© 2007 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. module 12 Advanced Operating Systems 12.0 Introduction   The installation, configuration, and optimization of operating systems are examined in greater detail in this chapter. There are various brands of operating systems available on the market today, including Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac OS, UNIX, and Linux. A technician must consider the current computer system when selecting an operating system. Additionally, there are several versions or distributions of an operating system. Some versions of Microsoft Windows include Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Home Edition,Windows XP Professional, Windows Media Center, Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Business, and Windows Vista Premium. Each of these operating systems offers many of the same features with a similar interface. However, some functions necessary for specific customer needs may not be available in all of them. You must be able to compare and contrast operating systems to find the best one based on your customer's needs. After completing this chapter, you will meet these objectives: list of 5 items • Select the appropriate operating system based on customer needs. • Install, configure, and optimize an operating system. • Describe how to upgrade operating systems. • Describe preventive maintenance procedures for operating systems. • Troubleshoot operating systems. 12.1 Select the appropriate operating system based on customer needs  There are many operating systems to choose from, each with features that should be considered when consulting with a customer. When selecting an operating system for a customer, you should select hardware that meets or exceeds the minimum requirements for equipment called for by the operating system. In this chapter, Windows XP Professional is used to describe the functions of an operating system. At some point during your career, you most likely will upgrade or repair a computer with a Windows operating system. Figure 1 shows a comparison of Windows operating systems. After completing this section, you will meet these objectives: list of 2 items • Describe operating systems. • Describe network operating systems. this needs work Windows OS Features Remote Desktop Network Sharing Scaleble CPU Support EFS Support Enhanced Security YES YES YES YES YES NO YES NO NO NO YES YES YES YES YES Add-On YES YES YES YES  12.1   Select the appropriate operating system based on customer needs       12.1.1   Describe operating systems    table end An operating system is the interface between the user and the computer. Without an operating system, the user would not be able to interact with the hardware or software on the computer. An operating system provides the following operational and organizational capabilities: list of 4 items • Provides a bridge between the hardware and applications • Creates a file system to store data • Manages applications • Interprets user commands list end Operating systems have minimum requirements for hardware. Figure 1 shows the minimum hardware requirements for several operating systems.  definitely needs work OS Hardware Requirements Hardware Windows XP Mac OS X Linux UNIX CPU Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible, single or dual processor system; 300 MHz or higher PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor 486 or greater PA-RISC 1.1, PA-RISK 2.0, Sun SPARC Ultra 1 or higher, Pentium II 233 MHz or higher (32-bit), Tru64 CPU Alpha processor (64-bit), PowerPC processor RAM 128 MB or more Hard Disk Space 1.5 GB 256 MB 32 MB At least 3.0 GB Display 64 MB or more Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor 3.5 GB 1 GB Built-in display or Apple-supplied video card supported by your computer CD CD-ROM or DVD drive Human Interface DVD drive for installation Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device I/O Floppy Built-in FireWire 3.5" floppy drive  12.1   Select the appropriate operating system based on customer needs       12.1.2   Describe network operating systems     table end A network operating system (NOS) is an operating system that contains additional features to increase functionality and manageability in a networked environment. The following are examples of network operating systems: list of 6 items • Windows 2000 Server • Windows 2003 Server • UNIX • Linux • Novell NetWare • Mac OS X list end The NOS is designed to provide network resources to clients: list of 6 items • Server applications, such as shared databases • Centralized data storage • Directory services that provide a centralized repository of user accounts and resources on the network, such as LDAP or Active Directory • Network print queue • Network access and security • Redundant storage systems, such as RAID and backups list end Network operating systems provide several protocols designed to perform network functions. These protocols are controlled by code on the network servers. Protocols used by network operating systems provide services such as web browsing, file transfer, e-mail, name resolution, and automatic IP addressing. Figure 1 shows more information.   