Apply Your Knowledge

This chapter focuses on the way that the Windows XP Professional operating system interfaces with storage and video devices, as well as power management features. You need to master the techniques of:

Converting a basic disk to a dynamic disk
Configuring a variety of dynamic volumes
Troubleshooting disk errors
Installing and configuring CD or DVD drives and removable storage devices
Configuring multiple monitors and video adapters
Configuring power options

Undertaking the following exercises will hone your skills. You should have at least one computer available to you, along with at least two additional hard disks, a tape drive, a CD or DVD drive, a video adapter, and two monitors. You can augment these exercises on your own with hands-on practice in building a computer in a variety of configurations.

Exercises

7.1 Troubleshooting a Hard Disk

In this exercise, you troubleshoot an insufficient hard disk space error message, and configure a disk's partition.

Estimated Time: 15 minutes.

You can probably fix an error of There is not enough memory or disk space to complete the operation by ensuring that there is enough disk space to support a large enough swap file for applications. If a disk is not large enough, and you cannot reduce the number or size of files it contains, you need to replace the disk or add a new one. If you add a new disk and wish to retain a single drive letter, you must extend the volume. You need a single computer installed with Windows XP Professional. Before beginning, you need to install a new SCSI hard disk and a new SCSI controller.

1.	Open the Disk Management utility by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Manage, and then selecting the utility in the left pane.
2.	You should see a basic disk type displayed in the utility on the computer. To extend a volume, you must have a dynamic disk. Right-click the disk and select Convert to Dynamic Disk.
3.	To configure a single volume for file storage, right-click the simple volume that represents the C: drive. Click on Extend Volume. Select the empty space of the newly added disk. Reboot when complete.

If you receive an error that says Non-system disk or disk error, then the computer did not identify the correct disk as the boot device. You can mark the correct partition as active by using the DISKPART utility after booting with the Windows XP installation CD.

Review Questions

1.	If you have a dual-boot computer, which is the best type of disk to usebasic or dynamic? Why?
2.	If your computer has three disks and you need to ensure that data will not be lost because of a single disk failure, do you use basic or dynamic disks? How do you configure the resulting partition or volume to make certain that you use all three disks?
3.	How do you determine what the problem is if you have a CD that is not recognized in a computer's CD drive?
4.	What can you do if you install two monitors and video adapters in a computer and extend the screen, but the monitors appear out of order?
5.	Where do you configure a computer's network adapter so that it will wake up when it receives network traffic?
6.	What is the problem if a computer displays a shutdown screen instead of powering off after you click Start, Turn Off Computer, Turn Off? How do you resolve this problem?

Exam Questions

You are a network engineer who has just deployed Windows XP Professional to 200 users at PDQ Corp. Ten percent of the Windows XP users are executives, and they all have laptops. You have a backup scheme that scans computers connected to the network each Friday at midnight and backs up the data. However, this scheme does not affect the laptop users because they typically take their computers with them each night. The Vice President of Accounting keeps extensive data files on his computer and is concerned about data loss when he is away from the office. He has purchased an external parallel port tape drive to use when he is away. At home, the VP connected the drive and followed the process documented by the manufacturer to install the tape drive on his computer, but no matter what he does, the tape device does not appear as a device in the computer. How do you assist the VP?

	A.	In Control Panel, start the Add New Hardware Wizard and allow the computer to detect and install the tape device's driver.
	B.	Go into the laptop's BIOS and disable any enhanced support for the parallel port.
	C.	Go into the laptop's BIOS and enable EPP support.
	D.	Reinstall Windows XP and select the correct HAL.

You are a network engineer who has just deployed Windows XP Professional to 200 users at PDQ Corp. Part of the scope of work requires you to configure a backup scheme that scans computers connected to the network each Friday night at midnight to back up their data. You have installed a backup system with a large tape library on a computer dedicated to backing up the network. You configure the scheme and test it during the middle of the workday. It works as you expect it to. You configure the backup to execute on Friday night. However, on Monday when you check the backup tape, you discover that none of the networked computers running Windows XP Professional have been backed up. You test it again and watch the program execute without a problem. How do you resolve this issue?

