MCSE Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Readiness Review; Exam 70-270

Author Kurt Dillard and Anthony Northrup Pages 320 Disk 1 Companion CD(s) Level All Levels Published 11/28/2001 ISBN 9780735614604 ISBN-10 0-7356-1460-1 Price(USD) $29.99 To see this book's discounted price, select a reseller below.	More Information About the Book Table of Contents Sample Chapter Index Related Series Related Books About the Author Support: Book & CD Rate this book

Objective Domain 4: Monitoring and Optimizing System Performance and Reliability

• Tested Skills and Suggested Practices
• Further Reading
• Objective 4.1   Monitor, optimize, and troubleshoot performance of the Windows XP Professional desktop.
• Objective 4.2   Manage, monitor, and optimize system performance for mobile users.
• Objective 4.3   Restore and back up the operating system, system state data, and user data.

Objective Domain 4   Monitoring and Optimizing System Performance and Reliability

Computers, like cars, require regular maintenance. However, manually performing maintenance on hundreds of systems is incredibly time-consuming. Windows XP provides the Task Scheduler to automate system maintenance and reduce the total cost of ownership. This graphical utility facilitates scheduling any type of task, and can even ensure that a user's session isn't affected.

Administrators also have the ability to carefully monitor and tune system performance. Tools such as the Task Manager, the Performance utility, and a suite of command-line utilities allow for both real-time and historical performance data analysis. Trace logs function very similarly, and are used to troubleshoot system problems and debug applications. Tuning the performance of portable computers is more complicated than tuning desktop systems because administrators must balance battery life with performance. Windows XP provides power schemes to allow users to quickly change a system's power consumption. Power schemes, combined with standby and hibernation features, dramatically increase battery life when a system is not in use.

Portable computers also have more complex hardware, and may boot in both docked and undocked configurations. Plug and Play (PnP) standards have dramatically simplified hardware configuration, but some legacy computers still require hardware profiles. Hardware profiles allow a single instance of Windows XP to boot to one of several different hardware configurations, each with a different set of enabled drivers. PnP computers rarely require the use of hardware profiles, but the functionality is available if needed.

Sometimes, problems are unavoidable. Windows XP provides a full set of troubleshooting tools to resolve these problems when they arise. The System Restore tool captures system configuration information, and can reapply a working configuration if the system later becomes unreliable. Functionality such as the Last Known Good Configuration can allow Windows XP to boot even if a faulty driver was installed. Safe Mode and the Recovery Console provide administrators with the ability to repair even the most damaged Windows XP installations.

Tested Skills and Suggested Practices

• Performing preventative maintenance and backing up critical data.
• Practice 1: Perform a complete system backup using the Backup Utility.
• Practice 2: Save the current system configuration using the System Restore tool.
• Practice 3: Install the Recovery Console as an option on the boot menu.
• Practice 4: Prepare a system for Automated System Recovery (ASR).

• Troubleshooting system problems and restoring data.
• Practice 1: Boot the computer using the Last Known Good Configuration.
• Practice 2: Boot the computer using Safe Mode.
• Practice 3: Launch the Recovery Console using the Windows XP Professional CD and examine the available commands by executing the HELP command. Examine each command in detail by typing the name of each command followed by /?.
• Practice 4: Replace the BOOT.INI system file using the Recovery Console.
• Practice 5: Restore the system configuration to a previous state using the System Restore tool.
• Practice 6: Perform a complete system restoration using the Backup Utility.

• Scheduling tasks.
• Practice 1: Configure Task Scheduler to perform a complete disk defragmentation weekly.
• Practice 2: Schedule a task to run daily using the AT command. Execute the AT command without any parameters to view scheduled tasks.
• Practice 3: Use Task Scheduler to modify a task created with the AT. Execute the AT command without any parameters to view scheduled tasks, and make note of how modifying a task with Task Scheduler affects the ability of AT to view that task.
• Practice 4: Configure a task to run weekly, but only if the computer is idle. Modify that task to wake the computer if available.

