,
click Next.
13. You now need to enter the Windows XP Product Key (see Figure 2.11).
This 25-character key is located on the Windows XP CD. Once you
have typed the key, click Next.
14. Type the computer name in the first box of the dialog box that appears
(see Figure 2.12). Next, enter the password for the local Administrator’s
account, and then re-enter the password for confirmation. Once this has
been done, click Next.
15. Next, you will set the correct date and time for your computer (see
Figure 2.13). Once this is complete, click Next.
16. As Figure 2.14 shows, you now must set the network settings for the
system.You have two choices:Typical and Custom. If you choose the
Typical settings option, the following options will be installed:
Client for Microsoft Networks
QoS Packet Scheduler
File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks
TCP/IP, configured for DHCP
If you choose Custom settings, you will be given the opportunity
to add and configure any of the network options that are available.Of
course, if you make a mistake at this step of the installation, you can also
go back once the system is ready and make necessary changes. For a
detailed examination of the networking options that are available in
Windows XP Professional after setup has completed, please refer to
Chapter 6. Once you have made your selection, click Next.
17. You are now asked to provide either the workgroup or domain name for
the new system. Figure 2.15 shows the system being configured for
joining a workgroup named Workgroup. If you decide to join a domain at
this point, you will also need the username and password for an account
that is authorized to add computers to the domain. Click Next.
18. Now, the Windows XP installation will begin copying files to support
the options you chose earlier (see Figures 2.16 and 2.17).
19. At the completion of the file copy, the setup program will begin
installing the Start menu items.This is shown in Figure 2.18.
20. After the Start menu items have been installed, Setup will register the
Windows components, as shown in Figure 2.19. Next, Figure 2.20
shows the routine saving settings. Finally, the Setup program will remove
the temporary files from the hard drive that were used to support the
installation (see Figure 2.21).
21. Once the temporary files have been removed, the setup will be complete.
Windows XP will reboot the system. Once this has finished, you
are ready to go.
As you can see, the installation of Windows XP Professional is very simple.
You’ll notice an obvious change to the installation graphics as compared to the
Windows 2000 Professional setup, but for the most part, these installation routines
perform the same steps. A CD-based clean installation will take anywhere from
60 to 90 minutes, depending on the processor speed and memory in your system.
In this chapter, we take a look at the installation of Windows XP Professional.We
walk through a clean install on a new PC, an upgrade from Windows 2000
Professional, and finally, we look at a few methods for automating the installation
of Windows XP Professional. First, let’s take a look at the requirements for
installing Windows XP Professional.Table 2.1 lists the requirements that
Microsoft specifies.
Table 2.1 Requirements for Windows XP Professional
Component Recommendation
Processor 233 MHz minimum
300 MHz recommended
Memory 64MB minimum
128MB recommended
Hard Disk 1.5GB available space
Video Super VGA (800x600) or higher
As you can see from the table, Microsoft has taken the additional steps to provide
both minimum and recommended hardware requirements for the new OS.
You will obviously need a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive if you plan to install
from CD, or a network adapter if you plan to install from a network distribution
point. An important feature to note about Windows XP Professional that isn’t
mentioned in the table is its support for multiple processors.WinXP Pro will
support up to two processors, whereas WinXP Home Edition only supports one
processor.
If you were in the position to purchase new computers for a Windows XP
deployment, the best advice would be to buy the fastest you could afford.This
should (hopefully) protect you from needing to turn over your PC inventory
every two years. In fact, many major corporations try to plan for new PCs
sticking around for a minimum of three years.
Now that you’ve seen the requirements for Windows XP Professional, let’s
move on to the basics of installation. Microsoft supports two methods of installing
Windows XP Professional on target workstations: either an upgrade or a clean
installation. Upgrading to Windows XP Professional implies that the target workstation
already has an existing operating system that may have its own settings and
configuration. If the target workstation is configured with an operating system
that is supported for upgrading, you can instruct the setup program to upgrade in
place, migrating all user settings and applications available.
If, however, the target workstation is a new machine, requires reinstallation, or
is configured with a nonsupported operating system, you must apply a clean
installation to the workstation.You can then install the primary drive of the target
workstation with Windows XP Professional without searching for existing data
(though you can preserve data), applications, or configuration settings.
Administrators and support engineers should take the time to perform the
upgrade and installation process numerous times to be aware of potential problems.
Identifying show-stopping problems (such as the application not working)
may be a great deal easier than handling issues (such as the profile directory
changing to the Documents and Settings folder) that manifest much more subtly.
Several factors will influence your decision whether to upgrade or to apply a
clean installation of Windows XP Professional.These include the following:
Current workstation management levels If modifications to the
workstation’s operating system and applications have followed strict
change controls, the current state of the workstation will be well known.
An upgrade would best suit a well-managed environment, preserving the
investment in your configuration information. If the state of the workstations
is indeterminate, a clean install of Windows XP Professional
would allow you to revert the configuration of the workstations back to
a known state.
User preferences and settings If your users have a level of control
over their workstation, they may have personalized certain settings and
preferences. Determining what settings exist can be difficult.To preserve
these settings, the best option would be to perform an upgrade.
Applications and data Some users may store data on their local
workstations, or install applications locally. An upgrade would be the best
choice to prevent inadvertently deleting data, and it would also ensure
that applications would still function (if compatible with Windows XP
Professional). Many businesses store data centrally for backup and management
purposes, and as a result, you could consider a clean install.
