Windows
XP
“Come feel the Experience”
(System Administrators Edition Only)
Presented by Bryce Rogers
Crowley’s Ridge Educational Cooperative
Working with Windows XP
(System Administrators Edition Only)
Created on October 15, 2002
Contents:
I. General Introduction.
II. Installation.
III. Windows Update.
IV. Product Activation.
V. .NET Passport?
VI. What’s new in Windows XP?
VII. Adding Accounts to XP.
VIII. Getting XP onto the Internet.
IX. Adding / removing the Novell client for XP.
X. Changing the look of XP.
XI. Changing the drive letter of a CD-Rom drive in XP.
XII. Backing up information in XP.
XIII. Trouble Shooting w/ Device Manager and Event Viewer.
XIV. Remote Assistance.
XV. Local Computer Policies.
XVI. Making Windows XP into a VPN Server.
I. General Introduction.
Microsoft Windows XP is based on the architecture of Windows NT. It is
Microsoft’s next version of Windows. If you are currently running Windows
2000, then XP will not be much of a transition for you but if you are running
Windows 98 or below, then you will see quite a big difference. Most of the
items you have played with or configured are still in XP, but they are moved
around a little. Hopefully this handout will give you some helpful hints and
solutions while you take your journey into the next version of Windows.
II. Installation.
One of the new features built into Windows XP, is the CD-Rom is bootable.
This means when you want to install or upgrade a machine to XP, all you
need to do is make sure your bios is set to boot to the CD-Rom first. Next
insert the Windows XP CD and turn on your computer and as usually a
wizard type of install will help you through the installation on your computer.
But, before you go do this, there are some things to do before you insert
that XP CD. First, XP is fairly particular of its hardware. This means that you
need to make sure your motherboard, video card, sound card and any other
expansion card that is in your computer is XP compatible. This could mean
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simply updating a motherboard’s bios at the motherboard website or it could
mean buying a new one if the manufacture has went out of business.
Before installing XP, try to find out as much as possible about your
equipment to avoid any problems during or after installation. After finding
out all you can about your system, go to the following website at
http://www.microsoft.com/hcl. This is Microsoft’s Hardware Compatibility
List’s website and from here you should be able to determine if your
hardware will be able to run Windows XP.
During installation, there will be one item that is fairly new if you came from
a Windows 98 environment. The wizard will ask you if you want to install XP
in a FAT32 or a NTFS environment. Unless you plan to dual-boot (have two
operating systems on the same computer) I would recommend installing
with NTFS. Installing with NTFS, will give you increased security all
throughout XP.
III. Windows Update.
I suggest one of the first things you do after installing XP (and before
installing other programs) is to run the Windows Update program. You can
access Windows Update, by clicking on the Start Button and locating it in
one of the menus. When it launches, follow the wizard and accept the
updates. These updates will increase the security on your computer.
IV. Product Activation.
In this version of Windows, Microsoft has added some procedures to protect
against piracy that you need to follow to register your copy of XP with them.
If you do not register with Microsoft, then your computer will not be able to
save or function correctly after 30 days. To register or to go through the
Product Activation steps, locate an icon that is blinking in the lower right
corner of your task bar (you may do this over the phone as well if you
prefer). If you place your mouse pointer over the icon, it should have the
words Product Activation somewhere in the explanation. To start the
activation, double-click on the icon and follow the steps in the wizard. During
the activation, you will be asked to enter in a Key Code, you should find this
key code on the side of your CPU.
If you are not sure if someone has registered your computer or not, you can
check by clicking the Start button and moving to Programs, then to
Accessories and then to System Tools. In System Tools look for Product
Activation and click it. It will tell you if you are registered (activated) or not.
(note: Office XP has to be activated as well)
If you do not see Product Activation in the System Tools, then you can still
run the Activation Wizard by typing the following command in the Run box,
“oobe/msoobe /a”.
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V. .NET Passport ?
An icon you might see in the lower left hand task bar will be labeled “.NET
Passport” .NET Passport is an online service that makes it possible for you
to use your e-mail address and a single password to sign in to any .NET
Passport-participating Web site or service. If you would like to get one of
these, double-click on the icon and follow the instructions. To get more
information on this service, visit the follow web link:
http://www.passport.net/Consumer/Default.asp?lc=1033
VI. What’s new in Windows XP?
Windows XP is the newest “kid on the block”. A couple new features that
are worth mentioning are listed below:
a. Can “lock” a workstation if you leave it.
b. Support for CD-Writers’ and software to write to the CD.
c. Support for the latest products (hardware / software) as well as many
of the older ones.
d. Pictures are automatically viewed in Windows Explorer. (if that
option is chosen)
e. Driver roll back feature.
f. System Restore.
g. Built-In Firewall (for home use mainly)
h. Remote Desktop (only for XP Professional)
VII. Adding Accounts in XP.
Windows XP has many security features built into its operating system.
