Ch.12 - Installing Windows

Programs and Features

A Control Panel applet that lists the programs installed on a computer; you can use it to uninstall, change, or repair programs.

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) license

A Microsoft Windows license available for purchase only by manufacturers or builders of personal computers and intended to be installed only on a computer for sale.

Secure Boot

A UEFI and OS feature that prevents a system from booting up with drivers or an OS that are not digitally signed and trusted by the motherboard or computer manufacturer.

digital license

A Windows 10 license assigned to a computer after Windows 10 has been activated on the machine.

diskpart

A Windows command to manage hard drives, partitions, and volumes.

unattended installation

A Windows installation in which answers to installation questions are stored in a file that Windows calls so that they do not have to be typed in during the installation.

in-place upgrade

A Windows installation that is launched from the Windows desktop. The installation carries forward user settings and installed applications from the old OS to the new one. A Windows OS is already in place before the installation begins.

User Account Control (UAC) dialog box

A Windows security feature that displays a dialog box when an event requiring administrative privileges is about to happen

local account

A Windows user account that applies only to the local computer and cannot be used to access resources from other computers on the network. Compare with global account.

User State Migration Tool (USMT)

A Windows utility that helps you migrate user files and preferences between computers to help a user make a smooth transition from one computer to another.

service pack

A collection of several patches or updates that is installed as a single update to an OS or application.

usmtutils

A command used by the User State Migration Tool (USMT) that provides encryption options and hard-link management.

scanstate

A command used by the User State Migration Tool (USMT) to copy user settings and data from an old computer to a safe location such as a server or removable media. Also see loadstate.

loadstate

A command used by the User State Migration Tool (USMT) to copy user settings and data temporarily stored at a safe location to a new computer. Also see scanstate.

ISO file/image

A file format that has an .iso file extension and holds an image of all the data that is stored on an optical disc, including the file system. ISO stands for International Organization for Standardization.

answer file

A file of information that Windows requires in order to do an unattended installation.

quick format

A format procedure for a hard drive volume or other drive that doesn't scan the volume or drive for bad sectors; use it only when a drive has been previously formatted and is in healthy condition. Compare with full format.

boot priority order

A list of devices stored in firmware on the motherboard that BIOS/UEFI startup uses in the order listed to search for and load an operating system.

Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)

A minimum operating system used to start a Windows installation. Also called WinPE.

provisioning package

A package of settings, apps, and data specific to an enterprise that is downloaded and installed on a device when it first joins Azure Active Directory.

clean install

A process used to overwrite the existing operating system and applications when installing an OS on a hard drive.

default product key

A product key that can be used to fix a problem created when Windows 10 setup installs the wrong edition of the OS.

upgrade paths

A qualifying OS required by Microsoft in order to perform an in-place upgrade.

batch file

A script text file that has a .bat file extension and contains a series of Windows commands.

product key

A series of letters and numbers assigned by Microsoft that is required to activate a license to use Windows

DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management)

A set of commands to create, capture, and manage a Windows 10 standard image. The commands can also be used to repair a corrupted Windows 10 installation.

boot loader menu

A startup menu in a dual-boot system that gives the user the choice of which operating system to load, such as Windows 10 or Windows 8. Multiples OSs are installed on a dual-boot system.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)

A suite of Microsoft tools that can automate a Windows installation.

single sign-on (SSO)

An account that accesses multiple independent resources, systems, or applications after signing in one time to one account. An example is a Microsoft account.

global account

An account that is used at the domain level, created by an administrator, and stored in the SAM (security accounts manager) database on a Windows domain controller. Also called domain account or network ID. Compare with local account.

remote network installation

An automated installation where no user intervention is required

standard image

An image that includes Windows, drivers, applications, and data, which are standard to all the computers that might use the image.

push automation

An installation automatically pushed by a server to a computer when a user is not likely to be manning the computer. Compare with pull automation.

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)

An interface between firmware on the motherboard and the operating system that improves on legacy BIOS processes for booting, handing over the boot to the OS, and loading device drivers and applications before the OS loads. UEFI also manages motherboard settings and secures the boot to ensure that no rogue operating system hijacks the system.

pull automation

a windows installation from a deployment server that requires the local user to start the process

Windows Defender Antivirus

Anti-malware software embedded in Windows 10 that can detect viruses, prevent them, and clean up a system infected with viruses and other malware. In Windows 8/7, a similar tool is called Windows Defender.

third-party driver

Drivers that are not included in BIOS/UEFI or Windows and must come from the manufacturer.