Existing operating systems on client workstations The installation
type you choose will also be dictated by the operating system of the
client prior to deployment. If, for example, you are using Windows 3.1,
the only option available would be to perform a clean installation.
Upgrading from previous versions of Windows NT (version 4.0) is
inherently easier than upgrading from Windows 9x.This is due to the
commonality between the operating system kernel architecture, device
driver models, registry database, security architecture, and file systems.
Upgrading from existing Windows 98/Me installations can present additional
issues that you would need to resolve.
Operating system history If your client workstations have been
through a regular cycle of upgrades, the preferred option would be to
perform a clean install, thus resolving possible legacy issues. Migrating
the workstation to Windows XP Professional from a platform that has
been repeatedly upgraded could negate some of the advantages (such as
stability) of deploying Windows XP Professional in the first place.
You can start the Windows XP Professional setup process in a number of
ways.You can initiate the setup or upgrade process by executing Winnt32.exe
from a command line on a host operating system that is compliant with the
upgrade paths discussed earlier.You can find the setup executable,Winnt32.exe,
in the i386 directory on the Windows XP Professional CD-ROM.You can also
execute setup from a bootable CD-ROM containing the relevant installation
files. Other solutions include using a network management application such as
Microsoft’s Systems Management Server (SMS), or a bootable floppy disk with
network drivers and a connection to the Windows XP Professional installation
source
When using the Winnt32.exe setup program to install Windows XP
Professional, you can use a number of command line parameters to modify the
installation.When attempting to install Windows XP from a bootable floppy disk,
you would use the Winnt.exe setup program.These bullets summarize the usage
for each of the setup programs:
To clean install Windows XP Professional on DOS,Windows 3.1,
Windows 3.11,Windows for Workgroups,Windows 95, or Windows NT
3.51 Workstation, run Winnt.exe from a DOS prompt.
To clean install or upgrade from Windows 98,Windows ME, or
Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, use Winnt32.exe.
Clean Installation of
Windows XP Professional
The process of installing Windows XP on a workstation whose hard drive can be
formatted (thus erasing all data), or on a workstation that will be booting
between two operating systems is known as a clean install. In order to proceed
with a clean installation, the only requirements are that the workstation should
meet the minimum hardware specifications for Windows XP Professional and
that the hardware be present on the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). A clean
install will not have any settings other than those entered during setup, and they
may require individual customization.
To speed up the installation process, you can run Winnt32 with the Syspart
switch.The Syspart switch causes all of the installation files to be copied to a formatted
hard drive on the preparation machine.When the drive is then removed
and placed in another workstation, it will continue with the next stage of setup.
This option is particularly useful for reducing deployment time in environments
with dissimilar hardware, or for use with disk imaging software.You must perform
a clean install in the following situations:
Target workstations are running Windows 3.1,Windows 3.11, and
Windows for Workgroups,Windows 95, and Windows 3.51 workstation
Target workstations are running a non-Microsoft operating system
Target workstations do not have an operating system installed
Target workstation must be built from CD-ROM
Let’s begin by walking through a clean installation of Windows XP from CD.
This installation method assumes that you have a new PC (one without an operating
system), or a PC that already has an operating system, but you do not
intend to preserve the existing OS. In each of the installation examples that you’ll
see in this chapter, we take the installation step-by-step, using screen shots to
illustrate the decision points of the process.
1. Power-on your system and insert the Windows XP Professional CDROM
in the tray.You will need to verify that your system is configured
to boot from the CD-ROM prior to performing this step.
2. After the system completes the POST, the setup routine for WinXP will
begin.This is also known as the text-based setup.The installation of
Windows XP involves four major steps:
Text-based setup
GUI-based setup
Installing the network components
Completing the setup
Figure 2.1 shows the initial file copy of the setup process. During
this process, the setup program is loading a minimal version of Windows
XP to support the setup process. Specifically, it is loading the drivers for
the common mass storage devices, as well as drivers for other common
hardware devices.This is done to allow WinXP to detect the correct
hardware in your system. Some manufacturers provide new drivers that
you need to load during this stage of the process. At one point in the
initial file copy,Windows XP will display a message prompting you to
press F6 to install third-party drivers. At this point, you can insert the
disk with the new driver, and the setup process will copy the driver to
hard disk.
3. Once the setup program has loaded the initial files and drivers, you will
have the ability to specify an installation partition, or if there are no partitions
on the system, you will have the chance to create new partitions.
Note: If your system has existing partitions, you can delete those partitions
during this stage of the setup.This is the point where you can erase
an existing operating system from your computer.You can also create
multiple partitions from this utility.
4. In Figure 2.2, you will notice that there aren’t any existing partitions.To
create a new partition, press C.
5. Figure 2.3 shows the Partition creation screen. It will show the minimum
and maximum possible size for the new partition, and ask for you
to type in the size partition you wish to create. Once you have typed in
a value that falls between the minimum and maximum, press Enter to
continue. Note that you will need to create a partition that is at least
1.5GB in size to meet the requirements of Windows XP Professional.
6. Your next decision is to choose how to format the new partition.Your
choices are NTFS (Quick), FAT (Quick), NTFS, and FAT (see Figure
2.4). Using the keyboard arrow keys, highlight the file system you want
to use, and then press Enter to continue.
