by Jason Zandri
www.2000trainers.com
We’re proud to debut our new Learn Windows XP Professional in 15 Minutes a Week series by feature writer Jason Zandri. The series will cover the skills needed to successfully administer Windows XP Professional and will also focus on helping you prepare for the Microsoft 70-270 exam.
Welcome to Learn Windows XP Professional in 15
Minutes a Week, a weekly series aimed at current IT professionals
preparing to write the new Windows XP Professional exam, as well as
newcomers to the field who are trying to get a solid grasp on this
new and emerging desktop operating system.
The idea behind this series is to give an
overview (and sometimes detailed view) of different topics and
assist in learning the material associated with the new Microsoft
Certified Professional exam 70-270, Installing, Configuring, and
Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional.
I am both a Microsoft Certified Trainer (part-time) and a
Web Hosting Systems Administrator (full-time), so I know just how difficult it is
to stay on the edge of emerging technology and get some sleep from time to time as well. I am
hoping this series of articles will help you to have a healthy
balance of both work and play, regardless of the fact that you may well need 36
hours in a day to do so.
When you pass the Installing, Configuring, and
Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional exam 70-270, you
achieve Microsoft
Certified Professional status. You also earn credit toward the
following certifications:
The Windows XP Professional certification exam
(70-270) measures your ability to implement, administer, and
troubleshoot information systems that incorporate Microsoft Windows
XP Professional. This series of articles will touch upon most of the
required subject areas of the Windows XP Professional operating
system itself, as well as its administration and upkeep. In addition
to your hands-on experience working with the product, you should
consider reviewing other sources of information on Windows XP
Professional, such as books from Microsoft
Press as well as practice tests offered by Practice Test
Providers like Boson Software, in order to receive
feedback on your level of knowledge and exam-readiness prior to
taking a certification exam.
Scores on a practice test doesn’t necessarily
indicate what your score will be on a certification exam, nor do
they show you will pass your exam at an official test center, but a
practice test will give you the opportunity to answer questions that
are similar to those on the certification exam and can help you
identify your areas of greatest strength and weakness.
While I am not 100% sure of my entire weekly
format, I will be trying to put out the articles with some degree of
similarity to the skills that are required knowledge for the exam,
which are as follows:
Installing Windows XP Professional
Implementing and Conducting Administration of
Resources
Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and
Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers
Monitoring and Optimizing System Performance
and Reliability
Configuring and Troubleshooting the Desktop
Environment
Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting
Network Protocols and Services
Configuring, Managing, and Troubleshooting
Security
To close out this introductory article, I thought
I would mention the minimum supported hardware requirements and the
direct upgrade
paths that are supported by Microsoft for Windows XP
Professional.
Minimum Hardware Requirements
Before you begin any installation of Windows XP
Professional you should: (where applicable)
Below are the current
minimum hardware requirements for Windows XP Professional at the
time of this writing:
Up to date and revised requirements can be found
on the Microsoft
website for Windows XP Professional. Windows XP Professional also supports Symmetric
Multi-processing with a maximum of two processors, and up to 4 GB of
RAM
There are additional, optional features that will
require other hardware and software minimums on the Windows XP
Professional system.
Some Internet
functionality may require Internet access, or a Microsoft .NET
Passport account. 14.4 Kbps or higher-speed modem is required.
A Network adapter
appropriate for the type of network you wish to connect to and
access to the appropriate network infrastructure and / or software
may be required
Microsoft .NET
Passport account and Internet access or Microsoft Exchange 2000
Server / Conferencing Server instant messaging account and network
access
For voice and
videoconferencing;
33.6 Kbps or
higher-speed modem, or other network connection
Microphone and sound
card with speakers or headset
For
videoconferencing;
Video conferencing
camera
Windows XP Professional
For application
sharing;
33.6 Kbps or
higher-speed modem, or other network connection
Windows XP Professional
Both parties must be
running Windows XP and be connected by a network
A Windows 95 or
laterbased computer, and the two machines must be connected by a
network
Sound card and
speakers or headphones
DVD drive and DVD
decoder card or DVD decoder software 8 MB of video RAM
Video capture feature
requires appropriate digital or analog video capture device 400 MHz
or higher processor for digital video camera capture
Actual requirements will vary based on your
system configuration and the applications and features you choose to
install. Additional available hard-disk space may be required if you
are installing over a network.
The Windows XP Setup Wizard automatically checks
your hardware and software and will report any potential conflicts.
You should determine whether your computer hardware is compatible
with Windows XP Professional before you start any Windows OS
installation.
You can view the current Hardware Compatibility List
(HCL) at the Microsoft website.
Windows XP Professional supports only the devices
listed in the HCL. If your hardware isn’t listed, contact the
hardware manufacturer and request a Windows XP Professional driver
for the component. To ensure that programs using 16-bit drivers
function properly afterwards, request 32-bit drivers from the
software vendor.
Support means that while the operating system may
load and run on unsupported hardware and software, any issues that
come up with the system will not be covered (i.e. supported) by
Microsoft Technical Support.
(During an OS upgrade on a system with
pre-installed software, you can use upgrade packs to make the
existing software compatible with Windows XP Professional. Upgrade
packs are available from the appropriate software
manufacturers.)
Windows XP Supported Upgrade
Paths
The following direct upgrade
paths are supported by Microsoft and are considered viable for
both the Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home operating
systems.
Currently, there are no supported direct upgrade
paths for the following Microsoft operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 3.x
Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 Workstation
Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 Server
Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 Server with Citrix
Microsoft Windows 95
Microsoft BackOffice Small Business Server
The following are supported, direct upgrade paths
for Microsoft operating systems to Windows XP:
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
Windows XP Home
Edition Retail (Full) Version
Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade
Version
Windows XP Professional Retail (Full) Version
Windows XP Professional Upgrade Version
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation
Windows XP
Professional Retail (Full) Version
Windows XP Professional
Upgrade Version
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
Windows XP
Professional Retail (Full) Version
Windows XP Professional
Upgrade Version
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Windows XP
Professional Retail (Full) Version
Windows XP Professional
Upgrade Version
All Versions of Windows NT 4.0 require Service
Pack 5 to be installed prior to upgrading to Windows XP.
Well, that wraps up my introductory article for
the series. I hope you found it informative and will return for the
next regular weekly installment. If you have any questions, comments or even
constructive criticism, please feel free to drop me a note. I want to write good, solid technical articles
that appeal to a large range of readers and skill levels and I can
only be sure of that through your feedback.
Next week, I plan to write a detailed column on
how to perform an attended installation of Windows XP
Professional.
Until then, remember,
“If a bad guy can convince you to run unknown
software on your system, it may not be your system anymore”
Jason Zandri
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