Windows XP/2000 Answer Book, The: A Complete Resource from the Desktop to the Enterprise [Paperback]

Windows NT was inaugurated in 1993. Six versions later (3.1, 3.5, 3.51, 4.0, 2000, and XP), we are waiting for the release of Windows .NET, the server equivalent of the Windows XP workstation product. Windows .NET has the .NET framework built into the product (hence its name), but it’s important to realize Windows .NET is just the next version of Windows 2000 Server (which includes Windows NT 5.0). When inspecting the version number of Windows XP, we see it as 5.1, which demonstrates it’s actually quite a minor upgrade that does, however, include some useful changes.

As a result of Windows’ ease of use and large feature set (and the Microsoft name), Windows is the corporate desktop of choice. Windows 9x and NT have finally merged with the release of Windows XP, meaning XP will also become the home desktop of choice. The server market remains Microsoft’s goal, and while it has a good percentage of the market, Microsoft continues its assault. When .NET is released, 64-bit processor support will be added as well as a full Web Services implementation. With Windows here to stay, learning how to get the most out of it is critical. In the corporate setting in particular, Windows system administrators must deal with many common challenges and tasks, but until now, no one resource addresses all of them.

The goal of this book is to provide Windows users and system administrators with valuable skills for handling these day-to-day tasks and to provide proven solutions to the many common challenges. Just as the administrator is task driven, this book is focused on tasks. How do I execute RDISK in Windows 2000? How do I configure Remote Assistance? Hundreds of such frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers are provided in this book!

The tasks and challenges cover all facets of Windows, from the simple to the complex, and should appeal to both experienced and inexperienced administrators and users. When first using Windows, everyone has the same challenges (or issues, to use Microsoftspeak), such as

• How do I convert FAT to NTFS?
• What operating systems can be upgraded to Windows XP?
• How do I copy Group Policy Objects between domains?

Every answer is structured in a step-by-step format with examples and a complete description of the procedure.

You may know some of the answers in this book, but it is designed to appeal to everyone from the beginning user to an experienced system administrator. I hope that every reader will find something helpful and informative within the hundreds of answers to common questions.

I’ve been using Windows NT since its first version, Windows 3.1; however, when I first used it, I had no idea! I realized I wasn’t in Kansas when the system hung (which I know seems impossible). So I pressed Ctrl+Alt+Del and instead of rebooting, a strange dialog was displayed. From this point, I was hooked and have been ever since, learning all I can and participating in the Windows NT beta programs since Windows NT 4.0. I’m currently on Windows .NET beta.

When I first started learning, I found the best way to find answers to my many questions was via the NT newsgroups. I saw many other users posting exactly the same questions, and so to help, I put together a list of FAQs and posted this list on my Logica Web page (where I worked at the time). I quickly began to get requests and suggestions from many other NT users, and over the past five years, I’ve expanded the FAQs and added details about various other components such as Internet Information Server (IIS), Internet security, Acceleration server, and Exchange server, which are all topics in this book.government agencies and many large computer and financial institutions. It is due in part to the creation and up-to-date maintenance of this Web-based FAQ that I was awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award (MVP) from 1997 through to 2000.

Turning the Web-based FAQ into a book seemed to be a natural and worthwhile progression, and the first edition was received very well. As I’d hoped, readers found the printed edition to be very useful, and in the book, they found information they had never seen on the Web.

If you are using Windows NT, 2000, or XP and have questions or simply wish to increase your understanding, this book will contain something for you. This book is aimed at beginners and advanced administrators.

Ideally people will read this book from start to finish; however, many people who deal with a specific area of technology will want to read only those particular chapters. Gaining an understanding of elements that you don’t currently use will open up the true power of Windows and potentially give you new and more efficient ways to achieve your day-to-day tasks. I hope this book can serve as the one Windows reference guide that helps you succeed as a user and system administrator.

So you can get to the solutions quickly, I’ve structured the book so each entry is self-contained–that is, you don’t have to read other FAQs to understand any one FAQ. The book starts off with the core chapters describing the basic concepts of Windows, including an explanation of how to install Windows, and then moves on to customization and descriptions of domain concepts and optional components.

Each chapter starts off with the basics. The subject of the chapter is discussed, where applicable installation issues are addressed, and then we move on to the more advanced configuration options and actions.

This book is a technical book; the answers are to the point and do not include extra narrative–when you need a solution, you need a solution. You are not interested in an amusing story about my cat (of which I have many)! When a description is useful, I provide one, and in all cases, the information provided is consistent with that needed to achieve your goal and where appropriate to solve your problem.

This book covers mainly Windows 2000 and XP, and thanks to their common core functionality, most FAQs apply to both operating systems. However, to be able to bring you information about the new features of XP, for example, some FAQs do not apply to Windows 2000. In addition, some functionally has changed so some FAQs that apply exclusively to Windows 2000 do not apply to XP. The book also contains some NT 4.0 FAQs that may not apply to other operating systems, and these FAQs are distinguished by the bold text “NT Only”.

Most importantly, I’d like to thank my wife Emmaline who has always given me unconditional love and support. I want to thank her also for putting up with me “always being on that computer.”

I’d like to thank the technical reviewer of this book, Goga Kukira, for her great work, for spotting all my mistakes, and providing exceptional feedback. I want to extend a big thanks to Stephane Thomas for keeping the whole thing together and everyone else at Addison-Wesley. Their patience and professionalism helped transform my rough draft manuscript into this masterpiece 6. Also thanks to Mark Smith, Eric Shanfelt, Warren Pickett, Michele Crockett, Kristi Forren, and everyone else at Penton who has helped develop the Web version of the site.

Finally I’d like to thank my eight-month-old son Kevin for putting everything into perspective and bringing me so much joy.

Let’s go...

John Savill
Petts Wood, England
June 2002