7. The setup program will begin the format process on the new partition
that you created, as shown in Figure 2.5. Depending on the size of the
partition and the file system you have chosen, this may take anywhere
from 1 to 10 minutes to complete.
8. As shown in Figure 2.6, the next step in the setup process is to copy the
Windows XP source files from the CD to the new partition.This process
will take a few minutes. Once the file copy has completed, the system
will reboot, and the setup process will transition into the GUI mode.
9. Upon reboot, you will see the new GUI screen (see Figure 2.7).This
screen displays the status of the installation on the left-hand side.You will
also see an estimate of the remaining time left.
10. The next step is to discover and install the devices on your PC (see
Figure 2.8).This process may cause the screen to flicker as Windows XP
attempts to determine what video card your system is using.This step
will also generate the estimated time of completion.
11. Once the installation discovers all of your devices, you will be asked to
verify your Regional and Language Options, as shown in
From this dialog box, you can set the Regional settings, such as the
12. Figure 2.10 shows the dialog box for typing your name and organization
information that will now appear. Once you have entered this information,
click Next.
13. You now need to enter the Windows XP Product Key (see Figure 2.11).
This 25-character key is located on the Windows XP CD. Once you
have typed the key, click Next.
14. Type the computer name in the first box of the dialog box that appears
(see Figure 2.12). Next, enter the password for the local Administrator’s
account, and then re-enter the password for confirmation. Once this has
been done, click Next.
15. Next, you will set the correct date and time for your computer (see
Figure 2.13). Once this is complete, click Next.
16. As Figure 2.14 shows, you now must set the network settings for the
system.You have two choices:Typical and Custom. If you choose the
Typical settings option, the following options will be installed:
Client for Microsoft Networks
QoS Packet Scheduler
File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks
TCP/IP, configured for DHCP
If you choose Custom settings, you will be given the opportunity
to add and configure any of the network options that are available.Of
course, if you make a mistake at this step of the installation, you can also
go back once the system is ready and make necessary changes. For a
detailed examination of the networking options that are available in
Windows XP Professional after setup has completed, please refer to
Chapter 6. Once you have made your selection, click Next.
17. You are now asked to provide either the workgroup or domain name for
the new system. Figure 2.15 shows the system being configured for
joining a workgroup named Workgroup. If you decide to join a domain at
this point, you will also need the username and password for an account
that is authorized to add computers to the domain. Click Next.
18. Now, the Windows XP installation will begin copying files to support
the options you chose earlier (see Figures 2.16 and 2.17).
19. At the completion of the file copy, the setup program will begin
installing the Start menu items.This is shown in Figure 2.18.
20. After the Start menu items have been installed, Setup will register the
Windows components, as shown in Figure 2.19. Next, Figure 2.20
shows the routine saving settings. Finally, the Setup program will remove
the temporary files from the hard drive that were used to support the
installation (see Figure 2.21).
21. Once the temporary files have been removed, the setup will be complete.
Windows XP will reboot the system. Once this has finished, you
are ready to go.
As you can see, the installation of Windows XP Professional is very simple.
You’ll notice an obvious change to the installation graphics as compared to the
Windows 2000 Professional setup, but for the most part, these installation routines
perform the same steps. A CD-based clean installation will take anywhere from
60 to 90 minutes, depending on the processor speed and memory in your system.
Major Features of Windows XP Professional
This section briefly shows you why you should choose WinXP Professional for
your environment.The decision should become fairly obvious, once you see the
impressive list of upgraded features over Windows 2000 Professional.
User Interface
We start with the new user interface.Microsoft performed many tests with consumers
and used the test results to make significant changes to the Windows 2000
user interface. Most notably, they redesigned the Start menu and changed the
appearance of the standard Windows interface to reflect better usability. Here’s a
tour of what you can expect to see when you start using Windows XP.
Starting with the desktop,WinXP has a new look, as you can see in Figure
1.8. By default, all of the desktop icons are turned off.Yes, that’s right, you can
enable/disable the standard desktop icons, such as My Computer and My
Documents via the Control Panel. Microsoft claims that users preferred to start off
with a clean desktop. Figure 1.9 shows the configuration options for the desktop.
You’ll also notice the color scheme of the taskbar and Start button.
Throughout Windows XP’s user interface,Microsoft made a conscious effort to
use green buttons to represent events that opened or maximized windows, and
they used red buttons to represent events that closed or minimized windows.The
new Start button is the first example of this.
Other new features that you’ll find here are improvements to the taskbar. If
you’ve ever opened a number of applications at one time before, you’ve experienced
shrinking taskbar icons when the OS tried to represent a dozen applications
at one time with miniscule buttons on the taskbar.Windows XP will
automatically group multiple sessions of the same application under one button.
For instance, if you are working on five Word documents at the same time,
Windows XP will consolidate all of the Word sessions under a single button on
the taskbar.To access a particular document, you simply click on the Word
button, choose the appropriate session from a small menu, and your session will
maximize.
Not to be left out, the tray notification area (the area on the taskbar next to
the clock) has been improved.You have probably experienced a user who seemed
to have at least a dozen applications running in the tray, and this row of icons
consumed half of the taskbar by itself.You can now hide these icons by clicking
on an arrow next to the tray.
