Que.MCSA.MCSE.10070.100270.Exam.Prep.2.Windows.XP.Professional [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Input and Output (I/O) Devices

The majority of the work involving I/O device implementation, management, and troubleshooting is found in the Device Manager utility. Every device has its own Properties dialog box, specific to its device type and sometimes specific to the manufacturer and model, depending on the installed driver. Standard tabs found in any device Properties dialog box are

General Displays the device's description and status. Allows you to enable or disable the device. Includes a button to launch the device Troubleshooter.

Driver Displays the current device driver's information. Includes buttons to display the files that make up the driver (Device Details), to install a new device driver (Update), to roll back the driver to an older version (Rollback), and to uninstall the driver (Uninstall).

Details Displays the device's specifications.

Resources Displays the system resources being consumed, including interrupt requests (IRQs), direct memory access (DMA) channels, and the I/O memory range. Displays whether these resources are in conflict with any others being used in the system.

When Microsoft developed Windows XP, the company substantially enhanced the NT kernel, on which Windows XP is based. Because it functions at the low level of the operating system, the kernel improvements significantly boost performance. The I/O subsystem is one of these enhancements. The I/O subsystem comprises the kernel components that interface with hardware devices. The Windows XP improvements provide a better interface to the devices and retain compatibility with the drivers created for Windows 2000. For an administrator, this means that you can upgrade a Windows 2000 computer without needing to replace existing drivers, with few exceptions. If you have a problem with a driver that was developed for use specifically with Windows XP, you can install the Windows 2000 version of the driver. However, although the Windows 2000 drivers function, they do not take advantage of the finer enhancements of the kernel improvements.

You can use Device Manager to determine whether an I/O conflict exists by changing the view. To do this, right-click My Computer and select Manage. In Computer Management, right-click Device Manager in the left pane, select View, and then select Resources by Type. In the right pane, click the plus (+) sign next to Input/Output (IO). Each device is listed in the order of the I/O resources it uses, as shown in Figure 8.1.

Device Manager offers other views that assist in monitoring. When you select Devices by Type, you see the devices organized by the kind of hardware each device is. If you have multiple monitors, for example, you see each of the monitors displayed below the Monitor node. This is the default view. The Devices by Connection view groups each device by the way it is connected in the computer. For example, all the disk drives and CD or DVD drives connected to the IDE controller are displayed under the IDE connection node. The Resources by Connection view shows the status of the I/O ports, as well as DMA channels, IRQs, and memory addresses, listed by the connection type. To expand the views to show nonPlug and Play devices, select Show Hidden Devices from the View menu.

If you want to view whether a single device has an I/O conflict, you can double-click it in Device Manager to view its properties, as shown in Figure 8.2. Click the Resources tab to see the resources that are used by that particular device. At the bottom of this window, the Conflicting Device list box shows other devices that are consuming the same I/O resources.

Monitoring, Configuring, and Troubleshooting I/O Devices

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot I/O devices, such as printers, scanners, multimedia devices, mouse, keyboard, and smart card reader.

As you know, the optimal place to monitor and manage devices in a Windows XP Professional computer is in Device Manager. This tool provides a graphical representation of the hardware devices installed in the computer. To use Device Manager, you must have the permission to load and unload drivers, to copy files to the %windir%\system32\drivers directory, and to write changes to the registry. All these permissions are granted to members of the Administrators group.

In Device Manager, you can identify resource conflicts, update and roll back drivers, uninstall devices, scan for new hardware, view and change device properties, and view the files and dates of those files that make up the device drivers.

Exam Alert

Watch for questions requiring users to start applications with administrative rights The correct answer is to use Run As. Microsoft recommends that you do not run your computer as a member of the Administrators group. To update a driver, you can use the Run As method to start Device Manager as an Administrator. From the command line, you can type runas /user:Administrator "mmc %windir%\system32\devmgmt.msc" and then provide the password when prompted.

Device drivers are often the main cause of a problem. Using the latest device drivers often offers the best hardware performance; however, doing so is not always advantageous because problems may occur in certain hardware combinations. You can download the latest device drivers from the manufacturer. Before you use Device Manager to update the driver, you should read the instructions to ensure that there is not a proprietary installation process, and that the files are uncompressed and ready to be installed. To update the driver in Device Manager, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the device you want to update.

2. Select Update Driver from the shortcut menu.

3. The Hardware Update Wizard starts. Select Install from a List or Specific Location. Click Next.

4. Type the folder name in which the driver is located and click Next. The wizard searches for and locates a new driver, and then installs it.