• Tuning a system for a mobile user.
• Practice 1: On a portable computer, manually set the hardware profile for both docked and undocked configurations.
• Practice 2: Create a new hardware profile, and disable noncritical drivers for that profile.
• Practice 3: Adjust the power scheme on a computer to a variety of different settings, and observe how the computer's behavior is changed. Create a custom power scheme.

• Monitoring system performance.
• Practice 1: Use the Task Manager to determine which process is currently consuming the most processor time.
• Practice 2: Change the fields on the Processes tab of the Task Manager so that every possible field is visible.
• Practice 3: Change the priority of an application so that it runs at high priority.
• Practice 4: Use the Performance administrative tool to monitor real-time performance information about several different counters simultaneously.
• Practice 5: Create and analyze counter logs with processor utilization information gathered over several hours.
• Practice 6: Use the RELOG.EXE command-line utility to reduce the total amount of information in a counter log.
• Practice 7: Create a trace log, and use the TRACERPT.EXE utility to create a trace analysis report.

Further Reading

Objective 4.1

Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read sections covering Task Manager, Performance Monitor and Disk Defragmenter in Appendix D, "Tools for Troubleshooting."

Microsoft Corporation. MCSE Training Kit: Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read and complete Lessons 4, 5, and 6 in Chapter 15, "Monitoring, Managing, and Maintaining Network Resources." These lessons cover scheduling tasks and using the performance console.

Objective 4.2

Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read Chapter 7, "Supporting Mobile Users," for information about power schemes, standby mode, and hibernation.

Microsoft Corporation. MCSE Training Kit: Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read and complete all lessons in Chapter 11, "Configuring Windows XP Professional."

Objective 4.3

Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read Chapter 4, "Supporting Installations," Chapter 7, "Supporting Mobile Users," and Chapter 14, "Backup and Restore."

Microsoft Corporation. MCSE Training Kit: Microsoft Windows XP Professional. Redmond, Washington: Microsoft Press, 2001. Read and complete all lessons in Chapter 16, "Backing Up and Restoring Data." This chapter explains every aspect of how to use the Backup utility, including restoring data and the use of the Automated System Recovery Wizard.

Objective 4.1   Monitor, optimize, and troubleshoot performance of the Windows XP Professional desktop.

There are also times when an administrator who has a detailed understanding of system performance monitoring and tuning can improve a system's performance. For these administrators, Windows XP provides a suite of tools useful for monitoring, analyzing, and tuning system performance characteristics.

The most commonly used tool is the Task Manager. The Windows XP Task Manager provides more detail than previous versions of Windows; it now displays real-time information about network utilization and users in addition to monitoring applications, processes, and performance. The Task Manager can be started by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete, or by right-clicking the task bar and selecting Task Manager.

The Performance tool is a more powerful utility for analyzing system performance. This tool can provide real-time information about hundreds of detailed aspects of the system's performance, including memory utilization, shared folders, and network errors. This same tool can also be used to log data for later analysis. To launch the Performance tool, open Control Panel, select Performance And Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and double-click Performance shortcut. Alternatively, you can execute the command PERFMON.

The Performance administrative utility has the ability to create both counter logs and trace logs. Counter logs function by polling various performance counters at a specific interval, and logging that data to a file. Trace logs operate very differently—each time a specified event occurs, information about that event is added to a trace log. Administrators typically use counter logs to tune system performance. Trace logs are more likely to be used by developers to troubleshoot problems.

There are four command-line utilities designed to complement these graphical tools. The LOGMAN utility is used to start, stop, and schedule the gathering of performance and trace data. The RELOG tool processes and summarizes performance logs. The TRACERPT utility processes transaction-based trace event logs and produces a trace analysis report. Finally, the TYPEPERF command echoes raw performance data to the command window or a text file.

