WINDOWS 1002000 PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE KIT [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Configuration and Management

A key issue for managing desktops includes centralizing computer control, managing multiple hardware and software configurations, and managing configuration changes.

If you have Windows 2000 Server in your organization, you can leverage its technologies to centralize control, increase the availability of resources, and minimize the cost of configuring and managing changes on Windows 2000 Professional–based desktops through Group Policy-based change and configuration management.

Even if you don't have Windows 2000 Server in your organization, you can take advantage of a variety of tools that Windows 2000 Professional introduces that work on any type of network, such as the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), and Security Templates. MMC consolidates various administrative tasks to manage many of the hardware, software, and networking components of Windows 2000 Professional into a single user interface.

Configuration and Management Tools

Windows 2000 Professional provides better tools for managing and configuring desktop computers. All of the new configuration and management tools are listed here. In the Configuration and Management chapter, you'll find details about general management tools and how to use features such as Group Policy. For details about new features in a specific area, such as hardware management, printing, or fonts, see other chapters in this book.

Add/Remove Programs

The new user interface and wizard make it easy to install programs, get detailed information about program usage, and remove program elements from the hard disk.

Administrative Tools

Administrative Tools, which are available through Control Panel, is the central repository for tools such as Computer Management, Event Viewer, Local Security, and Services.

Color Management System

Image Color Management (ICM) 2.0 ensures that colors are retained between the input and output devices (such as monitors, printers, and platforms) that support ICM 2.0.

Fonts

Support for OpenType fonts combines TrueType and Type 1 fonts in a unified registry. OpenType fonts are secured by using public key signatures, which ensures that fonts are authentic and are not corrupted.

Hardware Tab and Troubleshoot Option in Properties Page

A separate Hardware tab is provided in the properties page for Sounds and Multimedia, Mouse, Display, and Fax. The new Troubleshoot option on this tab helps you detect problems with these devices.

Hardware Wizard

You can use the new Add/Remove Hardware Wizard to add, troubleshoot, uninstall, and unplug devices.

Multilanguage Support

This feature allows users to read and write documents in more than one language.

Network and Dial-up Connections Icon

The Network Connection Wizard, Network Protocol, and Network Adapter configurations are now under Network and Dial-up Connections in Control Panel.

Phone and Modem Options

You can use Phone and Modem Options in Control Panel to configure Telephony API (TAPI) devices and reconfigure installed modems. Only members of the Administrators group can make changes to these configuration settings.

Power Options Icon

You can use Power Options in Control Panel to reduce the power consumption of individual devices or of the entire system. You can either choose a power scheme (collection of settings that manages the power usage of the computer) that is provided with Windows 2000 Professional, or create your own power scheme.

Printers

You can use the new Add Printer Wizard for easy installation.

Scanners and Cameras

This new option in Control Panel manages scanners and digital camera devices.

Scheduled Tasks Icon

You can use the new Maintenance wizard to schedule tasks.

System Icon in Control Panel

The System Properties page now includes a Network Identification tab, Hardware tab, User Profiles tab, and Advanced tab. The Advanced tab allows you to configure performance options, environment variables, and startup and recovery settings.

Users and Passwords

Going to Users and Passwords in Control Panel is the fastest, easiest way to set up user accounts, assign permissions, and configure logon options.

For an overview of tools and methods for managing Windows 2000 Professional, see "Introduction to Configuration and Management" in this book.

Files, Folders, and Search Methods

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional makes it easier for users to find and store files and folders, and for administrators to manage file storage and access. By using new tools such as Group Policy, Indexing Service, and Offline Files, you can prevent users from accessing required system files, enable powerful searches, and prevent network problems from affecting user productivity.

There are a few significant changes from Windows 98 and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 that affect the way files and folders are stored, viewed, and accessed in the Windows Explorer user interface for Windows 2000 Professional. This section describes these changes.

My Network Places My Network Places, which was previously named Network Neighborhood, now provides a comprehensive list of all the shared computers, files and folders, printers, and other resources on the network or networks to which a computer connects.

My Computer My Computer now lists the storage devices available to the computer and provides access to Control Panel. Control Panel has become the central repository for tools, such as Network and Dial-up Connections and Scheduled Tasks.

My Documents and My Pictures The contents of My Documents are stored on a per-user basis. A new subfolder in My Documents, called My Pictures, is the default location for storing graphic images, such as digital camera pictures.

Offline Files and Folders Users can work on files even if the network resource is unavailable. Changes made to files can be automatically synchronized on the server when the network connection is restored.