If you update a driver and the computer begins to function abnormally, you can roll back the driver to the earlier version. Not all device drivers can be rolled back. For example, you cannot roll back a printer driver, nor can you roll back a driver that is the one initially installed in the operating system. To roll back a driver in Device Manager, follow these steps:

1. Double-click the device you want to roll back.

2. Click the Driver tab.

3. Click the Roll Back Driver button.

4. The computer reverts to the earlier version of the driver.

You can disable a device to free up the resources that it's consuming. You can also troubleshoot individual devices by using the Troubleshooter Wizard.

msinfo32 from the command line or in the Open text box in the Run dialog box, provides a quick view of any resource conflicts. After you are in the utility, click the plus sign (+) next to Hardware Resources and then click Conflicts/Sharing. Note that some devices do share resources, such as IRQs, and appear in this list even though they do not actually conflict.

Printers

Print devices are among the most diverse I/O devices you can use. Print devices come in every shape and size, with specialization for their output. They also tend to have several versions of drivers, and are often attached to various computers on a network.

In a peer-to-peer network configuration, Windows XP Professional automatically crawls the network and looks for printers (the software that performs the printing function and transmits it to the appropriate print devices), as well as other resources. Users see these printers listed as Auto printername on computername. Drivers may be installed transparently, or you can prompt the operating system to install a driver for the printer simply by connecting to the printer itself.

When a computer running Windows XP Professional is a member of a domain, it does not use the NetCrawler feature. Instead, a user can browse the domain for printers and connect to them. To connect to a printer directly, open the Printers and Faxes utility in Control Panel and click the Add a Printer task. The Add Printer Wizard starts. Click Next in the first screen. You can select the A Network Printer or a Printer Attached to Another Computer option and click Next. Select Connect to this Printer (or to browse for a printer, select this option and click Next). Type the name of the printer in the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) form of \\computername\printername. (As the wizard says, you can leave this blank to browse the network for a printer.) Click Next. If you do not have the printer driver installed on your computer, you will see the dialog box shown in Figure 8.3, which explains that a new printer driver will be installed on your computer. Click Yes. The operating system installs the printer driver, and then you are asked whether to make this printer the default printer for the computer. Select your answer, click Next, and then click Finish.

When the Windows XP Professional computer is a member of a domain, you can use the Search utility to find printers that are published to Active Directory. To do so, click Start, Search, Printers, Computers or People. Select the A Printer on the Network option, and then enter search criteria on the three different tabs of the Find Printers dialog box. The Printers tab is often the only one needed because you can use it to search by name or location or printer model. The Features tab enables you to find a printer that has duplex or high-resolution properties. The Advanced tab provides search options for printers that support a particular printer language or advanced printing features. The Find Printers dialog box returns all the printers that meet the criteria specified, and these can be sorted or filtered further in the results pane. When you find the printer to which you want to print, double-click to connect to it, and the printer driver will be installed.

Print devices vary in the types of features that they provide. Their drivers are also specific to those features. Sometimes you can use a printer driver that is fairly generic to print to several different print devices, but you cannot access that print device's individual features without using its own driver. For example, you can use the HP LaserJet II driver to print to a variety of print devices, but you cannot use it to print duplex sheets, color photos, or high-resolution documents, or use other print device features even if the print device has them. The printer driver determines the features that are available. This also applies to device driver versionsthe latest versions typically offer the most comprehensive printing features.

To configure printer features, you must begin with the printer's icon in the Printers and Faxes dialog box. First, right-click the printer icon and select Properties from the shortcut menu. A dialog box, similar to the one shown in Figure 8.4, opens. On the General tab, click the Printing Preferences button. A Printing Preferences dialog box opens, which enables you to set the orientation of the page, the print quality, and collation, among other printer-specific features. The General tab also provides a Print Test Page button, which opens a dialog box that is extraordinarily helpful when troubleshooting printer problems. You can configure how to share a printer on a network on the Sharing tab in the printer's Properties dialog box. If you select the Ports tab, you can select the port to which the printer is attached and, if there are multiple identical printers attached to the computer on different ports, you can establish printer pooling. You can configure whether the print job is spooled or printed directly to the printer, as well as other complex features on the Advanced tab. The Advanced tab also provides a New Driver button, which you can use to install another driver for the same printer. The Color Management tab leads to selecting a color profile, if available, for the printer. You can select forms and tray assignments in the Device Settings tab. And you can clean the printer cartridge in the Services tab.

Exam Alert

Know how to connect to printers via a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) The basic URL to access a printer is http://servername/Printers/printername/. For example, to access a printer named HP, which is shared by a server named SRV, you simply need to type http://SRV/Printers/HP. If you try to connect to a printer using the printer's URL in Internet Explorer, you may receive a message stating This page cannot be found. This happens if you incorrectly type the URL. You can see all the printers shared by a server simply by eliminating the name of a specific printer from the above URLsuch as http://SRV/Printers.

