MCDST Self-Paced Training Exam 70-271(c) Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Micro[... ]ystem

As you learned in Lesson 1, the best way to avoid trouble when installing Windows XP is to properly prepare the computer for the installation and understand the decisions that you will be required to make during the installation process. Unforeseen problems do sometimes occur, and as a DST, you are likely to be the first person called to troubleshoot a failed installation. To deal with issues that may occur during the installation of Windows XP, you must be familiar with the Windows installation process, typical symptoms that are produced by different types of failures, and corrective actions you can use to remedy the issue.

After this lesson, you will be able to

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes

Troubleshooting Common Installation Problems

Fortunately, installation problems do not happen often and are usually minor issues. Although good preparation can help avoid almost all installation problems, you may not always have that luxury as a DST. More than likely, a user will call you after a failed installation attempt rather than to get your help preparing an installation. Table 2-3 summarizes common installation errors that can occur during a Windows XP installation and suggests actions for solving the problem.

Table 2-3: Common Windows XP Installation Errors

Error Condition

Suggested Action

Insufficient hard disk space

If the user is upgrading to Windows XP, you may need to delete files or remove programs to free up some disk space. If that is not possible, the user could install an additional hard disk or create an additional partition to hold Windows XP. Help the user determine the best course to take.

Setup failure during early text mode portion of Setup

Verify that Windows XP supports the mass storage devices that are on the computer. If there are unsupported devices, press F6 when prompted and supply the necessary drivers for these devices from a floppy disk with drivers from the manufacturer.

During Setup, the computer’s BIOS-based virus scanner gives an error message indicating that a virus is attempting to infect the boot sector. Setup fails.

When Setup attempts to write to the boot sector of the hard disk so that it can start Windows XP, BIOS-based virus scanners might interpret the action as an attempt by a virus to infect the computer. Disable the virus protection in the BIOS and enable it again after Windows XP is fully installed.

Setup fails during hardware detection or component installation.

Verify that all hardware is in the Windows Catalog. Remove non-supported devices to try to get past the error. If you are unsure which devices are not supported, consider removing all devices except those that are necessary to run the computer (such as the motherboard, display adapter, memory, and so on) during the installation and then reconnecting them after Windows is installed.

Errors accessing the CD

Clean the CD. If that does not resolve the issue and you have another CD available, try the other CD. If it works, then you know the first CD is bad. If you do not have another installation CD, you can also try to use a different CD-ROM drive.

Inability to join the domain during Setup

This will most likely occur because the computer cannot locate a domain controller. This lack of connectivity can occur because the network card is not functioning correctly, the network configuration is incorrect, or the client cannot contact the appropriate servers. This connectivity problem can also occur if the computer does not have an account in the domain and the user does not have permission to create an account in the domain. To try and resolve the issue, join a workgroup to complete Setup, troubleshoot the issue, and join the domain after the issue has been resolved. After installation, you can add the computer to the domain from the Computer Name tab in the Properties of My Computer.

Using the Windows XP Setup Logs

The Setup utility creates two log files in the installation folder that you can use to help you in the troubleshooting process:

These logs are text documents that you can view in Notepad, WordPad, or Microsoft Word. Some of the documents are very large. Consider searching the document for the word “fail,” which can help you locate instances in the log files that contain information on failed operations.

Troubleshooting Stop Errors

Stop errors, also referred to as blue screen errors, occur when the computer detects a condition from which it cannot recover. The computer stops responding and displays a screen of information, as shown in Figure 2-5. The most likely time when you may experience stop errors is after the text mode phase of Setup has finished, your computer restarts, and the GUI mode phase begins. During this transition, Windows XP loads the newly installed operating system kernel for the first time and initializes new hardware drivers.

Figure 2-5: Stop errors are most likely to occur when the GUI mode phase of Setup begins.

Stop errors are identified by a 10-digit hexadecimal number. The two most common stop errors you will encounter during Windows XP installation are Stop: 0x0000000A and Stop: 0x0000007B.

Resolving Stop: 0x0000000A Errors The Stop error 0x0000000A error usually indicates that Windows attempted to access a particular memory address at too high a process internal request level (IRQL). This error usually occurs when a hardware driver uses an incorrect memory address. This error can also indicate an incompatible device driver or a general hardware problem.

To troubleshoot this error, take the following actions:

Resolving Stop: 0x0000007B Errors The Stop: 0X0000007B error normally indicates that you have an inaccessible boot device, meaning that Windows cannot access your hard disk. The common causes for this type of error are as follows:

Troubleshooting CD-ROM-Based Installations

Installing Windows XP from the installation CD is perhaps the most common installation method. Although troubleshooting issues that occur during this type of installation also include using the general Windows XP troubleshooting steps that are listed in the previous section, there are a few issues that are specific to CD-based installations.

Problems specific to CD-based installations include the following:

Troubleshooting Upgrades

You can prevent most upgrade-specific problems by taking a few measures before starting the upgrade. Before upgrading any computer, you should perform all the following actions:

Troubleshooting Problems with Answer Files

When troubleshooting problems with answer files, by far the most common problem is an answer file that was not configured correctly. If an answer file was configured incorrectly or incompletely, you can either edit the file directly by using any text editor— Microsoft Notepad, for example—or you can re-create the answer file. However, if you are working as a DST, you must be careful to ensure that you are authorized to reconfigure the answer file. More than likely, your responsibility is simply to notify an administrator of the failure. You should also be prepared to provide the administrator with setup logs and an explanation of problems that occurred during setup.

Lesson Review

The following questions are intended to reinforce key information presented in this lesson. If you are unable to answer a question, review the lesson materials and try the question again. You can find answers to the questions in the “Questions and Answers” section at the end of this chapter.

  1. A user calls and tells you that she is trying to install Windows XP Professional by using the installation CD-ROM. However, she cannot get the computer to start using the CD-ROM. What steps should you take?

  2. You are helping a user perform a remote installation from a RIS server on his notebook computer. He has a boot disk that his administrator told him will force the computer to boot from the network and start the installation. However, when he tries to start the computer by using the boot disk, he receives an error stating that a supported network card could not be found. You verify that the user’s network adapter is functional by installing it on another computer and connecting to the network. What is likely to be the problem?

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