Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Design Structured Cabling Systems and IT Network Infrastructures

Introduction

Designing a Structured Cabling System - a ten step HOW TO guide

Steps

Below we have provided a ten step introductory guide for the Design of Structured Cabling Systems and IT Network Infrastructures. (see structured cabling schematic)

Step 1: Which group of standards will you conform to?

European Union CENELEC EN standards America ANSI/TIA/EIA standards Canada CSA standards Australia/New Zealand AS/NZ standards Rest of the World ISO/IEC standards

The three principle design standards give the details of how to design and specify a structured cabling standard, they are;

ISO 11801
EN 50173
TIA/EIA 568-A or 568-B

BICSI

These standards in turn however refer to hundreds of other standards relating to component specifications, fire performance, testing methods, containment systems etc.

Step 2: Horizontal cabling - Basic rules

Four-pair cables are run from user positions to a patch panel. At the patch panel, patchcords link into the active LAN equipment or into backbone cabling. The user position has a wall outlet or floor outlet, and this links into the PC on your desk via another patchcord. The outlet is a called a TO (Telecommunications Outlet) and contains an eight way plug meeting IEC 60603-7, more commonly referred to as an RJ-45.

Two outlets per work area
Two outlets per 10 square metres of useable floor space
Outlets to be within 3 metres of the user station
Both outlets to be RJ 45
Max cable run to be 90 m
Max total length of patchcords at both ends of the link to be 10 m
Cable and RJ45 to be Cat5e grade

Options

Cat 3 or optical fibre can be used

If optical fibre, select 50/125 or 62.5/125 multimode

If using fibre select SC or ST connectors

Cat 6/Class E can be specified

Cat 5e Cable can be unscreened, UTP, Foil screened, FTP, or Foil and Braid screened S-FTP.

Cable fire performance can be:

IEC 332-1
IEC 332-1, IEC 754, IEC 1034
IEC 332-3-c. IEC 754, IEC 1034
UL 910 plenum

Each grade, in ascending order, has a better performance in fire situations but at a correspondingly higher price.

The exact density of cables, number of outlets and their position is up to the end user, or else at the proposal of the installer/designer

Step 3: Backbone Cabling

All of the horizontal cables are star-wired back to Telecommunications Closets or Floor Distributors where they are terminated in patch panels. These patch panels are connected together via the building backbone cabling which can be up to 500 metres long. It can be copper cable but is more likely to be optical fibre, either multimode or singlemode. The kind of cables and the number of cores needs to be decided.If fibre is chosen, a loss budget should help you make your decision

Step 4: Campus Cabling

The campus cabling links different buildings together. It can be up to 1500 m long. It can be copper cable but is more likely to be optical fibre, either multimode or singlemode. The kind of cables and the number of cores needs to be decided.

Step 5: Positioning and design of Telecommunications Closets to link horizontal and backbone cabling.

Positioning and design of the equipment room as a central focus for the main computing, LAN and PABX equipment.

Positioning and design of the Service Entrance facility whereby outdoor cables are terminated and the point of demarcation between customer owned equipment and the PTT cables is defined.

Step 6: Cable containment system

How will the cables be protected? Within buildings the choices are:

Cable trays
wire basket/raceway
cable ladders
J hooks
conduit
dado rails
PVC trunking
built-in underfloor duct
raised floors
suspended ceilings

The following must be taken into account:

the density and volume of cables to be organised
the aesthetic appearance of the cabling within offices and other visible areas
economics of different schemes
proximity to power cables and other potential sources of interference
firestopping

Useful standards are:

TIA/EIA 569 Commercial building standard for telecommunications pathways and spaces
EN 50174 Information technology – cabling installation

For external applications the choices are:

underground cable ducts
direct buried cable trench
concrete cable trough
self supporting aerial cable
supported aerial cable, i.e. catenary or messenger wire
fixed to building exteriors

In all cases the designer must ensure that all civils work has been carried out, rights of way established and availability of cable ducts and manholes established. Aerial cable routes must keep a minimum distance away from power cables and all external cables must be selected for the environment and temperature ranges in which they are expected to survive. External copper cables usually need to be protected by overvoltage and fault current devices where they enter a building.

Step 7: Cable Administration system

The cabling and its containment system need to be clearly identified and their locations, routes and capabilities recorded in a cable administration system. This usually involves a logical numbering scheme that can be applied to all cables, outlets, patch panels and even containment systems. Various colour schemes are also available.

