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Turn off
personalized menus
Many people find Microsoft's new feature of personalized
menus annoying rather than helpful. You can turn these
off by right clicking on the task bar, and deselecting
"Use Personalized menus" |
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Make
sure your system time is correct
In a Windows 2000 Network, time
synchronization with the local domain controller is
crucial because it's used as part of the Kerberos
encryption scheme. If your system time isn't
correct, your machine may
not be able to logon and authenticate properly. Take
a minute to make sure the Regional settings and the BIOS
clock are set correctly. |
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Enable the
Recovery Console
Having the Recovery
Console installed before you actually need it will
save you time and frustration if your system ever fails
to boot. The Recovery Console can be pre-installed by
running the "WINNT32 /CMDCONS" command from
the Windows 2000 installation CD-ROM. |
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Configure the
MMC
The new Microsoft Management Console is the universal
interface for almost all Administrative tasks you'll
need to perform. You can save yourself some headaches
later by configuring the MMC
with the options you want and saving the file so you can
pull it up quickly. |
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Configure
Recovery Options
Right click My Computer, select the Advanced Tab, and
click the "Startup and Recovery" option. These
options allow you to choose which course of action you
want it to take in case of a system failure. You can
configure Windows 2000 to automatically reboot, and
write to an event log, and create a memory
dump that will be useful in debugging the cause of
the crash. If you aren't dual-booting several versions
of Windows 2000, you can speed up the boot process by
changing the "Display list of Operating
Systems" value to 10 seconds (the default is 30
seconds.) |
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Install the
Administration and Support Tools
On the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, you'll find a set of
optional support tools in the i386\support\tools folder
that may be helpful in configuring your installation, and
troubleshooting issues. The utilities include the
Application Compatibility Tool, the Security
Administration Tools, and Help files for Error and Event
messages. For Network Administrators, you'll find a more
comprehensive set of support tools in the ADMINPAK.MSI
file in the i386 directory on the Windows 2000 Server
and Advanced Server CD-ROMs. You will need to be logged
on with Administrator privileges to install these
components. |
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Install
the latest Service Pack and Hotfixes
Microsoft's
Service Packs contain hundreds of bug fixes and
close security holes. The patches released between
service packs are known as "hot fixes." You
can have Microsoft's Windows Update website
automatically scan your system and recommend critical
fixes and driver updates by clicking the Windows Update
icon on the Start Menu. |
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Make
an Emergency Recovery Disk
If you didn't get
a chance to make an Emergency
Recovery Disk during the install process, now is
your chance. Go to Start > Programs > Accessories
> System Tools > Backup and you'll see the new
wizard for creating an ERD. You'll need a blank
formatted 3 1/2" floppy disk. Label and date the
disk, and store it in a safe place. |
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Backup
the System State
As long as you are in the Backup menu when creating an
Emergency Repair Disk, take a minute to back up the
"System State", which includes the boot files
and critical portions of the Registry. You'll see this
as an option under the normal backup menu. The time to
do this is before you begin installing applications
which may be incompatible with Windows 2000 and cause
your system to become unstable. You may also wish to
create a full backup of this "clean" install
in case you need to start from scratch at a later date. |
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Configure
the Security Settings
Everyone's security needs are a little different, so
you'll need to put some thought into what your risks
are. We've put together a separate Windows
2000 Security Checklist that should help you decide
what to lock down and how to do it. |
