CompTIA® A+ It Technician Exam Cram Notes : Windows 2000, blue screen, IRQ conflicts, etc

24)By default, Windows 2000 stores a user's profile in the C:\Documents and Settings\ user_name folder on the computer the user logs on. When a new user logs on, his initial user profile is an exact copy of either the local or domain-wide "default user" profile folder. The local default user profile folder is located in %root%\Documents and Settings. If you have installed Windows 2000 in C drive, it is C:\Documents and Settings.

Automated System Recovery (ARS) requires that a system backup be taken using Windows XP Backup utility.

Batteries contain environmentally hazardous chemicals and therefore, should not be disposed through dust bit. Always refer to the manufacturer's instructions or the relevant State guidelines. The same is true when you are disposing chemical solvents.

25)Blue screen messages are also called STOP messages. You will not be allowed to proceed, when a blue screen message appears. The most likely cause of blue screen messages are:

1. Boot sector virus
2. IRQ/ IO address conflicts.

You can check for any boot sector virus, and also for any conflicting IRQ / IO addresses

26) By default, you can start recovery console on a PC using Windows 2000 OS using,

1. The Windows 2000 Professional Setup Disks
2. From the CD ROM drive using Windows 2000 Professional CD (if the CD -ROM drive is bootable).

Also, you can have "Recovery Console" as a start up option by typing \i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons at the command prompt, after switching to the CD ROM drive letter.

27. By pressing <CTRL> <ALT> <DEL>, you launch the Security Window in Windows 2000 OS. Note that in Windows 9X, it launches the task manager. The Security Window in 2000 contains task manager.

The IRQ numbers and relevant Standard Device Assignment are given below. It is important to memorize these values before going to the exam, as there would be 5-10 questions on IRQs, and conflicts.

IRQ----Standard Device Assignment
0-System timer
1-Keyboard
2-Cascade to IRQ9. Can't be used.
3-COM ports 2 and 4
4-COM ports 1 and 3
5-Parallel Port LPT2. Very often used for sound cards.
6-Floppy drive controller
7-Parallel Port, LPT1
8-Real time clock
9-Unassigned (Also redirected from IRQ2)
10-Available
11-Available. SCSI adapter will usually use this IRQ.
12-Mouse or touch pads
13-Math co-processor.
14-Primary hard-disk IDE controller
15-Secondary hard-disk IDE controller.

COM1,COM3 share the same IRQ. Similarly, COM2,COM4 share the same IRQ.

28)COM1 and COM2 on a computer use serial cable. The pin assignments are shown below. The computer acts as a DTE(Data Terminal Equipment) and the Modem acts as DCE (Data Communication Equipment).

Symbol ...................... Signal name ........ DB9 Pin #
RX ........................... Received Data ............... 2
TX ........................... Transmitted Data............. 3
DTR ........................ Data Terminal Ready........ 4
GND ....................... Ground ........................... 5
DSR ....................... Data Set Ready................ 6
RTS ....................... Request to Send............... 7
CTS ....................... Clear to send.................... 8

Normally, a DTE device connects to a DCE device. If you want to connect two DTR devices, as you would do to hook up two computers via the serial line to exchange files, the cable itself must have cross connections. Such a cable is called null modem cable.?

29)Computer Management -> Shared Folders can be used to view some very useful information like,

1. Shares information: Here you can see all of the shares that have been configured on the computer.
2. Session Information: Allows you to see username, computer name etc that has connected to a share currently
3. Open Files : Allow you to see currently opened files

Computer network cabling needs to be routed securely to prevent any unforeseen damage. Using wireless network is not an option because the network already exists using wired media.

30)CPU throttling usually refers to reducing power consumption in CPUs by lowering the clock frequency. When a processor gets overheated, CPU throttling is enabled, and automatically lowers the CPU clock frequency thereby reducing the power consumed by the CPU. Most of the modern day processors support the CPU throttling technology.

Create a group, and give privileges to group members to make required changes to workstations. Add the user accounts to this group.

Ctrl+Esc will pop-up Start menu in Windows 2000/XP.

Disk Management is used to create, manage, and delete simple volumes, spanned volumes, mirrored volumes, striped, and stripe set with parity volumes. Disk Administrator is NT 4 tool and is not available in Windows 2000.

Disk quotas can only be used on NTFS volumes. This is because only NTFS volumes maintain ownership information on files and folders. Windows Explorer can be used to configure and monitor disk quotas.

31)DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library. DLL is a special form of application code loaded into memory by request. A DLL is not executable by itself. More than one application may use the functions offered by a DLL.

DOS allows you to set the following attributes using ATTRB command:

5. System
6. Hidden
7. Read-only
8. Archive

'+' sets and attribute
'-' clears an attribute
Correct syntax is
ATTRIB [+R -R] [+A -A] [+S -S] [+H -H] [PATH] [FILESPEC] [/S]
/s Processes files in all directories in the specified path.

32)DOS, Windows3.1 Windows 95/ 98 operating systems share the following criteria:

1. Each can have only one primary partition per hard disk
2. The primary partition is automatically assigned a drive letter
3. Each hard disk can have only one Extended partition
4. You can create one or more logical drives in the Extended partition.
5. The drive letters are assigned manually to logical drives.

33)Each device in a SCSI chain needs to have unique ID. For a 16-bit Wide SCSI, there are 16 possible SCSI Ids, 0-15. A standard 8-bit SCSI can support only 8 devices (including SCSI card), the Ids allowed are 0-7.

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