Understanding Windows

© 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved

Understanding WindowsChapter 13


Overview

• In this chapter, you will learn to– Explain the Windows interface

– Identify the features and characteristics of Windows 2000 and Windows XP

– Describe the current versions of Windows


Essentials

CompTIA A+Essentials


• All versions share common look and feel

– Utilities same or similar

– GUI works the same

– Command-line interface has similar commands

– Master one, and you’re well on your way to mastering them all

Windows Interface


User Interface

• Login– Every version of Windows supports multiple users– Requiring a user login increases security

• Desktop– Primary interface to the computer


User Interface

• Taskbar and Start menu– Runs along the bottom of the desktop and

includes up to four sections• Start menu allows access to the installed programs• System tray shows programs running in the background• Quick Launch enables you to launch often-used programs

with a single click


User Interface

• My Computer– Provides access to drives, folders, and files

– Customizable: Can display different views, show hidden files, hide file extensions, and more


User Interface

• Windows Explorer– Another utility for accessing drives, folders,

and files

• My Documents– My Pictures, My Music, My Videos


User Interface

• Recycle Bin– Deleted files sent to Recycle Bin– Can retrieve them if desired– Size can be adjusted

• My Network Places– Shows the current network

connections available


Hot Keys

• Working with textF1 HelpF2 RenameF3 Search MenuF4 Open the Address

BarF5 Refresh current

windowF10 Activate menu bar

options

CTRL-C CopyCTRL-X CutCTRL-V PasteCTRL-Z UndoCTRL-B BoldCTRL-U UnderlineCTRL-I Italic

• Function keys


Hot Keys

• Popular hot keys

CTRL-ESC Open Start menuALT-TAB Switch between open programsALT-F4 Quit programCTRL-Z Undo the last commandCTRL-A Select all the items in the current windowSHIFT-DELETE

Delete item permanently

SHIFT-F10 Open shortcut menuSHIFT Bypass Autorun for CDsALT-SPACE Display system menuALT-ENTER Open propertiesCTRL-SHIFT-ESC

Launch Task Manager


Hot Keys

• Windows key shortcuts

Open Start menu-R Open Run command-BREAK Open system properties-D Show desktop-M Minimize all windows-E Open My Computer-L Lock computer-F Search for file or menu


Tech Utilities: Right-Click

• Also called:– Alt menu– Context menu

• Works almost everywhere

• Properties selection very common


Tech Utilities: Control Panel

• Handles maintenance, upgrade, and configuration aspects of Windows

– Start | Settings | Control Panel

– Contains many mini-programs, called applets

– Any icon in the Control Panel is a file with a CPL extension

• If Control Panel won’t start, one of these is probably corrupt—rename each one until you find the bad one


Tech Utilities: Control Panel

• Category view • Classic view


Tech Utilities: Device Manager

• Device Manager – Used to configure hardware and drivers

– Devices are organized in special groups called types

– Access through• System applet in Control Panel• Properties of My Computer-Break• Computer Management



• Device Manager – Used to configure hardware and drivers

– Access through• System applet in Control Panel• Properties of My Computer-Break

• Computer Management



• Device Manager – Devices are organized in special

groups called types

– Problems identified with red “X” or a yellow exclamation point

– Can also update drivers here


Tech Utilities: System Tools

• System Tools is a collection of tech utilities found on the Start menu– Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools


Tech Utilities: Command Line

• Command line– Start | Run | cmd– Not DOS– DOS is dead, but CLI thrives


IT Technician

CompTIA A+Technician

IT Technician

Microsoft Management Console


Tech Utilities: MMC

• Microsoft Management Console (MMC)– Shell program - holds utilities called snap-ins– Start | Run | mmc– Starts with blank console

• Add snap-ins: File | Add/Remove Snap-ins | Add• Save the new customized console you created


