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Chapter 14
Windows 2000 Professional
In This Chapter
Defining Windows 2000 Professional
Windows 2000 Professional features
Windows 2000 Professional strengths
T
his chapter is the first of three that explore the family members of
Microsoft networking-related solutions. After learning about Windows
2000 Professional in this chapter, you will learn about Windows 2000
Advanced Server and Datacenter in Chapter 15. Finally, in Chapter 16, I spend
a few minutes with you on Small Business Server 4.5, which is the best darn
solution for small sites even today.
When it comes to networks, if there is a server, there needs to be at least one
workstation. Together, the server and workstation form the basic network.
Windows 2000 Professional constitutes the workstation side of the basic
network equation. Before diving into the Windows 2000 Professional depths,
allow me to set your expectations for a moment. This chapter is part of the
“all in the family” paradigm that considers each Microsoft Windows 2000 and
network-related offering. This chapter is also limited in scope with respect to
Windows 2000 Professional.
One final note regarding the presentation of Windows 2000 Professional in
this chapter. I have hand picked the best and brightest features and secrets
to present to you. Undoubtedly you have additional Windows 2000
Professional features that you like. Great!
Where the Work Gets Done
You could argue that the workstation side via Windows 2000 Professional is
where the work really gets done on the network. It’s where the users perform
their tasks. Let’s take a moment to find out exactly how their work can be
accomplished with Windows 2000 Professional. That is, what capabilities in
Windows 2000 Professional enable the workers to be productive?
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Improved ease of use
One of Windows 2000 Professional’s shticks is its improved usability. As you
would expect, operating systems are evolutionary. Call it OS Darwinism.
Mobile computing support
My favorite improvement in Windows 2000 Professional is the
Synchronization Manager (see Figure 14-1). This tool globally updates the
network copy of information that you worked with offline. This addresses the
age-old issue of having your company’s information stored centrally, yet
enabling mobile workers to work offline.
Figure 14-1: Synchronization Manager
Synchronization Manager, the latest incarnation of Briefcase, is found in the
Accessories program group. It will synchronize documents, calendars, and
e-mail messages.
Synchronization Manager will not synchronize database information at the
table or field level. That’s a task usually managed from within a sophisticated
database application.
Another access favorite is Windows 2000 Professional’s commitment to
Virtual Private Networking (VPN). Windows 2000 Professional is, not
surprisingly, the most VPN-compliant desktop OS I’ve worked with from
Microsoft. I cover the VPN topic extensively in Chapter 8.
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Looks better
My favorite improvement here is the Start menu management capabilities.
With past Microsoft desktop operating systems, you were basically limited to
adding or deleting Start menu items. That has changed with Windows 2000
Professional. Now, via the Taskbar Properties (see Figure 14-2), you can
customize menu display options, a great improvement.
Figure 14-2: Taskbar Properties
Another cool menu management feature is the Use Personalized Menus
option. It’s touted by Microsoft as a housecleaning feature that causes only
the most recently selected menu options to be available. To display all of the
menu items, you simply click the double-down arrows (which will fully
extend a menu).
I call the Use Personalized Menus option the “shelf space” algorithm. Like a
bookstore or the local grocery, the most popular items, in this case Start
menu options, get the most space.
Prints better
Printing is printing, right? Well, Windows 2000 Professional has shifted that
paradigm slightly by adding Internet printing support, known as the Internet
Printing Protocol (IPP). With this feature, you can print to an Internet address
(for example, www.springers.com/hp4000). The Internet print capability is
configured on the Locate Your Printer screen of the Add Printer Wizard (see
Figure 14-3). Note that you can also print to an intranet site as well.
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Figure 14-3: Internet printing configuration
The URL you are printing to using IPP must have its printer defined as a
virtual directory to the right of the basic Internet domain name. You cannot
configure IPP to print to a third-level domain name where said third-level
domain name represents the printer.
Improved management
It can be said, and justifiably so, that the user experience is a function of
management. That is, while just about everyone can use computers now, the
user’s ultimate computing experience will be a function of his or her ability to
manage the computer. Such reasoning wasn’t lost on the wonderkids from
Redmond as Windows 2000 Professional was developed. Two management
improvements in Windows 2000 Professional stand out.