These schemes can be paper based but for the larger installations then a computer based system is advisable. There are several proprietary solutions on the market which offer various database and graphical methods for keeping track of cabling assets. Some systems are also active in that they can detect moves and changes and automatically update the database.

Useful standards are:

TIA/EIA-606 Administration standard for the telecommunication infrastructure of commercial buildings
EN 50174 information Technology – cabling installation

Step 8: Earthing Scheme

All exposed metallic elements of the cable system and cable containment system need to be earthed (grounded) for safety and also electromagnetic compatibility requirements. If screened cables are used then special attention must be given to effective bonding of the screening elements. Poorly earthed screened cabling may behave worse than unscreened cabling.

An electrically ‘clean’ earth must be available at all points where the cabling is terminated, but especially within telecommunication closets, equipment rooms and service entrances. A clean earth is usually defined as a conductive element with not more than 1 volt rms potential difference between it and the real earth down below. Copper cabling linking two different buildings can suffer from earth loops if the ground potential is different. Non-metallic optical cabling is usually picked for problem areas such as these.

Some useful standards are:

PrEN50303 Application of equipotential bonding and earthing at premises with information technology equipment
PrEN50174-2 Information Technology, Cabling installation, part 2, Installation, planning and practices inside buildings
TIA/EIA-607 Commercial Building Grounding and Bonding Requirements for Telecommunications

Step 9: Testing regime

All cables must be tested to demonstrate compliance with the standards and specification to which they were bought. Testing can be split into copper cable testing and optical fibre testing. Ideally all cables should be 100% tested.

Copper cables.

There are five manufacturers of hand held copper cable testers that will automatically test the installed cable plant for all the expected parameters. By the use of a remote injector, the cabling is tested from both ends, which is a condition of the standards. The cabling has to pass all of the suite of tests to be awarded and overall pass. Points to remember are;

What is being tested? the channel (i.e. end-to-end including all the patchcords) or the basic link (i.e. the permanently installed cable from outlet to patchpanel). The test figures are different for each setting. It is usually more practical to test the basic link (also referred to as the permanent link).

What level is being tested? The tester should normally be set to Cat5e link or Class E link if Category 6 cable is being used.

The results are stored electronically and must be in a format recognisable by the cable management software that comes with the tester. There are now numerous test standards and draft standards. The most influential is likely to be;

IEC 61935 Generic specification for the testing of balanced generic cabling in accordance with ISO/IEC 11801

The tests required are; IEC 61935 Wire Map X Attenuation X; NEXT pair to pair X; NEXT Powersum X; ELFEXT air to pair X; ELFEXT Powersum X; Return Loss X; Propagation Delay X; Delay Skew X;DC Loop Resistance X. Cable length and ACR are also useful additions to this set of tests.

Optical cables

All that needs to be tested with short distance multimode optical cables is attenuation. This can be achieved by a device called a light source and power meter. This device will simply measure the absolute loss across the optical link. This then has to be compared with the design value of attenuation. If the tested value is less than the design value then the link can be seen to be acceptable.

Optical Time Domain Reflectometers can give a great deal of information about optical fibres, but for short haul multimode fibre they are an expensive overkill that gives results that need expert interpretation. An OTDR remains an essential tool for fault finding.

Step 10: Final thoughts

Is the design of the cabling system in-step with the LAN aspirations of the end user? For example, Cat5e is the minimum performance grade suitable for gigabit Ethernet. Standard Cat5 cable may not have sufficient delay skew performance for RGB video systems however. Cat 6 cabling will give a longer service life due to its higher performance, but at an initial higher cost.

Some optical fibre LANs, e.g. gigabit Ethernet cannot transmit over the full distance allowed in standards based optical structured cabling. These LAN limitations have to be taken into account. The next generation of 10 gigabit Ethernet will need a new generation of optical fibre to make it work.

The best way to ensure success in a structured cabling installation is to use properly trained people to design, implement and test the system. The RCDD qualification from BICSI is the only qualification which covers all aspects of structured cabling design and implementation.

The above information is offered as a summary of ISO 11801 and related standards. It is not a definitive design guide and does not replace study and implementation of the Standards themselves. The publisher accepts no responsibility for inaccuracies or omissions. To purchase the full Standards go to your national standards body, e.g. British Standards Institution, Nederlands Normalisatie Instituut etc. or ISO.