Tech Utilities: Administrative Tools

• Administrative Tools– A folder that holds many predefined MMC consoles

built by Microsoft– Control Panel | Administrative Tools– The three most used

Administrative Tools are• Computer Management• Event Viewer• Performance


Tech Utilities: Computer Management

• Computer Management– A predefined MMC that pulls together snap-ins

related to many computer management options


Tech Utilities: Event Viewer

• Event Viewer – Keeps track of events that happen with

your computer


Tech Utilities: Performance

• Performance– System Monitor shows real-time data– Performance Logs and Alerts—captured data


Services

• Services– Separate programs that handle functions in Windows

– Double-click any service to examine its properties and settings

– Services start• Automatically• Manually• May be disabled


• System folder– Folder where the OS files were installed– %systemroot%

– Typically C:\Windows in XP, C:\Winnt in 2000

OS Folders


Other Important Folders

• C:\Program Files

• C:\Documents and Settings

• C:\WINNT

• C:\WINNT\FONTS

• C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32


What Is the Registry?

• Registry – A unified database

•Stores all hardware and software configuration info for the local computer

•Data stored in Registry files called hives

•In %SystemRoot%\System32\Config folder

•Rarely modify directly

•Instead modify via Control Panel or other administrative tools


Registry Editors

• Regedit– Older version—Allowed easy searches

• Regedt32– Newer version—better for modifying Registry

• Combined version in XP and Vista

• When using the Registry Editors, be very careful!– Does not recognize syntax or semantic errors– May prevent your operating system from loading


REGEDIT


Registry Editors

• REGEDIT in Windows 2000

• Regedt32 in Windows 2000


Combined in XP

• Typing Regedit or Regedt32 launches same program in XP


Registry Components

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT Defines standard class objects

HKEY_CURRENT_USER Personalized information for current user

HKEY_USERS Generalized information for all users

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE General hardware configuration info

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG Hardware information for this boot


Swap File or Page File

• All versions of Windows use virtual memory

• Also known as RAM cache

• Windows swap files are used to implement virtual memory

• Allows the system to work as though it has more memory than it does– Uses drive for extra memory


Virtual Memory

• More programsMore RAM

• At some pointno more physical RAM available


Virtual Memory

• Programs swapped outof RAM to hard drive

• New programs can nowbe run in physical RAM


Features and Characteristics of Windows NT/2000/XP


OS Organization

• Windows operating system separated into different components

• The subsystems

• The NT Executive

• The drivers


Robust, scalable, cross-platform

• Robust– Separates processes and runs them in

different subsystems– One program bug doesn’t affect others

• Cross-platform– Uses object-oriented approach – Designed to support multiple platforms by

using HAL– Abstracts (separates) differences in hardware

• Scalable– Supports symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) – Allows support for up to 32 CPUs


NT File System (NTFS)

• Robust and powerful– Long filenames containing up to 255 characters

– Redundancy• Advanced FAT called the master file table (MFT)

– Backward-compatible with DOS and Windows 9x

– Recoverability • Uses transaction logging to survive accidental shutdowns

– Security • Allows file and folder security


NTFS Security Overview

• Implemented with– Users, groups, permissions

• Files and folders can be restricted– Permissions granted to user or group– User can gain access based on own user account– User can gain access based on group membership


NTFS Security

• Accounts– Every user has an account– Without an account, can’t log on

– Every Windows NT/2000 PC has an Administrator account that has full access to everything


NTFS Security

• Groups– A group is a collection of user accounts that share

the same access capabilities

– Assign access to a group and then put users into the group

– Users will inherit the access assigned to the group

– Windows provides several built-in groups


• Administrators– May perform all

administrative tasks on the computer

• Backup Operators– May use Windows

Backup

• Guests– May perform only

specific tasks that are granted

– Guest account is a member

• Power Users– May create and modify

local user accounts and share resources on the local computer

• Replicator– Supports file replication

in a domain• Users

– May perform only tasks specifically assigned

– Local user accounts that are created become members

• Everyone

Built-in Groups


NTFS Permissions

• NTFS permissions in 2000/XP– Lists users and groups granted access to a file

or folder

– Lists the specific level of access allowed

– Available only on volumes formatted as NTFS (Security tab)

