322 Chapter 6  Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Missing NTLDR As you’ve learned, NTLDR is relied on heavily during the boot process. If it is missing or corrupted, Windows NT will not be able to boot, and you’ll get an error similar to Can’t find NTLDR. On the other hand, if you get an error such as NTOSKRNL.EXE missing or corrupt on bootup, it may be an error in the BOOT.INI file. This is a common occurrence if you have improperly used the multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" syntax for partition entries or had the partition table modified in a multidisk setup. If these entries are correct, the NTOSKRNL.EXE file may be corrupt or miss- ing. Boot from a startup disk and replace the file from the setup disks or CD-ROM. Troubleshooting Other Common Problems Some common Windows problems don’t fall into any category other than “common Windows problems.” They include the following: General Protection Faults (GPFs) A general protection fault (GPF) happens in Windows when a program accesses memory that another program is using or when a program accesses a memory address that doesn’t exist. Generally, GPFs are the result of sloppy programming. To fix this type of problem, a simple reboot will usually clear memory. If GPFs keep occurring, check to see which software is causing the error. Then find out if the manufacturer of the soft- ware has a patch to prevent it from GPFing. Illegal Operation Occasionally a program will quit, apparently for no reason, and present you with a window that says This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor. An illegal operation error usually means that a program was forced to quit because it did something Windows didn’t like. Win- dows then displays this error window. The name of the program that quit appears at the top of the window, along with three buttons: OK, Cancel, and Details. The OK and Cancel but- tons do the same thing: dismiss the window. The Details button opens the window a little far- ther and shows the details of the error, including which module experienced the problem, the memory location being accessed at the time, and the registers and flags of the processor at the time of the error. System Lock-Up It is obvious when a system lockup occurs. The system simply stops respond- ing to commands and stops processing completely. System lockups can occur when a computer is asked to process too many instructions at once with too little memory. Usually, the cure for a system lockup is to reboot. If the lockups are persistent, it may be a hardware-related problem instead of a software problem. Dr. Watson Windows 2000 and Windows XP include a special utility known as Dr. Watson. This utility intercepts all error conditions and, instead of presenting the user with a cryptic Windows error, displays a slew of information that can be used to troubleshoot the problem. Failure to Start GUI Occasionally, the Windows GUI won’t appear. The system will hang just before the GUI appears. Or, sometimes, the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)—not a tech- nical term, by the way—appears. The BSOD is another way of describing the blue-screen error 4831xc06.fm Page 322 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Identifying Windows File-Related Problems 323 condition that occurs when Windows 2000/XP fails to boot properly or quits unexpectedly. Because it is at this stage that the device drivers for the various pieces of hardware are installed, if your Windows GUI fails to start properly, more than likely the problem is related to a mis- configured driver or misconfigured hardware. Try booting Windows in safe mode to bypass this problem. If you happen to get a BSOD with a Fatal Exception error 0D message, chances are that the culprit is a problem relating to the video card. Option (Sound Card, Modem, SCSI Card, or Input Device) Will Not Function When you are using Windows, you are constantly interacting with pieces of hardware. Each piece of hardware has a Windows driver that must be loaded in order for Windows to be able to use it. In addition, the hardware must be installed and functioning properly. If the device driver is not installed properly or the hardware is misconfigured, the device won’t function properly. Cannot Log On to the Network (Option—NIC Not Functioning) If your computer is hooked up to a network (and more and more computers today are), you need to know when your computer is not functioning on the network properly and what to do about it. In most cases, the problem can be attributed to either a malfunctioning network interface card (NIC) or improperly installed network software. The biggest indicator in Windows that some com- ponent of the network software is nonfunctional is that you can’t log on to the network or access any network service. To fix this problem, you must first fix the underlying hardware problem (if one exists) and then properly install or configure the network software. Networking software is covered in Chapter 8 Application Will Not Install We’ve all experienced this frustration. You are trying to install the coolest new program, and, for whatever reason, it just won’t install properly. It may give you one of the previously mentioned errors or a cryptic installation error. If a software program won’t install and it gives you any of the errors we’ve mentioned (such as a GPF or illegal oper- ation), use the solutions for those errors first. If the error that occurs during install is unique to the application being installed, check the application manufacturer’s website for an explanation or update. These errors generally occur when