	A.	You must fix the backup computer. In the Device Manager, navigate to the tape device, right-click it, and select Update Driver from the shortcut menu.
	B.	You must fix the backup computer. Open Computer Management, navigate to the Removable Storage node, right-click the tape device, and select Inventory.
	C.	You must fix the networked Windows XP computers. In each computer, go into Power Options and select the option to enable Hibernation.
	D.	You must fix the networked Windows XP computers. In each computer, go into Device Manager, open the Properties dialog box, Power Management tab for the network adapter. Select the Allow This Device to Bring the Computer Out of Standby check box.

You are the network administrator for JAMS, Inc., a graphics and advertising firm. The graphics department has just purchased new monitors and video adapters for their computers. One ambitious fellow, George, has already installed the adapter and connected the monitor. George logs on to the computer and finds that the display is distorted. He is calling you for help. George thinks that the monitor and adapter he is using is the problem and wants to replace it. You first want to troubleshoot the video adapter, but you cannot see the screen well enough to read the text. What can you do to fix George's problem? (Choose all that apply.)

	A.	Restart the computer and select the Last Known Good Configuration.
	B.	Use the System Configuration Utility to add the /`BASEVIDEO` parameter to the `Boot.ini` file. Reboot the computer.
	C.	In Device Manager, uninstall the existing video adapter driver.
	D.	In Device Manager, click the Action menu and select Scan for Hardware Changes.

The administrative assistant in the graphics department at JAMS, Inc. has a computer with three hard disks. One is 20GB, one is 30GB, and the third is 60GB. The administrative assistant has configured the 20GB disk for dual booting, so that the computer can boot into Windows 98 to be able to access a legacy application. There is no free space on the 20GB disk. The Windows XP system files are also located on the 20GB drive. There are two IDE controllers in the computerone that includes the 20GB drive and the computer's DVD drive, the other that interfaces with the 30GB and 60GB disks. Which of the following statements are correct? (Choose all that apply.)

	A.	The 20GB disk is the boot partition.
	B.	The maximum amount of space that you can obtain from the 30GB and 60GB disks is 30GB if you mirror these two disks.
	C.	You must create a spanned volume using all three disks.
	D.	You can create a spanned volume using only the 30GB and 60GB disksyou cannot include the 20GB disk.
	E.	You must convert the 30GB and 60GB disks to dynamic disks to create a spanned volume.

You are the network administrator for JAMS, Inc. One of the salesmen, Jack, often gives presentations using his laptop computer. Jack wants to display his presentations on a large external monitor that his clients will have available at their companies. Jack wants to show the presentation on the external monitor, but display his notes on the laptop's LCD screen. Jack reports that he can connect the computer to an external monitor, but he cannot define a separate desktop display for each monitor. What can you do to configure the laptop for Jack? (Choose two.)

	A.	Verify that the laptop's video adapter is listed in the Windows Catalog as supporting Dualview.
	B.	Disable hardware acceleration for the video in the BIOS.
	C.	Configure the power scheme on the laptop to ensure that the monitor always stays on.
	D.	Update the driver for the video adapter using Device Manager.

You are the network administrator for the graphics and advertising firm JAMS, Inc. You have just installed a new laptop for Jack, a salesman who travels often. The specifications for the laptop include a built-in modem, a Ethernet 10/100 network adapter, and a wireless dual 802.11(b)/802.11(g) adapter. When Jack is in the office, his laptop is docked in a docking station. At home, Jack uses the wireless adapter to connect to his shared cable Internet link. When on the road, Jack uses his modem to dial into an Internet service provider (ISP), connecting to the office via a virtual private network (VPN); or he connects via his clients' networks in an undocked configuration. Jack relies on his computer to be able to perform well during his presentations. He has complained that the battery loses power too quickly and he has had to stop during a presentation to connect his power adapter. On quizzing Jack, you determine that the laptop does not go into standby or hibernation whenever Jack connects to a network, but it does hibernate if Jack is not connected to a network. How do you configure Jack's laptop to conserve battery power? (Choose two.)

	A.	Modify the Device Manager settings for the ACPI-compliant battery to disable the device.
	B.	Roll back the driver in the Device Manager settings for the AC adapter.
	C.	Modify the Device Manager settings for the network adapter, wireless adapter, and modem to disable wake-on support.
	D.	Modify the Power Options Power Schemes so that the default Power Scheme is Max Battery, and show Jack how to change to the Presentation Power Scheme when he is giving presentations.