Windows XP Professional provides the Task Scheduler to allow tasks to be executed when the computer is not being actively used. The Task Scheduler provides a graphical, intuitive user interface for configuring any type of task to run at a specific time or at regular intervals. To further reduce the chances that scheduled maintenance tasks interfere with users, you can configure the tasks to execute only if the computer is idle. Task Scheduler can even stop processes that have already started if a user begins actively working with a computer.

The AT command-line utility is available for created scheduled tasks when a graphical user interface is not available. The AT command provides most, but not all, of the Task Scheduler's capabilities. For example, the AT command can schedule a weekly disk defragmentation process, but it cannot stipulate that the process begins only when the computer has been idle for a specific amount of time. The Task Scheduler graphical user interface can be used to edit tasks created with the AT command, but the AT command cannot see tasks created or modified by Task Scheduler.

MCS

70-270.04.01.001

C

You are a systems administrator, and your responsibilities were recently increased to include a group of users at a remote office who have, up until now, been forced to maintain their own Windows XP computers. One of your users is complaining that his computer has grown slower over the past year. In particular, he notes that it takes Microsoft Word longer to open documents that have been recently created. Which of the following actions improve the performance of this user's desktop?

A.   Decrease the size of the paging file.

Incorrect

A.   Windows XP Professional uses the paging file to temporarily store data from the computer's memory. Decreasing the size of the paging file increases the free space on the system's hard disk, but it does not improve the system's performance.

B.   Enable NTFS compression.

Incorrect

B.   NTFS allows files and directories to be compressed at the file system level. This allows compressible files to consume less space on the hard disk. Although compressing files increases the free space on the hard disk, it does not improve the system's performance.

C.   Run Disk Defragmenter on the system's hard disk.

Correct

C.   Hard disks perform best when file data is written in contiguous blocks. Over time, however, file data can become broken into discontiguous fragments. Although the hard disk is still able to access fragmented files, they take longer to load. Because the user's performance problem was most noticeable when accessing files, and no maintenance had been done in at least a year, the cause of the problem is most likely disk fragmentation. Running the Disk Defragmenter utility resolves this problem and drastically improves disk performance on affected systems.

D.   Set the Performance Logs and Alerts service to start automatically.

Incorrect

D.   The Performance Logs and Alerts service is used when logging data for performance analysis. Although it is necessary for logging performance data, simply starting the service does not improve system performance.

MCM

70-270.04.01.002

A, B, and E

Which of the following pieces of information can be gathered from the Windows Task Manager? (Choose three.)

A.   CPU utilization

Correct

A.   CPU utilization is shown both numerically and graphically on the Performance tab of the Windows Task Manager.

B.   Network utilization

Correct

B.   Network utilization is shown both numerically and graphically on the Networking tab of the Windows Task Manager.

C.   Page file utilization

Incorrect

C.   Page file utilization information is not available from the Windows Task Manager.

D.   Packet loss

Incorrect

D.   Packet loss cannot be viewed from the Windows Task Manager. However, executing the command NETSTAT -S -P TCP from the command line shows the Segments Retransmitted statistic, which is very similar to overall packet loss.

E.   Memory usage

Correct

E.   Memory usage is shown both numerically and graphically on the Performance tab of the Windows Task Manager.

F.   Open files

Incorrect

F.   Open files cannot be viewed from the Windows Task Manager.

MCM

70-270.04.01.003

A and D

A user is complaining of performance problems with his Windows XP Professional system, but he is not sure whether the problems are caused by an underpowered processor, a shortage of memory for the applications he uses, or a slow disk drive. To upgrade the system component that is limiting the system's performance, you need to log performance data over a period of several days while the user is working with the computer. Which of the following procedures begins the process of gathering performance data? (Choose two.)

A.   Log on to the user's computer. Launch the Computer Management console, expand System Tools, and then expand Performance Logs And Alerts. Select Counter Logs in the left pane. In the right pane, right-click System Overview and click Start.