you’re trying to install over an application that already exists or when you’re trying to replace a file that already exists but that another appli- cation has in use. When you’re installing an application, it is extremely important that you first quit all running programs so the installer can replace any files it needs to. Application Will Not Start Once you have an application successfully installed, you may run into a problem getting it to start properly. This problem can come from any number of sources, including an improper installation, a software conflict, or system instability. If your application was installed incorrectly, the files required to properly run the program may not 4831xc06.fm Page 323 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 324 Chapter 6  Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic be present, and the program can’t function without them. If a shared file that’s used by other programs is installed, it could be a different version than should be installed that causes con- flicts with other already-installed programs. Finally, if one program GPFs, it can cause mem- ory problems that can destabilize the system and cause other programs to crash. The solution to these problems is to uninstall and reinstall the offending application, first making sure that all programs are closed. Invalid Working Directory Some Windows programs are extremely processor intensive. These programs require an area on the hard disk to store their temporary files while they work. This area is commonly known as a working directory, and its location is usually spec- ified during that program’s installation. However, if that directory changes after installation and the program still thinks its working directory is in the same location, the program will issue an error that says something such as Invalid working directory. The solution is to rein- stall the program with the correct parameters for the working directory. For this reason, many programs use the Windows TEMP directory as their working directory. You will see this error only if the programmer chose to use a user-settable working directory. Remember that there are two universal solutions to Windows problems: rebooting and obtaining an update from the software manufacturer. Did You Reboot Your Computer? Quick quiz: You just got an error in Windows, and it appears that you are on the verge of a crash (of your application or the whole system). What do you do? The first thing is to write down any error messages that appear. Then, save your work (if pos- sible) and reboot your computer. Anyone who has called tech support, or been a tech support person, knows how demeaning this phrase can seem. When you ask someone, “Did you restart your computer?” it’s almost as if you’re insulting their intelligence. Most people respond with an indignant, “Of course!” when the reality is they might or might not have actually done it. Whenever there’s a software problem, always, always reboot the computer before trying to troubleshoot. The vast majority of the time, the problem will disappear and you’ll have just saved yourself half an hour of frustration. If the same problem continues, then you know you have work to do. 4831xc06.fm Page 324 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Identifying Windows File-Related Problems 325 Understanding Windows Reporting One of the new features of Windows XP Professional is Windows error reporting. If a program error occurs (such as Internet Explorer crashing, but non-Microsoft programs will also do it), a window will pop up asking if you want to report the problem to Microsoft. It only works if you have an active Internet connection. If you choose to report the problem, then technical information about the problem is gathered and sent to Microsoft. If others have reported the same problem, then additional technical information will be available to you, to help you solve the problem. According to Microsoft, the information gathered is only used by programming groups to help solve technical problems. Your individual information is not stored or tracked in any way. To configure (or disable) Windows reporting, open your System properties by right- clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties. On the Advanced tab, click on the Error Reporting button at the bottom of the screen to open a window similar to the one shown in Figure 6.2. FIGURE 6.2 Windows Error Reporting options Why does rebooting help? When an application is running, it creates one or more tempo- rary files that it uses to store information, and it also stores information in memory (RAM). If a temporary file or information in RAM becomes corrupt (such as by application A writing its information into application B’s memory space), the application can have problems. Rebooting will clear the memory registers and most often remove problematic temporary files, eliminating the issue. It might sound trite, but the first axiom in troubleshooting software really is to reboot. Even if the user says she did it, do it again. (Tell her you want to see the opening screen for any pos- sible error messages, or make up another good excuse.) If the problem doesn’t come back, it’s not a problem. If it does, then you can use your software skills to fix it. 4831xc06.fm Page 325 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 326 Chapter 6  Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Your two major choices are to disable or enable error reporting. If you choose to disable it, you can still be notified when errors occur. After choosing to enable error reporting, you can make the selection of