Scanners

Scanners and cameras obtain images and input them into a computer. Therefore, scanners and cameras perform the opposite function of a printer, which outputs data and images. TWAIN device drivers are an older technology driver model for scanning images into a computer. Windows XP replaces TWAIN with the Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) interface for both scanners and cameras.

Because scanners use the same underlying technology as cameras, the two are grouped in Control Panel under the Scanners and Cameras utility. These devicesdigital cameras, digital video cameras, scanners, and any other image-capturing devicesare largely Plug and Play. They install upon detection by Windows XP. After it is installed, you can download images from the device into any folder on the computer using the Scanners and Cameras Wizard. The default folder for images is the My Pictures folder, which is contained within My Documents. Most cameras and scanners are sold with accompanying software that provides additional image management, for example, a scanner often comes with fax software, copy software, or optical character recognition (OCR) software. The image that is input from a scanner or camera is simply an imageit does not function as text until it has been interpreted by an OCR program. If the scanner is used to pass the image through the computer to the printer, it is always rendered as an image of the original document.

Exam Alert

Device driver installation requires administrative rights When you connect a scanner or digital camera, Windows XP automatically recognizes the device a majority of the time. However, if you do not have the appropriate rights, Windows XP does not install the driver.

Cameras and scanners do not always appear as icons in Windows XP if they are not connected, or if their power has been turned off. Power-saving features on many cameras force them to shut down after a certain period of time; therefore, if an icon does not appear as expected, you should check the device to see whether it is turned on. Step by Step 8.1 discusses how to install a digital camera or scanner that connects via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port.

Step by Step: 8.1 Installing and Testing a USB Digital Camera or Scanner

1. Start Windows XP Professional and log on as a member of the Administrators group.

2. Plug in the device to the computer's USB port.

3. A Plug and Play image-capturing device prompts the Scanner and Camera Wizard to begin, and the device driver installs automatically. Otherwise, click Start, Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware, Scanners and Cameras. In the task pane, click Add an Imaging Device.

4. Click Next to bypass the first screen.

5. Select the device's manufacturer in the left pane, and then select the device model in the right pane. Otherwise, if you have a specific manufacturer's driver to install, click the Have Disk button.

6. Click Next. If the device is not connected or not turned on, Windows XP prompts you to connect the device and select the port.

7. Click Next.

8. In the text box provided, type a name for the device. (A name may already be in the box, based on the information the wizard has gathered.)

9. Click Next. Click Finish to complete the installation.

10. Right-click the new device icon in the Scanners and Cameras utility, and select Properties from the shortcut menu.

11. Click the Test Camera (or Test Scanner) button. Windows XP attempts to communicate with the device and then indicates whether the test was successful.

Multimedia Devices

Unlike still images, digital audio and video data is read in a timed and ordered sequence, which is why it is referred to as "streaming." Windows XP offers improved support for video and audio technologies. Digital audio devices interface with Windows XP through the Windows Driver Model (WDM) audio architecture, which in turn enables multiple streams of audio to be managed concurrently. Through the image mastering application program interface (API), the operating system supports CD mastering in either read-only or read/write format. Windows XP also supports Digital Rights Management (DRM), which effectively ensures that proprietary audio files are protected through encryption and rules for usage.

Multimedia devices are configured in Device Manager. Open Device Manager to the default view of Devices by Type. Click the plus sign next to Sound, Video and Game Controllers to expand the device listing. Right-click the device type and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Click the Driver tab (if available) to update the driver, roll back the driver, or uninstall the device. Click the Properties tab to view a listing of the device drivers within this device type, as depicted in Figure 8.5. Click a device and then click the Properties button to access specific configuration options.

Mice

Pointing devices, such as mice, touch-screens, and pen tablets, are all configured in the Mouse utility in Control Panel. This utility offers a variety of configuration options found on five different tabs:

Buttons Enables you to reverse the buttons, switching from a right-hand to a left-hand setting; adjust the double-click rate; and enable ClickLock, which lets you highlight and drag without holding down the mouse button.

Pointers Enables you to change the way the pointer graphic looks. You can select a pointer scheme or change individual pointers.

Pointer Options Lets you adjust the pointer speed and change the way the pointer acts visually.

Hardware Displays the device driver and enables you to troubleshoot it and adjust the device driver properties.

Device Settings Provides the manufacturer's specific configuration options for the pointing device.

When you access the pointing device's properties in Device Manager, you may configure some advanced options of the pointing device, update the driver, and roll back the driver or uninstall it. If your mouse is connected to a COM port and you are experiencing problems, you can configure the COM port as part of your troubleshooting efforts. To do so, in Device Manager, navigate to the Ports (COM & LPT) node and expand it. Right-click the port that you are going to configure and select Properties. If your mouse is connected to the USB port and you are experiencing problems, you can configure the USB port in Device Manager under Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Right-click the correct USB port and select Properties. Under the Driver tab, you can update or roll back the driver. Under the Advanced tab, you can view the amount of bandwidth being consumed by the device and check not to receive notifications of USB errors for the device.