Figure 1.10 shows the new Start menu.Although it takes awhile to get used
to, the new design actually grows on you. By default, the menu will be configured
as shown in Figure 1.9, with practically all options enabled.The good news
is that you can reduce this menu to only one or two items if you desire. On the
left-hand side of the menu are links to Internet Explorer and your e-mail program
(Outlook Express is configured by default—you can also have Outlook XP
or even Hotmail on the menu). Below these two links are links to your recently
used programs.You can configure the Start menu to display between zero and
nine of your most recently used applications to appear on the menu. Below these
links is a “catch-all” link to All Programs, which gives you a menu that looks
much like the legacy Start menu from Windows 2000.
On the right-side of the menu are links to My Documents, My Recent
Documents, My Pictures, My Music, and My Computer.The middle of the
right-hand panel has links to the Control Panel and Printers and Faxes.To round
out the new Start menu are links to Help and Support, Search, and the Run
command.You can enable the Start menu to automatically expand the contents
of My Documents, My Computer, and the Control Panel.
Continuing on our tour of the new features of the user interface, we look at
the Control Panel. As you can see in Figure 1.11, the Control Panel now groups
related applets under a single icon, which makes finding the appropriate Control
Panel applet easier.
As you can see,Microsoft made a number of improvements to the user interface
in Windows XP.They have done a lot of work to make it more useable and
friendly, but there will always be those users who like the old way.Thus, you can
configure every one of the new features we just discussed to look and act just
like they did in Windows 2000 Professional.
Networking
You’ll find support for 802.11b wireless networking in Windows XP, as well as a
number of other networking features. One new feature is the Internet Connection
Firewall, which provides firewall functionality for individual computers and small
networks. Internet Connection Sharing has been enhanced as well.
What does this mean to the average Windows XP user? If you’re working in
a corporate environment, you are probably already protected by a firewall in the
data center.The Internet Connection Firewall wasn’t designed to provide the
level of protection that a hardware-based firewall can provide. Internet
Connection Sharing will probably not be much of a value-add in the corporate
world either.The environments where these features will shine will be in the
small office/home office (SOHO) market and in the home market.These are
places where you will probably not find a $15,000 hardware firewall or an expensive
T-1 connection for the entire LAN to share. However, if you have a cable
modem or DSL connection, you could easily share this connection with a small
office or with other machines in your home with these new networking features.
Better Performance
Windows XP Professional offers incredible gains in performance over previous
versions of Windows.You’ll experience this performance first-hand from the
moment you boot the system—startup times have been reduced to nearly a
minute, as opposed to many minutes for older versions of Windows.This time
savings translates directly into increased productivity for both you and your
clients and customers.WinXP has also been designed to reduce the number of
reboots. Multiple processor and large memory support (up to 4GB) will allow for
increased workstation performance.
Internet Features
You’ll find the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in
Windows XP Professional. Other Internet features include WebDAV support for
publishing directly to the Web, Internet Explorer 6 Administration Kit (IEAK) for
managing the deployment of IE, and Windows Messenger.
Windows Messenger is an instant messenger application that you can integrate
into Outlook XP or Hotmail/Passport to provide simple communications
between users on the local network or across the Internet. For the IT professional,
Microsoft has included the IEAK for IE6 to help in customizing the
deployments of IE6 in a managed environment. Finally,WebDAV, which has been
around for a few years, allows users to publish content directly from Word XP to
their intranet.This will help users to share their documents and information
more efficiently in the workplace.
Remote Assistance
Remote Assistance is certainly one of the neater features of Windows XP.This
allows users to request help from other users or the help desk via the Remote
Desktop Protocol, whereby the supporting user can interface directly with the
user on her desktop or via a chat session.
Here’s an example of how you can use Remote Assistance in the office place.
Let’s say a user has a problem with adding a local printer to her system. Normally,
this would generate a help desk call, and depending on the circumstances, a technician
may have to visit the user’s desk to assist her with this task. Using Remote
Assistance, the user could send an “invitation” to the help desk for someone to
remotely connect to her machine to help out.The user generates this invitation
from the Help and Support link on the Start menu. Figure 1.12 shows this page.
From here, the user can send the invitation via Windows Messenger or e-mail
to the help desk.This invitation will have a description of the problem (the user
types this in the body), and it can also have a time window for the help desk to
connect.This is a security feature that limits the ability of another user to connect
without permission. Once the help desk gets the request, they make a connection
back to the user, and then they can remotely control the user’s session and provide
assistance. Remote Assistance is based on Terminal Services technology.
Reliability Features
Windows XP improves upon the reliability features of Windows 2000 by providing
support for side-by-side DLL support, improved Windows File Protection,
improved code protection, and enhanced device driver signing.
For average users, this means that they should experience less issues with
applications crashing or causing conflicts with other applications. For IT professionals,
this means that they should get less support calls for application errors,
and building managed desktops with compatible applications will be much easier.
Multimedia Features
A proliferation of new multimedia devices are in the marketplace, including digital
cameras, DVD players, MP3 players, and so on.Windows XP keeps the pace
by providing a rich multimedia experience that allows you to fully take advantage
of these new devices.WinXP supports CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD-RAM drives
directly in Windows Explorer.The Windows Media Player will play most
common media formats, such as MP3s and DVDs (with third-party decoders).
You can access digital cameras just like an external drive over a USB interface,
making the transfer of digital images to your hard drive as easy as copying a file
from a CD-ROM.
your environment.The decision should become fairly obvious, once you see the
impressive list of upgraded features over Windows 2000 Professional.