Activity Network Protocols Complete the network protocol matching activity in Figure 2 Hypertext Transport Protocol defines how files are exchanged on the web 12.2 Install, configure, and optimize an operating system  Most operating systems are easy to install. After the computer starts, the Windows XP Professional installation CD displays a wizard to guide you through the installation process with a series of questions. Once the answers to the questions are provided, the installation wizard completes the installation automatically. In this section, you will perform a custom installation of Windows XP Professional. After completing this section, you will meet these objectives: list of 8 items • Compare and contrast a default installation and a custom installation. • Install Windows XP Professional using a custom installation. • Create, view, and manage disks, directories, and files. • Identify procedures and utilities used to optimize the performance of operating systems. • Identify procedures and utilities used to optimize the performance of browsers. • Describe installation, use, and configuration of e-mail software. • Set screen resolution and update video driver. • Describe installation of a second operating system.  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.1   Compare and contrast a default installation and a custom installation    table end The default installation of Windows XP Professional is sufficient for most computers used in a home or small office network. A custom installation of Windows XP Professional is typically used in a larger network. Default Installation Default installation requires minimal user interaction. You are prompted to provide information for the specific computer and the owner/user. Custom Installation In Windows XP, the custom installation is very similar to the default installation. There are only two screens that offer a custom selection during setup. The first screen is to customize the regional settings, and the second screen is to customize the network settings as shown in Figure 1. A technician or a user with technical experience often performs the custom installation. In a custom installation, the wizard prompts the user for detailed performance information to ensure that the operating system is customized to meet the preferences or requirements of the individual user or the network administrator of a company. You can perform a custom Windows XP Professional installation on more than one computer on a network by using an answer file that contains predefined settings and answers to the questions that are asked by the wizard during setup. The technician can automate and customize a Windows XP Professional installation to include the following features: list of 5 items • Productivity applications, such as Microsoft Office • Custom applications • Support for multiple languages • OS Deployment Feature Pack using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) • Hardware device drivers  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.2   Install Windows XP Professional using a custom installation    table end The default installation of Windows XP Professional is sufficient for most computers used in a home or small-office environment. A custom installation of Windows XP Professional can save time and provide a consistent configuration of the operating system across computers on a large network. list of 4 items • Unattended installation from a network distribution point using an answer file. • Image-based installation using Sysprep and a disk-imaging program, which copies an image of the operating system directly to the hard drive with no user intervention. • Remote installation using Remote Installation Services (RIS), which can download the installation across the network. This install can be requested by the user or forced onto the computer by the administrator. • OS Deployment Feature Pack using Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS), which can dramatically simplify deployment of an operating system across the organization. list end Unattended Installation The unattended installation using an unattend.txt answer file is the easiest custom installation method to perform on a network. An answer file can be created using an application called setupmgr.exe located within the deploy.cab file on the Windows XP Professional CD. Figure 1 shows an example of an answer file. Once you have answered all of the questions, the unattend.txt file is copied to the distribution shared folder on a server. At this point, you can do one of two things: list of 2 items • Run the unattended.bat file on the client machine. This prepares the hard drive and automatically installs the operating system from the server over the network. • Create a boot disk that boots up the computer and connects to the distribution share on the server. Run the batch file to install the operating system over the network. list end Image-Based Installation When performing image-based installations, you should begin by completely configuring one computer to an operational state. Next, run Sysprep to prepare the system for imaging. A third-party drive imaging application prepares an image of the completed computer, which can be burned onto a CD or DVD. This image can then be copied onto computers with compatible HALs to complete the installation of multiple computers. Once the image has been copied, you can boot up the computer, but you may have to configure some settings, such as computer name and domain membership. Remote Installation With RIS, the process is very much like an image-based installation, except you would not use a drive imaging utility. You can use RIS to remotely set up new Microsoft Windows computers by using an RIS network shared folder as the source of the Windows operating