Chapter 1. Manually Installing Windows XP Professional

Objectives

This chapter helps you to prepare for the exam by covering the following Microsoft objectives for the Installing Windows XP Professional section of Exam 70-270: Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional.

Perform and troubleshoot an attended installation of Windows XP Professional.

• Microsoft includes this objective to ensure that you know how to manually install Windows XP Professional. It is important to know how to perform a complete manual installation so that you understand what's happening behind the scenes when performing automatic, unattended installations.

Outline

Introduction	32
About Windows XP Professional	32
Features	32
The History of Windows	33
Windows XP Service Packs	34
SP1	35
SP2	35
Preparing for Installation	35
Hardware Requirements	38
Hardware Compatibility	39
Software Compatibility	39
Network Requirements	41
Domain Membership	42
Workgroup Membership	43
File System Considerations	45
Product Activation	48
Performing an Attended Installation of Windows XP Professional	49
Attended Installation Process	49
Chapter Summary	55
Apply Your Knowledge	55

Study Strategies

This chapter addresses a brief history of the Windows operating system family, and a description of the latest Windows XP Professional service pack, which is Service Pack 2. The majority of this chapter is devoted to preparation for and installation of Windows XP Professional.

• Have one computer available that does not contain any data of value for practicing the various exercises.

• Practice manually installing Windows XP Professional.