Chapter 14

Managing and Troubleshooting Windows 2000

You Will Learn…

About the Windows NT/2000/XP boot process How to troubleshoot the Windows 2000 boot

process How to use maintenance and troubleshooting

tools to support Windows 2000

The Windows NT/2000/XPBoot Process

1. BIOS executes POST

2. BIOS executes the MBR (Master Boot Record) program

3. MBR program executes the OS boot program

4. Boot program executes Ntldr

5. Ntldr changes the processor mode and loads a file system

continued…

The Windows NT/2000/XPBoot Process

6. Ntldr reads and loads the boot loader menu

7. Ntldr uses Ntdetect.com

8. Ntldr loads the OS and device drivers

9. Ntldr passes control to Ntoskrnl.exe

10.An operating system other than Windows NT/2000/XP is chosen

The NT/2000/XP Boot Process

continued…

The NT/2000/XP Boot Process

Files Needed to BootWindows NT/2000/XP

Customizing the Windows NT/2000/XP Boot Process

Use the Boot.ini file• Can be manually edited, but using System Properties

window is recommended

Main sections of the Boot.ini file• [boot loader]• [operating system]

• Multi (0)• Disk (0)• Rdisk (0)• Partition (1)

Sample Boot.ini File

Customizing the Windows NT/2000/XP Boot Process

Customizing the Windows NT/2000/XP Boot Process

Troubleshooting theWindows 2000 Boot Process

Try the simple things first Determine at what point in the process the

system fails Use troubleshooting tools

• Advanced Options menu

• Recovery Console

• Emergency startup disk

Advanced Options Menu

Includes starting the computer in safe mode Used to prevent many device drivers and

system services that normally load during the boot process from loading

Helpful if the problem is a faulty device driver or system service

Accessed by pressing F8 when starting Windows 2000

Advanced Options Menu

Recovery Console

Use when OS does not start properly or hangs during the load

New in Windows 2000 Command-line interface lets you perform

maintenance and repairs to hard drive (eg, damaged registry, system files, or file system)

Does not use a GUI; allows access to the FAT16, FAT32, and NTFS file systems

Accessing the Recovery Console

Must enter Administrator password in order to use it and access an NTFS volume

First boot from the Windows 2000 CD or from the four setup disks, or the console can be installed under the startup menu and accessed from there

Accessing the Recovery Console

Windows 2000Repair Options Window

Windows 2000Recovery Console Window

Commands Available from the Recovery Console

Attrib Batch Cd Chkdsk Cls Copy Del

Dir Disable Diskpart Enable Exit Expand Fixboot

continued…

Commands Available from the Recovery Console

Fixmbr Format Help Listsvc Logon Map Md or Mkdir

More or Type Rd or Rmdir Rename or Ren Set Systemroot Type

Using the Recovery Console to Restore the Registry

Files in the registry (stored in the %SystemRoot%\System32\Config folder)• Default• Sam• Security• Software• System

A backup of the registry is stored in the %SystemRoot%\Repair\RegBack folder every time you back up the system state

Backup of the Registry

Using the Recovery Console to Restore the Registry

Emergency Repair Process:The Last Resort

Restores the system to its state at the end of the Windows 2000 installation

All changes made to the registry since installation are lost

Requires the Emergency Startup Disk (ERD), but the disk does not contain the same information as the Windows NT ERD

Windows 2000 ERD

Used to recover from problems with corrupted or missing operating system files or a corrupted hard drive boot sector

Contains information about current installation but does not contain a copy of the registry because it is too large to fit on a single floppy disk

Points to a folder (%SystemRoot%\repair) on the hard drive where the registry was backed up at installation

Creating an ERD

Creating an ERD

Tools for Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Backup tool Windows 2000 support tools Windows File Protection (WFP) Disk Properties window Computer Management window Microsoft Management Console (MMC)

continued…

Tools for Maintenance and Troubleshooting

Performance monitoring and optimization• Task Manager

• System Monitor

Managing virtual memory Dr. Watson and memory dumps Windows Update

Using the Backup Tool to Restore the System State

Windows 2000 Support Tools

Active Directory Administration Tool

Active Directory Replication Monitor

ADSI Edit Application

Compatibility Tool Command Prompt

Dependency Walker DiskProbe Global Flags Editor Process Viewer Security Administration

