This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Apply Your Knowledge
You have seen the conditions under which older Windows operating systems can be upgraded to Windows XP Professional and how to install SP2 either at the same time as you install Windows XP or later.
Here you upgrade a computer running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation to Windows XP Professional with SP2 across the network. To perform this exercise you need two computers, one running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and the other running any Windows 2000 or later operating system, either a server or client.
Exercises
3.1 Preparing a Slipstreamed Windows XP Installation
By slipstreaming the Windows XP SP2 files into the Windows XP installation media, you can prepare installation files that can be utilized for a direct installation or upgrade of Windows XP Professional. Perform this exercise on any computer running Windows 2000 or later.
Estimated Time: 20 minutes.
Create and share a folder named XPSP2 in the root of the C: drive.
Insert the Windows XP Professional CD-ROM.
On the Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP screen, select Perform Additional Tasks.
Select Browse This CD.
Select all the files on the CD-ROM and copy them to the XPSP2 shared folder.
Remove the Windows XP Professional CD-ROM and insert the Windows XP SP2 CD-ROM. Alternatively, you can access a network location containing the SP2 files downloaded from the Microsoft website.
Open a My Computer window focused on the CD-ROM or network share, and copy the Xpsp2.exe file to the root of the C: drive.
Open a command prompt, navigate to the root of the C: drive, and type xpsp2 -x.
Accept C: as the location to which files are to be extracted, and then click OK.
From the command prompt, navigate to the subfolder named i386\update that was created in step 9.
Type update -integrate:c:\xpsp2 and wait while the service packs are integrated into the files located in the Windows installation folder.
Click OK when you are informed that the integration is completed.
3.2 Upgrading a Windows NT 4.0 Computer to Windows XP Professional SP2
In this exercise you upgrade a computer running Windows NT 4.0 Workstation to Windows XP SP2 in a single step, using the slipstreamed installation files you prepared in Exercise 3.1.
Estimated Time: 50 minutes.
If the Windows NT 4.0 computer is not upgraded to SP5 or later, you need to upgrade to SP6a before you can upgrade to Windows XP. Navigate to http://www.microsoft.com/ntserver/nts/downloads/recommended/sp6/allsp6.asp and follow the instructions provided to download the service pack and install it.
Right-click Network Neighborhood and choose Map Network Drive. Map a drive to the shared folder you created in Exercise 3.1.
Open a command prompt, change to the drive you mapped, and type winnt32 /checkupgradeonly.
Review the results of the upgrade check and make any changes required.
Return to the command prompt and type winnt32.
On the Welcome to Windows Setup screen, ensure that Upgrade (Recommended) is selected and then click Next.
Accept the license agreement and then click Next.
Type the product key in the spaces provided and then click Next.
On the Get Updated Setup Files screen, select Yes, Download the Updated Setup Files (Recommended) and then click Next.
Windows downloads any available updated files, copies installation files, and restarts the computer. Press Esc to manually restart the computer when prompted.
Select Windows XP Professional Setup from the boot loader menu and then press Enter.
Take a coffee break while the Windows XP Professional installation takes place. You should not need to provide additional information.
When installation is complete, the Welcome to Microsoft Windows dialog box opens. Click Next.
On the Help Protect Your PC screen, select Help Protect My PC by Turning On Automatic Updates Now, and then click Next.
Make a choice on the optional registration screen, and then click Next.
Add user names if desired, and then click Next. You can click Skip to skip this step.
Click Finish and then log on, using your user name and password that you used with Windows NT.
Click Start, Control Panel, and verify the existence of the Security Center, which is included with Service Pack 2 but not with previous editions of Windows XP.
Review Questions
Which operating systems can be upgraded directly to Windows XP Professional without being upgraded to another operating system first?
Name several tasks that you should perform before upgrading a computer to Windows XP Professional.
Under which situations should you use USMT or the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to migrate files and settings from an old computer to a new Windows XP computer?
How can you install Windows XP Professional with SP2 in a single operation?
Name two benefits achieved by using a SUS server for managing automatic updates of Windows XP computers.