Probably one of the easiest and best ways to secure a computer that has
multiple users on it during the day is by setting up different accounts and
what they have access to on the machine. By default, XP has at least one
account built-in called Administrator or a user that has Administrator rights.
This person or the Administrator has rights to do whatever he or she wants
on this machine. They can uninstall and install programs, change
passwords, delete files and anything else they want to do.
If this computer is going to have students using it, you should consider to
create a “student” account. This will only give the student rights to change
whatever he or she has done. If you give your students accounts on your
Novell system then you will have to either create a generic “student”
account on each machine or purchase ZenWorks from Novell. The reason
for this is Windows XP requires you to login each time you want to access
something in windows. And if you do not have ZenWorks, then you would
either have to create an account on ever machine that you think a student
might use (very unlikely) or just create a generic account called student and
have them save their work to their network account.
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VIII. Getting XP into the Internet.
One of the nice things about Windows XP is that it supports many of the
newest and oldest network cards as well as modems. This is important
because as we know the first thing that we must have to get onto the
Internet with a computer is someway to connect to it. And most of our
computers in our schools have a network card installed in them to connect
to the Internet.
Another item that we must have to access the Internet is an IP address.
This item as well as the network card can be accessed in a couple of
different ways. One way is as follows:
Click the Start Button and locate and click the Control Panel. Next
locate the icon labeled “Network and Internet Connections” and
single click it. Next under the heading “pick a control panel icon”,
single click on Network Connections. Now in the upper left corner of
the screen you should see an icon labeled “Local Area
Connection”, right click on top of this icon and choose Properties
from the menu. Now you should see the clients, network cards,
modems and protocols that are installed on your computer. To
make a change to any of the items, highlight the item and then
choose Properties. To save changes, click the OK button.
In previous versions of Windows, finding your IP address could be done
easily with a utility called “WINIPCFG” at the Run command box. But now
in XP (2000) they have changed it to a utility called “IPCONFIG”. To run
this command, you will need to first get to a DOS command prompt and
then by typing IPCONFIG. You can also do a ”IPCONFIG ?” and it will
give you all commands you can use with IPCONFIG.
(Note: In the past versions of Windows (95 and 98) when you made
a change to TCPIP, you had to restart your computer for the changes to
take affect, not so in XP. As soon as you click OK, the system will make
the change and your computer will be ready to use within seconds)
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XVII. Adding / removing the Novell client for XP.
Like previous version of Microsoft Windows, you will need a additional
client to make Windows XP work correctly with a Novell Netware server.
You can download the client from either Artemis or Novell’s web site. The
Artemis website is ftp://artemis.k12.ar.us/pub/Netware/Client/NT/. At the
time at which this document was prepared the current client for XP is
“C483SP1E.exe”. To install this client, click on the name and save the file
to your harddrive. Next go to the directory in Windows Explorer where you
saved the file and double-click it. This will start an extraction of the client’s
files. Once the files have been extracted you need to locate the file
“setupnw.exe” in the /winnt/i386 directories and double-click it. Double-
clicking this file will start the installation of the client. To install, just accept
the defaults during the installation.
To remove the client, follow these steps:
1. Right click on My Network Places, choose properties, right click Local
Area Connections or Dial up Networking, choose properties highlight the
Novell Client for Windows and then click on the "Uninstall" button.
Windows will confirm that you want to remove the Novell Client for
NT/2000 from all connections and not just the current connection. Confirm
"Yes" to this prompt and the Novell Client for NT/2000 and dependant
Windows network services will be removed.
2. Reboot the workstation with no client
IX. Changing the look of XP.
Windows XP has a dramatic new look. It might scare some of your users.
This can be avoided if you want. This is done by making XP look like the
older Windows 98. To change the look of XP, follow the directions below.
i. Changing the Desktop – First you can change the buttons and
windows by right clicking on the desktop and choosing
Properties from the menu. Next choose the Appearance tab at
the top, now under Windows and Buttons, choose Windows
Classic Style from the drop down box.
ii. Changing the Start Menu – Right click anywhere inside the
Task Bar and choose Properties from the menu. Next click the
Start Menu tab at the top and then choose Classic Start Menu
at the bottom. Finally, click Apply and the new changes will
take place. Last click OK.