reporting Windows operating system and/or program errors. By clicking on the Programs button, you can configure which programs you want to report errors on. By default, all program errors from all programs get reported, but you can configure the reporting of errors on an app-by-app basis. Identifying Windows-Based Troubleshooting Utilities In addition to learning about the many common problems and troubleshooting techniques for Windows, you should know about the different tools that Microsoft provides with Windows to troubleshoot Windows. These resources are the best to use if you have no other trouble- shooting tools available. They can also be used as a starting point for troubleshooting a computer. The built-in Windows tools that you should be aware of include the following:  Disk management tools including Format, CHKDSK, DEFRAG, and NTBACKUP  System management tools such as Device Manager, Computer Management, Task Manager, MSCONFIG, REGEDIT, REGEDT32, CMD, Event Viewer, and System Restore  File management tools including Windows Explorer and ATTRIB Disk Management Tools Preserving information on hard drives has never been more important than today. Not only do you want to keep your own information, you have the legal obligation to manage company records if you work for a publicly held firm. Here are some disk management utilities to be familiar with. FORMAT.EXE If you want to wipe out all information on a disk or prepare a disk for an operating system, you can use the FORMAT command. FORMAT.EXE is a DOS program that allows you to wipe partitions clean. Before installing a new operating system, always format the hard drive. CHKDSK You can use the Windows CHKDSK utility to create and display status reports for the hard disk. CHKDSK can also correct file system problems (such as cross-linked files) and scan for and attempt to repair disk errors. You can manually start CHKDSK by right-clicking the problem disk and selecting Properties. This will bring up the Properties dialog box for that disk, which shows the current status of the selected disk drive. 4831xc06.fm Page 326 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Identifying Windows-Based Troubleshooting Utilities 327 By clicking the Tools tab at the top of the dialog box, and then clicking the Check Now button in the Error-checking section, you can start CHKDSK. Exercise 6.3 walks you through starting CHKDSK in Windows XP. DEFRAG.EXE Defragmenting a disk involves analyzing the disk and then consolidating fragmented files and folders so they occupy a contiguous space, thus increasing performance during file retrieval. The command-line DEFRAG utility allows you to run a defrag from a command prompt. You can also run a defrag in Windows through the Disk Defragmenter in the Computer Manage- ment utility or by right-clicking on a hard drive in Windows Explorer, choosing Properties, then the Tools tab, and clicking the Defragment Now button. NTBACKUP.EXE If you want to back up your system, you can run the NTBACKUP.EXE utility located in the \WINDOWS\system32 directory. You can also run it by clicking Start  All Programs  Acces- sories  System Tools  Backup. Back up your files early and often. System Management Tools Windows 2000 and Windows XP are very complicated operating systems, and it’s fortunate that there are plenty of system management tools to help us in our daily computer manage- ment activities. EXERCISE 6.3 Running CHKDSK in Windows XP In this exercise, you will check your hard disk for errors. 1. Open Windows Explorer by holding down the Windows key and pressing E. 2. Right-click C: and choose Properties. 3. Click the Tools tab and then click the Check Now button. 4. Choose your options: You can automatically fix filesystem errors and/or scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. 5. After you have selected your options, click Start. 4831xc06.fm Page 327 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 328 Chapter 6  Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Device Manager From Windows 9x forward, Microsoft has provided the Device Manager, a tool that analyzes hardware-related problems. The Device Manager displays all of the devices installed in a com- puter (as shown in Figure 6.3). If a device is malfunctioning, a yellow circle with an exclama- tion point inside it is displayed (as with the Iomega Parallel Port Interface in Figure 6.3). With this utility, you can view the devices installed in a system and any of those devices that are failing, and you can also double-click on a device and view and set its properties (as shown in Figure 6.4). On the General tab, you will see the status of the device (whether it’s working), as well as find the Troubleshoot button, which can help you solve problems. The other tabs are used to configure the individual devices, add or update drivers, and verify the version of drivers installed. FIGURE 6.3 The Windows 9x Device Manager FIGURE 6.4 Properties of a network card 4831xc06.fm Page 328 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Identifying Windows-Based Troubleshooting Utilities 329 In Windows 2000 and XP, you can access the Device Manager by right-clicking the My Computer icon, choosing Properties, and then clicking the Hardware tab. On the Hardware tab are many buttons, but to access the Device Manager, click the Device Manager button. Computer Management Windows 2000/XP includes a new piece of software to manage computer settings: the Com- puter Management Console. Because Windows 2000/XP is more advanced as a platform, the Computer Management Console can manage more than just the installed hardware devices. In