Windows 2000 Hardware and Disk Management
Authors: Curt Simmons
Venue:  (2000)

From the Book:PREFACE: PrefaceWelcome to Windows 2000 Hardware and Disk Management. This book is designed to be your Windows 2000 companion to help you install and configure your hardware devices and take advantage of Windows 2000's new disk management and remote/removable storage features. In the past, managing your hardware and hard disks was an often tedious and frustrating task. Fortunately, Windows 2000 provides a plug-and-play operating system with many new features and support for hardware. Additionally, disk management is completely different in Windows 2000, with new technologies and features. With this book, you can get your Windows 2000 Professional or Server computer configured and operating in peak condition.Who This Book Is ForThis book is written for two diverse groups of people. First, if you are an IT professional faced with the responsibilities of configuring and managing Windows 2000 Server as well as Windows 2000 Professional, this book serves as a handy reference tool for hardware installation and configuration as well as disk management. You can use this book to support the many tasks you need to perform. Second, this book is written for all users of Windows 2000 Professional. Whether you are working in an office that is implementing Windows 2000 or if you have purchased Windows 2000 Professional as an upgrade to your home PC, you can use this book to help you configure your hardware devices and make use of the new disk configuration options provided in Windows 2000.This book examines the installation and configuration of hardware devices and disk management for both Windows 2000 Professional and Windows 2000 Server. This isbecausethe hardware and disk features of Professional and Server are essentially the same. Throughout the book, I refer to Professional and Server as simply "Windows 2000." When there are differences between the two operating systems, I note those so you can stay on track.I have written this book in a clear, concise manner so you can easily get the information you need whether you are an IT professional or an enduser. You will see a lot of step-by-step instructions and screen prints to help you along the way.What's in the Book?This book is divided into three major sections. First, you learn about hardware installation and configuration. In this section, you can learn all about Windows 2000 hardware tools, plug-and-play compliance, and how to install and configure devices such as modems, network adapter cards, printers, USB devices, and a host of others.Next, the book explores the new disk configuration options and management features of Windows 2000. In this section, you learn about dynamic disks, disk states, creating volumes, and using Windows 2000 fault-tolerant solutions. You also learn about Windows 2000 disk tools, including backup.In Part Three, you learn about the new remote and removable storage features of Windows 2000. Remote and removable storage allow you to take advantage of tape drives, zip disks, writeable CD, and other media to extend your hard drive to remote and removable storage. You also examine other storage features, such as the Distributed File System, the encrypting file system, and disk quotas.Finally, Part Four examines file management in Windows 2000, where you learn about offline files, file and folder security options, and Windows 2000's indexing service.The following tells you what you can expect to see in each chapter.Part One: Installing and Configuring Windows 2000 HardwareChapter 1: Managing Hardware in Windows 2000. In this chapter, you learn all about the new hardware features in Windows 2000, such as plug-and-play support, the Add/Remove Hardware wizard, Device Manager, and a number of related topics.Chapter 2: Configuring Modems. In this chapter, you learn how to install and configure modems, area code rules, and how to create modem connections.Chapter 3: Managing Network Adapter Cards and USB Devices. In Chapter 3, you learn all about network adapter cards, which give your computer access to a local area network, and you also explore the new Universal Serial Bus (USB) support in Windows 2000.Chapter 4: Setting Up Printers. This chapter explores the new printing features of Windows 2000 and shows you how to install and configure your printer for local or network use.Chapter 5: Video and Sound Cards. Video and sound cards can be tricky devices that can cause you some problems. In this chapter, I explore the installation issues and configuration of video and sound cards in your Windows 2000 system.Chapter 6: Other Peripherals. This chapter examines a number of additional peripheral devices now supported in Windows 2000, such as scanners, digital cameras, game controllers, and so forth.Chapter 7: Troubleshooting Hardware Devices. This chapter provides a handy reference location for common problems you could experience with your hardware and their solutions.Part Two: Windows 2000 Disk ManagementChapter 8: Windows 2000 Hard Disk Basics. This chapter introduces you to disk management in Windows 2000 and shows you the new management features.Chapter 9: Dynamic Disks in Windows 2000. This chapter examines the configuration of dynamic disks and explores the online/offline features as well as configuration options.Chapter 10: Configuring Dynamic Volumes. This chapter shows you how to configure volumes on dynamic disks and the volume options that are available to you.Chapter 11: Configuring Windows 2000 Fault Tolerance. Windows 2000 offers fault-tolerant solutions to protect your data in case of a disk failure. This chapter shows you how to configure and manage fault tolerance.Chapter 12: Windows 2000 Backup. The importance of data backup cannot be understated. This chapter shows you how to devise a backup plan and how to use the Windows Backup tool.Chapter 13: Windows 2000 Disk Tools. A number of new tools are available in Windows 2000 to help you manage your hard disks. This chapter shows you how to use these tools.Chapter 14: Troubleshooting Disk Problems. This chapter serves as a reference where you can examine a number of common disk problems and solutions.Part Three: Windows 2000 Storage FeaturesChapter 15: Remote Storage. Remote storage allows you to store data in a remote location, yet your system continues to manage it as though locally stored. This chapter shows you how to install and use remote storage.Chapter 16: Removable Storage. Removable storage allows you to use zip drives, CD-ROM drives, etc. to store data on removable storage media. This chapter shows you how to use this feature.Chapter 17: Additional Storage Technologies. This chapter shows you how to configure and implement two new Windows 2000 features, disk quotas and encrypting file system.Chapter 18: Distributed File System. Are your network clients having problems finding shared folders on your network? Then Distributed File System may be the easy answer you need.Chapter 19: Troubleshooting Windows 2000 Storage. This chapter offers you a number of potential problems and their solutions concerning Windows 2000 storage technologies.Part Four: Windows 2000 File ManagementChapter 20: File and Folder Management and Security. This chapter examines offline files, file and folder management, and configuring NTFS security for files and folders.Chapter 21: Indexing Service. This chapter shows you how to install and configure Windows 2000's indexing service.