User Interface
We start with the new user interface.Microsoft performed many tests with consumers
and used the test results to make significant changes to the Windows 2000
user interface. Most notably, they redesigned the Start menu and changed the
appearance of the standard Windows interface to reflect better usability. Here’s a
tour of what you can expect to see when you start using Windows XP.
Starting with the desktop,WinXP has a new look, as you can see in Figure
1.8. By default, all of the desktop icons are turned off.Yes, that’s right, you can
enable/disable the standard desktop icons, such as My Computer and My
Documents via the Control Panel. Microsoft claims that users preferred to start off
with a clean desktop. Figure 1.9 shows the configuration options for the desktop.
You’ll also notice the color scheme of the taskbar and Start button.
Throughout Windows XP’s user interface,Microsoft made a conscious effort to
use green buttons to represent events that opened or maximized windows, and
they used red buttons to represent events that closed or minimized windows.The
new Start button is the first example of this.
Other new features that you’ll find here are improvements to the taskbar. If
you’ve ever opened a number of applications at one time before, you’ve experienced
shrinking taskbar icons when the OS tried to represent a dozen applications
at one time with miniscule buttons on the taskbar.Windows XP will
automatically group multiple sessions of the same application under one button.
For instance, if you are working on five Word documents at the same time,
Windows XP will consolidate all of the Word sessions under a single button on
the taskbar.To access a particular document, you simply click on the Word
button, choose the appropriate session from a small menu, and your session will
maximize.
Not to be left out, the tray notification area (the area on the taskbar next to
the clock) has been improved.You have probably experienced a user who seemed
to have at least a dozen applications running in the tray, and this row of icons
consumed half of the taskbar by itself.You can now hide these icons by clicking
on an arrow next to the tray.
Figure 1.10 shows the new Start menu.Although it takes awhile to get used
to, the new design actually grows on you. By default, the menu will be configured
as shown in Figure 1.9, with practically all options enabled.The good news
is that you can reduce this menu to only one or two items if you desire. On the
left-hand side of the menu are links to Internet Explorer and your e-mail program
(Outlook Express is configured by default—you can also have Outlook XP
or even Hotmail on the menu). Below these two links are links to your recently
used programs.You can configure the Start menu to display between zero and
nine of your most recently used applications to appear on the menu. Below these
links is a “catch-all” link to All Programs, which gives you a menu that looks
much like the legacy Start menu from Windows 2000.
On the right-side of the menu are links to My Documents, My Recent
Documents, My Pictures, My Music, and My Computer.The middle of the
right-hand panel has links to the Control Panel and Printers and Faxes.To round
out the new Start menu are links to Help and Support, Search, and the Run
command.You can enable the Start menu to automatically expand the contents
of My Documents, My Computer, and the Control Panel.
Continuing on our tour of the new features of the user interface, we look at
the Control Panel. As you can see in Figure 1.11, the Control Panel now groups
related applets under a single icon, which makes finding the appropriate Control
Panel applet easier.
As you can see,Microsoft made a number of improvements to the user interface
in Windows XP.They have done a lot of work to make it more useable and
friendly, but there will always be those users who like the old way.Thus, you can
configure every one of the new features we just discussed to look and act just
like they did in Windows 2000 Professional.
Networking
You’ll find support for 802.11b wireless networking in Windows XP, as well as a
number of other networking features. One new feature is the Internet Connection
Firewall, which provides firewall functionality for individual computers and small
networks. Internet Connection Sharing has been enhanced as well.
What does this mean to the average Windows XP user? If you’re working in
a corporate environment, you are probably already protected by a firewall in the
data center.The Internet Connection Firewall wasn’t designed to provide the
level of protection that a hardware-based firewall can provide. Internet
Connection Sharing will probably not be much of a value-add in the corporate
world either.The environments where these features will shine will be in the
small office/home office (SOHO) market and in the home market.These are
places where you will probably not find a $15,000 hardware firewall or an expensive
T-1 connection for the entire LAN to share. However, if you have a cable
modem or DSL connection, you could easily share this connection with a small
office or with other machines in your home with these new networking features.
Better Performance
Windows XP Professional offers incredible gains in performance over previous
versions of Windows.You’ll experience this performance first-hand from the
moment you boot the system—startup times have been reduced to nearly a
minute, as opposed to many minutes for older versions of Windows.This time
savings translates directly into increased productivity for both you and your
clients and customers.WinXP has also been designed to reduce the number of
reboots. Multiple processor and large memory support (up to 4GB) will allow for
increased workstation performance.
Internet Features
You’ll find the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in
Windows XP Professional. Other Internet features include WebDAV support for
publishing directly to the Web, Internet Explorer 6 Administration Kit (IEAK) for
managing the deployment of IE, and Windows Messenger.
Windows Messenger is an instant messenger application that you can integrate
into Outlook XP or Hotmail/Passport to provide simple communications
between users on the local network or across the Internet. For the IT professional,
Microsoft has included the IEAK for IE6 to help in customizing the
deployments of IE6 in a managed environment. Finally,WebDAV, which has been
around for a few years, allows users to publish content directly from Word XP to
their intranet.This will help users to share their documents and information
more efficiently in the workplace.
Remote Assistance
Remote Assistance is certainly one of the neater features of Windows XP.This
allows users to request help from other users or the help desk via the Remote
Desktop Protocol, whereby the supporting user can interface directly with the
user on her desktop or via a chat session.