addition to containing a Device Manager that functions almost identically to the one in Windows 9x, the Computer Management Console can also manage all the services running on that computer. It contains an Event Viewer to show any system errors and events, as well as methods to configure the software components of all the computer’s hardware. Figure 6.5 shows an example of the Computer Management Console running on Windows 2000. FIGURE 6.5 Windows 2000 Computer Management Console To access the Computer Management Console, go to Start  Settings  Control Panel  Administrative Tools  Computer Management. Alternatively, you can right-click My Com- puter and choose Manage. You will see all of the computer management tools, including the Device Manager. You can then use the Computer Management Console to manage hardware devices and software services. Task Manager Another tool you can use to check on and control your Windows 2000/XP environment is the Task Manager. Any time you run a program, it displays as a button on the Taskbar. Some- times, however, you may run into problems with running tasks. For example, a task (program) 4831xc06.fm Page 329 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 330 Chapter 6  Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic may hang. You’ll know this has happened because you won’t be able to use any of the pro- gram’s functions—the program will be unresponsive. To deal with this situation, as well as for other reasons, you can use the Task Manager (see Figure 6.6). FIGURE 6.6 The Task Manager in Windows XP To access the Task Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Del. In Windows 2000, you then have to click Task Manager on the Windows Security screen. By default, Windows XP does not display the Windows Security screen if you press Ctrl+Alt+Del; instead, Task Manager opens right away. You can change this by opening User Accounts in Control Panel and clicking Change the way users log on or off. To get to the Task Manager directly in any of the Windows versions that include it, you can press Ctrl+Shift+Esc. In Windows 2000, the Task Manager has three tabs: Applications, Processes, and Perfor- mance. In Windows XP, the Task Manager can have two additional tabs: Networking and Users. Let’s look at these tabs in more detail: Applications The Applications tab lets you see what tasks are open on the machine. You also see the status of each task, which can be either Running or Not Responding. If a task or appli- cation has stopped responding (that is, it’s hung), you can select the task in the list and click End Task. Doing so closes the program, and you can try to open it again. Often, although certainly not always, if an application hangs, you’ll have to reboot the computer to prevent the same thing from happening again shortly after you restart the application. You can also use the Applications tab to switch to a different task or create new tasks. 4831xc06.fm Page 330 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Identifying Windows-Based Troubleshooting Utilities 331 Processes The Processes tab lets you see the names of all the processes running on the machine. You also see the user account that’s running the process, as well as how much CPU and RAM resources each process is using. To end a process, select the process in the list and click End Process. Performance The Performance tab contains a variety of information, including overall CPU Usage percentage, a graphical display of CPU usage history, page-file usage in MB, and a graphical display of page-file usage. This tab also provides you with additional memory-related information such as physical and kernel memory usage, as well as the total number of handles, threads, and processes. Total, limit, and peak commit-charge information also displays. Some of the items are beyond the scope of this book, but it’s good to know that you can use the Performance tab to keep track of system performance. Note that the number of processes, CPU usage percentage, and com- mit charge always display at the bottom of the Task Manager window, regardless of which tab you have currently selected. Networking (Windows XP Only) This tab only appears if you are connected to a network. The Networking tab provides you with a graphical display of the performance of your net- work connection. It also tells you the network adapter name, link speed, and state. If you have more than one network adapter installed in the machine, you can select the appropriate adapter to see graphical usage data for that adapter. Users (Windows XP Only) The Users tab, which is available if you have more than one user account on your computer, provides you with information about the users connected to the local machine. You’ll see the username, ID, status, client name, and session type. You can right-click on any connected user to perform a variety of functions, including sending the user a message, disconnecting the user, logging off the user, and initiating a remote control session to the user’s machine. MSCONFIG.EXE (Windows XP Only) A new utility was introduced with Windows 98: MSCONFIG.EXE (aka the System Configura- tion Utility). Windows 2000 does not include it, but it’s back in Windows XP. It allows a user to manage his computer system’s configuration. MSCONFIG.EXE allows a user to boot Win- dows in diagnostic mode, in which he can select which drivers to load interactively. If you sus- pect a certain driver is causing problems during boot, you can use MSCONFIG.EXE to prevent that driver from loading. In addition, each of the major configuration files (CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI) and the programs loaded at startup can be reconfig- ured and reordered using a graphical interface. REGEDIT.EXE and REGEDT32.EXE The most dangerous utility in the Windows troubleshooting arsenal is the Registry Editor, also known by its executable names REGEDIT.EXE and REGEDT32.EXE. The Registry stores all Windows configuration information. If you edit the Registry, you are essentially changing the configuration of Windows. (This is why it’s dangerous. There’s no Save button and any changes made happen immediately, for better or for worse. To undo changes, you must do so manually.) The Registry Editor is used to manually change settings that are usually changed by other means (such as through Setup programs and other Windows utilities). 