System Files Hidden by Default By default, files with system and hidden attributes do not appear in Windows Explorer windows, such as My Computer. This prevents users from inadvertently deleting or modifying required system files.

Indexing Service You can search for files and folders based on their content, author, size, or other attributes. Indexing Service is available for files stored on the hard disk drive and shared network drives.

AutoComplete AutoComplete caches previously typed addresses and file names so that when you begin to type an address or file name, Windows 2000 Professional displays entries similar to what you entered. AutoComplete works throughout the Windows 2000 Professional user interface, including in dialog boxes (such as Run and Map Network Drive), and in Windows Explorer.

Mobile Computing

Many mobile users want to use the same computer as they move from one geographical location to the next, but that might require them to use a different configuration. For example, sometimes they might need to connect through a high-speed connection and at other times through a low-speed connection or dial-up line. Each of these uses requires a different desktop configuration. Windows 2000 Professional provides the features to meet these and other requirements.

If you use Windows 2000 Professional with Windows 2000 Server, you can use roaming profiles to support roaming users. A roaming user requires the ability to move from computer to computer throughout an organization. Although a roaming user logs on to different computers, the computers are usually connected to a network through a high-speed connection or LAN connection.

Multimedia

The new Sounds and Multimedia tool available in Control Panel lets you easily install, configure, and troubleshoot multimedia hardware. You can also create and deploy custom sound schemes and browser configurations to optimize the multimedia capabilities of your workstations.

Windows 2000 Professional supports the latest multimedia hardware, such as the Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP), DVD devices, and digital video cameras. Windows 2000 Professional also supports a wide range of Human Interface Devices (HIDs) and other peripherals connected through the universal serial bus (USB) or an IEEE 1394 port.

For more information about managing multimedia devices and sounds, see "Multimedia" in this book.

Telephony and Conferencing

Windows 2000 Professional provides support for telephony and conferencing applications in a variety of telecommunications environments, including device support for modems, network adapters, and other telecommunications devices used by applications.

Telephony support has steadily evolved from its introduction in Microsoft® Windows® 95, which was the first operating system to include Telephony Application Programming Interface, also known as Telephony API (TAPI) support. In Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft builds upon this initial Telephony support by making improvements in the following areas:

TAPI 3.0. Function calls made by TAPI provide the foundation for the deployment of telephony and conferencing applications. TAPI abstracts the details of the underlying telecommunications network, allowing applications and devices to use a single command set. TAPI-enabled applications and devices can operate in a variety of telecommunications environments, including traditional analog-switched networks, Private Branch Exchange (PBX) phone networks, and Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN). TAPI further expands telecommunications support through IP-based telephony, enabling telecommunications functions through a private intranet or over the Internet.

NetMeeting 3.0. NetMeeting 3.0 is an application included with Windows 2000 Professional that provides conferencing capabilities within an intranet or to users on the Internet. NetMeeting 3.0 provides point-to-point audio and video conferencing, data conferencing, text chat, whiteboard, and file transfer features. In addition, NetMeeting 3.0 provides the following improvements:

Improved user interface facilitates use, and provides additional features, such as picture-in-picture and compact views.

Remote desktop sharing allows viewing and control of a remote computer in a separate window.

Enhanced security protects data transferred during text-chat, whiteboard, shared programs, and data conferences.

Phone Dialer. Phone Dialer in Windows 2000 Professional is a TAPI-enabled application that can be used to place audio and video calls. The version of Phone Dialer supplied with Windows NT 4.0 was limited to voice calling onto private and public-switched telephone networks. Windows 2000 Professional Phone Dialer also supports point-to-point and multipoint audio and video conferencing over a private intranet or over the Internet.

Security

Windows 2000 Professional has stronger local and network security compared to Windows NT Workstation 4.0 and Windows 95 or Windows 98. It supports security over public networks by using a public key security infrastructure. This allows users to authenticate the origin of information they receive. It also allows for secure Internet connections and transactions.

You can now more easily create a virtual private network to securely connect computers over the Internet. Windows 2000 Professional supports the following scalable security technologies: Kerberos v5 protocol, smart card authentication, public key cryptography, and Internet Protocol security (IPSec).

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) was available in Windows NT Workstation 4.0; in addition, Windows 2000 Professional contains innovations for local security through the new Encrypting File System (EFS). EFS allows users to transparently encrypt individual files or entire folders.