The mouse pointer often demonstrates a problem before any other device on the computer. It may jump or appear distorted, or it may stop responding. If the problem is a one-time occurrence, it was likely caused by an application and not the mouse driver. However, if the problem persists, you should do the following:

Check the firmware version of all the devices in the computer, and obtain any firmware for which the manufacturer provides updates.

Check the BIOS version of the computer itself, and obtain new BIOS firmware if the BIOS is out of date.

Check for updated versions of the device drivers throughout the computer.

If you discover that you need to update multiple drivers or firmware, update a single device at a time, restart, and test the computer before updating the next firmware or device driver. In this way, you will be able to discover and identify the cause of your previous problems, as well as identify any additional problems caused by the new drivers and firmware.

If your pointing device came with additional software, remove the software and test how the mouse works without the software. You can also contact the manufacturer to see whether there are updates for the software.

Restore the mouse settings to the defaults.

Attach the mouse to a different port in the computer and test it.

Try a different mouse, one that you know works flawlessly on another computer.

Keyboards

The most common method Chapter 10.

Any options available from the manufacturer's keyboard device driver can be configured in the Keyboards utility in Control Panel. In this utility, you can adjust the repeat rate of a character that occurs when you hold a key down, as well as the amount of time that passes before the key starts repeating. You can also change how fast the cursor blinks. Figure 8.6 displays the keyboard utility from Control Panel.

You should update your keyboard driver if you are experiencing any of the following issues:

You have a specialized keyboard and the special keys do not function.

The standard "hot keys" for navigating the Web, using email, or putting the computer into standby do not function properly.

When you press a key on the keyboard, a different character appears than what you expected.

You set the keyboard layout in Regional options, but it does not apply correctly when you attempt to use it.

Smart Card Readers

One of the security public key infrastructure (PKI) system. PKI enables smart cards to authenticate the requestor even when the network (such as the Internet) is unsecure. It works as a cryptographic system that assigns a public key and a private key to each user or resource. The entire network has access to the public key for a particular user, but only that user has his private key, which is a combination of the encoded smart card and a personal identification number (PIN) that the user types in. The pair of keys are actually digital certificates provided by a certification authority (CA) server. When a user swipes the smart card through the smart card reader, the private key is used in conjunction with the public key to "unlock" the resource.

Windows XP Professional supports Plug and Play smart card readers and the industry-standard Personal Computer/Smart Card (PC/SC) standard specification. Most smart card readers connect via USB ports. When they are connected, Windows XP detects the reader and looks for a driver to install. If the manufacturer provides software and instructions for installation, those instructions should be followed rather than the standard directions for detection and installation of Plug and Play device drivers.

Smart Card Requirements

Installing a smart card reader is the first part of the process. You will not be able to use the smart card or the reader until you install and configure a CA server. Users must be granted a PIN and enrolled by a person with the administrative privilege to do so, called an enrollment agent. Often, this is a person associated with the human resources or security department. Smart cards are effectively a security badge to access data or resources, or even to log on to a computer.

In an Active Directory network, a cryptographic service provider (CSP) is a CA server. The enrollment agent logs on to the Active Directory and accesses the CA server to request a certificate for a smart card user. The enrollment agent selects a CA server to issue the certificate, and then selects the CSP, which is the software provided by the smart card's manufacturer for handling the encryption, authentication, and encoding in Windows XP. After this process is completed, the user can use the smart card to log on and use network resources.

Note

Printing a resource report through Device Manager Device Manager enables you to print a report showing what resources are consumed by your system's devices. To print this report, click the Action menu and select Print. In the lower part of the Print dialog box under Report Type, select System Summary. Click Print.

Monitoring, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Multimedia Hardware

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Monitor, configure, and troubleshoot multimedia hardware, such as cameras.

Multimedia hardware devices typically connect via USB ports, but can also connect via FireWire (IEEE 1394), serial (RS-232), and SCSI ports. These devices, although conforming to standards that Windows XP uses, usually require software from the manufacturer to utilize the specialized capabilities of the hardware.

You can monitor any device installed on the computer in Device Manager, but this allows only a limited amount of access to the devicetypically only driver- and resource-related functions. The user interface to multimedia devices is available in Control Panel and My Computer. When you install a multimedia device, such as a digital camera, an icon for it appears in My Computer as well as in the Scanners and Cameras utility in Control Panel. When you click the camera icon in either of these locations, an interface for displaying and saving pictures appears.

Applications that are WIA-compliant can acquire images directly into the application from the device. Desktop publishing, image editing, and document creation applications are typically WIA-compliant.

Windows XP Professional uses the WDM streaming class driver to capture video. WDM integrates with streaming architecture, uses a single-class driver for hardware (not only video cameras but also DVD and MPEG devices), and supports DirectShow.

