Experiment 1

AIMTo study features and installation steps of WINDOWS 2000 operating system.

Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Released on 17 February 2000, it was the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the final release of Microsoft Windows to display the "Windows NT" designation Four editions of Windows 2000 were released: Professional, Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server. While each edition of Windows 2000 was targeted to a different market, they share a core set of features, including many system utilities such as the Microsoft Management Console and standard system administration applications. Support for people with disabilities has been improved over Windows NT 4.0 with a number of new assistive technologies, and Microsoft increased support for different languages. All versions of the operating system support the Windows NT file system, NTFS 3.0, the Encrypting File System, as well as basic and dynamic disk storage. The Windows 2000 Server family has additional features, including the ability to provide Active Directory services (a hierarchical framework of resources), Distributed File System (a file system that supports sharing of files) and fault-redundant storage volumes. Windows 2000 can be installed through either a manual or unattended installation. Unattended installations rely on the use of answer files to fill in installation information, and can be performed through a bootable CD using Microsoft Systems Management Server, by the System Preparation Tool.

HISTORY

Windows 2000 is a continuation of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems, replacing Windows NT 4.0. Originally called Windows NT 5.0, then Windows NT 2000, Microsoft changed the name to Windows 2000 on 27 October 1998. Windows 2000 was first planned to replace both Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0. However, that changed later. Instead, an updated version of Windows 98 called Windows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999 and Windows Me was released in late 2000. Close to the release of Windows 2000 Service Pack 1, Microsoft released Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, targeted at large-scale computing systems with support for 32 processors, on 29 September 2000.

FEATURES

Windows 2000 introduced many of the new features of Windows 98 and Windows 98 SE into the NT line, such as the Windows Desktop Update, Internet Explorer 5, (Internet Explorer 6 which came in 2001 is also available for Windows 2000) Outlook Express, NetMeeting, FAT32 support, Windows Driver Model, Internet Connection Sharing, Windows Media Player, WebDAV support etc. Certain new features are common across all editions of Windows 2000, among them NTFS 3.0, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), Automated System Recovery, UDF support, the Encrypting File System (EFS), Logical Disk Manager, Image Color Management 2.0, support for PostScript 3based printers, OpenType (.OTF) and Type 1 PostScript (.PFB) font support, the Data protection API (DPAPI), an LDAP/Active Directory-enabled Address Book, usability enhancements and multi-language and locale support. Windows 2000 also introduced USB device class drivers for USB printers, Mass storage class devices, and Remote NDIS devices. Windows 2000 is also the first Windows version to support hibernation at the operating system level (OScontrolled ACPI S4 sleep state) unlike Windows 98 which required special drivers from the hardware manufacturer or driver developer.

Plug and Play

The most notable improvement from Windows NT 4.0 is the addition of Plug and Play with full ACPI and Windows Driver Model support. Similar to Windows 9x, Windows 2000 supports automatic recognition of installed hardware, hardware resource allocation, loading of appropriate drivers, PnP APIs and device notification events.

Windows Explorer
The integrated media player in Windows Explorer playing a MIDI sequence. Windows Explorer has been enhanced in several ways in Windows 2000. It is the first Windows NT release to include Active Desktop, first introduced as a part of Internet Explorer 4.0 (specifically Windows Desktop Update), and only pre-installed in Windows 98 by that time. It allowed users to customize the way folders look and behave by using HTML templates, having the file extension HTT.

Accessibility
With Windows 2000, Microsoft introduced the Windows 9x accessibility features for people with visual and auditory impairments and other disabilities into the NT-line of operating systems. These included: Sticky Keys: makes modifier keys (ALT, CTRL and SHIFT) become "sticky": a user can press the modifier key, and then release it before pressing the combination key. (Activated by pressing Shift five times quickly.) Filter Keys: a group of keyboard-related features for people with typing issues, including: Slow Keys: Ignore any keystroke not held down for a certain period. BounceKeys: Ignore repeated keystrokes pressed in quick succession. Repeat Keys: lets users slow down the rate at which keys are repeated via the keyboard's key-repeat feature. ToggleKeys: when turned on, Windows will play a sound when the CAPS LOCK, NUM LOCK or SCROLL LOCK key is pressed.

Sound Sentry: designed to help users with auditory impairments, Windows 2000 shows a visual effect when a sound is played through the sound system. MouseKeys: lets users move the cursor around the screen via the numeric keypad. Serial Keys: lets Windows 2000 support speech augmentation devices. High contrast theme: to assist users with visual impairments. Microsoft Magnifier: A screen magnifier that enlarges a part of the screen the cursor is over. Additionally, Windows 2000 introduced the following new accessibility features: On-screen keyboard: displays a virtual keyboard on the screen and allows users to press its keys using a mouse or a joystick. Microsoft Narrator: Introduced in Windows 2000, this is a screen reader that utilizes the Speech API 5.