BIOS (basic input/output system)

Firmware that can control much of a computer's input/output functions, such as communication with the keyboard and the monitor.

setup BIOS/UEFI

Firmware used to change motherboard settings. For example, you can use it to enable or disable a device on the motherboard, change the date and time that is later passed to the OS, and select the order of boot devices for startup BIOS/UEFI to search when looking for an operating system to load.

Microsoft account

For Windows 10/8, an email address registered with Microsoft that allows access to several types of online accounts, including Microsoft OneDrive, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Skype, and Outlook.

drive imaging

Making an exact image of a hard drive, including partition information, boot sectors, operating system installation, and application software, to replicate the hard drive on another system or recover from a hard drive crash. Also called disk cloning or disk imaging.

administrator account

In Windows, a user account that grants an administrator rights and privileges to all hardware and software resources, such as the right to add, delete, and change accounts and to change hardware configurations. Compare with standard account.

custom installation

In the Windows setup program, the option used to overwrite the existing operating system and applications, producing a clean installation of the OS. The main advantage is that problems with the old OS are not carried forward.

hardware signature

Information kept on Microsoft activation servers along with a digital license to identify a machine that has activated a Windows installation.

image deployment

Installing a standard image on a computer.

UEFI CSM (Compatibility Support Module) mode

Legacy BIOS in UEFI firmware.

startup BIOS/UEFI

Part of UEFI or BIOS firmware on the motherboard that is responsible for controlling the computer when it is first turned on. Startup BIOS/UEFI gives control to the OS once the OS is loaded.

Device Manager

Primary Windows tool for managing hardware. (devmgmt.msc)

Preboot Execution Environment (PXE)

Programming contained in the UEFI/BIOS code on the motherboard used to start up the computer and search for a server on the network to provide a bootable operating system. also called pre-execution environment

device drivers

a small program stored on the hard drive and installed in windows that tells Windows how to communicate with a specific hardware device such as a printer, network, port on the motherboard, or scanner

Media creation tool (MCT)

Software downloaded from the Microsoft website and used to download Windows setup files, which in turn are used to create setup media or to install Windows.

hypervisor

Software that creates and manages virtual machines on a server or on a local computer. Also called virtual machine manager (VMM).

standard account

The Windows 10/8/7 user account type that can use software and hardware and make some system changes, but cannot make changes that affect the security of the system or other users. Compare with administrator account.

dual boot

The ability to boot using either of two different OSs, such as Windows 10 and Windows 7. Also called multiboot.

hot-swappable

The ability to plug or unplug devices without first powering down the system. USB devices as well as some hard drives have this ability.

file system

The overall structure that an OS uses to name, store, and organize files on a disk. Examples of file systems are NTFS and FAT32. Windows is always installed on a volume that uses the NTFS file system.

full format

The process of creating an empty root directory, checking each sector for errors, marking bad sectors so they will not be used by the file system, and installing a file system and drive letter to a storage device or volume.

product activation

The process that Microsoft uses to prevent software piracy. For example, once Windows 10 is activated for a particular computer, it cannot be legally installed on another computer.

Active Hours

The range of time during the day when Windows 10 avoids automatic restarts while applying updates.

driver rollback

To undo a device driver update by returning to the previous version.

system BIOS/UEFI

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) or BIOS (basic input/output system) firmware on the motherboard that is used to control essential devices before the OS is loaded.

GUID Partition Table (GPT)

a method for partitioning hard drives that allows for drives of any size. for windows, a drive that uses this method can have up to 128 partitions. is required to use a secure boot with UEFI firmware

Volume

a primary partition that has been assigned a drive letter and can be formatted with a file system such as NTFS

Windows.old folder

When using an unformatted hard drive for a clean installation, this folder is created to store the previous operating system settings and user profiles.

Master Boot Record (MBR)

partitioning system used by hard drives with capacity less than 2 TB. the first sector is called the MBR; it contains the partition table and a program motherboard that firmware uses to boot an OS from the drive

virtual machine (VM)

software managed by a hypervisor that stimulates hardware of a physical computer, creating one or more logical machines within one physical machine