21-35OBJECTIVE 1.4 PERFORM POST-INSTALLATION UPDATES AND PRODUCT ACTIV...

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Objective 1.4

Perform Post-Installation Updates and Product Activation

Objective 1.4

Perform Post-Installation Updates and Product Activation

All operating systems require patches to be applied on a regular basis to fix problems,

provide compatibility with new hardware, and resolve newly discovered security vul-

nerabilities. Microsoft distributes these updates in the form of critical updates and

service packs. Microsoft releases critical updates with relative frequency to resolve

security vulnerabilities. Service packs, which are released less frequently, include all

critical updates released prior to the service pack, as well as other operating system

improvements. These updates can be retrieved from the Windows Update Web site at

https://traloihay.net.

If the only Windows XP system you are responsible for managing is your own personal

computer, you will probably choose to configure Automatic Updates to automatically

download and install updates when they become available. This method provides an

easy and bandwidth-efficient method of keeping a single computer up-to-date. If you

are responsible for managing a network of computers, you need to identify methods

that scale to larger numbers of computers and give you tighter control over how

patches are deployed.

The simplest way to distribute a service pack to your network is to download the net-

work package from Microsoft. The network package contains the complete set of files

required to install a service pack on any Windows XP computer. You can then copy

this file to a shared folder on your network and launch the service pack installation

without visiting Windows Update from each computer.

A more efficient (but complex) method of deploying both critical updates and service

packs to computers on your network is to use SUS. When you deploy SUS, you can

configure Automatic Updates to download updates from a server on your local net-

work. This gives you control over which critical updates and service packs are

deployed, which allows you to test each update thoroughly to detect compatibility

problems with your custom applications. You can download SUS from http://

https://traloihay.net.

Service packs can also be slipstreamed into a complete Windows XP Professional dis-

tribution point. Updating the Windows XP setup files with a service pack eliminates the

need to install a service pack on a newly deployed system because the slipstreaming

process integrates service pack updates into the Windows XP Professional setup files.

Future systems built from the slipstreamed distribution point will contain all updates

included in the service pack and reflect the updated build number, but will not require

the additional step of manually installing a service pack.

Objective 1.4 Questions