9 - Additional Windows Tools - CompTIA A+ 220-1202 - 1.4

Computer Troubleshooting Overview

When troubleshooting a computer, especially one that is unfamiliar, it's essential to gather information about the device's configuration quickly and efficiently.

System Information Utility

  • A primary tool to get a quick overview of a computer's configuration.

  • Can be accessed by running MSInfo32.exe.

Categories in System Information:

  1. Hardware Resources

    • Provides information about:

      • Memory

      • DMA (Direct Memory Access) settings

      • Interrupts and potential conflicts

  2. Components

    • Displays settings for:

      • Display configurations

      • Network configurations

      • Sound device information

      • Storage information (detailed disk info, IDE/SATA details)

  3. Software Environment

    • Shows information about:

      • Installed drivers

      • Pending print jobs

      • Running tasks

System Summary

  • Provides an overview of the system configuration, including:

    • Operating system name and version

    • Processor details

    • BIOS configurations

    • Boot device information

    • Available memory and file space

Expanding Hardware Resources

  • By clicking the plus sign:

    • View information about conflicts or sharing problems (e.g., DMA, IRQs, memory configuration).

Resource Monitor

  • Combines real-time performance analysis with detailed statistics and can be run by typing resmon or resmon.exe.

  • It separates system data into categories: CPU, disk, and network, and provides:

    • Overview of how the system is performing

    • Individual services breakdown by category

  • Allows users to view detailed information about specific applications' resource usage.

System Configuration

  • A tool used to customize Windows startup and can be accessed by searching for System Configuration or running msconfig.exe.

  • Tabs available in System Configuration:

    1. General

      • Options for startup types: normal startup, diagnostic startup, selective startup.

    2. Boot

      • Choose operating systems (especially if multiple OSes are installed) and Safe Boot options.

    3. Services

      • Overview of services that start with the computer.

    4. Startup

      • Manages applications that load during user login (now integrated into Task Manager).

    5. Tools

      • Access to various utilities like Event Viewer, Internet Options, Task Manager, and Resource Monitor.

Disk Cleanup Utility

  • A method for safely removing unnecessary files from hard drives or SSDs.

  • Initiated by running cleanmgr.exe.

  • Categories of files that can be cleaned:

    • Downloaded program files

    • Temporary Internet files

    • Windows error reports

  • A sample clean-up result might indicate freeing up to 1.58 GB of disk space.

Disk Defragmentation

  • Important for traditional spinning hard drives (not required for SSDs, as they don't require defragmentation).

  • Improves read/write performance by organizing fragmented files into contiguous blocks.

  • Analysis of drive efficiency can tell if defragmentation is needed.

  • Can be performed via graphical interface or command line (defrag command).

Graphical Front End for Disk Defragmentation

  • Shows analysis and optimization options for disk drives (e.g., finding congested areas for efficiency).

  • The Optimize button can run periodic maintenance and optimization of the storage drive.

Windows Registry Overview

  • Stores configuration settings for services, applications, and more via the regedit.exe utility.

  • Structure of the Windows Registry:

    • HKEY prefix stands for Handle to Registry Key, with sections like:

    • HKEYCLASSESROOT

    • HKEYCURRENTUSER

    • HKEYLOCALMACHINE

    • HKEY_USERS

    • HKEYCURRENTCONFIG

  • Modifications to the registry should be approached with care and ideally should be backed up before making changes.

Using the Registry Editor

  • On startup, User Account Control confirms permission to make changes.

  • Browsing through the categories allows access to relevant software settings (e.g., under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Microsoft > Windows).

Backing Up the Registry

  • Can be done by exporting registry keys or hives.

  • Exporting allows saving configuration states which can be restored later by running the saved file.