Kerberos Authentication Kerberos, an industry-standard network-authentication protocol, makes it possible for users to log on to the network by providing their credentials one time. Windows 2000 Professional implements Kerberos authentication based on Request for Comments (RFC) 1510 and supports Novell NetWare, UNIX, HP-UX, LINUX, SGI IRIX, and Sun Solaris.

Smart Card Authentication Windows 2000 Professional supports Kerberos authentication for using other security infrastructures and devices such as smart cards. Rather than relying on a single factor to authenticate the user's credentials, multifactor authentication relies on a combination of credentials, such as a user name/password combination and a smart card.

For more information about the configuring security in Windows 2000 Professional, see "Security" in this book.

Printing

Windows 2000 Professional includes Image Color Management (ICM) 2.0, which ensures that colors are retained between input and output devices, such as monitors, printers, and platforms, that support ICM 2.0. You can use the new Add Printer Wizard for easy installation of printer devices.

For more information about printing, see "Printing" in this book.

Scanners and Cameras

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional supports a wide range of scanners and cameras, and has been optimized to produce more accurate reproductions of images and their colors. For example, IrTran-P is provided to enable easier transfer of image information from digital cameras to computers and pushbutton scanning simplifies acquiring images.

The new Scanners and Cameras option in Control Panel manages installing, configuring, and troubleshooting scanners, digital still cameras, and the latest digital video cameras.

For more information about configuring your scanner or camera and understanding imaging architecture, see "Scanners and Cameras" in this book.

Fonts

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional supports a wide range of fonts and font types, allowing for high-quality printed and displayed text while supporting a wide range of printing devices. It includes a new universal font format, OpenType®, which combines the TrueType® and Type 1 font technologies.

With Windows 2000 Professional, it is easier to install fonts, their integrity is ensured by public key signatures, and they are used more efficiently, resulting in faster printing.

For more information about installing, managing, and embedding fonts in documents, see "Fonts" in this book.

File Systems

In Windows 2000 Professional, you can use four types of file systems on readable/writable disks: the NTFS file system and three file allocation table (FAT) file systems: FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32.The version of NTFS included with Windows 2000 Professional offers several enhancements over previous versions of NTFS, as well as features not available with FAT.

Windows 2000 Professional also supports two types of file systems on CD-ROM and digital video disk (DVD) media: Compact Disc File System (CDFS) and Universal Disk Format (UDF). The structures of the volumes formatted by each of these file systems, as well as the way each file system organizes data on the disk, are significantly different.

For more information about these file systems, how to choose the appropriate one, and using file system tools to manage files and folders on NTFS volumes, see "File Systems" in this book.

Removable Storage and Backup

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional includes a feature called Removable Storage that you can use to manage the data that is stored on your system. Use the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Removable Storage snap-in for managing the Removable Storage service.

Removable Storage provides services that allow both system administrators and applications to use, share, and manage removable media devices, such as tape drives and robotic storage libraries. Removable Storage provides a single interface for managing the data that is stored on stand-alone drives and in storage libraries, and it allocates media to applications.

Removable Storage provides a single set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow applications to catalog all removable media (except floppy disks and similar small-capacity media), such as disk, tape, and optical media, which are either stored on shelves (offline) or in libraries (online). Also, by disguising the complexities of underlying robotic library systems, Removable Storage both lowers the costs of developing and operating storage applications and provides consistency to customers who purchase these applications.

Removable Storage eliminates the need for independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop customized solutions to support these devices on a per-device basis. More importantly, Removable Storage enables multiple applications to share expensive removable media storage devices. This allows the focus of storage applications to be directed to customer features rather than hardware issues.

Removable Storage uses media pools to organize media. Media pools control access to media; group media by their use; allow media to be shared across applications; and allow such sharing to be tracked.

Because backing up the data on your system is one of the most important aspects of data management, Windows 2000 Professional also includes Backup, a tool that uses Removable Storage technology to ensure that up-to-date copies of your data can be readily restored.

Backup allows you to schedule backup jobs on local and remote computers. Review the options for backing up data that this tool provides, and note some important differences between it and the backup tool that is included with Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0.

For more information about Removable Storage and Backup, see "Removable Storage and Backup" in this book.

Device Management

A new, separate Hardware tab is provided for Sounds and Multimedia, Mouse, Display, and Fax. The new Troubleshoot button on the Hardware tab helps detect problems with these devices.

For more information about configuring and managing hardware and other devices, see "Device Management" and "Power Management" in this book.

Power Management

Windows 2000 Professional has new, more advanced power options. For more information about power management options, see "Device Management" and "Power Management" in this book.

For more information about using power management options on portable computers, see "Mobile Computing" in this book.