4831xc06.fm Page 331 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM [...]... detected by NTDETECT.COM is used to create dynamic hardware information in the Registry 4831xc06.fm Page 355 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Answers to Review Questions 355 14 D Pressing F8 during the first phase of the boot process brings up the Advanced Startup Options menu in Windows 2000/XP 15 E Last Known Good Configuration enables you to restore the system to a prior, functional state if a... running normally) The easiest way to open Task Manager is to press Ctrl+Alt+Del in Windows 4831xc06.fm Page 356 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 4831x.book Page 357 Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11 :59 AM Chapter 7 Understanding the Basics of Printers and Scanners THE FOLLOWING COMPTIA A+ ESSENTIALS EXAM OBJECTIVES ARE COVERED IN THIS CHAPTER: 4.1 Identify the fundamental principles of using printers... avoid needing to install a third time Whenever you reinstall because you think there are problems, make sure to completely wipe out any possibility of an old problem lingering by formatting the hard drive We also talked quite a bit about upgrading from earlier versions of Windows in Chapter 5 Most of the time, upgrades work well and you won’t have any problems However, there is a bigger chance of having... changes, the more often you want to back up If you don’t care about losing the data, then there’s no need for backups—but most of us do care about losing our stuff Exercise 6 .5 demonstrates how to schedule backups in Windows XP EXERCISE 6 .5 Scheduling Backups in Windows XP To schedule a backup in Windows XP, follow these steps: 1 Open Windows Backup by going to Start All Programs Accessories System Tools... you want to back up (as shown in the graphic), and click Next 4831xc06.fm Page 341 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Performing Preventative Maintenance on Operating Systems 341 EXERCISE 6 .5 (continued) 5 Confirm the backup type and the destination, and give the backup file a name (it will have a BKF extension) For the destination, you can click the Browse button to select the right location, which... confirmation screen with the time, date, and name of your restore point FIGURE 6.8 System Restore options All Programs Accessories System Tools 4831xc06.fm Page 3 45 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Performing Preventative Maintenance on Operating Systems 3 45 Now that you have created a restore point, it’s time to look at how to perform a system restoration To restore your system to a previous state, choose... utility is for and how to use it We also discussed when to apply a particular utility to a problem We then considered some resources for troubleshooting that are often overlooked but are potentially very helpful: user guides, web resources, and training materials (like the book you are holding now!) Finally, we ended this chapter by moving from troubleshooting into important ideas that will hopefully... are scheduled through the Windows Backup utility Know how to create restore points Restore points can be created in Windows XP through the System Restore utility 4831xc06.fm Page 350 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 350 Chapter 6 Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic Review Questions 1 What do you use in Windows XP to create a recovery disk? A Automated System Recovery (ASR)... troubleshooting Windows and applications except A General protection faults B Valid working directory C System lockup D Application will not start or load 4831xc06.fm Page 351 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM Review Questions 7 351 What is the first step in the troubleshooting process? A Talk to the customer B Gather information C Eliminate possibilities D Document your work 8 All of the following... program is forced to quit because it did something Windows didn’t like? A General protection fault B Windows protection error C Illegal operation D System lockup 4831xc06.fm Page 352 Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:46 PM 352 Chapter 6 Identifying Operating System Troubleshooting and Diagnostic 13 In Windows 2000, NTDETECT.COM A Parses the system for hardware information each time Windows 2000 . components of all the computer’s hardware. Figure 6 .5 shows an example of the Computer Management Console running on Windows 2000. FIGURE 6 .5 Windows 2000 Computer Management Console To access. the UNIDRV.DLL file from the WIN 95_ 10.CAB file on a CD-ROM in drive D: to the C:WINDOWSSYSTEM directory, use the following command syntax: EXTRACT D:WIN 95_ 10.CAB UNIDRV.DLL /L C:WINDOWSSYSTEM The. themselves with self -study materials or are taught by an experienced instructor. In either case, books and other training materials (like the one you are 4831xc06.fm Page 3 35 Wednesday, September