Chapter 6

Windows NT/2000 Operating Systems

6.1 – Windows 9x Contrasts

6.2 – System Tools
6.3 – Overview of the Installation Process
6.4 – Installing the Windows 2000 OS
6.5 – Special Installations

Chapter 6 1
Windows 9x Contrasts

Chapter 6 2
 NTFS versus FAT

• Some of the biggest differences between operating systems are the Windows NT File
System (NTFS) and File Allocation Table (FAT) file systems.
• Files are stored in clusters.
• The size of the clusters is determined by the size of the partitions made on the hard disk.

Chapter 6 3
NTFS versus FAT

• The FAT32 file system was designed

to support hard drives up to 2048 GB.
• The FAT32 file system also solved the
problem of limited cluster size as well.
• This shows the utilization of disk space
with different cluster sizes.
• This combined with the ability to
recognize partitions larger than 2 GB
made the FAT32 file system an
obvious evolution of the DOS file
system.

Chapter 6 4
NTFS versus FAT

• The Windows NT File System

(NTFS) was designed with the
idea that the file system needs to
be capable of managing global
and enterprise level operating
systems.
• NTFS supports all Windows
NT/2000/XP operating systems.
• With NTFS, share rights can also
be set that operate on shared
folders in combination with file
and folder permissions.
• FAT only supports share rights.

Chapter 6 5
Windows 2000 Boot Process

• The boot process for

Windows 2000 is different
from Windows 9x.
• The Windows 2000 boot
process occurs in five stages:
– The preboot sequence
– The boot sequence
– The kernel load
– The kernel initialization
– The logon process

Chapter 6 6
System Tools

Chapter 6 7
 Administrative Tools

• The Administrative Tools utility is a powerful Windows

NT/2000/XP System Tool that enables the administrator to
control just about everything related to the local computer.
• From this utility, permission to log on to the computer can be
controlled by creating Local User accounts.
• In the Windows 9x environment there is no such thing as a
local user. Anyone who turns on the computer will have
access to it.
• There is no way to keep track of who is using the computer or
who is allowed to use the computer.

Chapter 6 8
Administrative Tools

• The Disk Management

utility allows the
administrator to control and
manipulate the computer
hard drives.
• There are two types of disks
that are available in
Windows 2000 and XP,
basic disks and dynamic
disks.

Chapter 6 9
Administrative Tools

• A basic disk is a physical

disk that contains primary
partitions, extended
partitions, or logical drives.
• A basic disk can contain up
to four primary partitions, or
up to three primary
partitions and one extended
partition, for a maximum of
four partitions.

Chapter 6 10
 Administrative Tools

• One of the main reasons to have a disk management

tool is to use multidisk volumes.

• When using Dynamic Disk Storage, multidisk

volumes are referred to as hard disk space.

• This is because the hard drives are no longer dealt

with as if they were one complete disk divided by
partitions, but rather as multidisk volumes.

Chapter 6 11
Administrative Tools

• This shows the process of

upgrading a basic disk to a
dynamic disk
– Open the Computer
Management screen as
shown
– Expand the Storage
folder and select Disk
Management

Chapter 6 12
 Administrative Tools

• Right-click on disk that need to be upgraded

• The Upgrade to Dynamic Disk window displays as
shown.
• Select the disk to upgrade as shown.

Chapter 6 13
 Administrative Tools

• Press Upgrade.
• Press OK to reboot and complete the dynamic disk upgrade.
• Once the system has rebooted, go to the Computer Management
screen to confirm that the disk has been upgraded.

Chapter 6 14
 Windows 2000 Registry

• The purpose of the registry is as a database of

configuration settings in Windows 95/98/NT/2000. T
• The main component of the registry is the hardware
installed on the computer.
• It is also includes device drivers, installed applications,
and network adapter card settings.
• The registry contains a vast amount of data and is
critical to how the system operates.
• There are six main components that access the
registry and store data:
– Device drivers, Setup programs , Setup programs, Windows
NT kernel, NTDETECT.COM, Hardware profile

Chapter 6 15
Windows 2000 Registry

• Navigating and editing the

registry can be done
manually using the
REGEDT32.EXE.
• When this command is
typed an interface will be
displayed that will have the
registry subtrees window
allowing a search through
all of the registry values.

Chapter 6 16
Windows 2000 Registry

• HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG –
Contains data on the active
hardware profile that is selected
during the boot process. This
information is used to configure
settings such as the device drivers
to load and the display resolution
to use.
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT –
Contains software configuration
data of all the software that is
installed on the computer.

