CONFIGURING HARDWARE DEVICE & START UP PROCESS Chapter 4 CONFIGURING HARDWARE DEVICE & START UP PROCESS

Install hardware automatically Windows XP supports both plug-and-play & non-plug- and-play. For most plug-and-play compliant devices, Windows automatically detects, installs & configure the device = installation is successful ! A prompt appear for the Found New Hardware Wizard, to allow you to install the device manually = installation unsuccessful !

Install hardware automatically

Installing hardware manually Use Add Hardware Wizard in Control Panel to install device manually & you may need a driver for the device. Driver = software that allows Windows XP & the hardware device to communicate with each other. The driver usually sold together with the device, in CD-ROM or floppy form, or you can visit their manufacturer website.

Configuring & troubleshooting hardware devices The Device Manager can be used to configure / troubleshoot devices. Device Manager is a tool included in Windows Operating System, displayed in graphical view. Ex: if particular hardware fails to work, the hardware icon is highlighted to enable user to deal with it. My Computer – right click to & select Properties – select Hardware Tab – click Device Manager button Control Panel – Administrative Tools – Computer Management Icon – Device Manager

Device manager Device Manager can be used for the following; check whether the hardware in your computer is working properly. Change hardware configuration settings. Change advanced settings & properties for devices. Install updated device drivers. Disable, enable & uninstall devices. Roll back to the previous version of a driver. Print a summary of the devices that are installed on your computer Identify the device drivers that are loaded for each device & obtain information about each device driver.

Configuring & troubleshooting hardware devices

Hardware profiles A set of instructions that tells Windows which devices to start when you start your computer / which setting to use. A collection of configuration information about the hardware that is installed on a computer. Useful when you have more than 1 device…example – 2 monitors, then you may disable one!

Managing hardware profile You may specify how Windows uses the hardware profile during start-up. Options that can chosen are; Have Windows wait until you select a hardware profile before it continues booting. Have windows automatically select the first hardware profile in the list & continues booting after a specified time.

Configuring & troubleshooting device drivers Updating & removing device drivers

Configuring & troubleshooting device drivers Driver signing Ensures that the drivers have been certified by Windows hardware Quality Labs (WHQL) Implemented to improve the quality of drivers and increase overall stability of the Windows OS. Microsoft digitally signs all files & drivers on the Windows Installation CD.

Explaining the start up process First step is to determine whether the problem occurs before, during or after Windows XP Professional starts up. The root cause of startup failure can be user error, application faults, hardware failures or virus activity. If the condition is serious enough, then user might need to reinstall Windows XP Professional or restore files from backup media.

Startup phases All computers running Windows XP Professional share the same startup sequence. Power-on self test (POST) phase Initial startup phase Boot loader phase Detect & configure hardware phase Kernel loading phase Logon phase The sequence only applies started or restarted after a normal shutdown and NOT for those who is out from hibernation or standby mode.

Pre-boot sequence During startup, a computer running Windows XP Professional initiates & then locates the boot portion of the hard disk. These 4 steps occurs then; Computer runs POST routines to determine amount of physical memory, whether the hardware components are present etc. configuration of BIOS for Plug-and –play Computer BIOS locates the boot device, loads & runs the Master Boot Record (MBR) MBR scans the partition table to locate the active partition, loads the boot sector on the active partition into memory, then executes it. Computer loads & initiates the NTLDR file, which is the operating system loader.

Problems during pre-boot sequence

Boot sequence After loading the NTLDR into memory, boot sequence gathers information about hardware & drivers to prepare for Windows XP load phases. Boot sequence uses the following files: NTLDR, BOOT.INI, BOOTSECT.DOS (optional), NTDETECT.COM, NTOSKRNL.EXE. Boot sequence has 4 phases; Initial Boot Loader Phase Operating System Selection Hardware Detection Configuration Selection

Boot.ini file When installing Windows XP Professional on a computer, Windows start-up saves the BOOT.INI file in the active partition. NTLDR uses information in the BOOT.INI file to display the boot loader screen, from which you select the operating system to start. BOOT.INI file has 2 sections: [boot loader] and [operating system] which NTLDR uses to create Boot loader operating system selection menu.

Troubleshooting the boot sequence

registry Registry controls the Windows XP professional OS by providing the appropriate initialization information to boot Windows XP, to start applications & to load components such ass device drivers & protocols. User may need to Registry Editor to view, edit, backup & restore the registry configuration. Registry is a hierarchical database that contains a variety of different types of data, including; Hardware installed on the computer Installed device drivers Installed applications Installed network protocols Network adapter card settings

Registry Among the components that access & store data in the registry are; Windows XP Professional kernel Device Drivers User Profiles Setup Programs Hardware Profiles NTDETECT.COM

Troubleshooting using startup & recovery tools Tools that can be used to troubleshoot are Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration, Recovery Console & Automated System Restore Wizard. Safe Mode Eliminate the default settings & minimize device drivers as possible causes Remove device that is causing problem / reverse the change. User will only have access to basic files & drivers & user may choose the Safe Mode with Networking to get the safe mode to work under networking. Safe Mode with Command Prompt – instead of graphical user interface, user will get command prompt started.

Troubleshooting using startup & recovery tools Last Known Good Configuration Starts computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.

Troubleshooting using startup & recovery tools

Troubleshooting using startup & recovery tools Recovery console Is a command interpreter that can be used to access NTFS,FAT & FAT32 volumes without restarting Windows XP. Allows you to perform the following; Copying files between hard disks & from a floppy disk to a hard disk Starting & stopping services Adding, removing & reformatting partitions on the hard disk Repairing MBR or boot sector of a hard disk or volume Restoring registry