How to install windows xp

Step 1 - Start your PC and place your Windows XP CD in your CD/DVD-ROM drive. Your PC should automatically detect the CD and you will get a message saying "Press any key to boot from CD". Soon as computer starts booting from the CD your will get the following screen:

Step 2 - At this stage it will ask you to press F6 if you want to install a third party Raid or SCSI driver. If you are using a an IDE Hard Drive then you do not need to press F6. If you are using a SCSI or SATA Hard drive then you must press F6 otherwise Windows will not detect your Hard Drive during the installation. Please make sure you have the Raid drivers on a floppy disk. Normally the drivers are supplied on a CD which you can copy to a floppy disk ready to be installed. If you are not sure how to do this then please read your motherboard manuals for more information.

Step 3 - Press S to Specify that you want to install additional device.

Step 4 - You will be asked to insert the floppy disk with the Raid or SCSI drivers. Press enter after you have inserted the disk.

Step 5 - You will see a list of Raid drivers for your HDD. Select the correct driver for your device and press enter.

Step 6 - You will then get a Windows XP Professional Setup screen. You have the option to do a new Windows install, Repair previous install or quit. Since we are doing a new install we just press Enter to continue.

Step 7 - You will be presented with the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept and continue

Step 8 - This step is very important. Here we will create the partition where Windows will be installed. If you have a brand new unformatted drive you will get a screen similar to below. In our case the drive size is 8190MB. We can choose to install Windows in this drive without creating a partition, hence use the entire size of the drive. If you wish to do this you can just press enter and Windows will automatically partition and format the drive as one large drive.

However for this demonstration I will create two partition. The first partition will be 6000MB (C: drive) and second partition would be 2180MB (E: drive). By creating two partition we can have one which stores Windows and Applications and the other which stores our data. So in the future if anything goes wrong with our Windows install such as virus or spyware we can re-install Windows on C: drive and our data on E: drive will not be touched. Please note you can choose whatever size partition your like. For example if you have 500GB hard drive you can have two partition of 250GB each.

Press C to create a partition.

Step 8 - Windows will show the total size of the hard drive and ask you how much you want to allocate for the partition you are about to create. I will choose 6000MB. You will then get the screen below. Notice it shows C: Partition 1 followed by the size 6000 MB. This indicates the partition has been created. We still have an unpartitioned space of 2189MB. Next highlight the unpartitioned space by pressing down the arrow key. Then press C to create another partition. You will see the total space available for the new partition. Just choose all the space left over, in our case 2180MB.

Step 9 - Now you will see both partition listed. Partition 1 (C: Drive) 6000MB and Partition 2 (E: Drive) 2180MB. You will also have 8MB of unpartitioned space. Don't worry about that. Just leave it how its is. Windows normally has some unpartitioned space. You might wonder what happened to D: drive. Windows has automatically allocated D: drive to CD/DVD-ROM.

Select Partition 1 (C: Drive) and press Enter.

Step 10 - Choose format the partition using NTFS file system.This is the recommended file system. If the hard drive has been formatted before then you can choose quick NTFS format. We chose NTFS because it offers many security features, supports larger drive size, and bigger size files.

Windows will now start formatting drive C: and start copying setup files as shown on the two images below :

Step 11 - After the setup has completed copying the files the computer will restart. Leave the XP CD in the drive but this time DO NOT press any key when the message "Press any key to boot from CD" is displayed. In few seconds setup will continue. Windows XP Setup wizard will guide you through the setup process of gathering information about your computer.

Step 12 - Choose your region and language.

Step 13 - Type in your name and organization.

Step 14. Enter your product key.

Step 15 - Name the computer, and enter an Administrator password. Don't forget to write down your Administrator password.

Step 16 - Enter the correct date, time and choose your time zone.

Step 17 - For the network setting choose typical and press next.

Step 18 - Choose workgroup or domain name. If you are not a member of a domain then leave the default settings and press next. Windows will restart again and adjust the display.

Step 19 - Finally Windows will start and present you with a Welcome screen. Click next to continue.

Step 20 - Choose 'help protect my PC by turning on automatic updates now' and press next.

Step 21 - Will this computer connect to the internet directly, or through a network? If you are connected to a router or LAN then choose: 'Yes, this computer will connect through a local area network or home network'. If you have dial up modem choose: 'No, this computer will connect directly to the internet'. Then click Next.

Step 22 - Ready to activate Windows? Choose yes if you wish to active Windows over the internet now. Choose no if you want to activate Windows at a later stage.

Step 23 - Add users that will sign on to this computer and click next.

Step 24 - You will get a Thank you screen to confirm setup is complete. Click finish.