Encrypting File System

The Encrypting File System (EFS) introduced strong file system-level encryption to Windows. It allows any folder or drive on an NTFS volume to be encrypted transparently by the user. EFS works together with the EFS service, Microsoft's CryptoAPI and the EFS File System Runtime Library (FSRTL). To date, its encryption has not been compromised. Windows 2000 introduced the Logical Disk Manager for dynamic storage. All versions of Windows 2000 support three types of dynamic disk volumes (along with basic disks) : simple volumes, spanned volumes and striped volumes: Simple volume, a volume with disk space from one disk. Spanned volumes, where up to 32 disks show up as one, increasing it in size but not enhancing performance. When one disk fails, the array is destroyed. Some data may be recoverable. This corresponds to JBOD and not to RAID-1. Striped volumes, also known as RAID-0, store all their data across several disks in stripes. This allows better performance because disk reads and writes are balanced across multiple disks.

Languages
Windows 2000 introduced the Multilingual User Interface (MUI). Besides English, Windows 2000 incorporates support for Arabic, Armenian, Baltic, Central European, Cyrillic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Indic, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkic, Vietnamese and Western European languages.

Recovery Console
The Recovery Console is usually used to recover unbootable systems. The Recovery Console is run from outside the installed copy of Windows to perform maintenance tasks that can neither be run from within it nor feasibly be run from another computer or copy of Windows 2000. It is usually used to recover the system from problems that cause booting to fail, which would render other tools useless. It has a simple command line interface, used to check and repair the hard drive(s), repair boot information (including NTLDR), replace corrupted system files with fresh copies from the CD, or enable/disable services and drivers for the next boot. The console can be accessed in either of the two ways: Booting from the Windows 2000 CD, and choosing to start the Recovery Console from the CD itself instead of continuing with setup. The Recovery Console is accessible as long as the installation CD is available. Preinstalling the Recovery Console on the hard disk as a start-up option in Boot.ini, via WinNT32.exe, with the /cmdcons switch. In this case, it can only be started as long as NTLDR can boot from the system partition.

INSTALLATION STEPS
To install Windows 2000 Professional, follow these steps: 1. Start the installation by using one of the following methods:

Start from the Windows 2000 Professional installation CD-ROM. Make sure that the CD-ROM is set to start before the hard disk starts. Insert the CD-ROM, and then when you are prompted, press any key to start the Windows 2000 Professional Setup program. Start from boot disks. Insert Disk 1, and then insert each of the remaining three floppy disks when you are prompted to do so. For additional information about creating boot disks for Windows 2000, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 197063 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/197063/EN-US/ ) How to Create Setup Boot Disks for Windows 2000

Start from within a current operating system. Insert the CD-ROM, and then, at a command prompt, type drive:\i386\winnt32.exe and then press ENTER, or if this is an installation on a computer that has no previous installation of Windows, type drive:\i386\winnt.exe and then press ENTER, where drive is the letter of the CD-ROM drive.

2.

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to install the Setup and driver files. When the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

3. Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of the license agreement and continue the installation.

4.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, either press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional on the selected partition, or press C to create a partition in the unpartitioned space.

5. If you choose to install Windows 2000 Professional on a file allocation table (FAT) partition, specify whether you want to: o Leave the current file system intact. o Format the partition as FAT16. o Convert the existing file system to the NTFS file system. o Format the partition by using the NTFS file system. Press ENTER after you make your selection. Setup examines the existing hard disks and then copies the files that are needed to complete the installation of Windows 2000 Professional. After the files are copied, the computer restarts. Important Do not press a key to boot from your CD-ROM drive when your computer restarts.

6.

7.

When the Windows 2000 GUI Mode Setup Wizard appears, click Next to start the wizard. Setup detects and installs such devices as a specialized mouse or keyboard. When the Regional Options dialog box appears, customize your installation of Windows 2000 Professional for locale, number format, currency, time, date, and language, if necessary. Click Next.

8. 9.

In the Personalize Your Software dialog box, type your name and the name of your organization, and then click Next. In the Product ID dialog box, type the 25-character product key, and then click Next.

10. In

the Computer Name and Password dialog box, either accept the default name that Setup generates or assign a different name for the computer. When you are prompted for an administrative password, type a

password for the Administrator account. (You can leave the box blank; however, this is not recommended.) Click Next.

11. In

the Date and Time Settings dialog box, set the correct date and time for your computer. You can also specify which time zone you are in and set the computer to automatically adjust the clock for daylight saving time. Click Next.

12. Setup

installs the networking software and detects your network settings. When the Network Settings dialog box appears, click either
o

Typical to set default network settings such as File and Print Sharing for Microsoft Networks, Client for Microsoft Networks, and TCP/IP protocol that uses Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), or Custom to specify the network components that you require for your network environment, and then click Next.

13. In

the Workgroup or Computer Domain dialog box, specify the workgroup or the domain to join. If you indicate that you are part of a domain, specify your domain user name and password. Click Next.

Setup installs the networking components. 14. During the final stage of installation, Setup installs Start menu items, registers components, saves settings, and removes temporary files. When the Completing the Windows 2000 Setup Wizard dialog box prompts you to do so, remove the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, and then click Finish to restart the computer. 15. After the computer restarts, click Next in the Welcome to the Network Identification Wizard dialog box. 16. In the Users of This Computer dialog box, specify either that users must enter a user name and password or that you want Windows 2000 to automatically log on a specific user when the computer starts. Click Finish.