Exam Questions
Peter wants to upgrade his computer from Windows 98 to Windows XP Professional. He is concerned that his computer’s hardware may be somewhat outdated and will not support the upgrade. Which of the following can he do to determine whether the computer will support Windows XP Professional? (Each answer represents part of the solution. Choose two.)
Check to see whether his hardware is in the Windows Catalog.
Run the winnt /checkupgradeonly command.
Run the winnt32 /checkupgradeonly command.
Run the winnt32 /dudisable command.
Simply install Windows XP and hope that everything is compatible.
Kevin is a help desk technician for his company, which is currently deploying Windows XP Professional to all client computers, including those that previously were running either Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation.
Kevin upgrades a Windows 98 computer for a user named Elaine to Windows XP Professional. After the upgrade, she reports that several older software applications no longer work properly. In addition, a hardware device on her computer is not supported by Windows XP. Elaine requests that Kevin restore her computer to its former state without removing any of the applications, documents, and personal data.
How should Kevin accomplish this task in the minimum amount of time?
Use a third-party disk-imaging software to apply a disk image containing Windows 98 and Elaine’s applications.
Open the Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. In the list that appears, select Windows XP Uninstall.
Run Scanstate.exe on Elaine’s computer to transfer her personal data and settings to a shared folder on a network server. Format the disk in her computer, reinstall Windows 98 and her applications, and then run Loadstate.exe on her computer to transfer the documents and settings back to the computer.
Copy Elaine’s documents and personal data to a shared folder on a network server. Format the disk in her computer, reinstall Windows 98 and her applications, and then copy the documents and personal data back to the computer.
Phil is the desktop administrator for his company. He performs a clean installation of Windows XP Professional on 18 computers that are configured to be part of a workgroup named WG1. These computers are all configured to require a user name and password for logon. A month later, Phil receives calls from users in the WG1 workgroup reporting that they are unable to log on to their computers. What should Phil do to correct this problem?
On each computer, log on as a local administrator and reset the password. Then specify that all users are required to change their password at the next logon.
Run the Windows Product Activation Wizard on all computers to activate Windows XP Professional with the Microsoft Clearing House.
Restart each computer in Safe Mode. Use System Restore to specify the first restore point created after the clean installation.
Restart each computer in Safe Mode. Log on as a local administrator and join all computers to an Active Directory domain. Then create new domain user accounts for all users and specify that that all users are required to change their passwords at the next logon.
You have copied the Windows XP Professional installation and SP2 files to a shared folder on the D: drive of a server that will be accessed by users for installing Windows XP Professional with SP2. You extract the service pack files to a subfolder. What should you do next to ensure that the SP2 files are included in any installation performed from this share?
Run the slipstream -integrate:d: command.
Run the update -slipstream:d: command.
Run the update -integrate:d: command.
You do not need to do anything further. By extracting the service pack files, you ensure that they will be included with Windows XP installations.
You are the desktop administrator for your company. A user named Jason has installed SP2 on his Windows XP Professional desktop computer. The next day, he discovers that a critical application required for his job does not work properly. He wants to uninstall SP2 so he comes to you for assistance. In which of the following ways can he uninstall SP2 from his computer? (Each answer presents a complete solution. Choose two.)
Open the Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. In the list that appears, select Windows XP Service Pack 2, and then click Remove.
Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemroot%\ $NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst folder. Then type update -u.
Open the Add or Remove Programs applet in Control Panel. Select Add/Remove Windows Components, clear the check box associated with the Windows XP Service Pack 2 entry, and then click Next.
Open a command prompt and navigate to the %systemroot%\ $ NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst folder. Then type spuninst.exe.
Tom is upgrading a computer from Windows 98 to Windows XP Professional. The computer is a 1.6GHz Pentium IV, and has 192MB of RAM and a 30GB hard disk. He is using a CD-ROM containing the Windows XP installation files with SP2 slipstreamed. After the computer restarts following the text mode installation phase, Tom is informed that the computer is infected with a master boot record virus. What should he do before continuing with the installation?