system files. You can install operating systems on remote boot-enabled client computers. User computers that are connected to the network can be started by using a Pre-Boot eXecution Environment (PXE)-capable network adapter or remote boot disk. The client then logs on with valid user account credentials. RIS is designed to be used in a relatively small network and should not be used over low-speed links of a wide area network (WAN). Microsoft System Management Server (SMS) allows a network administrator to manage large numbers of computers on a network. SMS can be used to manage updates, provide remote control, and perform inventory management. An optional feature is operating system deployment, which requires the installation of the SMS OS Deployment Feature Pack on the Windows 2003 server. SMS allows the installation of a large number of client computers across the entire network, such as a LAN or WAN.  Lab Advanced Installation of Windows XP Perform custom install of Windows XP  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.3   Create, view, and manage disks, directories, and files    table end Within the operating system, disks and directories are locations where data is stored and organized. The file system used by the operating system determines additional factors that affect storage such as partition size, cluster size, and security features. Disk Structure The Disk Management utility displays information and performs services such as partitioning and formatting disks in Windows. Figure 1 shows the Disk Management utility used in Windows XP Professional. There are several types of partitions on a hard drive: list of 3 items • Primary partitions • Extended partitions • Logical drives list end NOTE: At any given time, you can only designate one partition as the active partition. The operating system uses the active partition to boot up the system. The active partition must be a primary partition. In most cases, the C: drive is the active partition and contains the boot and system files. Some users create additional partitions to organize files or to be able to dual-boot the computer. You can access the Disk Management utility in the following ways: list of 2 items • From the Start menu, right-click My Computer and then choose Manage > Disk Management. • From the Start menu, choose Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. Double-click Storage, then double-click Disk Management. list end File System Partitions are formatted with a file system. The two file systems available in Windows XP are FAT32 and NTFS. NTFS has greater stability and security features. For example, Windows does not display the file extension, but this practice can cause security problems. Virus writers are able to distribute executable files disguised as a non-executable file. To avoid this security breach, you should always show file extensions by doing the following: From the Start menu, choose Control Panel > Folder Options > View, and uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types" check box, as shown in Figure 2. NOTE: Saving files to the root directory of the C: drive can cause organizational problems with data. It is a best practice to store data in folders created on the C: drive.  Lab Additional Partitions Create an additional partition in Windows XP Professional  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.4   Identify procedures and utilities used to optimize the performance of operating systems    table end There are several procedures and tools available to optimize the performance of an operating system. The concepts may be the same across operating systems, but the optimization methods and procedures are different. For example, while virtual memory performs the same function on a Windows 98 and Windows XP operating system, the path to find and set virtual memory settings is different. System Tools To maintain and optimize an operating system, you can access various tools within Windows. Some of these tools include disk error checking, which can scan the hard drive for file structure errors, and hard drive defragmentation, which can consolidate files for faster access. Figure 1 shows the hard drive management tools. Virtual Memory Virtual memory allows the CPU to address more memory than is installed in the computer. This is done so that every application can address the same amount of memory. Virtual memory is a swap or page file that is contantly read in and out of RAM. Typically, you should let Windows manage the size of the swap file. The only setting that you should change is the location of the swap file. You must be a member of the administrator group to make this change. Figure 2 shows virtual memory settings. To access virtual memory settings in Windows XP, use one of the following paths: list of 2 items • Start > Settings > Control Panel >System > Advanced tab > Performance Options or • Start > Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced list end Disk Defragmenter To help optimize the files on the hard drive, Windows operating systems provide a defragmentation utility. As files are accessed and stored on a hard drive, the files change from being contiguous on the disk to being scattered across the disk. This can cause the operating system to slow down. The hard drive has to search several areas on the hard drive platter to find the entire file. For one file, the effect of the process is minimal. When this occurs for thousands of files, however, the process will physically slow down the reading and writing of a file to a hard drive. To defragment a drive, double-click My Computer on the desktop. Right-click the drive that you want to optimize. Choose Properties. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. Temporary Files Almost every program uses temporary files, which are usually automatically deleted when the application or the operating system is finished using them. However, some of the temporary files must be deleted manually. Since temporary files take up hard drive space that could be used for other files, it is a good idea to check and delete as necessary every two or three months. Temporary files are usually located in the following locations: list of 5 items • C:\temp • C:\tmp • C:\windows\temp • C:\windows\tmp • C:\documents and settings\%USERPROFILE%\local settings\temp list end Services Services are a type of application that runs in the background to achieve a specific goal or wait for a request. Only necessary services should be started to reduce unnecessary security risks. See Figure 3 for some of the services available on a computer. There are four settings, or states, that can be used to control the services: list of 4 items • Automatic • Manual • Disabled • Stopped list end If a service, such as DHCP or Automatic Updates, is set to automatic, it will start up when the PC starts. Manual services, such as the support of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), need to be manually configured to work. Some services may be stopped or disabled for troubleshooting purposes, such as turning off the print spooler when there are printer problems.  Lab Virtual Memory Customize the virtual memory settings  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.5   Identify procedures and utilities used to optimize the performance of browsers    table end Web browsers and e-mail applications are typically the applications used the most on a computer. Optimizing the Web browsers and the e-mail application should increase the performance of the computer. The Microsoft browser, Internet Explorer (IE), has general settings for changing the homepage and browser appearance settings. Additional settings allow you to view or delete the information saved by the browser: list of 5 items • History • Temporary files • Cookies • Passwords • Web-form information list end NOTE: Cookies are information transmitted between a web browser and a web server with the purpose of tracking user information to customize the page delivered to the user. To access the settings in IE, open an IE browser window and choose Tools > Internet Options. Caching, or storing, Internet files is a feature of the Web browser that is used to speed up the process of accessing previously visited websites. The file-storing tool in IE downloads copies of the images or the HTML files of sites you have visited to the hard disk. When you revisit the website, the site opens more quickly because the files are in the local disk cache and do not need to be downloaded again. Cached files in the web browser can become outdated or may be very large. These IE settings allow you to control the size of the cache and when the cache should be refreshed: list of 4 items • Every visit to the page • Every time you start IE • Automatically • Never list end To access the cache settings, open an IE browser window and choose Tools > Internet Options. In the Temporary Internet Files area, click Settings. Click the tabs in Figure 1 to explore other IE configuration options.   Lab Alternate Browser (Optional) Install an alternate browser  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.6   Describe installation, use, and configuration of e-mail software    table end E-mail software may be installed as part of a web browser or as a standalone application. Outlook Express is an e-mail tool that is a component of the Microsoft Windows operating system. To configure Outlook Express, you must provide information about your e-mail account, as shown in Figure 1. You should have the following information available when installing e-mail accounts into the e-mail client software: list of 7 items • Display name • E-mail address • Type of incoming mail server, such as POP3 or IMAP • Incoming mail server name • Outgoing mail server name • Username • Account password list end The protocols used in e-mail include the following: list of 4 items • Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3) – Retrieves e-mails from a remote server over TCP/IP. It does not leave a copy of the e-mail on the server; however, some implementations allow users to specify that mail be saved for some period of time. • Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) – Allows local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a server. Typically leaves a copy of the e-mail on the server until you move the e-mail to a personal folder in your e-mail application. IMAP synchronizes e-mail folders between the server and client. • Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) – Transmits e-mails across a TCP/IP network. It is the e-mail format for text that only uses ASCII encoding. • Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) – Extends the e-mail format to include text in ASCII standard, as well as other formats such as pictures and word processor documents. Normally used in conjunction with SMTP. list end Additional features are available with e-mail software: list of 3 items • Automatic handling rules for e-mails • Different e-mail coding, such as HTML, plain text, or rich text • Newsgroups list end   Activity E-Mail Protocols Complete the e-mail protocol matching activity in Figure 2  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.7   Set screen resolution and update video driver    table end Once the operating system is installed, you can set the screen resolution to meet the requirements of your customer. If the screen resolution is not set properly, you may get unexpected display results from different video cards and monitors. The unexpected results could include a Windows desktop that does not take up the full area of the screen, or a blank screen if the resolution is set too high. When using an LCD screen, the resolution should be set to native mode, or native resolution. Native mode is the screen resolution that is the same as the number of pixels that the monitor has. If you move from the native mode, the monitor does not produce the best picture. See Figure 1 for the screen resolution settings on a Windows XP Professional computer. You can change the screen settings in the Settings tab of the Display Properties control panel applet: list of 3 items • Screen resolution – Determines the number of pixels. A higher number of pixels displays a better resolution and picture. • Refresh rate – Determines how often the image in the screen is redrawn. Refresh rate is expressed in Hertz (Hz). The higher the refresh rate, the more steady the screen image. • Display colors – Determines the number of colors visible on the screen at once. Colors are created by varying the intensity of the three basic colors (red, green, blue). The more bits, the greater the number of colors. The following is a list of color depths: list of 4 items nesting level 1 • 256 colors - 8-bit color • 65,536 colors - 16-bit color (High Color) • 16 million colors - 24-bit color (True Color) • 16 million colors - 24-bit (True Color with 8-bit padding to allow for 32-bit processing) list end nesting level 1 list end When troubleshooting a display problem, check that the driver is fully compatible with the graphics card. Windows may install a default driver that works, but may not provide all of the available options for best viewing and performance. See Figure 2 for the video driver update utility in Windows XP Professional. Perform the following for best graphical performance: list of 5 items 1. Download the most recent driver from the manufacturer website. 2. Remove the current driver. 3. Disable anti-virus software. 4. Install the new driver. 5. Restart the computer. list end NOTE: Disabling the antivirus software leaves your computer vulnerable to viruses and should not be done if you are connected to the Internet. You may encounter problems when you install or reinstall a video driver. For example, after performing the graphical performance steps, you are unable to view the screen when you restart the computer. To investigate the problem and restore the settings, reboot the computer. During the boot phase, press the F8 key. Enter the boot options when prompted and select Enable VGA Mode to use a 640 x 480 resolution. Once the operating system is loaded, you can then select Roll Back Driver from the Properties of the graphics card. You should then do some research to determine the possible issues with the driver that you tried to install.  12.2   Install, configure, and optimize an operating system       12.2.8   Describe installation of a second operating system    table end You can have multiple operating systems on a single computer. Some software applications may require the most recent version of an operating system, while other software applications require an older version. There is a dual-boot process for multiple operating systems on a computer. When the boot.ini file determines that more than one operating system is present during the boot process, you are prompted to choose the operating system that you want to load. See Figure 1 for a sample boot.ini file. Dual-Boot Setup To create a dual-boot system in Microsoft Windows, you typically must have more than one hard drive or the hard drive must contain more than one partition. You should install the oldest operating system on the primary partition or the hard drive marked as the active partition first. You should then install the second operating system on the second partition or hard drive. The boot files are automatically installed in the active partition. During the installation, the boot.ini file is created on the active partition to allow the selection of the operating system to boot on startup. The boot.ini file can be edited to change the order of the operating systems. You can also edit the file for the length of time an operating system selection can be made during the boot phase. Typically, the default time to select an operating system is 30 seconds. This always delay the boot time of the computer by 30 seconds, unless the user intervenes to select a particular operating system. In the boot.ini file, the boot time should be changed to 5 or 10 seconds to boot up the computer faster. To edit the boot.ini file, right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced Tab. In the Startup and Recovery area, select Settings. Click Edit. 12.3 Describe how to upgrade operating systems  An operating system must be upgraded periodically to remain compatible with the latest hardware and software. When newer versions of an operating system are released, support for older operating systems