– NTFS security is effective whether a user

• Gains access at the computer• Gains access over the network


NTFS Special Permissions

• Ownership– When you create a new file or folder you become

the owner– Owners have full control– Owners can change permissions

• Take Ownership permission– Enables a user to take ownership of a file or folder– Administrator account can take ownership of any

files

• Change Permission– Can give or take away permissions for other

accounts


NTFS Standard Permissions

• Folder permissions– Apply to folders

• File permissions– Apply to files


NTFS Folder Permissions

• Full Control– Enables you to do anything you want– To deny all access, deny Full Control

• Modify– Cannot delete files or subfolders but may

modify them

• Read & Execute– Enables read files and run programs



• List Folder Contents– Enables you to see the contents of the folder

and subfolders

• Read– Enables you to read any files in the folder

• Write– Enables you to write to files and create new files

and folders



• By default, permissions are inherited from parent folders

– This may be prevented by removing the check mark at the bottom


NTFS File Permissions

• Full Control– Enables you to do anything

• Modify– Enables you to do anything except take ownership

or change permissions

• Read & Execute– If the file is a program, you can run it

• Read– If the file is data, you can read it

• Write– Enables you to write to the file


• User’s effective permissions are the cumulative permissions resulting from a combination of user and group permissions.

– Sally is in Administrator group

– Sally has Read permission on a folder

– Administrator has Full Control on the folder

– Sally’s effective permission is Full ControlCumulative from Full Control and Read

– Deny permission overrides all other permissions. Deny always becomes the effective permission.

Combining Permissions


The Boot Process

• NT Loader manages the booting process– Windows 2000/XP boot files that must be in the root

directory of the system partition are• NTLDR (NT Loader)• BOOT.INI• NTDETECT.COM• NTBOOTDD.SYS (only needed for SCSI controllers that don’t

have their own ROM BIOS)

– System Partition• Active partition (typically C: drive)

– Boot Partition• Where OS files located (X:\Windows on XP)


The Boot Process

– After POST, BIOS looks for valid OS in the boot sector

– MFT (on boot sector) points to system files

– NTOSKRNL loads device drivers and loads system files

– System files (NTLODR, NTDETECT, BOOT.INI) start the PC and point to boot files

– GUI starts to load


Boot Files: NTLDR

• NTLDR (NT Loader) manages the boot-up process until control is handed over to NTOSKRL (NT kernel)

– To find available operating systems, NTLDR reads the boot.ini file

– If multiple OSs are available, a menu shows up


Boot Files: BOOT.INI

• BOOT.INI is a text file that lists the available OSs and where to find the boot partition


More Boot Files

• BOOTSEC.DOS is read by NTLDR if it finds a different OS to load

• NTDETECT.COM detects the hardware if you choose to boot to NT/2000/XP

• NTBOOTDD.SYS is used if NTLDR detects that the boot partition resides on a SCSI drive that lacks a ROM chip for BIOS support


Windows Versions

• Windows comes in families– Different versions targeted at different

market segments

• Windows 2000 family– Windows 2000 Professional (desktop)– Windows 2000 Server


Windows XP Family

• XP Professional– Fully functional version– Intended for corporate users

• XP Home– Designed for home and small office use– Many unneeded features not available

• XP Media Center– Same as XP Home with additional media features


Windows 64-Bit Versions

• Windows XP 64-bit Edition– Runs only on Intel Itanium processors

• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition– Runs on any AMD or Intel processor that supports

both 32 bits and 64 bits


Windows Vista

• Windows Vista Home Basic– Similar to XP Home

• Windows Vista Home Premium– Similar to XP Media Center

• Windows Business– Basic Business version similar to XP Professional

• Windows Vista Enterprise– Available only to large corporate buyers

• Windows Vista Ultimate– Includes all features of any version– Adds some features such as game performance

“tweaker” and DVD ripping


Other Windows

• Windows Mobile– PDAs and phones

• Windows XP Tablet PC– Laptop with a touch screen

• Windows Embedded– OS embedded into devices