Here’s an example of how you can use Remote Assistance in the office place.
Let’s say a user has a problem with adding a local printer to her system. Normally,
this would generate a help desk call, and depending on the circumstances, a technician
may have to visit the user’s desk to assist her with this task. Using Remote
Assistance, the user could send an “invitation” to the help desk for someone to
remotely connect to her machine to help out.The user generates this invitation
from the Help and Support link on the Start menu. Figure 1.12 shows this page.
From here, the user can send the invitation via Windows Messenger or e-mail
to the help desk.This invitation will have a description of the problem (the user
types this in the body), and it can also have a time window for the help desk to
connect.This is a security feature that limits the ability of another user to connect
without permission. Once the help desk gets the request, they make a connection
back to the user, and then they can remotely control the user’s session and provide
assistance. Remote Assistance is based on Terminal Services technology.
Reliability Features
Windows XP improves upon the reliability features of Windows 2000 by providing
support for side-by-side DLL support, improved Windows File Protection,
improved code protection, and enhanced device driver signing.
For average users, this means that they should experience less issues with
applications crashing or causing conflicts with other applications. For IT professionals,
this means that they should get less support calls for application errors,
and building managed desktops with compatible applications will be much easier.
Multimedia Features
A proliferation of new multimedia devices are in the marketplace, including digital
cameras, DVD players, MP3 players, and so on.Windows XP keeps the pace
by providing a rich multimedia experience that allows you to fully take advantage
of these new devices.WinXP supports CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD-RAM drives
directly in Windows Explorer.The Windows Media Player will play most
common media formats, such as MP3s and DVDs (with third-party decoders).
You can access digital cameras just like an external drive over a USB interface,
making the transfer of digital images to your hard drive as easy as copying a file
from a CD-ROM.
Windows XP Family
As mentioned earlier,Windows XP represents the combination of the best aspects
of several versions of Windows.Windows 9x and Me were known for their Plug
and Play (PnP) capabilities, their multimedia capabilities, and their home user
“friendliness.”Windows 2000 is known for its security features, its robustness, and
its business-class performance.Windows XP takes the best from both of these
operating systems.
You can choose from two different flavors of Windows XP:Windows XP
Home Edition and Windows XP Professional.The two versions have a large
number of similarities. All versions of Windows XP (including the .NET servers)
are built on the Windows 2000 code base. However, each has a place in the
market—Windows XP Home Edition is designed to replace Windows 98 and
Me in the home environment, and Windows XP Professional is meant to succeed
Windows 2000 in the office. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these versions
brings to the table.
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Home Edition is the next release of Windows destined for the
consumer market. Although XP Home Edition and Professional are very similar,
XP Home Edition contains only a subset of the functionality of XP Professional.
Microsoft is expecting Home Edition to appeal to customers in a home environment,
as well as to business customers who lack a formal IT staff.The key difference
is that Home Edition is not meant to operate in a managed environment.
The best way to describe the features included in Home Edition is to compare
the product to its predecessor.Windows XP Home Edition offers the following
improvements over Windows 2000 Professional:
Improved multimedia capabilities
An improved user interface
A simplified security model
The ability to quickly switch between user sessions
Better hardware and software compatibility
Multimedia Capabilities
Microsoft added a number of new multimedia and Internet features to Windows
XP Home Edition, including the following:
Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)
Windows Media Player 8 (WMP8)
MSN Explorer browser
IE6 is the next version of the popular browser from Microsoft. In its newest
release, it contains a couple of interesting features, which are contained in the
Personal Bar.The Personal Bar contains a Search applet, an MSNBC News/
Stock/Weather applet, and a Media Player applet in a resizable window. However,
for the most part, IE6 acts like IE5. From the outside, it has been refreshed to
match the new interface, with redesigned icons and rounded edges.You can see
some of these changes in Figure 1.1.
Another addition to the Windows XP platform is Windows Media Player 8.
WMP8 builds upon the successful Windows Media Player 7 by adding new interface
changes, improvements in copying from audio CD to hard disk (otherwise
known as ripping), and more skins for customizing the look of the player. Figure
1.2 displays a screenshot of WMP8.WMP8 now supports burning of audio CDs
from within the WMP itself.The following files types can be burned to audio
CD: .wma, .mp3 and .wav.
Improved User Interface
The user interface in Windows XP Home Edition has been completely remodeled.
For starters, the Start menu button has changed, as well as the taskbar.A neat
feature of the new taskbar is the option to group similar programs together on a
single taskbar button.When you click on the button to restore the program, you
see a small menu listing the instances of the program, and you can choose which
to restore. Figure 1.3 shows Taskbar and Start Menu Properties.
The Start menu has also been transformed into a panel of links to the various
features within the OS. Figure 1.4 shows an example of the new Start menu with
most of the options enabled.
Security Enhancements
In terms of security,Microsoft has attempted to provide the benefits of the
Windows NT/2000 security model, while still making the system easy to operate
and administer. XP Home Edition has two account types: Computer Administrator
and Limited (refer to Figure 1.5).The Computer Administrator can add, remove,
and change user accounts, make universal changes to the system, and install applications.
A Limited user only has the capability to change his/her password.
