Questions and Answers

Lesson 1 Review

1. What utilities can you use to create user accounts on a Windows XP Professional computer?

   You can use the User Accounts tool, which is located in Control Panel; or you can use the Local Users And Groups tool, which is located in the Computer Management window.

2. What important limitations should you be aware of when supporting Windows XP Home Edition?

   You cannot create groups in Windows XP Home Edition. Also, Windows XP Home Edition does not include the Local Users And Groups tool. Instead, you must use the User Accounts tool. Also, computers running Windows XP Home Edition cannot join a domain.

3. List the default user accounts in Windows XP Professional.

   The default user accounts in Windows XP Professional are Administrator, Guest, HelpAssistant, and SUPPORT_xxxxx.

Lesson 2 Review

1. A user complains that when he tries to log on, he receives the error message Unknown Username Or Bad Password. What are the common causes of this problem?

   The two most common causes of password problems are that the user is mistyping the user name or password, or that the Caps Lock key is engaged.

2. When a local user must reset a password, what information is lost?

   When a user resets a password, the user loses access to e-mail and files that the user has encrypted, as well as Internet passwords that are saved on the computer.

Lesson 3 Review

1. Which Password Policy setting permits you to specify the number of passwords that Windows XP keeps track of for each user so that when a user attempts to change a password, the user cannot reuse any of the passwords that the computer is keeping track of?

   1. Enforce Password History

   2. Maximum Password Numbers

   3. Minimum Password Numbers

   4. Password Must Meet Complexity

   a is the correct answer. The Enforce Password History setting ensures that users cannot reuse a password within the period that Windows tracks passwords. b and c are wrong because these settings are invalid. d is wrong because this setting forces users to create passwords that meet complexity requirements.

2. What is the primary disavantage associated with auditing? Under what circumstances should you use auditing?

   Auditing consumes system resources. If you audit too many events on a computer, the performance of the computer will suffer. You should typically enable auditing when you suspect that there is a security problem or when you have a particularly sensitive resource that you want to protect.

Case Scenario Exercises: Exercise 3.1

A user calls you and reports that he has mistakenly deleted a user account from a local computer. He re-created the user account before restarting or logging off, and he cannot access any of the files he once had access to. How would you help this caller so that he can access all his old files?

To assist this caller, you must explain to him that after he deletes a user account and re-creates it, even using the same name, the SID is no longer associated with the files he needs to access. The administrator on that computer must now assign the new user account permissions to all files and folders that this user needs access to.

Case Scenario Exercises: Exercise 3.2

A user calls and tells you that she created a Limited user account for her son on her home computer that is running Windows XP Professional. Her son created a password for his account, but now cannot remember the correct password. How can you help this user?

The user must log on using a Computer Administrator account and reset her son’s password using the User Accounts tool in Control Panel. You should warn her that her son will lose access to e-mail or files that he has encrypted and Internet passwords saved on the computer.

Troubleshooting Lab

You are working as a DST for a large company with a corporate network. A user calls and tells you that he has been on vacation for the last two weeks. When he tries to log on to the network, he sees only the default Windows XP desktop with just the Recycle Bin. All his desktop icons are gone and his Start menu is completely changed. He also cannot find any of his files in his My Documents folder. He has tried logging on from several different computers using his domain user name and password, but has the same problem no matter what computer he tries to log on to. Normally, the user can log on to any computer and can access his desktop environment and folders. Other users on the network are not reporting this problem. What do you suspect is the problem?

Because the user says that he normally can log on to any computer and access his information, the corporate network is using roaming profiles. However, the user is seeing the Windows XP default profile when logging on to the domain. This likely means that the user’s roaming profile is corrupted and that Windows is attempting to correct the problem by creating a new profile for him based on the Default User profile. You should tell the user to report the problem to an administrator because an administrator can probably restore the user’s profile from before it became corrupt.