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

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■ A hardware profile stores configuration settings for a set of devices and services.
Windows XP Professional uses hardware profiles to determine which drivers to
load when system hardware changes. To create or modify a hardware profile, in
the System Properties dialog box, click the Hardware tab, and then click Hardware
Profiles to view the Available Hardware Profiles list.
■ You can use the Driver tab of a device’s Properties dialog box in Device Manager
to view driver details for a device. Windows XP Professional also allows you to
roll back a driver to a previous version if a new driver causes instability in a system.
Digitally signed drivers indicate that a driver has passed quality testing at
Microsoft and has not been altered since testing. You can configure Windows to
ignore or accept unsigned drivers, or to notify you if an unsigned driver is about
to be installed. Windows XP Professional provides two tools to verify the digital
signatures of system files: SFC and File Signature Verification.
Exam Highlights
Key Points
Key Terms
Exam Highlights
Before taking the exam, review the key points and terms that are presented in this
chapter. You need to know this information.
■ Windows XP Professional automatically detects, installs, and configures most Plug
and Play (and some non–Plug and Play) hardware. If Windows does not detect
Plug and Play hardware, you can often force the detection by restarting the computer
or running the Add Hardware Wizard. For many non–Plug and Play devices,
you must use the Add Hardware Wizard to manually configure the device.
■ Some USB hubs are self-powered, and some are not. Hubs that are not self-powered
draw power from the hub to which they are connected or from the computer
itself. If you find that a USB device that is connected to an unpowered USB hub
is not working as expected, try replacing the unpowered USB hub with a selfpowered
hub.
■ You should consider rolling back a driver when you are sure that a new driver is
causing a problem and you do not want to affect other system configurations or
drivers with a tool such as System Restore.
Device Manager An administrative tool that you can use to manage the devices on
your computer. Using Device Manager, you can view and change device properties,
update device drivers, configure device settings, and uninstall devices.