To troubleshoot video capture problems where frames are being lost, you should close all other running programs and unneeded processes on the computer. You should also disable any video capture settings that provide a preview of the video being captured, and apply the capture settings that save the video to the hard disk before encoding it and saving it as a file.

If your device connects to a serial port, you can adjust the baud rate on the port. Speed up the baud rate to facilitate image transfer, or slow it down to adjust to limitations of the computer's hardware.

Note

Some digital cameras incorporate infrared technology and can transfer images to your computer without being physically connected. This process uses the Infrared Transfer Picture (IrTran-P) protocol. IrTran-P is detected by Windows XP when you press the Send button on the digital camera. Windows XP establishes a session and receives the image and stores it in the My Pictures folder. IrTran-P conflicts with ActiveSync 3.0, which is the synchronization software for Windows CE. You can use only one of these at a time.

Installing, Configuring, and Managing Modems

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage modems.

The word modem stands for modulator/demodulator, which is essentially the function that a modem provides. Modems connect a computer, which transmits digital data signals, to a plain old telephone service (POTS) line, which transmits analog signals. To get the digital data across an analog POTS line, the modem modulates the digital signal into an analog signal, such that a certain wavelength, frequency, and amplitude designates a bit that is either a 1 or a 0. When the modem at the other end receives this signal, it demodulates it into the digital bit of data and sends the bit to the receiving computer.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) modems, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modems, and cable modems, however, are misnamed. These types of equipment are actually codecs (coder/decoder). A codec takes a digital signal and encodes it for a different digital transmission scheme, and then decodes the incoming digital data into the format that the receiving computer recognizes.

Modems of any kind can be either internal adapters or external equipment connected to a port on the computer. ISDN modems are either internal adapters or external boxes. External ISDN modems connect to the computer's serial port. DSL modems and cable modems connect to a network adapterusually Ethernet 10/100Mbps using an RJ-45 connectorrather than to a USB, SCSI, parallel, or serial port. Regular modems connect to a serial port, which is best suited for slower speed transmissions. Regular modems reach 56Kbps, whereas a DSL or a cable modem can reach much faster speeds.

Standard modems incorporate processors in the modem hardware, which ensures that there is no extra burden placed on the computer's processor. To install a new modem, you must first connect it to the computer if it is external, or install the adapter card inside the computer if it is internal. When you start the computer, Windows XP Professional should detect the modem and install the driver if it is Plug and Play. If there is no driver, Windows XP starts the Add New Hardware Wizard, in which you can direct the computer to the location of the manufacturer's driver. If the modem isn't Plug and Play, you can install it from within Control Panel by clicking the Printers and Other Hardware category and then clicking the Phone and Modem Options icon. (You may be prompted to type your area code before the dialog box opens, if it has not been configured.) Click the Modems tab and then click the Add button, as shown in Figure 8.7.

When you install a new modem, it is typically assigned to COM1, COM2, COM3, or COM4, all of which are assigned static resources. If these ports are currently assigned to other devices, Windows XP assigns the modem a port of COM5 or higher, which makes it unusable by some legacy applications. To troubleshoot this problem, you can adjust the base address of the modem and one of the other devices to switch them. You can also disable one of the other devices.

Windows XP Professional supports Multilink, which is a system of congruent Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connections of multiple modems in both the transmitting and receiving computers. Windows XP logically aggregates the bandwidth of all the connections, which results in much faster transmission speeds.

Challenge

As a network administrator for your company, you are often asked to work on executives' home computers. The CEO has a large database project to complete and wishes to do so from home. She has performed the task and found that the process is excessively slow. Her PC has a single modem, and she has two phone lines. You discuss her options with her, and have decided to implement Multilink. The company's network offers remote access via direct dial. Try to work through the required steps on your own. If you have difficulty, refer to the following steps:

1. To use Multilink for an Internet connection, you should first check whether the Internet service provider (ISP) supports Multilink.

2. Open the Network Connections window by right-clicking My Network Places and selecting Properties. Click a dial-up connection to configure it. If you need to create a new dial-up connection, click the Create a New Connection task in the left pane. The New Connection Wizard starts. Click Next. Select the Connect to the Network at My Workplace option button. Click Next. Select the Dial-up Connection option button. Click Next. Type a name for the connection in the Company Name text box. Click Next. Type the phone number to dial. Click Next. Click Finish to close the New Connection Wizard.

3. In the left task pane, click Change Settings of This Connection, which is shown in Figure 8.8. The connection's Properties dialog box opens. (If you created a new connection in step 2, a dialog box opens, prompting you to enter a username and password. Do so, and then click the Properties button to access the connection's Properties dialog box.)