Users of XP Home Edition or XP Professional can log on using a
“Welcome” screen that lists the names of the user accounts, as shown in Figure
1.6. A user simply needs to click on her name and provide the password, and she
is authenticated onto the system. (A wise Administrator would be quick to turn
off the Welcome screen and Fast User Switching functions in a workgroup environment
as they present an additional security risk that far outweighs the benefits
of this new nicety. It is important to note that turning off the Welcome screen
automatically turns off Fast User Switching.)
Switching between User Sessions
Microsoft has introduced a concept called Fast User Switching that will allow users
to switch between user accounts while leaving applications running in the background.
For instance, let’s say that User1 is logged into the system. User2 would
like to check his e-mail. So, User2 will perform a “switch user,” log in as himself,
and check his mail. All of the applications that User1 was working on will stay
running in User1’s context.When User2 is finished, User1 can “switch user” back
to herself, and she can continue working on the applications that were open
when User2 logged on. Figure 1.7 shows the Switch User option dialog box.
Hardware and Software Compatibility
Lastly,Windows XP Home Edition has been designed to run many of the legacy
applications that are on the market today. Microsoft achieved this by adding a
compatibility mode to the operating system.This allows you to run an application
in Windows XP and emulate an older OS, such as Windows 95.Windows XP
will try to provide the hardware-level access that is requested by the application
without sacrificing the integrity of the kernel.
In terms of hardware compatibility,Windows XP has the most advanced Plug
and Play features of any Windows operating system. For the end user, this means
that many of the older first-generation PnP devices, as well as a number of non-
PnP devices, will work with WinXP.WinXP also has an improved driver set.
Microsoft made the decision to leave out much of the enterprise features
from the Home Edition, choosing to include them in the Professional edition.
For example, if you need to add your PC to a Windows 2000 or Windows NT
domain, you must use Windows XP Professional.
Windows XP Professional
While Windows XP Home Edition adds a great deal to the feature set of
Windows 2000,Windows XP Professional takes the product to the next level.
Many of the neat things that are part of Windows 2000 Professional are excluded
from the Home Edition, but they are included in WinXP Professional.These features
include the following:
IntelliMirror technologies
Group Policy functionality
Encrypting file system support
Multiprocessor support
As we mentioned in the preceding section,You can join XP Professional to a
Windows 2000 or Windows NT domain. In a Windows 2000 Active Directory
environment, XP Professional can take full advantage of those features that are
dependent on the domain login.These include the neat features described in the
preceding list, as well as roaming profiles and Remote Installation Services (RIS).
We delve into the feature list in much more detail shortly, but rest assured,
Windows XP Professional offers many advantages compared to Windows 2000
Professional.
The Future of Windows 2000
Server: Windows .NET Servers
What should you expect from the next version of Microsoft’s server product?
Well, the first thing will be another name change. Departing quickly from the
year-based name, the next edition will be named Windows .NET Server, signifying
the tight cooperation with the .NET Framework on the development side.
However, once you get past the name, you should be pleasantly surprised to see a
number of improvements over Windows 2000 Server under the hood of .NET
Server. Here are a few of the features that Microsoft has listed for the next generation
of Windows Server:
You should expect to see even more improvement in the reliability
of the Server product. Windows 2000 was quite a leap over
Windows NT 4, and you will see another level of reliability in the .NET
Server line.Microsoft is trying to achieve a consistent Five 9s in reliability,
and the .NET server might be close to achieving this level.
Windows .NET Server will be faster than Windows 2000 Server.
This will be important for those customers who are using .NET Server
to host SQL Server 2000 or other transaction-based products.The next
release of Windows will also include support for 64-bit processors.
The next version will be easier to manage. This will be thanks to
features such as “headless” server support (no need for a monitor, keyboard,
or mouse), remote administration, and Windows Management
Interface (WMI).
of several versions of Windows.Windows 9x and Me were known for their Plug
and Play (PnP) capabilities, their multimedia capabilities, and their home user
“friendliness.”Windows 2000 is known for its security features, its robustness, and
its business-class performance.Windows XP takes the best from both of these
operating systems.
You can choose from two different flavors of Windows XP:Windows XP
Home Edition and Windows XP Professional.The two versions have a large
number of similarities. All versions of Windows XP (including the .NET servers)
are built on the Windows 2000 code base. However, each has a place in the
market—Windows XP Home Edition is designed to replace Windows 98 and
Me in the home environment, and Windows XP Professional is meant to succeed
Windows 2000 in the office. Let’s take a closer look at what each of these versions
brings to the table.
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP Home Edition is the next release of Windows destined for the
consumer market. Although XP Home Edition and Professional are very similar,
XP Home Edition contains only a subset of the functionality of XP Professional.
Microsoft is expecting Home Edition to appeal to customers in a home environment,
as well as to business customers who lack a formal IT staff.The key difference
is that Home Edition is not meant to operate in a managed environment.
The best way to describe the features included in Home Edition is to compare
the product to its predecessor.Windows XP Home Edition offers the following
improvements over Windows 2000 Professional:
Improved multimedia capabilities
An improved user interface
A simplified security model
The ability to quickly switch between user sessions
Better hardware and software compatibility
Multimedia Capabilities
Microsoft added a number of new multimedia and Internet features to Windows
XP Home Edition, including the following:
Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)
Windows Media Player 8 (WMP8)
MSN Explorer browser
IE6 is the next version of the popular browser from Microsoft. In its newest
release, it contains a couple of interesting features, which are contained in the
Personal Bar.The Personal Bar contains a Search applet, an MSNBC News/
Stock/Weather applet, and a Media Player applet in a resizable window. However,
for the most part, IE6 acts like IE5. From the outside, it has been refreshed to
match the new interface, with redesigned icons and rounded edges.You can see
some of these changes in Figure 1.1.
