Mankayi Apiwe[211069086] I.

T essentials

Chapter 5 – Fundamental Operating Systems

Which set of guidelines is used to ensure that programmers develop
applications that are compatible with an operating system?
API(application programming interface)
A user is running Windows Vista and has an application that runs in
Windows XP but the application fails to run in Vista. In which Vista
mode should the user try running the application?
Run it in compatibility mode which will allow him to run the app in an
older OS
Which operating mode is used by Windows XP to run a DOS application?
Real mode.
Once minimum hardware requirements are satisfied, where should a
technician look to determine if the computer hardware has been tested
with Windows XP?
Hardware compatibility list.
A technician is attempting to create multiple partitions on a hard disk.
This will allow for storing the operating system and data files on
separate partitions. What is the maximum number of primary partitions
per hard drive that is supported by Windows XP?
4
A technician needs to configure the hard drive on a computer so that
there appears to be one drive for the operating system and four drives
for data from different applications. How can the hard drive be
configured to provide this perception?
The use of a logical drive.
A technician installing Windows Vista has come to the point where the
product activation key is requested. What occurs if a product key is
unavailable?
The installation can continue but activation will be required after 30
days
When installing the Windows XP operating system, a technician is given
a choice of file systems to use. If security is a requirement, which file
system should be chosen?
NTFS
When a computer boots from the Windows Vista disc, which three
functions are performed if the Custom (advanced) option is selected?
1. Install a clean copy of Windows
2. Select where you want to install it
3. Or make changes to disks and partitions.
A technician has a computer that is unable to boot Windows XP
properly. The technician has decided that it is necessary to attempt a
repair of XP. Which utility will be run if the technician selects Repair XP
from the XP boot disk?
Windows recovery console.
A home computer owner has a PC system that runs Windows XP. For
security reasons the owner has been using a limited local user account
for a number of years. The owner wishes to install a new piece of
software, but the user account does not have the necessary
permissions. Which type of account does the owner need to use to
install the new software?
Administrator.
A technician has been asked to find how a hacker keeps breaking in to a
computer. Which security precaution was most likely missed when the
operating system was first installed?
The Windows firewall
A technician has finished installing Windows XP. What should the
technician do to verify that all hardware has been installed correctly?
Go to device manager.
A technician has many new computers to set up. The technician
completely configures one master computer and makes an image of the
hard drive. This image is then installed on the other computers. What is
this process called?
Disk cloning
As a user attempts to boot the computer, the message "NTLDR is
missing" is observed on the
screen. What will result from this situation?
The computer will not boot
When a Windows XP computer has completed the POST for each
adapter card that has a BIOS, what is the next step during the boot
sequence?
BIOS reads the MBR
Which Registry file contains information about all software that is
installed on a Windows XP computer?
HKEY-Local-machine
Which program checks for installed hardware during the Windows XP
boot process?
NTDETECT.COM
When starting a computer, a customer can no longer select two of the
operating systems that are installed. Which file may be corrupted and
causing this error?
BOOT.INI
A technician installed Windows XP on a 20 GB SCSI drive but when the
computer is started a NTLDR error message is displayed. Based on this
information which file was most likely corrupted during installation?
NTBOOTDD.SYS
A user installs a new sound card driver in a computer that is working
properly. After installing the driver for the new sound card the
computer fails to boot. Which quick fix can the user implement to
return to the previous working state?
Previous settings that worked
A user reports that a Windows XP system is unable to boot properly.
How can the technician advise the user to boot into Safe Mode?
Press f8 while the computer is booting
A technician has installed new video drivers on a Windows XP computer
and now the monitor shows distorted images. What start-up mode can
the technician use to access a new driver on the network?
Safe mode with networking support
Which key or key sequence pressed during the boot process will allow a
user to restart a Windows PC using the last known good configuration?
Pressing f8 will enter the boot selection screen and allow you to select
the option
After Windows XP has been installed, which program would a technician
use to select the programs that will run at start-up?
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Start-up manager
A technician needs to upgrade the file system on a Windows XP
computer from FAT32 to NTFS. Which course of action should be taken
to upgrade the file system to NTFS?
Windows XP can convert file system, but a backup should be done first.
A customer used the convert.exe utility to take advantage of NTFS
security features. The customer later discovered that the application on
the computer can only read FAT32 files. After the hard drive was
formatted back to FAT32, the customer noticed all of the data files are
missing. What should the customer do next?