Correct

A.   The Performance Logs and Alerts MMC snap-in, available through the Computer Management console, is the correct graphical tool for creating performance logs.

B.   Log on to the user's computer. Launch Control Panel and select Performance And Maintenance. Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Performance. Select System Monitor in the left pane. In the right pane, right-click System Overview and click Start.

Incorrect

B.   The System Monitor MMC snap-in is useful for monitoring real-time performance data, but it cannot log performance data.

C.   Log on to the user's computer. Launch Windows Task Manager. From the File menu, select Log Data, and provide a filename.

Incorrect

C.   The Windows Task Manager is useful for viewing a real-time snapshot of a system's performance. However, it cannot be used to log performance data.

D.   Log on to the user's computer. From a command prompt, type LOGMAN START 'System Overview'.

Correct

D.   Using the LOGMAN utility is the correct way to start logging of performance data from the command line.

E.   Log on to the user's computer. From a command prompt, type RELOG System_Overview.BLG -q -o System_Overview.TXT.

Incorrect

E.   RELOG is useful for analyzing logged data, but it is not used for starting the logging process. RELOG is used to resample logged data at a longer interval in order to reduce the amount of data being analyzed.

MCS

70-270.04.01.004

D

Which of the following tools can be used to set the priority of a process?

A.   System Monitor

Incorrect

A.   The System Monitor is useful for viewing the processor utilization of a given process, but it cannot change a process' priority.

B.   Performance Logs and Alerts

Incorrect

B.   The Performance Logs and Alerts snap-in is useful for logging performance data, and allows you to record a given process' processor utilization. However, it cannot be used to change the priority of a process.

C.   Computer Manager

Incorrect

C.   The Computer Manager provides access to both the System Monitor and the Performance Logs and Alerts snap-ins, but none of these tools can be used to change the priority of a process.

D.   Task Manager

Correct

D.   The Processes tab of the Task Manager is used to change the priority of a process. Right-click the name of a process, choose Set Priority, and select the desired level.

MCS

70-270.04.01.005

B

A user complains about slow system performance. You decide to improve performance by adjusting the Performance Options tool. You launch this tool by opening Control Panel, selecting Performance And Maintenance, and clicking Adjust Visual Effects task. Which of the following changes that can be applied to the Performance Options tool improves the system's responsiveness?

A.   At the Visual Effects tab, click the Adjust For Best Appearance option.

Incorrect

A.   The Adjust For Best Appearance option enables every visual feature of the Windows XP Professional operating system. This provides the best user experience on systems that have sufficient processing capability. However, it reduces system responsiveness, and must not be used on systems experiencing performance problems.

B.   At the Visual Effects tab, click the Adjust For Best Performance option.

Correct

B.   The Adjust For Best Performance option disables all unnecessary visual effects. This reduces the amount of work Windows XP needs to do to display the user's graphical interface, thereby improving system responsiveness. Changing this setting is the best way to make the computer seem faster.

C.   At the Advanced tab, under Processor Scheduling, select optimization for Background Services.

Incorrect

C.   Optimizing processor scheduling for background services is useful on servers because it ensures interactive applications do not reduce the performance of a server's primary tasks. However, it does reduce system responsiveness for users working interactively with the computer because background services receive higher priority than interactive applications.

D.   At the Advanced tab, under Memory Usage, select optimization for System Cache.

Incorrect

D.   Optimizing memory usage for system cache improves the performance of file sharing and Web services. However, when you allocate more of the system RAM to these services, interactive applications suffer.

E.   At the Advanced tab, under Virtual Memory, reduce the paging file size by half.

Incorrect

E.   Windows XP uses virtual memory as an extension of the system's physical RAM. It is a slow process to page data from the physical memory to the virtual memory located on the system's hard disk, but decreasing the size of the paging file does not improve system performance.