4. If the General tab is not selected, click it. In the Connect Using section, click to select each modem to use in the Multilink connection.

5. In the Phone Number section of the General tab, click the Alternates button.

6. In the Alternates dialog box, click Add.

7. Type a second telephone number to reach the same destination, if a second phone number is available. If there are more phone numbers, continue to click Add and enter these numbers. Click OK when finished.

8. Click the Options tab and configure the link to automatically redial a dropped connection.

9. Click the Security tab to configure authentication and encryption protocols required by the destination computer. You can select the specific protocols in the Advanced (custom settings) option.

10. Click the Networking tab. Click the Settings button. Select the Negotiate Multi-Link for Single Link Connections check box, as shown in Figure 8.9. Click OK. (A computer uses the first connection selected to connect to a resource. Multilink is disabled if you do not select the Negotiate Multi-Link check box.)

11. If dialing into a Windows network, confirm that the Client for Microsoft Networks option is selected in the The Connection Uses the Following Items list box.

12. Click the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Windows Firewall to turn off the firewall for a private secure network connection. If you are going to share the multilink connection with other computers on your private network, you can configure Internet Connection Sharing (even if you are sharing a Multi-Link connection to a private network).

13. Click OK.

14. To dial the connection, double-click the icon.

Exam Alert

Know how to configure the firewall as it applies to modem connections You might be asked how to disable the Windows Firewall for individual network connections, which include those using modems.

Double-click the modem device icon in Device Manager. The Properties dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 8.10. Modems have a wide variety of capabilities, so this dialog box is similar but not identical for modems made by different manufacturers.

To test a modem, you should click the Diagnostics tab and then click the Query Modem button. This displays a list of commands that were sent to the modem, and provides the results of those commands as depicted in Figure 8.11. The Query Modem function can also provide information needed when troubleshooting modem scripts.

If you have trouble connecting with a modem, you can view a log of the commands that the modem has received. This log, which is accessed by clicking the View Log button on the Diagnostics tab, can show you where a failure has occurred.

Modem connectivity depends on the interaction between two modems. Because they are unique, likely with different capabilities and made by separate manufacturers, miscommunication is possible between the modems. If the modem to which you are connecting is slower than yours and you cannot create a link to it, you can alter the transmit and receive buffers to a lower level to resolve the issue. Table 8.1 discusses other ways to resolve modem problems.

Table 8.1. Troubleshooting Modem Problems

Problem

Resolution

Modem icon does not display in Device Manager

Open Device Manager, click the Action menu, and select Scan for Hardware Changes.

Modem is not detected by Windows XP after it is physically installed

Open Control Panel (in Category View) and select Printers and Other Hardware. In the task pane under See Also, select Add Hardware.

Driver installed for the modem is not the same as the manufacturer and brand of the modem

Windows XP installed the incorrect driver. Obtain new drivers from the manufacturer. Uninstall the current driver, and then use the Add Hardware task in Control Panel, Printers and Other Hardware utility, to install the new driver.

Modem capabilities are more limited in the device's properties than what the modem should have

Check to see whether the correct driver is installed. Obtain a new driver from the manufacturer and update the driver.

Windows 3.1 legacy application does not see the modem

Check to see whether the modem was installed on COM5 or higher. If so, change the modem to a COM port below COM5 (COM1 through COM4). You may need to disable a device that is set to one of these ports.

Modems do not negotiate a multilink connection

Check to see that the connection uses PPP.

Make certain that the PPP properties are set to enable multilink negotiation.

Check to see whether the office remote access system or ISP supports Multilink.

Modem drops connections

View the modem's log to see whether the modem is responding incorrectly to a command.

Lower the transmit and receive buffers.

Configure the dial-up number to disable call waiting.

Check the phone line for excessive noise.

System resources are low when using modem

Close all unnecessary programs.

Disable COM ports that are not being used. Do so in the BIOS as well as in Device Manager.

Modem exhibits erratic connectivity problems

Upgrade modem firmware, if possible.

Update the computer BIOS.

Update the modem device driver.

Check the phone line for excessive noise.

Installing, Configuring, and Managing Infrared Data Association (IrDA) Devices

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage Infrared Data Association (IrDA) devices.

Most laptops are equipped with IrDA ports and can create ad hoc peer-to-peer network connections. An ad hoc network is one that does not need a central access point to direct traffic. Instead, each computer creates a mesh network of links to all other computers. Performance is typically lower in ad hoc networks than in those using access points.

Not only can two IrDA computers create a network link, but a computer can connect to peripheral devices, such as digital cameras and printers, through the same IrDA port. Using IrDA to link up to peripheral devices eliminates the need for cables, so it is very convenient.

Windows XP Professional should automatically detect and install IrDA devices. However, if the device is not detected, you can install it manually using the procedure in Step by Step 8.2.