Tools SNMP Query Utility Windiff

Windows 2000 Support Tools

Windows Dependency Walker

Windows File Protection

Protects system files such as .sys, .dll, or .exe files from modification

Two tools• Background process that notifies WFP when a

protected file is modified

• SFC (System File Checker)

Switches for the Sfc.exe Utility

Disk Properties Window

Gives information about a disk Provides a way to perform routine

maintenance on a drive

Disk Properties Window

Disk Properties Window

Computer Management Window

Disk Management

Found in Computer Management console Used to create partitions on basic disks or

volumes on dynamic disks and to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk

Replaces Fdisk of older Windows OSs

Disk Management

Disk Management

MMC

Console• Combination of several administrative tools into a

single window (eg, Computer Management, Recovery Console)

MMC snap-ins• Individual tools within the console (eg, Event

Viewer, System Information)

MMC Snap-ins

continued…

MMC Snap-ins

Creating a Customized Console

Creating a Customized Console

Creating a Customized Console

Event Viewer

Event Viewer snap-in connects to the Event Viewer tool, which displays logs about significant events that occur or in applications running under the OS• Application log• Security log• System log

Events recorded in system and application logs• Information events• Warning events• Error events

Using Event Viewer

Event Viewer

To filter events• Use log properties

• Set a size limit and specify what is to happen when log reaches its limit

Event Viewer Log Properties

Event Viewer Log Properties

Performance Monitoring and Optimization

1. Analyze data provided by monitoring tools• Task Manager

• System Monitor

2. Determine areas in which performance is below baseline

3. Identify and take steps to correct the problem

Principles for Optimizing Performance

Establish a baseline of acceptable performance If you add RAM, increase size of paging file May need to upgrade more than one component Applications are assigned priority level, which

determines position in queue for CPU resources In general, upgrading an existing PC is recommended

Task Manager (Taskman.exe)

Allows you to view:• Applications and processes running on the computer

• Performance information for the processor and the memory

Ways to access• Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete, Windows Security, Task Manager

button

• Right-click blank area on taskbar, select Task Manager from shortcut menu

• Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc

Task Manager Tabs

• Applications• Status of active applications (Running or Not Responding)

• Processes• System services and other processes associated with

applications; how much CPU time/memory the process uses

• Performance• More detail about how a program uses system resources

• Four frames: Totals, Physical Memory, Commit Charge, Kernel Memory

Applications Tab inTask Manager

Performance Tab inTask Manager

System Monitor

Provides more detail than Task Manager Components

• Objects• Hardware or software system components (eg, Memory, Paging

File, Processor, and Physical Disk)

• Instances• Multiples of objects

• Counters• Show information on specific characteristics of an object• Constantly gather data and update the counter display

System Monitor

Add Counters Windowin System Monitor

System Monitor

Managing Virtual Memory

Default size of paging file is set to 1.5 times amount of RAM installed

Making changes to paging file may improve system performance

Changing Paging File Settings

Dr. Watson and Memory Dumps

Dr. Watson• Debugs errors in applications by recording error events to a

log file when illegal operations occur

• Useful when application fails to install or load, when the system locks, or when error messages appear

Memory dump• Saves contents of memory at the time an error halted the

system to a dump file

• Dump file is created in the event of a stop error

Windows Update

Microsoft Web site offers patches, fixes, and updates for known problems and has an extensive knowledge base documenting problems and their solutions

Uses ActiveX to scan your system, find device drivers and system files, and compare these files to the ones on the Windows Update server

Chapter Summary

Details of the Windows NT/2000/XP boot process

How to troubleshoot the Windows 2000 boot process

Supporting and troubleshooting Windows 2000 after it boots• Potential problems with system errors and

performance