MCM

70-270.04.01.006

A and B

You are the system administrator of a small network of end users who have both desktop and laptop Windows XP Professional systems. All systems participate in a Windows XP domain. You want to avoid the reduced performance that fragmented file systems cause by scheduling the disk defragmenter utility to run on all systems every Sunday at 1 A.M. This task is important enough that systems must be brought out of power-savings mode if necessary. However, you do not want the disk defragmentation to interfere with the users, nor do you want it to consume the batteries on laptop systems.

The proposed solution is as follows: Launch the Scheduled Tasks administrative utility, and choose New Scheduled Task from the File menu. Name the task File Defragmentation, and then right-click the new task and select Properties. From the Task tab of the Properties dialog box, type defrag C: in the Run field. In the Run As field, type the user name of a Domain Admin account that has local Administrator rights on all systems in the domain, and set the password using the Set Password button. From the Schedule tab, at the Schedule Task drop-down list, select Weekly. Set the Start Time to 1:00 AM, and select only Sunday from the Schedule Task Weekly section. Create this task to all Windows XP Professional systems.

Which of your desired results does the proposed solution accomplish? (Choose two.)

A.   Schedule the Disk Defragmenter to run on Sundays at 1 A.M.

Correct

A.   The settings selected on the Schedule tab are correct to launch the task every Sunday at 1 A.M.

B.   Execute the Disk Defragmenter with an account that has proper privileges on all systems.

Correct

B.   Selecting a Domain Admin account is the best way to ensure a scheduled task copied to many different systems has local Administrator rights on all systems. If a Domain Admin account is not used, a local Administrator account must be selected for each individual system— and account names and passwords might vary.

C.   Ensure the Disk Defragmenter does not interfere with user sessions.

Incorrect

C.   The proper method for ensuring that scheduled tasks do not interfere with user sessions is to select the Only Start The Task If The Computer Has Been Idle For At Least check box from the Settings tab of the Task Properties dialog box.

D.   Wake the computers from power-savings mode to run the Disk Defragmenter, if possible.

Incorrect

D.   The Wake The Computer To Run This Task check box was not selected while the task was being configured. This check box is located on the Settings tab of the Task Properties dialog box.

E.   Ensure the Disk Defragmenter does not consume the battery on laptop computers.

Incorrect

E.   This desired result was not accomplished. To ensure the scheduled task doesn't consume the system's battery, select both the Don't Start The Task If The Computer Is Running On Batteries and Stop The Task If Battery Mode Begins check boxes from the Settings tab of the Task Properties dialog box.

MCS

70-270.04.01.007

D

Using the AT command-line utility, you schedule a task to run nightly on your Windows XP Professional system. Immediately afterward, you decide that the task must run only weekly, so you launch the Scheduled Tasks administrative utility and modify the task properties. The next time you execute the AT command from the command-line, what does it display about your scheduled task?

A.   The scheduled task appears, and is scheduled to run daily.

Incorrect

A.   The Task Scheduler graphical administrative utility is capable of modifying tasks created with the AT command. Further, AT is not able to display the task because tasks that have been modified by the Task Scheduler are not visible to AT.

B.   The scheduled task appears, and is scheduled to run weekly.

Incorrect

B.   The Task Scheduler graphical administrative utility can update tasks created with the AT command, but makes the tasks invisible to the AT command-line utility after they have been modified.

C.   The scheduled task appears twice, and is scheduled to run both daily and weekly.

Incorrect

C.   The Task Scheduler does not duplicate tasks when making a modification, but it does make them invisible to AT.

D.   The scheduled task does not appear.

Correct

D.   The Task Scheduler and the AT command maintain entirely separate lists of scheduled tasks. Although the Task Scheduler can display tasks created with the AT command, it cannot directly modify those tasks. To modify a task created with the AT command, Task Scheduler removes the task from the AT command's list and adds the task to its own list. Therefore, tasks created with AT become invisible to AT after being modified with the Task Scheduler.

Last Updated: November 20, 2001

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