Planning for IIS 6 Deployment Before you can deploy IIS 6 Web servers within your enterprise, you first need to install Windows Server 2003 or upgrade to Windows Server 2003. Only after Windows Server 2003 is deployed, are you able to install IIS 6 in your environment. Therefore, the majority of planning activities for an IIS 6 installation involves planning for, and deploying the underlying Windows Server 2003 operating system (OS). There are a few ways to install Windows Server 2003, and therefore IIS 6 in your network. For instance, Read More

The portable document format (PDF) was a file format developed by Adobe in 1993. The purpose of the file is to make document transfer much easier. In 2008, PDF became an open-source format. Previously, it had been proprietary. Many web browsers can read PDFs without having to save the file to your computer. However, should you save it to your computer, opening the file is easy.  For the most part, if you double click on a PDF file, it should open right away in whatever program you have installed that Read More

An Overview on Shutdown Events Computer shutdowns can be sorted into either of the following categories: Expected shutdowns: An expected shutdown can be defined as a computer shutdown which you predict to occur. Expected shutdowns usually occur when one of the following actions are performed: Clicking Start, and then the Shutdown command Holding down Ctrl + Alt + Del, and then clicking Shutdown Expected shutdown can be categorized into: Planned shutdowns: These are shutdowns which administrators have some form of control over Unplanned shutdowns: These are shutdowns normally initiated by Read More

The PCL XL error is most commonly associated with HP LaserJet printers. The error occurs when several pages are sent from a document to the printer’s print queue. The printer displays this error message if the printer’s driver has become outdated or corrupted from operating system (OS) updates or conflicting third-party software being installed on the computer. HP has identified the problem printer drivers for most of their printers that display the PCL XL error. They have released updated programs that can be downloaded and installed for free on the Read More

NTLDR stands for New Technology Loader, and it is a program that is usually loaded from the hard drive boot sector. It is used to display the Microsoft Windows NT startup menu, and it helps load Microsoft Windows NT. "NTLDR is missing" is an error that prevents Windows from starting up, and a number of factors can cause this error. The procedure to fix this error depends on its cause. Here are some of the known causes and their solutions: Computer is booting from a nonbootable source – One of Read More

An Overview of Internet Information Services (IIS) Internet Information Services (IIS) is one of the more commonly used Web servers utilized on the Internet and in intranets. Through IIS, you can create and manage Web sites, and share and distribute information over the Internet or intranet. With the introduction of the Windows 2000 Server OS came the launch of Internet Information Services (IIS) 5. IIS 5 included the name change from Internet Information Server to Internet Information Services. IIS 5 was integrated with the Active Directory directory service introduced in Read More

MSN Hotmail, an email service that the Microsoft Corporation provides, is Windows Live Hotmail’s predecessor. Hotmail, which was launched in 1996, is one of the most popular email services on the Internet today and is free to use. Windows Live Hotmail was subsequently launched in 2006 and has additional features such as unlimited storage, additional security, a calendar, contacts, and integration with Windows Live Messenger. Although Windows Live Hotmail is a Microsoft product, the application is not registered by default with the default programs tool in Windows Vista. This results Read More

The Windows Registry is a database designed to store options and various hardware and software configuration settings on MS Windows Operating Systems (OS's). Since the registry was first introduced in Windows 3.1, it has grown from storing COM-based component configuration information to management of settings for all of the programs installed on the computer. Today, the registry contains settings for the OS kernel, user interface preferences, device drivers, and other services in order to help the computer performance with as fast as possible. A common task for Windows computer users Read More

With Windows NT 4.0, came the launch of the System Policy Editor feature which enabled administrators to manage the security settings of the system through a single user interface. The System Policy Editor feature allowed administrators to easily manage configurations of multiple computers because configuration settings could be copied between systems. With the introduction of Windows 2000, the System Policy Editor feature was replaced by Active Directory Group Policy and security templates. Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 utilize Active Directory Group Policy and security templates to distribute Read More

Monitoring IIS Performance in Windows Server 2003 The primary performance monitoring MMC snap-ins and tools used for monitoring Windows Server 2003 and IIS are: System Monitor: The System Monitor is one of the main MMC snap-ins used to monitor system performance. This was previously the Performance Monitor tool in Windows NT. The name change to System Monitor occurred in Windows 2000. Through System Monitor, users can monitor various elements of the server’s performance, collect and view real-time data, or view historically collected data. System Monitor can be displayed in a Read More