Boot from a Windows 98 startup disk and modify the Boot.ini file to include a signature parameter in the ARC path of the system partition.
Remove or disable any antivirus software installed in Windows 98.
Run winnt32 /checkupgradeonly and follow any recommendations provided.
Run fixmbr.exe from the Windows XP Professional CD-ROM.
You are installing Windows XP Professional on a computer running Windows 2000 Professional. The hard disk has three partitions: C, D, and E. Windows 2000 Professional is installed on partition C. When Setup gives you a choice of partition on which to install Windows XP Professional, you choose partition D. What happens?
You create a dual-boot system.
You upgrade Windows 2000 Professional to Windows XP Professional.
The Windows XP Professional installation fails.
You wipe out Windows 2000 Professional.
Jim is deploying 150 new Windows XP Professional computers to users in his company. These users have old computers running either Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation that are to be donated to a charity that refurbishes the computers for use by school children. Jim must ensure that documents, personal data, and settings for all users are copied from their old computers to their new computers. What should he do?
Run the Sysprep utility on each old computer. Use a third-party disk imaging utility to create an image of the hard disk. After installing Windows XP Professional, apply each user’s disk image to his or her new computer.
Use My Computer to copy all documents and personal data from each user’s old computer to the new computer. Run the regedit command to export the computer’s registry to a .reg file. In the installation script for each new computer, copy the documents and personal data to the computer, and import the .reg file.
Use the Recovery Console to start each old computer. Copy the registry files, documents, and personal data to a network share. In the installation script for each new computer, copy the information from the network share to each new computer.
Run the Scanstate.exe utility on each user’s old computer. Save the information created by the utility to a network share. Run the Loadstate.exe utility in the installation script for each new computer, and specify the network share as the data source.
Susan is the systems administrator for a company that operates an Active Directory domain. She has tested Windows XP Professional SP2 on computers in a test lab and determined that no problems exist with hardware and software that are representative of those used by her company. She now needs to deploy SP2 to 450 Windows XP Professional client computers. What should she do to deploy SP2 to these computers with the least administrative effort?
Create a shared folder on a server and copy all Windows XP Professional and SP2 files to this folder. Then extract the SP2 files and integrate them with the Windows XP Professional files. Instruct all users to connect to this folder and restart their computers.
Create a shared folder on a server and copy all SP2 files to this folder. Extract the SP2 files and then create a GPO that assigns the Update.msi file to all users in the domain. Then instruct all users to restart their computers.
Create a shared folder on a server and copy all SP2 files to this folder. Extract the SP2 files and then create a GPO that assigns the Update.msi file to all computers in the domain. Then instruct all users to restart their computers.
Create a shared folder on a server and copy all SP2 files to this folder. Extract the SP2 files and send all users an email notifying them of the path to the shared folder. Instruct all users to connect to the shared folder and run the Update.exe command.
You are the desktop administrator for a company that operates a Windows Server 2003 network. A group of researchers perform hardware and software testing and upgrades on computers located on a separate departmental network that is not connected to the company’s main network. A researcher named Jason currently uses a computer running Windows 2000 Professional. He purchased a new computer running Windows XP Professional and wants to transfer his data and settings to the new computer. He has asked you for help. Which of the following should you advise Jason to do?
Copy his user profile from the Windows 2000 computer’s Documents and Settings folder to the new computer.
Copy the My Documents folder and the Ntuser.dat file to the new computer.
Use the Scanstate and Loadstate command-line tools.
Use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.
Answers to Review Questions
You can upgrade Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, or Windows 2000 Professional directly to Windows XP Professional. Older operating systems must be upgraded to Windows 98 or Windows NT 4.0 first. For more information, see the section "Upgrading from a Previous Version of Windows to Windows XP Professional."
You should first check hardware or software compatibility by running winnt32 /checkupgradeonly. In addition, you should perform additional tasks such as scanning for viruses, removing antivirus software, installing software updates, uncompressing drives compressed with Windows 9x software, and removing volume sets or stripe sets created on basic disks. For more information, see the sections "Testing System Compatibility" and "Additional Preparatory Tasks."