You are the network administrator for JAMS, Inc. You have recently installed a laptop with Windows XP Professional for Janice, an advertising executive. Janice uses the laptop for one day and returns it to you, stating that it does not go into standby nor does it hibernate. She demonstrates the problem by closing the lid of the laptop while the operating system is running, and indicates that you can still see the light emitting from the LCD screen around the edges of the lid. You look at the Power Options utility and note that the correct settings are enabled to put the laptop into standby when the lid is closed. You take the laptop back to work on it. You perform the following:

You verify that the laptop is in the Windows Catalog.
You contact the manufacturer's website, download a new BIOS, and update the BIOS in the computer.

When you attempt to start the laptop, it displays a Stop error and Windows XP does not load. What should you do next so that the computer starts correctly and you can configure hibernation?

	A.	Reinstall Windows XP Professional and select the ACPI-compliant HAL during setup.
	B.	Start the computer using the Last Known Good Configuration and update the battery driver in Device Manager.
	C.	Use Automatic System Recovery to restore the computer.
	D.	Use the Recovery Console to replace the HAL with an ACPI HAL.

Which tools can you use to convert two basic disks and create a spanned volume encompassing both of the resulting dynamic disks? (Choose two.)

	A.	`Fdisk.exe`
	B.	`Chkdsk.exe`
	C.	`Diskpart.exe`
	D.	`Fsutil.exe`
	E.	`Disk Management`

When would you see a UPS tab in the Power Options utility in Control Panel?

	A.	When a UPS-compatible BIOS is installed on the computer
	B.	When the battery is in power save mode
	C.	When an external UPS is installed and connected to the computer
	D.	When the PC's BIOS is ACPI-compliant
	E.	When the PC's BIOS is APM-based only

10.

You are a network engineer who was hired to deploy Windows XP Professional to 200 computers at PDQ Corp by upgrading the existing Windows NT 4.0 computers. Your upgrade project performed well and all computers are functioning normally. The company calls you to help them with a deployment of 100 brand-new computers to a newly formed department. The computers are all listed in the Windows Catalog. In keeping with corporate policy, all Automatic Updates are delivered from an SUS server that you installed several months ago. The SUS server does not download updates except when manually prompted. The users installed Windows XP Professional from the same network installation point that you set up for your upgrade project. When the computers booted up, everything was fine except that the display on every new computer is at 640x480 resolution with 16 colors. There are no options in the Display Properties dialog box to change the resolution. The company wants you to help troubleshoot the problem. What do you do?

	A.	Reboot the computer in Safe Mode and install the Windows default VGA driver.
	B.	In Device Manager, update the video adapter driver to the latest from the manufacturer.
	C.	In the Display Properties dialog box, change the refresh rate to a higher level.
	D.	Upgrade the BIOS.

Answers to Review Questions

1.	The best possible type of disk is a basic disk. Although you have more flexibility when you use dynamic disks under Windows XP, other operating systems do not recognize a dynamic disk and cannot access that information. For more information, see the section "Monitoring and Configuring Disks."
2.	You would use a dynamic disk and configure the volume as a RAID-5 volume. RAID-5 volumes use disk striping with parity, which ensures that if any single disk fails, the computer continues to operate. You cannot use mirroring because it applies to only two disks, and you have three to configure. For more information, see the section "Monitoring, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Volumes."
3.	You should test the CD in another computer's CD drive to see whether the problem is the CD itself or the original computer's CD drive. You may also open Device Manager to verify that Windows XP recognizes the CD drive. For more information, see the section "Monitoring and Configuring Removable Media, Such as Tape Devices."
4.	In the Display utility, click the Settings tab and drag one of the monitors to a new position so that the display reflects the physical configuration. For more information, see the section "Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Display Devices."
5.	You can configure the network adapter's Properties dialog box on the Power Management tab to enable the adapter to wake up when it receives network events. This dialog box can be accessed through Device Manager. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."
6.	The computer does not have a HAL that can interface with its BIOS's power management features. The first thing to do is validate that the computer's BIOS is ACPI-compliant and that it is listed in the Windows Catalog. You should also check to make certain that the BIOS version is the appropriate version for Windows XP. Then, you should verify that the ACPI HAL is not installed by checking the System Properties and Device Manager. Finally, if the wrong HAL has been installed, you should reinstall Windows XP and select the correct ACPI-compliant HAL during setup. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."