Step by Step: 8.2 Manually Installing an IrDA Device

1. Open the Add/Remove Hardware Wizard. (You can use the methods shown previously in this book, or you can click Start, Run, type hdwwiz.cpl in the Open Text box, and press Enter.)

2. Click Next in the first screen. The wizard begins to scan for new hardware devices by design.

3. If the IrDa device is turned on and available, click Yes, I Have Already Connected the Hardware and then click Next.

4. From the list, scroll down to the bottom of the list and click Add a New Hardware Device. Click Next.

5. Click the Install the Hardware That I Manually Select from a List (Advanced) option and click Next.

6. Select Infrared Devices from the list and click Next.

7. Select the manufacturer and device. If it is not listed, and you have downloaded a driver from the manufacturer, click Have Disk.

8. After completing any further instructions, click Finish.

To connect an IrDA device after it has been installed, you need to be within a fairly close range of the devicetypically about three to four feetwith the infrared transceivers pointing toward each other. After the two devices are aligned, Windows XP alerts you to an IrDA link, by means such as providing an icon on the taskbar.

IrDA devices can be monitored in Control Panel in the Wireless Link utility, which appears only after an IrDA device is installed. The Hardware tab of the Wireless Link dialog box shows the IrDA devices installed. Right-click the device and select Properties to view the device's current status.

Installing, Configuring, and Managing Wireless Devices

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage wireless devices.

Wireless networks are easy to install and use, and are gaining tremendous popularity for small home and office networks. Security is still not perfected for wireless networks, so they have not made major inroads in corporate environments yet. Windows XP Professional supports the 802.1x protocols for wireless LANs and is capable of transparently moving between multiple wireless access points (WAPs), changing to a new IP subnet, and remaining connected to the network. Each time the IP subnet is changed, the user is reauthenticated.

Other than IrDA devices, wireless devices are usually network adapters that are installed and configured identically to every other network adapter.

What is different for a wireless network adapter is that it is monitoredand actually must be monitoreddifferently. Multiple wireless networks may be installed in a single location. A computer can detect and connect to any of those networks, given that it has the appropriate authentication for a wireless network that has been secured.

Windows XP Professional displays all network links as icons in the taskbar. A disconnected network link is displayed by an icon with a "X" over two computers. A connected wired link is represented by an icon of two computers. A connected wireless link is denoted by a computer icon with three curved lines next to it. The wireless icon is highly recognizable because these curved lines are typically used to symbolize radar or sonar. When you double-click the icon in the taskbar, the Wireless Network Connection Status dialog box opens (see Figure 8.12).

Clicking the Properties button opens the Properties dialog box for the wireless NIC. In this dialog box, you can configure the network protocols used, file and printer sharing, and other network characteristics.

To prevent a wireless adapter from connecting to any wireless network, you can right-click the icon in the taskbar and select Disable. If you are in the wireless connection dialog box, you can click the Disable button.

In the Properties dialog box, you can click the View Wireless Networks button to display all the wireless LANs that are in communication's reach, as shown in Figure 8.13. In this dialog box, you can refresh the list of available networks, disconnect from a wireless LAN, and change the order of networks to which Windows XP attempts to link.

If a wireless access point is not found, Windows XP adjusts the wireless adapter to be able to create an ad hoc network with another wireless computer. To force a computer to use the peer-to-peer connection rather than connect to a wireless LAN, double-click the wireless icon in the taskbar, click the Properties button, select the Wireless Networks tab, and click the Advanced button. In the resulting dialog box, select Computer-To-Computer (Ad Hoc) Networks Only. If you later need to connect to a wireless LAN, you will need to change this setting to either Any Available Network (Access Point Preferred) or Access Point (Infrastructure) Networks Only.

Exam Alert

Be aware of moving between different types of wireless networks You might be queried about how to troubleshoot a failing wireless network connection on the exam. Remember that when the Computer-to Computer (Ad Hoc) Networks Only option is configured, a wireless network connection tries to connect to those networks only, and this prevents the computer from connecting to a network that uses wireless access points (WAPs).

Installing, Configuring, and Managing USB Devices

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage USB devices.

USB devices are connected to a high-speed transmission path, of up to 12Mbps for USB 1.0 and up to 480Mbps for USB 2.0, that is accessed through a Plug and Play interface. Many different types of devicessuch as telephones, speakers, keyboards, cameras, hand-held devices, and moreconnect via USB. To accommodate more devices than the number of ports on a computer, you can even connect a USB hub.

When Windows XP detects a USB device, it installs the drivers for it or prompts for a manufacturer's driver to be installed. If the device serves multiple purposes, such as a fax/copier/printer/scanner unit, Windows XP installs the device drivers for each of the functions. In general, you don't need to perform any additional installation when you plug in a USB device.