Chapter 6 17
Windows 2000 Registry

• HKEY_CURRENT_USER –
Contains data about the current
user that is logged into the
computer. Retrieves a copy of
each user account that is used to
log on to the computer and stores it
in the registry.
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE –
Contains all configuration data for
the local computer, including
hardware and operating system
data such as bus type, system
memory, device drivers, and
startup control data.

Chapter 6 18
Startup Menu and Safe Mode

• One advanced startup feature

that is available for
troubleshooting purposes is Safe
Mode startup.
• If the computer will not start
normally, use the Safe Mode
advanced startup option.
• Enter Safe Mode by pressing the
F8 key during the operating
system selection phase.
• This will display a screen with
advanced options for booting
Windows 2000.

Chapter 6 19
Overview of the Installation Process

Chapter 6 20
Hardware Requirements

• Windows 2000 is a much more robust

operating system and has many more
features than the 9x operating system.
• When installing one of the 9x operating
systems, the hard drive must be partitioned
with either the fdisk.exe utility or with a third
party utility like Partition Magic.
• Windows 2000 provides an easy way to
prepare the hard drive for OS installation.
• The administrator can take an unformatted,
unpartitioned hard drive and begin installing
Windows 2000.

Chapter 6 21
 Hardware Requirements

• Device drivers play an important role in any operating

system whether it is Windows 9x or 2000.
• If the computer does not have the proper device drivers, the
system will not run or sometimes will not even boot up.
• The main advantage that Windows 2000 has, when
compared with Windows 9x, is the Hardware Abstraction
Layer (HAL). The HAL is a library of hardware drivers that
operate between the operating system and hardware that is
installed on the system.
• The HAL enables Windows 2000 to work with many
different types of processors from different manufactures.

Chapter 6 22
Installing the Windows 2000 OS

Chapter 6 23
Requirements for Installing Windows 2000

• Microsoft has a tool call the

Hardware Compatibility List
(HCL) that can be used
before installing Windows
2000 to verify that the
hardware will actually work
with Windows 2000.
• HCL can be viewed by
opening the HCL.TXT file in
the Support folder on the
Windows 2000 Professional
CD-ROM.

Chapter 6 24
Understanding the Steps in
Windows 2000 Installation
• There are four main steps in the
Windows 2000 installation process.
• The first step of the installation
process begins by preparing the
hard drive for the other stages of
installation by copying the files that
are needed to run the setup
wizard.
• The Setup Wizard begins the
installation process and installs the
security features and configures
the system devices.

Chapter 6 25
Understanding the Steps in
Windows 2000 Installation
• After gathering information about
the computer, the Windows 2000
setup program automatically
installs the network software.
• Once the networking components
have been installed, the Setup
wizard copies additional files to
configure Windows 2000
Professional.
• The Setup program continues with
the last step in the installation
process.

Chapter 6 26
Windows 2000 Setup Options

• The Portable installation installs

the options that might be needed
with a portable computer.
• The Compact installation is
used when installing Windows
2000 on a computer with a
limited amount of hard drive
space.
• The Custom installation is used
if customized selections for the
device configurations are
needed.

Chapter 6 27
Special Installations

Chapter 6 28
 Upgrading from Windows
NT Workstation 4 to Windows 2000
• While doing the upgrade, computers that are still waiting
for their upgrade and are running Windows NT 4.0 will
be able to connect and communicate with the Windows
2000 computers.
• During the upgrade process the Windows 2000 setup
utility will replace the existing files with Windows 2000
files.
• It should be verified that the computers meet the
hardware compatibility requirements in order to upgrade
directly to Windows 2000.
• Cover the 11 step upgrade process.

Chapter 6 29
Upgrading Windows 9x with Windows 2000

• The process for upgrading

Windows 9x to Windows
2000 is similar to the
process of upgrading
Windows NT 4.0 to 2000.
• The hardware compatibility
list tool should be used to
make sure the computers
that are to be upgraded will
work with the Windows 2000
operating system.

Chapter 6 30
 Dual Boot Windows 9x/
Windows NT 4/Windows2000
• Windows 2000 can be set up to dual
boot with Windows 98 operating
systems.
• To dual boot the system, do a fresh
install of Windows 98 before installing
Windows 2000.
• If the system is set up as dual boot,
none of the applications that are
installed in the other operating system
partition can be used.
• Microsoft recommends that if the
computer is set up to dual boot with
Windows 98 and 2000, both partitions
be formatted with the FAT file system.

Chapter 6 31