Answers to Exam Questions

1.	B. The problem is most likely that the laptop has bidirectional port, EPP, or an ECP enabled. This prevents the computer from detecting the tape drive, so you need to disable this capability. For more information, see the section "Monitoring and Configuring Removable Media, Such as Tape Devices."
2.	D. Because the backup worked during the day while people were ostensibly using their computers, the problem is likely due to computers going into hibernation and not responding to network requests. To fix this problem, you need to configure the network adapter's Properties dialog box, Power Management tab, so that the adapter will wake up when it receives a network request. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."
3.	B, C, D. The process you need to go through is to first get to a point where you can see the screen. You can do this by using the System Configuration Utility and adding the /BASEVIDEO parameter to `Boot.ini` and then rebooting. After you can see what you are doing, you then need to uninstall the video adapter driver that George replaced in the Device Manager. After the video adapter driver has been uninstalled, you can scan for new hardware changes, which will begin the installation of the video adapter driver. The only incorrect answer was A, which was to use the Last Known Good Configuration. However, you cannot use the Last Known Good Configuration because George had already successfully logged on to the computer. For more information, see the section "Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Display Devices."
4.	A, B, D, E. The current boot partition is the 20GB disk. The 20GB disk is also the system partition. If you mirror two disks, the maximum amount of space that you will have is the size of the smaller of the two disks. Spanned volumes can be created only with dynamic disks. The only way to create a spanned volume is to have at least two segments of two separate dynamic disks, so you must convert the 30GB and 60GB disks to dynamic disks. Answer C is incorrect because you cannot create a spanned volume using the boot partition because it is a dual-boot configuration and must remain as a basic disk. For more information, see the section "Monitoring and Configuring Disks."
5.	A, D. You need to verify that the laptop's video adapter supports Dualview. If it does, then you need to obtain a new driver for the adapter and install it. For more information, see the section "Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Display Devices."
6.	C, D. Two problems are occurring. One is that the laptop is not set to conserve the maximum amount of battery power, which is why you should change the Power Scheme to Max Battery. The other is that the laptop is allowing network and modem traffic to keep it running when it should be going into standby or hibernation to save battery power. To fix this, you should disable the wake on support by modifying the three adapters' properties in Device Manager. Answer A is incorrect because the settings in the Device Manager for the battery do not affect the laptop's actions toward conserving power. Answer B is incorrect because the driver for the AC adapter is not indicated. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."
7.	A. The laptop is demonstrating classic symptoms of an incorrect HAL. An ACPI-compliant HAL is required to be able to prompt devices to go into a low-power state. When the BIOS was updated, a correct HAL would not have resulted in a Stop error. The only way to change the HAL is to reinstall Windows XP. Answers B, C, and D are incorrect. Because the computer displayed a Stop error, it is highly likely that the computer will not be able to reach the point where you can change the device driver. Using any method to restore the computer to its former condition will not resolve the problem. You cannot change the HAL to an ACPI-compliant HAL without reinstalling. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."
8.	C, E. To convert a disk from basic to dynamic and then create a spanned volume, you can use either the Disk Management graphical utility or the `Diskpart.exe` command-line utility. Answers A, B, and D are incorrect. `Fdisk` is used to configure partitions and is a legacy DOS utility. Chkdsk displays disk configuration, and checks for and repairs errors. `Fsutil` is an advanced disk management command-line tool for both `FAT` and `NTFS` drives, but does not perform a disk conversion from basic to dynamic. For more information, see the section "Monitoring and Configuring Disks."
9.	C. The UPS tab appears in the Power Options utility when a UPS has been installed and connected to the Windows XP computer. For more information, see the section "Configuring Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI)."
10.	B. Because users installed new hardware from an existing network installation point, and because Automatic Updates are delivered from an SUS server that may not have the most recent video drivers, the problem is that the correct video adapter driver was not installed and Windows XP reverted to the default VGA driver. You should therefore download the correct video adapter driver and install it on all the computers. (You could also incorporate the driver in the network installation point, or make sure it was available on the SUS server, too.) For more information, see the section "Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Display Devices"