Step 25. Log in, to your PC for the first time.

Step 26 - You now need to check the device manager to confirm that all the drivers has been loaded or if there are any conflicts. From the start menu select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel. Click on the System icon and then from the System Properties window select the Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager.

If there are any yellow exclamation mark "!" next to any of the listed device, it means that no drivers or incorrect drivers has been loaded for that device. In our case we have a Video Controller (VGA card) which has no drivers installed.

Your hardware should come with manufacturer supplied drivers. You need to install these drivers using the automatic setup program provided by the manufacturer or you need to manually install these drivers. If you do not have the drivers, check the manufacturers website to download them.

To install a driver manually use the following procedure:

(a) From the device manager double click on the device containing the exclamation mark.

(b) This would open a device properties window.

(c) Click on the Driver tab.

(d) Click Update Driver button. The Wizard for updating device driver pops up as shown below:

You now get two options. The first option provides an automatic search for the required driver. The second option allows you to specify the location of the driver. If you don't know the location of the driver choose the automatic search which would find the required driver from the manufacturer supplied CD or Floppy disk. Windows would install the required driver and may ask you to restart the system for the changes to take affect. Use this procedure to install drivers for all the devices that contain an exclamation mark. Windows is completely setup when there are no more exclamation marks in the device manager.

Command List

A

ADDUSERS Add or list users to/from a CSV file
ARP Address Resolution Protocol
ASSOC Change file extension associations
ASSOCIAT One step file association
AT Schedule a command to run at a later time
ATTRIB Change file attributes

B

BOOTCFG Edit Windows boot settings
BROWSTAT Get domain, browser and PDC info

C

CACLS Change file permissions
CALL Call one batch program from another
CD Change Directory - move to a specific Folder
CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties
CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems
CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system
CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file
CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders
CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin
CLEARMEM Clear memory leaks
CLIP Copy STDIN to the Windows clipboard.
CLS Clear the screen
CLUSTER Windows Clustering
CMD Start a new CMD shell
COLOR Change colors of the CMD window
COMP Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
COMPACT Compress files or folders on an NTFS partition
COMPRESS Compress individual files on an NTFS partition
CON2PRT Connect or disconnect a Printer
CONVERT Convert a FAT drive to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to another location
CSVDE Import or Export Active Directory data

D

DATE Display or set the date
Dcomcnfg DCOM Configuration Utility
DEFRAG Defragment hard drive
DEL Delete one or more files
DELPROF Delete NT user profiles
DELTREE Delete a folder and all subfolders
DevCon Device Manager Command Line Utility
DIR Display a list of files and folders
DIRUSE Display disk usage
DISKCOMP Compare the contents of two floppy disks
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one floppy disk to another
DNSSTAT DNS Statistics
DOSKEY Edit command line, recall commands, and create macros
DSADD Add user (computer, group..) to active directory
DSQUERY List items in active directory
DSMOD Modify user (computer, group..) in active directory

E

ECHO Display message on screen
ENDLOCAL End localisation of environment changes in a batch file
ERASE Delete one or more files
EXIT Quit the CMD shell
EXPAND Uncompress files
EXTRACT Uncompress CAB files

F

FC Compare two files
FDISK Disk Format and partition
FIND Search for a text string in a file
FINDSTR Search for strings in files
FOR Conditionally perform a command several times
FORFILES Batch process multiple files
FORMAT Format a disk
FREEDISK Check free disk space (in bytes)
FSUTIL File and Volume utilities
FTP File Transfer Protocol
FTYPE Display or modify file types used in file extension associations

G

GLOBAL Display membership of global groups
GOTO Direct a batch program to jump to a labelled line

H

HELP Online Help
HFNETCHK Network Security Hotfix Checker

I

IF Conditionally perform a command
IFMEMBER Is the current user in an NT Workgroup
IPCONFIG Configure IP

K

KILL Remove a program from memory

L

LABEL Edit a disk label
LOCAL Display membership of local groups
LOGEVENT Write text to the NT event viewer.
LOGOFF Log a user off
LOGTIME Log the date and time in a file

M

MAPISEND Send email from the command line
MEM Display memory usage
MD Create new folders
MODE Configure a system device
MORE Display output, one screen at a time
MOUNTVOL Manage a volume mount point
MOVE Move files from one folder to another
MOVEUSER Move a user from one domain to another
MSG Send a message
MSIEXEC Microsoft Windows Installer
MSINFO Windows NT diagnostics
MSTSC Terminal Server Connection (Remote desktop Protocol)
MUNGE Find and Replace text within file(s)
MV Copy in-use files