Improved Add/Remove Programs
Good old Add/Remove Programs has aged well and turned out to be a good
kid. In addition to a new look and feel, Add/Remove Programs (see Figure
14-4) now allows you to automatically receive Windows 2000 Professionalrelated updates over the Internet with the push of a button called Windows
Update. Such updates include device drivers, patches, fixes, and operating
system enhancements.
The Windows Update functionality is very similar to a popular desktop
application called Oil Change. Perhaps Microsoft should have called it the Oil
Change Killer!
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Figure 14-4: Add/Remove Programs
Improved setup tools
One new Windows 2000 Professional feature stands out here. Windows 2000
Professional server has disk-duplication capabilities, which are found in the
System Preparation Tool. Here, you can create an image of your computer’s
hard disk. Then, using a third-party disk-duplication tool such as Ghost, you
can duplicate your hard disk to other like-configured machines.
I call the capability to create an image of your Windows 2000 Professional
hard disk the “manual mirroring secret.” Why? Because Windows 2000
Professional doesn’t implicitly support RAID 1 mirroring. But you can fool the
system into mirroring, albeit with significant time lags, via the System
Preparation Tool’s disk imaging capabilities.
Troubleshooting
The primary improvement here is Automated System Recovery (ASR). This
tool is the ultimate undo, as far as I’m concerned. Via Backup, you can
configure ASR to make a backup copy of your system files. This is
conceptually very similar to the role of the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD), but
ASR saves more information, such as ARC naming paths to your disks. Note
that ASR doesn’t save application-level information, such as that contained in
Microsoft SQL Server (master table, indexes, and so on) or Microsoft
Exchange (global address list objects, and so on).
The compatibility tool, as it’s generically known, runs when you upgrade to
Windows 2000 Professional from supported operating systems such as
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Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0 Workstation. Basically, it will
test for the upgrade fitness of certain components and applications. You will
be notified of items that might fail.
The Windows 2000 Professional compatibility tool is very similar to the NT
Hardware Qualifier (NTHQ) tool that I (and perhaps you) used back in the old
Windows NT Server 4.0 days. One big difference exists, though: this
compatibility tool also checks for software compatibility.
File management improvements
And whoever said Windows 2000 Professional, with its NTFS partitions,
doesn’t suffer from fragmentation? Of course it does. And while I recommend
a third-party defragmentation utility in Chapter 9, I’d be remiss if I didn’t
report that Windows 2000 Professional has a built-in defragmentation tool
(see Figure 14-5).
Figure 14-5: Defragmentation tool
The defragmentation tool in Windows 2000 Professional has similar
defragmentation capabilities to those found in Windows 98 and Windows 95.
Hardware Support
Of course hardware support has improved in Windows 2000 Professional
when compared to past desktop operating systems from Microsoft. However,
it has already been my experience that although Windows 2000 Professional
brought forward and even improved hardware Plug and Play support, those
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of us who work at older sites will find our ISA devices go undetected.
Bummer. That means you’ll need to keep those ISA component device driver
diskettes handy and use the Add/Remove Hardware wizard for those oldies
but goodies (ISA devices, not music).
I highly recommend that you install Windows 2000 Professional on nothing
less than a dual-processor machine. Yes, you read correctly. Dual processor
power at the desktop. A nice option if you can afford it. Otherwise be
prepared to suffer the wrath of a single processor’s poor performance.
Security
Big hugs here for Microsoft. Windows 2000 Professional incorporates the
following:
■ Internet Protocol security (IPsec). Supports encrypted traffic over an
intranet or VPN connection.
■ Encryption File System (EFS). Provides local file encryption that requires
a password to penetrate.
■ Kerberos Version 5. Hail to the king, for Kerberos is here. It is a fast and
well-accepted Internet security standard.
■ Smart card support. Smart card devices enable authentication away from
the physical location of the network, therefore increasing portability.
Windows 2000-related security matters are discussed in more detail in
Chapter 13.
Summary
A Windows 2000 Server-based network is made of up both servers and
workstations. This chapter introduced Windows 2000 Professional, which is the
workstation offering from Microsoft in the Windows 2000 family.
Defined the role of Windows 2000 Professional
Defined Windows 2000 Professional features
Discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Windows 2000 Professional
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