is eventually withdrawn. Hardware products are continually coming on the market. The new design of the products often requires that the latest operating system be installed to operate correctly. While this may be expensive, you gain advanced functionality through new features and support for newer hardware. A Windows XP upgrade can be performed from a CD or over a network. You should ensure that the new operating system is compatible with the computer. Microsoft provides a utility called the Upgrade Advisor to scan the system for incompatibility issues before upgrading to newer Windows operating systems. You can download the Upgrade Advisor from the Microsoft Windows website free of charge. After the Upgrade Advisor is finished, a report is produced to inform you of any problems. Incompatibility in hardware is the most common reason for failure in the upgrade process. Not all older Windows operating systems are upgradeable to the newer versions, as described in the following list: list of 3 items • Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me can be upgraded to Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional. • Windows NT workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 6 and Windows 2000 Professional can be upgraded only to Windows XP Professional. • Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 cannot be upgraded to Windows XP. list end NOTE: Remember to back up all data prior to beginning the upgrade. 12.4 Describe preventive maintenance procedures for operating systems  Preventive maintenance for an operating system includes automating tasks to perform scheduled updates. It also includes installing service packs that help keep the system up to date and compatibile with new software and hardware. If a driver or system becomes corrupted, you can use restore points to restore the system to a previous state. However, restore points cannot recover lost data. After completing this section, you will meet these objectives: list of 2 items • Schedule automatic tasks and updates. • Set restore points. these are OS Preventive Maintenance Automated tasks Service packs Restore points  12.4   Describe preventive maintenance procedures for operating systems       12.4.1   Schedule automatic tasks and updates    table end You can automate tasks in Windows XP using the Scheduled Tasks utility. The Scheduled Tasks utility monitors selected, user-defined criteria and then executes the tasks when the criteria have been met. GUI Scheduled Tasks Some of the common tasks that are automated using the Scheduled Tasks utility include the following: list of 4 items • Disk cleanup • Backup • Disk defragmenter • Starting other applications list end To open the Scheduled Tasks wizard, select Start > All Programs >Accessories > System Tools > Scheduled Tasks. Double-click Add Scheduled Task as shown in Figure 1. CLI Scheduled Tasks The Scheduled Tasks utility is a Windows-based GUI utility. You can also use the at command in the command line utility to automatically schedule a command, a script file, or an application to run at a specific date and time. To use the at command, you must be logged in as a member of the Administrators group. To learn more about the at command, choose Start > Run. At the CLI prompt, type cmd, and then press Return. At the command prompt, type at/?. Windows Automatic Updates You should use one of the following methods to configure updates for the Windows XP operating system: list of 4 items • Automatic (need to specify a date and time) • Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them • Notify me but don't automatically download or install them • Turn off Automatic Updates list end The Automatic Updates screen, shown in Figure 2, is found in the Control Panel.  Lab Task Scheduling Schedule and cancel a simple task 12.4.2   Set restore points    table end Restore points return the operating system to a predefined point in time. In some cases, the installation of an application or a hardware driver can cause instability or create unexpected changes to the computer. Uninstalling the application or hardware driver normally corrects the problem. If uninstalling does not solve the problem, you should try to restore the computer to an earlier time when the system worked properly. To open the System Restore utility, select Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. Windows XP can create restore points in the following scenarios: list of 3 items • When an install or upgrade takes place • Every 24 hours, if the computer is running • Manually, at any time list end The restore points contain information about the system and registry settings that are used by Windows operating systems. System restore does not back up personal data files nor recover personal files that have been corrupted or deleted. To back up data, you should use a dedicated backup system, such as a tape drive, CDs, or even a USB storage device. 12.5 Troubleshoot operating systems  The troubleshooting process helps resolve problems with the operating system. These problems range from simple, such as a driver that does not operate properly, to complex, such as a system that locks up. Use the troubleshooting steps as a guideline to help you diagnose and repair problems. After completing this section, you will meet these objectives: list of 3 items • Review the troubleshooting process. • Identify common problems and solutions. • Apply troubleshooting skills.  