Reading Journal Week 6 - echadbourne/ChadbourneSYS-140 GitHub Wiki

MICROSOFT Management Console

Summary:

  • The Microsoft Management Console or the Computer Management Console is an application that has tools for maintaining the computer. The things it can do include: "manage shared folders and drives, start and stop services, look at performance logs and system alerts, and access Device Manager to troubleshoot hardware problems." (Paragraph 2). This application is mostly used by the technician to troubleshoot potential problems with the device.

My Response:

  • It took me some time to find the section, since the title in the homework does not match the title in the book, but I found it eventually. The basic idea of this makes sense to me, although I wonder how it is different from Task Manager, which I know is used to manage open applications.

Windows Registry

Summary:

  • It was unclear what section I was supposed to be reading for this, but I settled on "Backing Up the Windows Registry and Data," since it has "Windows Registry" in the name, and I am just going to summarize the term. The computer registry is a database with important information regarding the Windows Operating system. How I understand it is this is where data needed for the OS to function is stored. It should be backed up prematurely in case of failure, and can be restored from a restore point.

My Response:

  • I also feel like I understand this concept. I know it is not quite the same but I back up my whole computer to an external hard drive when I can, in case something happens to my computer. And it saved me once. My last laptop had the logic board go very quickly, but I had been backing it up before that happened, and I was able to restore all of my files from the old computer onto the new one when I got it.

Managing Services and Applications

Summary:

  • The services available in the Services and Applications section varies depending on the specific computer and what is loaded onto the computer. A service is "... an application that can be started using this window or configured to that is started with the computer boots." (Paragraph 1). You can click this option to view the services, and double click to find the properties and control the service (starting, stopping, etc.) however you do need admin privileges for this. You can also use the "recovery" tab to see what happened if a service fails.

My Response:

  • This seems pretty straightforward to me again, its just a way to check if something went wrong with the computer (specifically with the services) and work on a fix for it going forward.

Overview of the Windows Boot Process

Summary:

  • Windows can be booted in many different ways using many different methods, all of which are shown in the table below. The system volume is the partition of the drive that contains the files for loading the operating system. The boot volume is the partition/logical drive where the actual files for the OS are located. These can be on the same partition. The files in the operating system that allow the computer to boot are called the system files.

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My Response:

  • I remember booting a Kali live operating system to one of the lab computers last semester. I find it interesting that there are so many different ways to boot a computer to an operating system, especially the "Netboot" that Apple Macs can do.

Recovery Console

Summary:

  • The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is accessed by selecting the "repair your computer" option when booting the device from a Windows installation DVD and is used to aid in repairing the device. If an install does not go well you can use the "System Restore" option to try the installation again or try and fix it another way. This is similar to the "Last Known Good Configuration" option outlined in the next section. Restore points for this utility are often created weekly or when the computer updates.

My Response:

  • Once more, this "system restore" thing seems similar to restoring from an external hard drive like I have done before. I like that the system created a save point whenever it updates (since I know updates can cause problems) and I have made note of the fact that this feature is turned off by default.

Advanced Boot Options/Startup Settings Menu

Summary:

  • The Advanced boot option menu is used to troubleshoot Windows when it does not boot properly. Common tools that are used are Last Known Good Configuration, Safe Mode, Windows Recovery Environment, and Startup Repair. Last Known Good Configuration is self explanatory and boots the computer to the last configuration that worked, erasing all configuration changes since then. Safe Mode is a way of booting just the core parts of the operating system so that you can see what may be causing the problem and fix it. It does not load user profiles or software that usually starts up when the computer normally boots. Tools for the computer will vary based on operating system.

My Response:

  • I can see how Safe Mode would be an effective way to troubleshoot a problem with a computer that is not running properly, because you can see all of the stuff it would normally be running and check if anything there is causing problems when it boots normally. Last Known Good Configuration makes total sense to me because its like restoring from a save point. You might lose some config stuff, but maybe that is what was causing the issue anyway.

System Config Utility

Summary:

  • A utility used to troubleshoot problems with the startup of Windows by disabling services or programs that work during startup either one at a time or in chunks. It can only be used by an administrator. There are three options that you can use, normal startup, diagnostic startup, and selective startup. Diagnostic boots to safe mode, and selective startup allows you to narrow down where the issue is occurring. The Boot tab allows you to control booting settings on the computer. The Services and Startup tabes can be used to disable services that work on startup that may be causing problems.

My Response:

  • I can see how using this would be a good way to narrow down where a problem is occurring, because you can disable certain applications that work on startup that might be causing problems, and you can figure out where to go from there.

Task Manager

Summary:

  • This is a utility that shows all of the applications that are running, as well as other system data like memory usage and processor details. It can be used to shut down an application that has stopped responding, and gives a good visual overview of what the computer is doing at the time.

My Response:

  • I am most familiar with this utility because we have used it in class, and I have heard friends mentioning using it to shut down applications that won't close otherwise or are being a problem. I feel like this utility is the most accessible of all of the ones we have gone over, because I don't think you need to have admin privileges to access it (although I may be wrong) and it is relatively easy to understand and use.