This week’s lesson revolved around best practices in maintenance and fault recovery for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 systems.
Even though Windows Update has been around for a long time, it doesn’t seem like there have been many changes in its look, feel and function. As I’ve been dealing with this process for over 15 years since the advent of Windows 98, there were few surprises about how the update function works. It seems like a mundane system item, but it really is vital as it is an axiom in the IT world that “Patch Tuesday” when Microsoft releases security updates is followed by “Exploit Wednesday” when previously unknown vulnerabilities are taken advantage of on unpatched systems.
One thing that was interesting was the information on how to connect to a local Windows Update server, although it would have been useful to learn how to set up such a server. Maybe that will come in a future certification class.
The other major items covered related to system backup and restore. Windows 7 and 8 have a robust backup and restore utility that is easy to use and works very well. Of course, when something is stable and works with a minimum of fuss, the geniuses in Redmond must change it up, so Windows 8.1 does not include the Windows 7 utility. Instead, there is a system called File History, which deals with personal files. This utility looks a lot like the Apple approach to backup tasks, and does seems to work well. System files and applications are backed up with System Restore, which looks a lot like the Windows 7 backup and restore console but with less user options available.
Modern Windows variants also contain tools for recovery of machines that won’t boot successfully for whatever reason. Windows 7 and 8 have the traditional F8 tools accessible after the BIOS boots, but Windows 8.1 no longer has that ability. Instead, one must use recovery media or a preconfigured flash drive to boot into a recovery environment. Once in this environment, there are options to repair data or reload the operating system. Windows 8.1 also contains a useful “Swiss Army knife” utility tool that combines many functions. This tool, called the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) has utilities that will reset a user password, repair the master boot record, restore lost files and remove malware among other things. It looks to be a quick and easy tool to help solve many system recovery issues.
One more lesson – see you next week.
One thing that was interesting was the information on how to connect to a local Windows Update server, although it would have been useful to learn how to set up such a server. Maybe that will come in a future certification class.
The other major items covered related to system backup and restore. Windows 7 and 8 have a robust backup and restore utility that is easy to use and works very well. Of course, when something is stable and works with a minimum of fuss, the geniuses in Redmond must change it up, so Windows 8.1 does not include the Windows 7 utility. Instead, there is a system called File History, which deals with personal files. This utility looks a lot like the Apple approach to backup tasks, and does seems to work well. System files and applications are backed up with System Restore, which looks a lot like the Windows 7 backup and restore console but with less user options available.
Modern Windows variants also contain tools for recovery of machines that won’t boot successfully for whatever reason. Windows 7 and 8 have the traditional F8 tools accessible after the BIOS boots, but Windows 8.1 no longer has that ability. Instead, one must use recovery media or a preconfigured flash drive to boot into a recovery environment. Once in this environment, there are options to repair data or reload the operating system. Windows 8.1 also contains a useful “Swiss Army knife” utility tool that combines many functions. This tool, called the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) has utilities that will reset a user password, repair the master boot record, restore lost files and remove malware among other things. It looks to be a quick and easy tool to help solve many system recovery issues.
One more lesson – see you next week.
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