12.5   Troubleshoot operating systems       12.5.1   Review the troubleshooting process    table end Computer technicians must be able to analyze the problem and determine the cause of the error to repair the computer. This process is called troubleshooting. The first step in the troubleshooting process is to gather data from the customer. Figures 1 and 2 list open-ended and closed-ended questions to ask the customer. Once you have talked to the customer, you should verify the obvious issues. Figure 3 lists issues that apply to the operating system. After the obvious issues have been verified, try some quick solutions. Figure 4 lists some quick solutions to operating system problems. If quick solutions did not correct the problem, it is time to gather data from the computer. Figure 5 shows different ways to gather information about the problem from the computer. At this point, you will have enough information to evaluate the problem, research, and implement possible solutions. Figure 6 shows resources for possible solutions. After you have solved the problem, you will close with the customer. Figure 7 is a list of the tasks required to complete this step.   List of open-ended questions about operating system errors. (This list is NOT comprehensive.) Have you made any changes to your system? Have you been on the Internet? Has anyone else had access to your computer? Does the system look different?  12.5   Troubleshoot operating systems       12.5.2   Identify common problems and solutions    table end Computer problems can be attributed to hardware, software, networks, or some combination of the three. You will resolve some types of computer problems more often than others. A stop error is a hardware or software malfunction that causes the system to lock up. This type of error is known as the blue screen of death (BSoD) and appears when the system is unable to recover from an error. The BSoD is usually caused by device driver errors. The Event Log and other diagnostic utilities are available to research a stop error or BSoD error. To prevent these types of errors, verify that the hardware and software drivers are compatible. In addition, install the latest patches and updates for Windows. When the system locks up during startup, the computer can automatically reboot. The reboot is caused by the auto restart function in Windows and makes it difficult to see the error message. The auto restart function can be disabled in the Advanced Startup Options menu. Figure 1 is a chart of common hardware problems and solutions. Common Problems and Solutions Problem Symptom Possible Solution You have a dual-boot system, but you are unable to access the second operating system. Make sure the boot.ini is not corrupt and verify that it is correct. A screen goes blank after you install an updated graphics driver. If the new driver is bad, boot to VGA mode and use Roll Back Driver to restore the previous driver. A customer plans to install Windows XP on 100 computers in a branch office over a weekend, but is very concerned about how much time it will take. Advise the customer that the installation CD will take too long. Consult with customer about one of the automated installation solutions. The customer is receiving warnings about the hard drive becoming too full. Run the Disk Cleanup utility to delete temp files. A customer receives error messages that an application will not launch because a required service is not running. Ask the customer for the name of the service in the error message and restart the service.  12.5   Troubleshoot operating systems       12.5.3   Apply troubleshooting skills    table end Now that you understand the troubleshooting process, it is time to apply your listening and diagnostic skills. The first lab is designed to reinforce your skills with the operating system. You will check restore points before and after using Windows Update. The second lab is designed to reinforce your communication and troubleshooting skills. In this lab, you will perform the following steps: list of 3 items • Receive the work order • Take the customer through various steps to try and resolve the problem • Document the problem and the resolution list end   Lab Operating System Problem Correct an operating system problem Lab Remote Technician Operating System Problem Instruct a customer on how to correct an operating system problem 12.6 Summary  This chapter discussed how to select an operating system based on the needs of the customer. You have learned the differences between operating systems and network operating systems. The labs have helped you become familiar with Windows XP, creating partitions, customizing virtual memory, and scheduling tasks. You have also learned some optimization tips for operating systems, as well as how to troubleshoot a computer problem from the perspective of a level-two technician. The following concepts discussed in this chapter will be useful to you when selecting and installing an operating system: list of 8 items • Ensuring that you fully understand the technology needs of the customer. • Knowing the differences between common operating systems. • Carefully matching the customer needs to the proper technologies. • Knowing the different methods to install an operating system. • Knowing how to upgrade different operating systems. • Understanding how preventive maintenance can stop problems before they start. • Knowing which preventive maintenance procedures are appropriate for the customer. • Knowing how to troubleshoot operating system problems.