You should use USMT to migrate the files and settings on large numbers of computers to Windows XP because you can script this method easily across many computers. You should use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard to move a relatively small number of computers or when users are migrating their own files and settings because the wizard interface facilitates the transfer of information. For more information, see the section "Migrating Existing User Environments to a New Installation."
You can use a process known a slipstreaming to integrate SP2 files with the rest of the Windows XP installation files, thereby creating an installation set that permits the installation of Windows XP Professional with SP2 in a single operation. For more information, see the section "Deploying Service Pack 2 (SP2)."
When you employ a SUS server for installing updates, you can save Internet bandwidth by downloading the update files only once for a large number of client computers. You can also test the updates before deploying them to the clients. For more information, see the section "Managing Automatic Updates."
Answers to Exam Questions
A and C. Peter can check to see whether his hardware is on the Windows Catalog or HCL. This is a list of hardware that has been certified as compatible with Windows XP. The Windows XP Professional CD-ROM contains a copy of the HCL, but Peter should go to the Microsoft website to obtain the most recent copy, because new devices are added to this list as new drivers are created and they become compatible. Peter can also run winnt32 /checkupgradeonly to produce a compatibility report that outlines any hardware or software that may not function properly with Windows XP. The winnt command does not include the /checkupgradeonly switch, so answer B is incorrect. The /dudisable switch prevents Dynamic Update from running, and performs a Windows XP installation with only the original Setup files, so answer D is incorrect. Because Peter can check the Windows Catalog and run winnt32 /checkupgradeonly, he should not simply install Windows XP and hope that everything is compatible. Therefore answer E is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Preparing a Computer to Meet Upgrade Requirements."
B. Provided you have not converted the hard disk to the NTFS file system, the Add or Remove Programs applet will contain an Windows XP Uninstall item that can be used to uninstall Windows XP on a computer that was upgraded from Windows 98 or Me. This is the simplest manner to remove Windows XP in this scenario. A third-party disk-imaging software application might also work but would take more administrative effort; it would also need to create the image before the upgrade. Therefore answer A is incorrect. It is not possible to transfer data to a Windows 98 computer using Loadstate.exe, so answer C is incorrect. The solution in answer D would work, but takes far more administrative effort, so answer D is incorrect. Note that you would need to follow this procedure to restore the computer to Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000, or to Windows 98 or Me if you had converted the disk to NTFS. For more information, see the section "Uninstalling Windows XP Professional."
B. To help reduce software piracy, Microsoft has implemented a system of product activation that requires that computers be activated with the Microsoft Clearing House within 30 days of installing Windows XP. If computers have not been activated within this period, users are unable to log on until the activation process is completed. Resetting users’ passwords, using System Restore, or joining computers to a domain do not help, so answers A, C, and D are incorrect. For more information, see the section "Performing Post-Installation Updates and Product Activation."
C. You can include the SP2 files in the Windows XP Professional installation by slipstreaming them with the installation files from the Windows XP CD-ROM. To perform this slipstreaming, you need to run the command update -integrate:d: where d: is the drive letter containing the installation files. The commands slipstream -integrate:d: and update -slipstream:d: do not exist, so answers A and B are incorrect. Merely extracting the service pack files is insufficient to ensure their integration with the Windows XP installation, so answer D is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Slipstreaming SP2 Pre-Installation."
A and D. If you have accepted the option presented by the Service Pack 2 Installation Wizard to enable the service pack to be uninstalled, the wizard creates the %systemroot%\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst folder. You can navigate to this folder and execute the Spuninst.exe command to uninstall Service Pack 2. You can also uninstall Service Pack 2 from the Add or Remove Programs applet, where it appears as an entry provided you have accepted the option described here. The Update command is used for manually installing SP2, so answer B is incorrect. Service Pack 2 does not appear in the list of Windows components in the Windows Components Wizard, so answer C is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Deploying Service Pack 2 (SP2)."
