Transcript Troubleshooting Installation Problems (continued)

Chapter 2: Attended and Unattended
Installations and Troubleshooting
MCDST 70-271: Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a
Microsoft Windows XP Operating System
Objectives
• Understand how to perform an attended install of
Windows XP Professional
• Troubleshoot attended installation issues
• Work with important setup and advanced
installation options
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Objectives (continued)
• Troubleshoot unattended installation issues
• Work with WINNT and WINNT32
• Understand service packs and hot fixes
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Windows XP Professional Setup:
Step by Step
• Assumptions
– Your computer’s hardware is Hardware
Compatibility List (HCL)-compliant
– Your computer has no pre-existing operating
systems installed
– You have the six setup floppies
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Windows XP Professional Setup:
Step by Step (continued)
• Assumptions (continued)
– You will select the default or typical settings for
this installation
– You will be a member of an existing domain
– The connecting network offers Internet access to
clients
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Troubleshooting Installation
Problems
•
Troubleshooting―best practices
1. Determine what has changed or what is different
about environment, system, or situation
2. Eliminate unlikely or impossible causes to leave
only likely and probable causes
3. Identify and implement a solution based on
identified causes
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Troubleshooting Installation
Problems (continued)
•
Troubleshooting―best practices (continued)
4. Test the solution for completeness
5. Remove or rollback unsuccessful solutions
6. Repeat Steps 3 through 5 as needed
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Troubleshooting Installation
Problems (continued)
• Installation errors
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GUI setup freeze
Media errors
Domain controller communication difficulties
Stop message errors or halting on the blue screen
Hardware problems
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Using Log Files
• Log files that can be examined for clues
regarding cause of installation failures
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setuplog.txt and setupapi.log
Setuperr.log
setupact.log
PNPlog.txt
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Working with HAL
• Any changes to core hardware components of
your computer may require you to repair or
replace your hardware access list (HAL)
• Actions that may cause HAL to no longer function
properly:
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Installing additional CPUs
Replacing the motherboard
Upgrading the motherboard’s BIOS
Changing the type of physical RAM installed
Reconfiguring the motherboard (via CMOS)
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Working with HAL (continued)
• If there is significant alteration, a STOP error
occurs
– To recover, start the system from the Windows XP
Professional CD and select Repair the Installation
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Using the Upgrade Installation
• Upgrade installation may be performed if any of
the following is true
– System responds poorly to other troubleshooting
techniques
– It is not possible to boot into Safe Mode
– Malfunctioning driver or software upgrade cannot
be removed
– Registry is corrupted
– There has been a significant change to core
hardware components
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Last Resort―Restarting the
Installation Process
• If troubleshooting efforts fail or you don’t have
time to pursue other options, easiest way to
repair a system is to restart the entire installation
process
– Re-verify that hardware is compatible
– Perform a clean install of Windows XP
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Last Resort―Restarting the
Installation Process (continued)
• Keep in mind, this activity will result in complete
and total loss of all configuration settings and any
installed applications
• If the host partition is destroyed or re-formatted,
any personal data stored there will be lost as well
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Unattended, Advanced, and
Customized Installation Options
• Answer file
– Used to provide the responses to all the setup
prompts
• Unattended Installations
– Often preferred in multiple installations
– To initiate, execute WINNT with the /U and /S
options, or WINNT32 with the /UNATTEND and
/S options
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Using the Setup Manager Wizard
• Tool used to create UNATTEND.TXT files
• Available through the Windows XP Professional
Support Tools Setup Wizard
• Can create a variety of installation scripts once
launched, including:
– Uninstall scripts
– SYSPREP installation scripts
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Creating and Using UDFs
• Can create a UDF in a text editor such as EDIT
or Notepad
• When finished, save UDF as a text file and store
it on disk
• It’s often helpful to name UDFs for the people
using them
– Such files are likely to be customized for
individuals
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Using Remote Installation
Service (RIS)
• Used to push installations over a network to a
client
• Can install Windows XP on clients that have a
DHCP PXE-based remote boot ROM
• Requires that DHCP, DNS, and Active Directory
be present and active on a domain
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Using Remote Installation
Service (RIS) (continued)
• RIS can be used:
– To install only the basic OS
– For deployment of systems that have necessary
applications installed and critical settings
configured
• Remote Installation Preparation (RIPrep)
– Utility used to create RIS distributable images of a
fully configured prototype computer
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Using SYSPREP
• System duplication tool used to prepare a hard
drive for duplication
• Useful when installing Windows XP onto multiple
similar systems
• Enables Windows XP and installed applications
to be deployed quickly on multiple computers
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Using SYSPREP (continued)
• Can be used with these command-line parameters:
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audit
quiet
nosidgen
pnp
reboot
forceshutdown
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Troubleshooting Unattended
Installations
• Answer files―problems
– Setup routine is unable to access the answer file
– Answer file contains errors
• Disk images installation failure due either to:
– Failed disk image copy from the source to the
destination system
– Misconfiguration of the source system
– Hardware issue on the destination system
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RIS
• If failing
– Check that PXE-compliant NIC is properly
installed and connected to network
– If a non-PXE NIC is used, be sure the RIS-boot
disk is properly constructed
– Verify that RIS client target is compliant with the
minimum hardware requirements
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WINNT AND WINNT32
• WINNT
– 16-bit setup tool
– Designed to be launched from DOS and operating
systems that rely on DOS
• WINNT32
– 32-bit setup tool
– Designed to be launched from 32-bit operating
systems
– Designed for standard and automated installations
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Applying Service Packs
and Hot Fixes
• Service pack
– Corrects, replaces, or hides the deficiencies of the
original product, preceding service packs, or hot
fixes
• Hot fix
– Similar to a service pack
– Addresses a single problem, or a small number of
problems
– May not be fully tested
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Applying Service Packs
and Hot Fixes (Continued)
• Points to remember
– Service packs are cumulative
– Make a backup of your system before applying
any type of patch
– Make sure you have retrieved a patch for the
correct CPU type and language version
– Always read the readme file and Knowledge Base
documents
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Applying Service Packs
and Hot Fixes (Continued)
• Points to remember
– Make a complete backup of the Registry
– Export the disk configuration data from
Disk Administrator
– Disconnect all current users, exit all applications,
and temporarily stop all unneeded services before
installing any service pack or patch
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Summary
• Troubleshooting installation problems includes
handling GUI setup freezes, media errors,
domain controller communication difficulties,
STOP errors
• Unattended, advanced, and customized
installation options include answer files,
uniqueness, database files, SYSPREP
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Summary (continued)
• Troubleshooting unattended installations includes
correcting answer files, rebuilding disk images,
re-configuring RIS
• The two setup command line tools are WINNT
and WINNT32
• Once Windows XP Professional is installed apply
service packs, hot fixes, and other updates
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