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X. Changing the drive letter of a CD-Rom drive in XP.
One of the common tasks that a System or Network Administrator has to do
to a computer is change the drive letter to a CD-Rom. To accomplish this,
follow these steps. Click the Start button, locate My Computer from the
menu and RIGHT click it. From the menu choose “Manage”, next choose
“Disk Management” on the left side and then you can right click on the
CD-Rom (in the lower right corner of the screen) and select “Change Drive
Letter and Path” and choose whatever drive letter you need.
XI. Backing Up Information in XP.
Another command task that some Administrators do before redoing a
computer is to back up a user’s documents, favorites and other things they
may want to save. In Windows XP, this is done very easily by a utility called
Backup. It is located in the Accessories / System Tools menu. This utility is
Wizard driven and easy to use. Just follow the instructions on the screen to
perform a backup. One thing I would suggest is to use the “Advanced Mode”
so you will have more control over what you want to back up.
XII. Trouble Shooting w/ Device Manager and Event Viewer.
Trouble shooting your computer in Windows XP is getting a little easier. In
other versions of Windows we mainly used the Device Manager to do most
of our trouble shooting. This device is still available. You can locate it by
clicking the Start button, move up and locate My Computer and RIGHT click
on top of it. This will bring up a window, at the top locate and click the
Hardware tab. Then in the middle of the window, locate the Device Manager
button and click it. This device works just like it did in the older version, if
you see a “yellow question mark” it means you have a problem and you
need to look into it.
Another device or utility that is new to XP (2000) is the Event Viewer. The
Event Viewer is a utility that keeps a log of all the things that are happening
with your computer. This includes good things as well as bad things. With
this Viewer you can determine what is going wrong with a part of your
computer. To access the Event Viewer, click the Start button, move up and
click on Control Panel, next locate the Category named Performance and
Maintenance and click it. Now at the bottom of the window, locate
Administrative Tools and click it. And finally, you will be presented with
several icons at the top, find and double-click on Event Viewer.
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When you enter the Event Viewer, you will see three items on the left side,
to see a log on each item, click on the items one at a time and a log will be
displayed to you on the right side. If you see a “Warning” or an “Error” type
icon then you need to give it some attention and make sure it is nothing
critical. If the item or error is critical, try to figure out a solution for it. A good
way of doing this is to write down the error and error code if it has one and
go to a search engine on the Internet and type the error in and see what it
says.
XIII. Remote Assistance.
One of the newest features in Windows XP is Remote Assistance. Remote
Assistance is a way a person can get help with his computer from another
computer far away. There are some requirements that must be meet first for
this to happen. They are, first both computers MUST be Windows XP,
second both computers must be connected to the Internet via a Network
card or a modem and finally both computers MUST have Windows
Messenger on them. Microsoft has a very good web site setup already on
how to setup this feature. If you are interested in doing this, visit the
following website:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gethelp/remoteassist/
default.asp
XIV. Local Computer Policies.
In Windows XP, you can lock down or control what a user has access to in
several ways. This can be done by a 3rd party program such as
DeepFreeze, setting up local computer policies on each machine or using a
Windows 2000 server to distribute a policy to a user when they login. We
are going to look, in this section, on how to setup a local computer policy.
Probably the worst thing about doing this is it has to be done to each
computer individually and it affects everyone that logs into the computer,
even the Administrator!
To setup a Local Computer Policy, do the following. First click the Start
button, next click Run, in the Run box, type in MMC and press enter. Next a
Console1 window will appear. In the upper left corner click File and come
down and select “Add / Remove Snap-in…” , next find the Add button in the
lower left corner and click it, next in the “Add Standalone Snap-ins” window
locate Group Policy and click it once to highlight it and then click Add.
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Another window will appear titled “Welcome to Group Policy Wizard”, in this
window you will need to confirm that Local Computer is in the blank and
then click finish. Now you can click the Close button on the “Add Standalone
Snap-ins” window. And finally click the OK button. From here you will need
to play around and see which settings you want to enable and disable. I
would suggest to get a computer that you are NOT afraid of messing up and
playing with it first and then going to other computers after you are
comfortable with this utility.
XV. Making Windows XP into a VPN server.
One of the things that DIS is doing and continues to improve on is the
security that our networks run on. This includes how a user accesses the
program called Pentamation or APSCN. In order for a user to access
APSCN he or she must have a state provided IP address. When the user is
at the district then they will almost always have a state provided IP address
but some users need and want to work at home and unless the district has a
dial-up system that forwards or distributes IP addresses from the district to
the user’s computer then that user is unable to access APSCN (there are
other ways but this is the most common).