Another addition to the Windows XP platform is Windows Media Player 8.
WMP8 builds upon the successful Windows Media Player 7 by adding new interface
changes, improvements in copying from audio CD to hard disk (otherwise
known as ripping), and more skins for customizing the look of the player. Figure
1.2 displays a screenshot of WMP8.WMP8 now supports burning of audio CDs
from within the WMP itself.The following files types can be burned to audio
CD: .wma, .mp3 and .wav.
Improved User Interface
The user interface in Windows XP Home Edition has been completely remodeled.
For starters, the Start menu button has changed, as well as the taskbar.A neat
feature of the new taskbar is the option to group similar programs together on a
single taskbar button.When you click on the button to restore the program, you
see a small menu listing the instances of the program, and you can choose which
to restore. Figure 1.3 shows Taskbar and Start Menu Properties.
The Start menu has also been transformed into a panel of links to the various
features within the OS. Figure 1.4 shows an example of the new Start menu with
most of the options enabled.
Security Enhancements
In terms of security,Microsoft has attempted to provide the benefits of the
Windows NT/2000 security model, while still making the system easy to operate
and administer. XP Home Edition has two account types: Computer Administrator
and Limited (refer to Figure 1.5).The Computer Administrator can add, remove,
and change user accounts, make universal changes to the system, and install applications.
A Limited user only has the capability to change his/her password.
Users of XP Home Edition or XP Professional can log on using a
“Welcome” screen that lists the names of the user accounts, as shown in Figure
1.6. A user simply needs to click on her name and provide the password, and she
is authenticated onto the system. (A wise Administrator would be quick to turn
off the Welcome screen and Fast User Switching functions in a workgroup environment
as they present an additional security risk that far outweighs the benefits
of this new nicety. It is important to note that turning off the Welcome screen
automatically turns off Fast User Switching.)
Switching between User Sessions
Microsoft has introduced a concept called Fast User Switching that will allow users
to switch between user accounts while leaving applications running in the background.
For instance, let’s say that User1 is logged into the system. User2 would
like to check his e-mail. So, User2 will perform a “switch user,” log in as himself,
and check his mail. All of the applications that User1 was working on will stay
running in User1’s context.When User2 is finished, User1 can “switch user” back
to herself, and she can continue working on the applications that were open
when User2 logged on. Figure 1.7 shows the Switch User option dialog box.
Hardware and Software Compatibility
Lastly,Windows XP Home Edition has been designed to run many of the legacy
applications that are on the market today. Microsoft achieved this by adding a
compatibility mode to the operating system.This allows you to run an application
in Windows XP and emulate an older OS, such as Windows 95.Windows XP
will try to provide the hardware-level access that is requested by the application
without sacrificing the integrity of the kernel.
In terms of hardware compatibility,Windows XP has the most advanced Plug
and Play features of any Windows operating system. For the end user, this means
that many of the older first-generation PnP devices, as well as a number of non-
PnP devices, will work with WinXP.WinXP also has an improved driver set.
Microsoft made the decision to leave out much of the enterprise features
from the Home Edition, choosing to include them in the Professional edition.
For example, if you need to add your PC to a Windows 2000 or Windows NT
domain, you must use Windows XP Professional.
Windows XP Professional
While Windows XP Home Edition adds a great deal to the feature set of
Windows 2000,Windows XP Professional takes the product to the next level.
Many of the neat things that are part of Windows 2000 Professional are excluded
from the Home Edition, but they are included in WinXP Professional.These features
include the following:
IntelliMirror technologies
Group Policy functionality
Encrypting file system support
Multiprocessor support
As we mentioned in the preceding section,You can join XP Professional to a
Windows 2000 or Windows NT domain. In a Windows 2000 Active Directory
environment, XP Professional can take full advantage of those features that are
dependent on the domain login.These include the neat features described in the
preceding list, as well as roaming profiles and Remote Installation Services (RIS).
We delve into the feature list in much more detail shortly, but rest assured,
Windows XP Professional offers many advantages compared to Windows 2000
Professional.
The Future of Windows 2000
Server: Windows .NET Servers
What should you expect from the next version of Microsoft’s server product?
Well, the first thing will be another name change. Departing quickly from the
year-based name, the next edition will be named Windows .NET Server, signifying
the tight cooperation with the .NET Framework on the development side.
However, once you get past the name, you should be pleasantly surprised to see a
number of improvements over Windows 2000 Server under the hood of .NET
Server. Here are a few of the features that Microsoft has listed for the next generation
of Windows Server:
You should expect to see even more improvement in the reliability
of the Server product. Windows 2000 was quite a leap over
Windows NT 4, and you will see another level of reliability in the .NET
Server line.Microsoft is trying to achieve a consistent Five 9s in reliability,
and the .NET server might be close to achieving this level.
Windows .NET Server will be faster than Windows 2000 Server.
This will be important for those customers who are using .NET Server
to host SQL Server 2000 or other transaction-based products.The next
release of Windows will also include support for 64-bit processors.
The next version will be easier to manage. This will be thanks to
features such as “headless” server support (no need for a monitor, keyboard,
or mouse), remote administration, and Windows Management
Interface (WMI).
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