B. Antivirus (AV)software is known to cause problems during installation of or upgrading to Windows XP. On the first reboot, these programs may falsely report that the installation files contain a virus and halt the installation. You should uninstall the AV software and disable any AV checking in the computer’s BIOS before installing or upgrading to XP. You can always re-enable or reinstall antivirus software after you have completed the upgrade. The Boot.ini file is not found on a Windows 98 startup disk because it is not used with that operating system, so answer A is incorrect. Winnt32 /checkupgradeonly is used to check a computer for software or hardware incompatibility before upgrading to Windows XP. These problems do not cause the false reporting of a virus, so answer C is incorrect. Fixmbr.exe is used to recover corrupted master boot records on existing Windows XP installations. You cannot use it in this scenario when Windows XP has not yet been installed, so answer D is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Additional Preparatory Tasks."
A. On a computer that is running Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, or Windows 2000 Professional, you can either upgrade the current Windows installation by installing Windows XP Professional on the same partition holding the current Windows operating files, or create a dual-boot system by installing Windows XP Professional on a different partition. You do not upgrade Windows 2000 in this scenario because you installed to a different partition, so answer B is incorrect. This type of installation does not wipe another instance of Windows out, nor does it fail for this particular reason, so answers C and D are incorrect. For more information, see the section "Upgrading the Computer to Windows XP Professional."
D. Scanstate.exe and Loadstate.exe are components of the User State Migration Tool (USMT), which can be used for migrating user files and settings from an old computer to a new Windows XP Professional computer. These utilities can be scripted and provide an automated method of transferring files and settings from one computer to another as required by this scenario. Sysprep is used to create an image of a reference computer for duplicating to a series of new computers, and not for imaging old computers, so answer A is incorrect. You should not copy or import registry files, so answer B is incorrect. The Recovery Console is not available on Windows 98 or NT computers, so answer C is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Migrating Existing User Environments to a New Installation."
C. Susan can use Group Policy to apply SP2 to a series of Windows XP Professional computers that are joined to a domain by creating a GPO that assigns the Update.msi file to all affected computers. Integrating the SP2 files with the Windows XP Professional files creates an installation share that enables users to reinstall Windows XP with SP2 but not update current Windows XP installations, so answer A is incorrect. To use a GPO for installing SP2 on client computers, Susan must assign the Update.msi file to all computers and not to all users, so answer C is incorrect. It would be possible for users to connect to a shared folder and run Update.exe, but this would take more administrative effort, so answer D is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Using Group Policy to Deploy SP2 Post-Installation."
D. The Files and Settings Transfer Wizard facilitates the transfer of a user’s documents and settings from an old computer to a new one. By creating a wizard floppy disk, you can gather data from an old computer running any Windows operating system from 95 and NT 4.0 or more recent, and transfer this data to removable media or to a network share, from which it can be transferred to the new computer. The user profile would not contain all the required information, so answer A is incorrect. The Ntuser.dat file contains the user portion of the registry settings. You cannot transfer registry settings directly from one computer to another, so answer B is incorrect. The Scanstate and Loadstate tools are designed more for transferring data and settings from a series of older computers to new Windows XP Professional computers. It is easier in this scenario with only one computer involved to use the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard; therefore answer C is incorrect. For more information, see the section "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard."
Suggested Readings and Resources
The following are some recommended readings on the subject of upgrading to Windows XP Professional and deployment of Service Pack 2:
Glenn, Walter and Tony Northrup, MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Second Edition (Microsoft Press, 2005). Chapter 2, "Installing Windows XP Professional"
Websites
Guide for Installing and Deploying Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2, at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/spdeploy.mspx
Deploying Windows XP Service Pack 2 Using Software Update Services, at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/xpsp2sus.mspx
How to Remove Windows XP Service Pack 2 from Your Computer, at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;875350
User State Migration in Windows XP, at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/ prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/usermigr.mspx
Step-by-Step Guide to Migrating Files and Settings, at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/mgrtfset.mspx
What to Know Before You Download and Install Windows XP Service Pack 2, at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sp2_whattoknow.mspx
Paul Thurrott, Slipstreaming Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2), at http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp