configuring and troubleshooting windows xp professional phần 4 ppt

212 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools 9. Change the Initial size and Maximum size to at least the recom- mended size. Be sure you have this size available as one piece of con- tiguous free space, or it is likely that it will be fragmented right from the start. By choosing an initial size that is significant, you can postpone the moment the paging file starts to fragment. Depending on the initial size, you can set the maximum size.As you move the initial size up, you can use the same maximum size.A large initial size is recommended to pre- vent fragmentation in the long haul, and because disks are so large nowadays, you should be able to afford it. 10. Click Set. 11. Select the volume for which you previously created the temporary paging file and set the Initial size and Maximum size to zero and click Set. 12. Close all windows and reboot the system. After the system is restarted again, you may decide to remove the temporary paging file altogether by selecting the No paging file option for that volume in the Virtual Memory dialog box. Preventing the defragmentation of the MFT is trickier, because it is fully con- trolled by the Windows XP system.Without going into too much detail, it is important to know that the size of the MFT and the MFT Zone are both based on the size of the volume.The MFT size is calculated as the NTFS volume is created, while the MFT Zone size, also based on the volume size, is calculated during the mounting of the volume and reserved for the MFT growth. Note that the system will always claim the same piece of storage on the volume for the MFT Zone, because it happens as part of the mounting process and therefore is the first process that has access to the volume. However, if during the uptime the system runs out of MFT Zone space, it has to claim another piece of volume storage to create a new MFT Zone, hence MFT fragmentation.The only way to prevent this is claiming as much MFT Zone as possible. You can control the size that is claimed for the MFT Zone through a Registry setting, called NtfsMftZoneReservation.The value can range from 1 to 4, where 1 is the default value and will claim the minimum MFT Zone size, thus equal to what Windows XP by default claims. Setting this HKEY value to 4 claims the maximum MFT Zone size. Microsoft does not document how these values correspond to the actual volume space that is claimed, but suggests a value of 2 or 3 if the MFT tends to fragment quickly under a default size MFT Zone. www.syngress.com 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 212 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 213 You have to add this HKEY to the Registry using RegEdt32.exe or by a REG file that contains the following: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "NtfsMftZoneReservation"=dword:00000003 If you would rather use RegEdt32.exe (see Figure 5.7) take the following steps: 1. Open RegEdt32.exe from Start | Run. 2. Got to the subkey My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem. 3. Select Edit | New | DWORD Value. 4. Rename the key to NtfsMftZoneReservation. 5. Double-click NtfsMftZoneReservation. 6. Change the Value Data to 3. 7. Click OK. 8. Close RegEdt32.exe. 9. Reboot the system. If you do not want to poke around in the Registry, which can be dangerous, you can use the fsutil tool (see sidebar “Before running defrag or Disk Defragmenter”): 1. Select Start | Run. 2. Type cmd and click OK. www.syngress.com Figure 5.7 Setting the NtfsMftZoneReservation HKEY Using RegEdt32.exe 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 213 214 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools 3. Type fsutil behavior set mftzone 3. 4. Type exit. 5. Reboot the system. It is hard to determine upfront if and when you are going to run out of volume space. Because every file occupies an entry in the MFT, the more files you add to the volume, the sooner you deplete the MFT and MFT Zone. However there is a limiting factor, namely the volume size.After the volume is filled up, it no longer matters how much space is left in the MFT Zone. Therefore, the average file size and the remaining volume space can give you an indication of how quickly the MFT and MFT Zone are filling up. If the average file size decreases and the available volume space is decreasing, the MFT and MFT Zone are filling up at a faster pace. However, if the average file size is increasing while the available volume space is decreasing, then the MFT and MFT Zone are filling up at a slower pace. The best way to go about dealing with the MFT and paging file is to take the following steps: 1. Install the minimal operating system from scratch. Do not perform an update from a previous Windows version. 2. Create the volume(s) directly with the NTFS format and do not convert. 3. If you have more than one volume available, create the temporary paging file on the nonbootable volume and set the paging file on the bootable volume to zero. 4. Reboot the system. 5. Add the NtfsMftZoneReservation HKEY to the Registry with value 3. 6. Reboot the system. 7. Create the paging file on the bootable volume with an large initial size. 8. Reboot the system. 9. Run Disk Cleanup (see the next section). 10. Run Disk Defragmenter. 11. Install the rest of the software (operating system and applications). 12. Run Disk Defragmenter. You can find more information on this subject from the following: www.syngress.com 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 214 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 215 ■ www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000pro/reskit/ part6/proch30.asp ■ KnowledgeBase article “How NTFS Reserves Space for its Master File Table (MFT) “(Article ID Q174619) ■ KnowledgeBase article “Files Excluded by the Disk Defragmenter Tool” (Article ID Q227350) ■ KnowledgeBase article “Cannot Use Command-Line Switches with Disk Defragmenter Tool” (Article ID Q223146) Cleaning Up Files While working on your system, you will create a slew of files you no longer need, but which will contaminate your volumes.These files will not only occupy valuable disk space, but they will also contribute to the fragmentation of the vol- umes and will slow down file lookups.Therefore, you should clean up these unusable files before performing a defragmentation. To clean up your files, you will use Disk Cleanup, which you can find in Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools.You can also start Disk Cleanup from Windows Explorer: 1. Right-click the volume you want to clean up and select Properties. 2. Click Disk Cleanup at the right of the Capacity pie (see Figure 5.8). A third way to start this tool is by running the program cleanmgr from Start | Run. www.syngress.com Figure 5.8 Accessing Disk Cleanup from the Disk Properties Dialog Box 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 215 216 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools Even though Disk Cleanup is a simple tool, it is invaluable. It will check all the known places where these temporary and forgotten files hang out and deter- mines how much volume space they take up. It will present you with a list with categorized dispensable files.The best way to understand the workings of this tool is to take a walk through the execution of Disk Cleanup: 1. Start the Disk Cleanup by choosing Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools. If you have more than one disk volume, you will see the Select Drive dialog box, in which you first have to select a volume. 2. After selecting a volume, the Disk Cleanup dialog box (see Figure 5.9) will appear, showing the progress of the tool scanning the volume for all kinds of redundant files. 3. After the scanning phase, the tool will show the Disk Cleanup for <volume> dialog box (see Figure 5.10).This dialog box has two tabs: More Options, which we will discuss later, and Disk Cleanup.The latter is shown by default.The Disk Cleanup tab consists of two list boxes. Files to delete lists the different categories that contain redundant files that you can delete without the system becoming corrupted.The Description frame below it gives a description of the group/category you selected. It also gives you the opportunity to browse to the files of that category, using the View Files button.This option is not available for all categories. 4. If you browse through the category list and view the files, you will get a better idea of where Windows XP is looking for redundant files.As you use this option on different volumes or on the same volumes over time, you will notice that the list can differ from volume to volume, and from time to time.The reason is that it is only after you use a specific func- tionality that such a category/group is created.An example is “Offline Web Pages.”This category is created only after you add a Web page to your Favorites list and make it available offline. Other categories, such as Recycle Bin, are always there. www.syngress.com Figure 5.9 The Disk Cleanup Dialog Box Showing the Progress of Scanning the Volume for Redundant Files 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 216 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 217 5. You need to select the check box for the category you want to clean, or deselect it if you do not want that category to be cleaned. For example the category Temporary Internet files is your local cache of Web pages. You may want to keep these files to speed up access to your favorite Web pages. 6. After you have selected all categories of files you want to clean up, click OK. 7. A dialog box comes up that ask you “Are you sure you want to perform these actions?” Click OK. 8. The Disk Cleanup dialog box appears (see Figure 5.11), and the physical disk might start to rattle.The dialog box enables you to monitor the progress of the cleanup.A small note:The green progress bar can reach the end before the process is finished, in which case the bar empties and starts over again. 9. If Disk Cleanup finishes, the dialog box disappears and no further reporting is given. www.syngress.com Figure 5.10 The Disk Cleanup for Win-XP Dialog Box Showing the Amount of Redundant Files Figure 5.11 The Disk Cleanup Dialog Box Informs You about the Progress of the Cleanup 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 217 218 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools Several categories need some additional explanation: ■ Compress old files This option will only show on NTFS volumes; it enables you to compress files that are not used within a predetermined period. Compressing files has the advantage that you can, over time, free up a significant amount of storage, without the files being removed from the volume.The obvious disadvantage is that accessing a compressed file is slower than usual, because it has to be decompressed before you can use it. Remember that once a file has been compressed, you need to manually decompress the file if you want to start using it again.As you scroll down the list to select this category, the description in the frame below will change, and the button changes to Options. Clicking the button will bring up the Compress Old Files dialog box (see Figure 5.12).This dialog box allows you to change the cutoff date for unaccessed files to be com- pressed.The default value is 50 days and the maximum value is 500 days. ■ Catalog files for the Content Indexer This is also a category present only for NTFS volumes.As the Indexing Service runs on your systems, it will frequently update the catalog, leaving older catalog files behind. The size of the files depends on the number of files/documents on the volume. Remember that you are in control in starting and stopping the Service. Let’s get back to the point where Disk Cleanup gives us the overview of the amount of disk space per category that can be freed (see Figure 5.10).As men- tioned earlier the Disk Cleanup window has a second tab called More Options, which has a page showing three frames (see Figure 5.13), each accompanied with its own Clean up button.The first two options give you an easy entry to the tools that can help you remove unnecessary applications: ■ Windows components This Clean up button starts the Windows Components Wizard. www.syngress.com Figure 5.12 The Compress Old Files Dialog Box Lets You Determine the Cut-Off Time for Compression 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 218 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 219 ■ Installed programs This Clean up button starts the Add or Remove Programs tool, which you can also find under Start | Control Panel. ■ System Restore This Clean up button opens a dialog box that prompts you with “Are you sure you want to delete all but the most recent restore point?”What a restore point is and how this should be han- dled is discussed in the section “Restoring Your System.” NOTE If you are running out of volume space and cleanup does not free up sufficient space, you can always compress a complete NTFS volume or any directory on a NTFS volume. In the former case, bring up the volume’s Properties dialog box (see Figure 5.8) and select the check box Compress drive to save disk space and click Apply to confirm. This will be followed by the Confirm Attribute Change dialog box, that lets you decide if you want this change only for the root of the volume, or for the complete volume. The complete volume is the default selection, which you should go with by clicking OK. If you want to compress a single directory, bring up the directory’s Properties dialog box, click Advanced, and then select the check box Compress contents to save disk space and click OK to confirm. www.syngress.com Figure 5.13 The More Options Tab Presents You with an Easy Entry to Other Cleanup Tools 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 219 220 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools Disk Cleanup is very useful for keeping your volumes neat and tidy, it is not perfect. It does not target all places of “discomfort,” especially related to Internet use. So Disk Cleanup will not remove cookies or your browser’s History log.You will have to use the cleanup functionalities of the browser to do so, or you could consider buying a cleanup tool that does all cleanups in one go. Transferring Files and Settings between Computers Suppose you have bought a new PC with Windows XP and you want to move your files, documents, and settings from your old computer to this new computer. Or you are an administrator and you want to set up the office PC exactly the same, but you do not want to install all the files and settings for every computer and syn- chronize the settings. For these types of file and setting transfers, you can use the File and Settings Transfer Wizard.The big benefit of this tool is that it can transfer (most) of the application settings, because this utility is in a way “aware” of how the settings are saved on the old system and how they need to be stored on Windows XP.To give you an idea of which files and settings we are referring to, we list some of them that by default will be part of the transferable settings: ■ Internet Explorer settings ■ Outlook Express settings ■ Network printers and drives ■ Dial-up connections ■ Regional settings ■ Taskbar options ■ Folder options ■ Microsoft Office ■ Desktop ■ Documents ■ My Documents ■ My Pictures ■ Shared Desktop ■ Fonts www.syngress.com 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 220 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 221 Before going through the wizard, we should first go through the basics of the files and settings transfer. The Basics of the Files and Settings Transfer For the transfer, you need two or three computers: ■ The Recipient The system that will retrieve the files and settings. In our case, this will be a Windows XP system.The Wizard will refer to the Recipient as the new computer. ■ The Server The system where the files and settings to be retrieved actually reside. In our case, this can be our old PC or office server. ■ The Donor The system from which the files and settings are used to transfer. In our case, this can be our old PC or the office PC that func- tions as the “template” for other office PCs.The wizard refers to the Donor as the old computer. This requires additional explanation, because the Windows XP documenta- tion does not make this explicit breakdown. For the sake of our discussion, let us assume that we have the systems involved all connected to the same local net- work.As you will see in the subsequent sections where we go through the work- ings of this wizard step-by-step, before you can transfer the files and settings you need to collect the files and settings from the originating system.All files and set- tings are compressed in a data file (with the .DAT extension). In cases where you have a new PC with Windows XP and an old one with Windows Me, you want to transfer the settings and files from the Windows Me system to your new system with Windows XP. Because your Windows Me system donates the files and settings to the new system, it needs to wrap these files and settings in a DAT file for the Recipient to pick it up. This DAT file will very likely reside on the computer that is also the Donor, under the condition that you have enough storage to host this file. However, in an office environment, you may want to place this data file on a server, which makes it easier for the Recipient to retrieve the files and settings. In both cases, the system that hosts the DAT file is called the Server.To summarize: ■ On the Donor, you create the DAT file containing the files and settings to transfer. ■ The DAT file must be moved to a shared folder on the donor or a sepa- rate server, becoming the Server. www.syngress.com 189_XP_05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 221 [...]... Show multiple schedules and you see the passive text change in a field with a drop-down box and two buttons, New and Delete (see www.syngress.com 243 189 _XP_ 05.qxd 244 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 244 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools Figure 5.25).This shows that you can run a task at different schedule frequencies s In the middle are two fields, named Schedule Task and Start time and an Advanced button.The... programs that can be started from a command line AT is used often to run maintenance scripts We want to make you aware of this command, not only because it is supplied with Windows XP, but also because you may wind up using older NT/2000 programs that use AT, because it is simple and effective Continued www.syngress.com 233 189 _XP_ 05.qxd 2 34 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 2 34 Chapter 5 • Working with System Tools... using the AT command are run For more information on the AT command, see the side bar “Using Command-Line Task Scheduling.” s View Log Opens the Task Scheduler log file in Notepad Configuring & Implementing… Using Command-Line Task Scheduling Before Windows had the Scheduled Tasks tools, the Windows NT system could only schedule programs through the AT command that you had to start from a command line With... click Next and go to Step 4 s Weekly You can enter the day of the week on the next page If you select this option, click Next and go to Step 5 s Monthly You can enter the day of the month on the next page If you select this option, click Next and go to Step 6 www.syngress.com 189 _XP_ 05.qxd 11/9/01 2:35 PM Page 241 Working with System Tools • Chapter 5 s One time only You can enter the date and time,... reading the online help Another good source is the Microsoft’s Windows 2000 site (www.microsoft.com /windows2 000/ default.asp) because the services of Windows 2000 are exactly the same as in Windows XP Managing Scheduled Tasks Now that we have the Task Scheduler up -and- running we can start working on our Scheduled Tasks.Within the Schedule Tasks Explorer, you can do the following: s Add a scheduled task... scheduled command /delete Cancels a scheduled command If id is omitted, all the scheduled commands on the computer are canceled /yes Used with cancel all jobs command when no further confirmation is desired time /interactive Specifies the time when command is to run Allows the job to interact with the desktop of the user who is logged on at the time the job runs Continued www.syngress.com 189 _XP_ 05.qxd 11/9/01... Runs the command on each specified day(s) of the week or month If date is omitted, the current day of the month is assumed /next:date[, ] Runs the specified command on the next occurrence of the day (for example, next Thursday) If date is omitted, the current day of the month is assumed "command" Is the Windows NT command, or batch program to be run Note the parentheses surrounding the command parameter,... choose files only, the Specific folders and File types subtree will show If you choose both files and settings, all three subtrees will show s Let me select a custom list of files and settings This is a check box option; you should use it if you want to control what files and settings must be transferred Select this check box and be sure that the radio button Both files and settings is selected Click Next... (Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Files and Settings Transfer Wizard).You will be given a few options Let us presume that your old system also has a CD-ROM drive, which is not unlikely So you should go for the third option I will use the wizard from the Windows XP CD.This means that you will move to the Donor and start the Windows XP CD: 1 The Welcome screen asks you what you want to... option Transfer files and settings 3 A number of files get copied before the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard starts 4 Click Next 5 The next screen will inform you that the wizard is “preparing the next step” were it determines the available files and settings that it can transfer and if a local network is present, it will try to detect a system on the network that has the Files and Settings Transfer . a new PC with Windows XP and an old one with Windows Me, you want to transfer the settings and files from the Windows Me system to your new system with Windows XP. Because your Windows Me system. cleanups in one go. Transferring Files and Settings between Computers Suppose you have bought a new PC with Windows XP and you want to move your files, documents, and settings from your old computer. can range from 1 to 4, where 1 is the default value and will claim the minimum MFT Zone size, thus equal to what Windows XP by default claims. Setting this HKEY value to 4 claims the maximum