After a USB device is installed, you can manage and configure it through Device Manager, or by accessing the device's icon in Control Panel. For example, a fax/copier/scanner/printer multi-function device would be available in the Printers and Faxes utility, as well as in the Scanners and Cameras utility, both of which are in the Control Panel. Plus, you could use Device Manager to configure each of the properties of the device's varied functions.

Some errors can affect all types of USB devices, as follows:

When you use a USB hub, it detects when a port utilizes more electricity than it should, and then turns off the port. When this occurs, detach the device and reset the port, which is an option displayed in an error message. If the port experiences another error without the device attached to it, the hub must be disconnected and reconnected after a few minutes. Keep in mind that bus-powered USP hubs generally provide 80% less power per port than self-powered USB hubs (the ones that are plugged into the wall). If you consistently have this error with a bus-powered USB hub, replace it with a self-powered unit.

USB allows up to five USB hubs to be connected in a chain. If you connect too many hubs, you trigger an error condition and should disconnect the additional hubs.

You can daisy-chain multiple devices on a single USB port. However, the per-port power consumption limits may be tested if you attempt to reach the theoretical limit of 127 devices.

When a device does not receive the bandwidth it requests, it ratchets down the amount of bandwidth and requests the new bandwidth amount. Upon subsequent failures, this process repeats. Multiple requests produce an error message. You can disconnect one of the USB devices or close applications that access USB devices to free up bandwidth.

USB does not allow two devices with identical serial numbers to be connected to the same hub. If a manufacturer accidentally assigns the same serial number to two devices and they happen to be connected to your USB hub, you will see an error message. To resolve this situation, disconnect the new device and contact the manufacturer for a replacement or resolution.

If a physical device is not recognized, this may be caused by a faulty device driver or a problem during initialization, or it could be caused by a failure in the device. To resolve this situation, disconnect and reattach the device, and update the device driver. Another cause for a device not being recognized is its total distance from the computer in wirelength. USB does not support devices connected farther than five meters away.

If you have a failure and are using multiple bus-powered hubs, check that they are not connected to each other because that will cause a variety of error conditions.

When the USB host controller is not recognized in Windows XP, check the BIOS to ensure that it has been enabled.

The USB 2.0 device driver specification is not part of the Windows XP Professional operating system. To use USB 2.0 devices, you must install the USB 2.0 device driver, which is available on the Windows Update website at http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com.

Installing, Configuring, and Managing Handheld Devices

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage handheld devices.

Pocket PCs can use Microsoft ActiveSync via IrDA, serial cable, or a USB link to synchronize data. You can install the PDA by using Device Manager or the Add New Hardware Wizard if it is not detected by Windows XP.

When the device driver and Microsoft ActiveSync software are installed, you can synchronize the data between the PDA and the PC by clicking the ActiveSync icon in the taskbar and selecting Connection Settings. Select the correct type of connection for the PDA. Make certain the PDA is on and, if using IrDA, that its infrared port is aligned. Click the Get Connected button to start the connection wizard. If you are using IrDA on the PDA, tap on Start and then tap the Connections option. Select the IR icon. The devices should connect and synchronization can begin.

Installing, Configuring, and Managing Network Adapters

Objective:

Implement, manage, and troubleshoot input and output (I/O) devices.

Install, configure, and manage network adapters.

Windows XP Professional Chapter 11.

To change a network adapter's hardware settings, open Device Manager and expand the Network Adapters device type. Double-click the network adapter and click the Advanced tab. A dialog box, similar to the one shown in Figure 8.14, opens. Each adapter has different parameters in this dialog box.

If the network adapter has functioned appropriately and suddenly stops working and you have not made any configuration changes, you are likely faced with a network adapter failure or, if that is not the case, a failure of the port to which the adapter is connected. To test whether it is the adapter or the port, you can either switch to a different port or replace the adapter.

When you initially install a network adapter and are unable to connect to a desired location, you are likely facing a configuration error or driver problem. You can follow these steps to attempt resolution:

Verify that the network adapter is listed in the Windows Catalog or Windows XP Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) and that you have the latest drivers for Windows XP.

Validate that the firmware on the adapter, if applicable, is up to date. If not, update it.

Update the computer's BIOS if there is an update available.

Check the network adapter to see whether there are any physical settings that need to be set. Also, check to see whether the network cable is connected properly at both ends.

Look for link lights on the network adapter and hub. If the lights are running but there is no connection, review the appropriate network settings, such as IP address, DNS servers, and so on. Make certain that the settings, such as the media connector and duplex support, are properly detected.

Update the device drivers for the adapter.

Check that there are no resource conflicts. If using an ISA device, make certain that it is operating in Plug and Play mode if it supports Plug and Play.

Install the adapter in a different slot in the computer.

Replace the adapter.

Reboot the computer to make certain that the adapter is properly initialized.

View any messages in Event Viewer.