If the district has a Windows XP machine, they can set it up to distribute a
state provided IP address through a service running on the machine called
VPN or Virtual Private Network. In order for a user to get a state IP address
from the VPN machine they MUST have a dial-up account already
established with a service provider such as AOL or any number of the
providers in the state (this will be a monthly cost to the user). The other item
that is a requirement is the machine the user is running must be Windows
98 second edition or above.
Below are the directions on how to setup Windows XP Professional as a
VPN server:
a. Click Start, move over and click on Control Panel.
b. Next locate and click “Network or Internet Connections”.
c. Next in lower right corner click on “Network Connection”.
d. Next in upper left corner click “Create a new connection”.
e. A window will appear titled “Welcome to the New Connection
Wizard”, inside this window click Next.
f. In the next window, locate and click out beside the last option “Set up
an advanced connection” and click next.
g. Next window, click on “Accept incoming connections” and click next.
h. At the LPT1 page, do nothing and click next.
i. On the next window, click “Allow virtual private connections” and click
next.
j. The next window is where you will need add the user or users you
want to be able to create a VPN connection with your machine.
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k. If you see the person in the list, click in the box out beside their name
and click Next. If you do not see the person name, click the Add
button and add them and then click the box out beside their name
and click Next.
l. Next click Finish.
m. Now you should see in the Network Connections window, an
Incoming Connections icon that you can view or change the settings.
n. Right click on the icon and select Properties inside the menu.
o. Next locate the Networking tab at the top and click it.
p. Now locate and highlight “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and then click
on the Properties box in the middle.
q. Now you will be looking at a window labeled “Incoming TCP/IP
Properties”. First make sure there is a check mark inside the small
box at the top.
r. Next under the heading TCP/IP address assignment, select Specify
TCP/IP addresses and inside the From: box type in the IP address of
the VPN machine (workstation).
s. Next in the To: box type in the IP address that is no more than 6
numbers more than the VPN machine. For example, if you have
170.211.24.50 in the From: box then in the To: box, your largest
number should be 170.211.24.56. This would only allow 5 machines
from outside your network to use the VPN server.
(NOTE: The IP addresses used above MUST be Static and as shown
above they need to be listed together)
The follow directions are for connecting a Windows 98 (second edition)
machine to a VPN server to allow access to APSCN:
Installing the Virtual Private Networking software.
a. Click Start, move up to Settings, and click Control Panel.
b. Next locate the Add / Remove Programs and double-click on top of
it.
c. Next at the top click the Windows Setup tab.
d. Next click Communications and then click the details button.
e. Next scroll down the menu and select Virtual Private Networking
and click OK.
f. You will be return to the Add / Remove Programs Properties
window, click OK, Windows will now install the necessary files.
g. Click OK in the Dial-up Networking Setup window after the
necessary files are installed. The Add / Remove Programs window
will close.
h. Restart your computer. VPN is now installed on your computer.
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Creating a dial-up entry for the VPN server.
a. Double-click the My Computer icon.
b. Locate the Dial-up Networking folder and double-click it.
c. Click the “Make New Connection” icon.
d. In the “Make New Connection” window, type VPN in the space
provided. In the “Select a device:” menu, choose “Microsoft VPN
Adapter” (should be your modem showing at first). Click Next.
e. In the Host name or IP address, enter in the IP address of the VPN
server and click next.
f. After you have been prompted that you have successfully created a
new Dial-Up Networking connection called: VPN. Click Finish.
g. You are now ready to access the VPN server and APSCN.
(Note: In order for your user to access APSCN, they will first need to
dial-up to their service provider that they usually dial to access the
Internet. Once they have made a connection and are on-line, they will
need to double-click on the VPN connection that we made above and
enter in their assigned username and password. ***Also remind the user
to disconnect from the VPN connection when they are done using
APSCN, disconnecting from the VPN server is just like disconnecting
from their service provider)
I wish to acknowledge the following sources for information:
Chris O'Rourke – technical specialist, Microsoft Corporation
DIS / APSCN LAN Support group
Bruce Cochran – technology Coordinator, Northwest Ark. Edu. Coop
Novell Corporation’s Web Site
Bob Cerelli’s Windows Page –
http://onecomputerguy.com/networking/xp_vpn_server.htm
Institute for Advanced Study – http://www.admin.ias.edu/itg/vpn98.html
An electronic copy of this handout can be downloaded from the following
web site (handout was written in Word 2002):
http://crowleys.crsc.k12.ar.us/winxp.doc
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