ch07

A+ Guide to Software, 4e

Chapter 7 Supporting Windows 9x/Me


Windows 9x/Me Architecture

• Encompasses a number of releases:– Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me

• Two components of the OS: shell and kernel

• Shell– Relates to the user and applications– User component: manages I/O – Graphic Devices Interface (GDI): supports graphics

• Kernel– Interacts with the hardware– Fulfills requests for service passed from the shell

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Virtual Machines

• Application programming interface (API) call– Used by application to access hardware or software

• Virtual machine (VM)– Set of resources made available through APIs– Analogy: virtual machines are like logical drives

• Virtual machines allocated by OS based on need– DOS program: provided with its own VM– Windows 16-bit application: shares VM and addresses– Windows 32-bit application: shares VM only

• General Protection Fault: caused by 16-bit programs

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Virtual Memory

• Virtual memory: hard drive space acting like memory

• Functions of Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) – Stores virtual memory in a file called a swap file– Moves 4KB pages into and out of physical RAM

• Disk thrashing: caused by excess memory paging

• Settings you can change in Virtual Memory dialog box– Minimum and maximum file size – The location of the swap file (Win386.swp)

• Swap files can be placed on a compressed drive

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Table 7-2 Minimum and recommended hardware requirements for Windows 9x/Me

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Installing Windows 9x/Me (continued)

• Choosing a file system– FAT16: 16-bit cluster entries allowing 65,535 clusters– FAT32: 28-bit cluster entries allowing more clusters– FAT32 drives are less likely to have slack

• Installing a Windows 9x/Me as a clean installation– Prepare your system first; e.g., verify boot sequence– Install Windows 98/Me from a bootable setup CD– If PC does not boot from CD, boot from a floppy disk

• Then insert the CD and enter D:\Setup.exe

– When dialog box opens, follow onscreen instructions

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• Installing Windows 9x/Me as an upgrade– Prepare for installation; e.g., create a rescue disk– Start the PC, loading the current operating system– Close all open applications– Insert CD in CD-ROM drive or floppy disk in floppy drive– Enter the command D:\Setup.exe in Run Dialog box– Follow the instructions on the setup screen

• Installation process from the setup screen forward– Four options: Typical, Portable, Compact, Customer– Installation logs: Setuplog.txt, Detlog.txt, Detcrash.log

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• Downloading/installing updates for Windows 9x/Me– Updates include service packs or patches– Microsoft is no longer updating Windows 9x/Me– Find previous updates at windowsupdate.microsoft.com

• Use Windows Update on Start menu to access page

• Configuring Windows 9x/Me Startup with Msdos.sys– Msdos.sys is a hidden, read-only system file– Msdos.sys has parameters affecting how the OS boots– You must change Msdos.sys file attributes before use– Table 7-3 (partially reproduced): details file contents

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Installing and Managing Hardware with Windows 9x/Me

• Driver: interfaces application and OS with a device

• Ways to begin device driver installation process – Install device, power on PC, launch install wizard– Run installation program on setup disk or CD– Download driver from Internet, run setup file

• Scenario: view and change current video driver – Open the Control Panel and double-click Display– Go to Settings tab to view the installed display driver– To change driver, go to AvancedAdapterChange

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Installing and Managing Hardware with Windows 9x/Me (continued)

• Plug and Play (PnP) – Specifications simplifying the installation of hardware

• Criteria for use of PnP– The system BIOS must be PnP– All devices and expansion cards must be PnP-compliant– The OS must support PnP– A 32-bit device driver must be available

• DriveSpace utility – Used to compress FAT16 volumes in Windows 9x

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Figure 7-20 ScanDisk results

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Installing and Managing Software in Windows 9x/Me

• Preparing for the software installation– Check available resources– Protect the original software– Back up the registry and system configuration files

• Installing software– Open Control Panel – Double-click Add/Remove Programs– Insert software CD or disk in appropriate drive

• Alternatively, download software file from the Internet

– Follow directions on setup screen

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Installing and Managing Software in Windows 9x/Me (continued)

• Troubleshooting software installations– Delete all files and folders under \Windows\Temp– Look for guidance in Readme.htm hypertext file

• Supporting DOS applications under Windows 9x/Me– Access the Properties feature of DOS program file– Select Program tab and then click Advanced tab

• Example: select Specify a new MS-DOS configuration

– Changes are stored in program’s information file (PIF)

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Files Used to Customize the Startup Process

• Autoexec.bat and Config.sys– Contain settings for loading 16-bit drivers and TSRs– Supported for backwards compatibility with DOS

