MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing ...

Chapter Summary
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■ Before installing Windows XP Professional, you should first ensure that your hardware
meets the minimum hardware requirements and that your hardware is in the
Windows Catalog. Additional preinstallation tasks include determining how to
partition the hard disk on which you will install Windows XP Professional and
deciding whether to format the partition as NTFS, FAT, or FAT32.
■ Your computer can join a domain or a workgroup during or after installation.
■ When you install Windows XP Professional, the main difference between an overthe-network
installation and an installation from CD-ROM is the location of the
source files.
■ After you connect to the shared folder containing the source files and start
Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe, the installation proceeds as an installation from CD-
ROM. Several switches for Winnt.exe and Winnt32.exe allow you to modify the
installation process. The /checkupgradeonly switch specifies that Winnt32.exe
should check your computer only for upgrade compatibility with Windows XP
Professional.
■ Before you upgrade a client computer to Windows XP Professional, use the Windows
XP Professional Compatibility tool to generate a hardware and software
compatibility report. For client systems that test as compatible with Windows XP
Professional, run the Windows XP Professional Setup program (Winnt32.exe) to
complete the upgrade.
■ The Setupact.log action log records and describes in chronological order the
actions that Setup performs. The Setuperr.log error log describes errors that occur
during Setup and indicates the severity of each error.
■ You can use the Windows Update site to scan a computer and display available
critical, Windows, and driver updates. Automatic Updates is a Windows XP feature
that downloads and installs critical updates automatically. Although you can specify
that Automatic Updates prompt users before downloading or installing,
Microsoft recommends that you configure it to download and install automatically
according to a preset schedule. Service packs are collections of updates (and
sometimes new features) that have been tested to ensure that they work together
correctly. Microsoft issues new service packs for its products occasionally.
Exam Highlights
Exam Highlights
Before taking the exam, review the key points and terms that are presented in this
chapter. You need to know this information.