A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PCFifth Edition

Chapter 12

Supporting Windows 9x

2 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

A Compromise Between Windows and DOS The core: a combination of 16-bit and 32-bit

code Memory management

DOS (base, upper, and extended memory) Windows (memory paging and virtual memory)

Device drivers – 16-bit and 32-bit

3 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Core OS Files

4 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Virtual Machines

Set of resources made available to an application through predefined application programming interface calls (APIs)

Multiple logical machines within one physical machine

5 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Virtual Machines (continued)

6 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Clean Installation

Ignores system settings, including information for hardware and software

Must reinstall all hardware and software Data files can be retained To do a clean installation

The hard drive does have to be formatted, but \Windows folder should be deleted

7 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Upgrade Installation

Carries forward system settings and information in the current OS

Software and hardware do not need to be reinstalled

Problems in the current OS may be carried forward

8 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Installation Process Make sure to create the Startup disk Setup options

Typical Portable: when install Windows on a laptop Compact: smallest possible installation Custom: the users can select components

Setup log files Setuplog.txt: records the progress of the installation Detlog.txt: records the hardware detected

9 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Hands-on Project: Install Windows 98 Do a clean install of Windows 98 Add additional system components (pp. 535) Download service packs or patches (pp. 535) Install a new hardware (pp. 539) Install a new software (pp. 543)

10 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Configuring the Boot Process

Most done through registry Modify Msdos.sys (pp. 536 and Table 12-3)

Configure initialization files

Use sysedit to open initialization files (Figure 12-14)

Other window files (Table 12-5)

11 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Windows .ini Files

12 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Windows 9x Startup Process

13 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Windows 9x Startup Process (continued)

14 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

The Windows 9x Registry Database of configuration information and

settings for users, hardware, applications, and the OS

Hierarchical database with a treelike, top-to-bottom design

Takes over essential functions of .ini files Supports System.ini and Win.ini for backward

compatibility

15 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

How the Registry Is Organized

16 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

How the Registry Is Organized (continued)

17 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Recovering from a Corrupted Registry Windows 95 backup of the registry

Maintains backup copy of the two registry files

Windows 98/Me Registry Checker (Figure 12-33)

Automatically backs up registry every day

Keeps last five days of backups

18 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Recovering from a Corrupted Registry with Windows 98/Me

19 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Hands-on Project: System Monitor pp. 571 & Figure 12-18

20 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Hands-on Project: System Configuration Utility pp. 572 & Figure 12-19

21 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Windows Utilities

System Configuration Utility (Msconfig.exe) (pp. 572)

System File Checker (pp. 568)

Automatic Skip Driver Agent (ADDA) (pp 576)

Dr. Watson (pp. 573)

22 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

Windows 9x Startup Menu Options Normal Logged (\Bootlog.txt) Safe Mode Safe Mode with Network support Step-by-step confirmation Command prompt only Safe Mode command prompt only Previous version of MS-DOS

23 A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Fifth Edition

If Normal mode has problems, but safe mode does not, check Config.sys and autoexec.bat (step & step

confirmation) System.ini and win.ini (pp. 583)

Trouble Shooting