• Initialization files (those with .ini extension)– Custom settings used to load Windows 3.x programs– Supported for backwards compatibility with Windows 3.x

• You can edit text files with various tools; e.g., Sysedit

• Comment line: information ignored by application

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Figure 7-22 Sysedit can be used to edit Windows system files

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Table 7-4 Windows .ini files

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Figure 7-24 Windows 9x/Me core components and the loading process17/31


System Monitor

• Monitors how system resources are being used

• Items monitored– The file system– Memory– The kernel– Printer sharing services– Network performance data

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System Configuration Utility (Msconfig)

• Used to reduce startup to core components– Similar to Safe Mode

• How to access the System Configuration Utility– Enter Msconfig in the Run Dialog Box

• How to isolate a problem using Msconfig– Select Diagnostic startup, click OK and restart PC– Next, select Selective startup from the dialog box – Methodically add items until the problem reappears– Source of problem is related to the last added item

• A few alternatives: Registry Checker, CMOS setup

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Dr. Watson

• Used to troubleshoot problems running a program

• Information logged by Dr. Watson– Detailed system information– Errors– Programs that caused errors

• Using Dr. Watson– Start the utility– Reproduce the application error– Go to Diagnosis tab to view events– Cross-check information to support.microsoft.com

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The Windows 9x/Me Registry and Registry Checker

• Registry – Database of configuration information and settings– Takes over the essential functions of .ini files– 16-bit applications cannot access the Registry

• Organization of the Registry– Hierarchical database appearing as an inverted tree– Six major keys appearing in the left pane– Values and value data appear in the right pane

• System.dat and User.dat– Files used to store the Windows 95/98 registry

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Table 7-7 Six major branches, or keys, of the Windows 9x/Me registry

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The Windows 9x/Me Registry and Registry Checker (continued)

• Ways to recover registry data in Windows 95– OS replaces System.dat with backup System.da0– OS enters Safe Mode and prompts recovery process– If backups are missing, restore registry from setup disk

• Ways to recover registry data in Windows 9x/Me– Recover using backups made by Registry Checker– Registry Checker types: Scanreg.exe, Scanregw.exe

• Modifying the registry– Automatically performed in most cases– Manually edit the registry using Regedit.exe

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Troubleshooting Windows 9x/Me

• Problems are categorized by phase of OS operation – Windows installation – Startup process– Normal Windows operations

• Troubleshooting techniques are tailored to problem

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Table 7-9 Some problems and solutions when installing Windows 9x/Me

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Table 7-9 Some problems and solutions when installing Windows 9x/Me (continued)

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Troubleshooting Windows 9x/Me Startup (continued)

• Press F8 during startup to open startup menu• Windows 9x/Me startup menu options

– 1. Normal– 2. Logged (\BOOTLOG.TXT)– 3. Safe Mode– 4. Safe Mode with network support– 5. Step-by-step confirmation– 6. Command prompt only (not in Windows Me)– 7. Safe Mode command prompt only (not in Win Me)– 8. Previous version of MS-DOS

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Troubleshooting Windows 9x/Me Startup (continued)

• A few tips for troubleshooting with the startup menu – Try a hard boot– If you have not already done so, try Safe Mode next– Look for errors using Step-by-Step confirmation – Use Logged option and examine Bootlog.txt

• Using the startup disk for troubleshooting– If the emergency disk is not available, make one – Check disk for viruses before inserting it into PC– Disk should have drivers needed to access CD drive

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Troubleshooting Problems After Windows 9x/Me Startup

• A few questions to ask the user– When did the problem start?– Did you move your computer system recently?– Has someone else been using your computer recently?

• Some general tips for troubleshooting hardware– Try rebooting the computer– Test the device with another application– Check Device Manager for errors reported on device– The driver might be corrupted or need updating– Try reseating an expansion card

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Troubleshooting Problems After Windows 9x/Me Startup (continued)

• Some tips for troubleshooting application problems– Address error messages appearing during program use– Try uninstalling and reinstalling the software

• Some tips for troubleshooting a shortcut icon– Decide if the icon on the desktop is actually a shortcut– Check name and location of target file for the shortcut

• Some tips for troubleshooting a slow system– Check for applications unnecessarily loaded at startup – Verify Windows is using optimum caching on hard drive

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Figure 7-37 Troubleshooter making a suggestion to resolve a hardware conflict

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ch07

Education

software file

software cd

vm windows

supporting windows

addresses windows

original software

software installations

xme driver