Which three settings are available to personalize the appearance of the

desktop on a Windows Vista computer?
Desktop background, theme and screen resolution
Windows Vista has a feature called the Sidebar. Which three types of
items can be contained within the Sidebar?
Shortcuts, sticky notes and gadgets.
A user in a large manufacturing company uses a PC that is connected to
the company network. Where should the user look to find a server
attached to the network?
Networks and sharing centre
What are three features of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC)?
1. Allows you to organize management tools
2. If there are multiple administrators they can all have their own
MMC
3. The MMC can be customized, to suit the person using it.
Which steps lead to the window where the performance settings can be
changed on a Windows XP computer that is using the classic view
display?
Start > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance area >
Settings button
A technician notices that an application is not responding to commands
and that the computer seems to respond slowly when applications are
opened. What is the best administrative tool to use correct this
problem?
Task manager
A technician needs to upgrade the operating system on a computer
from Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Professional. When the
technician inserts the XP disc in the computer, the setup wizard fails to
start. Which command can be used to start the upgrade?
psconfig
What are two features of upgrading Windows 2000 to Windows XP?
Windows application settings are kept and the upgrade is quicker than
a fresh copy of windows.
A user decides to install a new version of Windows Vista but needs to
retain the configurations and customizations of the current Windows XP
operating system. Which software can be used to achieve this?
The file settings and data backup utility.
Which Windows tool should be run before upgrading the operating
system?
Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT)
A company with 40 computers needs to reduce repair costs, decrease
downtime, and improve reliability. Which task will meet these needs?
The use of a preventative maintenance plan.
A technician thinks that the file system on a computer has a problem
because Windows XP is reporting data integrity issues. Which Windows
XP utility will check the file system for errors?
The Repair Console
While performing preventive maintenance, a technician notices that the
operating system is missing updates. How can the technician enable
automatic updates?
By opening the action centre and clicking enable automatic updates.
In which two situations should a technician create a restore point?
Before installing new applications or installing drivers.
A company uses a single computer to receive and test all Windows
updates. When the most recent update was installed, several programs
failed. What is the first course of action that a technician should
attempt to remove the update?
Use the system restore or the computer backup image to restore the
computer back to its precious state
What would be the result of having a corrupt Master Boot Record?
Boot records will no longer boot
When troubleshooting a printer problem, a technician finds that the
operating system was automatically updated with a corrupt device
driver. Which solution would resolve this issue?
Installation of a new and current driver
A technician notices that a data floppy disk is in the floppy disk drive of
a computer when it is powered on. Which error message could this
potentially cause?
Please replace removable
What are the roles of an operating system?
Control Hardware access, file and folder management, user interface,
application managment
Which Operating System tools can you use for Preventative pc
Maintenance
The Microsoft updates,Disk defrag,backup and restore center.
Name two types of user interfaces
CLI(command line interface) and GUI(graphical user interface)
Describe the following operating system characteristics
Multi user
The ability for multiple users to access the same computer.

Multi tasking
The ability to perform different tasks all at once.

Multi processing
The use of multiple processors for one computer.

Multi threading
A program can be Brocken into smaller parts which allow it to multi-
 Mankayi Apiwe[211069086] I.T essentials

task several tasks at once.

Complete the following statements

1. A CPU that operates in _Real mode_ can only execute one program at
a time, and it can only address 1 MB of system memory at a time.
2. Although all modern processors have real mode available, it is only
used by command line operating systems e.g. _Dos_or by 16-bit
operating systems, such as _windows 3x.
3. In real mode, when an application creates an error, the entire
computer can be affected because the program has direct access to
_registry__.
4. A _CPU_that operates in protected mode has access to all of the
__system memory_in the computer, including virtual memory.
5. _Vitual memory_is hard disk space that is used to emulate RAM.
6. Operating systems that use __multi threading_can manage multiple
programs simultaneously.
7. In ______________________________, applications are protected from using
the memory reserved for another application that is currently
running.
8. A CPU that operates in _virtual mode_allows a _DOS_ application to
run within a __32 bit_ operating system. This can be demonstrated
when a DOS game runs in a 32-bit operating system, such as
Windows XP.
Compare desktop and network operating systems
Desktop Operating System Characteristics
Network Operating System Characteristics

There can only be one user at a time

Multiple users are able to use the network at the same time

Only small networks

Large multi computer and device networks

Not as robust and redundant

Robust and redundant

Not a very high rated security system.

Increased security

Multiple applications can be ran at the same time by different users

When buying new software you must ensure your Pc meets the
software requirements. Name four common hardware upgrades
RAM, CPU, HDD and video adapters.
Define the following hard drive partitioning concepts
Primary Partition
This is the main partition

Active Partition
This is the partition that contains the OS

Extended Partition
This is a partition that was created using the remaining space.

Logical Drive
These are partitions that are made from the extended partition

Define the following hard drive terms

Cluster
this is the smallest unit size and is made up of one or more sectors

Track
a track is a group of sectors

Cylinder
this is a stack of tracks

Sector
fixed number of bytes at least 512

Drive Mapping
this is the process of assigning a drive letter to a drive

How does the FAT32 and NTFS file systems keep track of the position of
files on a HDD
FAT32
NTFS

A file system that can support partition sizes up to 2 TB

A file system that can support partition sizes up to 16 exabytes

The FAT32 file system is supported by Windows 9.x, Windows Me,

 Mankayi Apiwe[211069086] I.T essentials

Windows 2000, and Windows XP.

NTFS incorporates more file system security features and extended

attributes than the FAT file system.

Draw a simplified flowchart of the files loaded during a basic Windows

XP boot sequence

7.) NTLDR
7.) NTLDR
loads
loads
thethe
NTOSKRNL.EXE
NTOSKRNL.EXE filefile and
andHAL.DLL
HAL.DLL which
which
is core
is core
of XP
of XP
8.) NTLDR
8.) NTLDR
reads
reads
the
the
registry
registryfiles
files and
and loads
loadsdevice
devicedrivers
drivers
What information is kept in the following registry files?
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
Information about which application extensions map to which
application.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Information such as desktop settings and history relating to a current
user.

HKEY_USERS
Information about all users who have logged into a system.

HKEY_LOCAL _MACHINE
Information relating to software and hardware.

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
Information relating to all active devices.

Describe 4 common attributes that controls how files may be viewed or

altered.
R - The file is read-only
 Mankayi Apiwe[211069086] I.T essentials

A- The file will be archived with the next backup

S- The file is marked as a system file
H- The file is hidden in the directory display

Name and describe the five different types of backup.

Type of backup
What is archived?
Are files marked as archived?

Normal
Selected files and folders
yes

Copy
Selected files and folders
no

Differential
Selected files and folders ,that changed since the last backup
no

Incremental
Selected files and folders ,that changed since the last backup
yes

daily
Selected files and folders that changed during the day.
no