N

NET Manage network resources
NETDOM Domain Manager
NETSH Configure network protocols
NETSVC Command-line Service Controller
NBTSTAT Display networking statistics (NetBIOS over TCP/IP)
NETSTAT Display networking statistics (TCP/IP)
NOW Display the current Date and Time
NSLOOKUP Name server lookup
NTBACKUP Backup folders to tape
NTRIGHTS Edit user account rights

P

PATH Display or set a search path for executable files
PATHPING Trace route plus network latency and packet loss
PAUSE Suspend processing of a batch file and display a message
PERMS Show permissions for a user
PERFMON Performance Monitor
PING Test a network connection
POPD Restore the previous value of the current directory saved by PUSHD
PORTQRY Display the status of ports and services
PRINT print a text file
PRNCNFG Display, configure or rename a printer
PRNMNGR Add, delete, list printers set the default printer
PROMPT Change the command prompt
PsExec Execute process remotely
PsFile Show files opened remotely
PsGetSid Display the SID of a computer or a user
PsInfo List information about a system
PsKill Kill processes by name or process ID
PsList List detailed information about processes
PsLoggedOn Who's logged on (locally or via resource sharing)
PsLogList Event log records
PsPasswd Change account password
PsService View and control services
PsShutdown Shutdown or reboot a computer
PsSuspend Suspend processes
PUSHD Save and then change the current directory

Q

QGREP Search file(s) for lines that match a given pattern.

R

RASDIAL Manage RAS connections
RASPHONE Manage RAS connections
RECOVER Recover a damaged file from a defective disk.
REG Read, Set or Delete registry keys and values
REGEDIT Import or export registry settings
REGSVR32 Register or unregister a DLL
REGINI Change Registry Permissions
REM Record comments (remarks) in a batch file
REN Rename a file or files.
REPLACE Replace or update one file with another
RD Delete folder(s)
RDISK Create a Recovery Disk
RMTSHARE Share a folder or a printer
ROBOCOPY Robust File and Folder Copy
ROUTE Manipulate network routing tables
RUNAS Execute a program under a different user account
RUNDLL32 Run a DLL command (add/remove print connections)

S

SC Service Control
SCHTASKS Create or Edit Scheduled Tasks
SCLIST Display NT Services
ScriptIt Control GUI application
SET Display, set, or remove environment variables
SETLOCAL Begin localisation of environment changes in a batch file
SETX Set environment variables permanently
SHARE List or edit a file share or print share
SHIFT Shift the position of replaceable parameters in a batch file
SHORTCUT Create a windows shortcut (.LNK file)
SHOWGRPS List the NT Workgroups a user has joined
SHOWMBRS List the Users who are members of a Workgroup
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer
SLEEP Wait for x seconds
SOON Schedule a command to run in the near future
SORT Sort input
START Start a separate window to run a specified program or command
SU Switch User
SUBINACL Edit file and folder Permissions, Ownership and Domain
SUBST Associate a path with a drive letter
SYSTEMINFO List system configuration

T

TASKLIST List running applications and services
TIME Display or set the system time
TIMEOUT Delay processing of a batch file
TITLE Set the window title for a CMD.EXE session
TOUCH Change file timestamps
TRACERT Trace route to a remote host
TREE Graphical display of folder structure
TYPE Display the contents of a text file

U

USRSTAT List domain usernames and last login

V

VER Display version information
VERIFY Verify that files have been saved
VOL Display a disk label

W

WHERE Locate and display files in a directory tree
WHOAMI Output the current UserName and domain
WINDIFF Compare the contents of two files or sets of files
WINMSD Windows system diagnostics
WINMSDP Windows system diagnostics II
WMIC WMI Commands

X

XCACLS Change file permissions
XCOPY Copy files and folders

Keyboard Shortcuts

General keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+C (Copy)
* CTRL+X (Cut)
* CTRL+V (Paste)
* CTRL+Z (Undo)
* DELETE (Delete)
* SHIFT+DELETE (Delete the selected item permanently
without placing the item in the Recycle Bin)
* CTRL while dragging an item (Copy the selected item)
* CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item (Create a shortcut to the selected item)
* F2 key (Rename the selected item)
* CTRL+RIGHT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)
* CTRL+LEFT ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)
* CTRL+DOWN ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)
* CTRL+UP ARROW (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)
* CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Highlight a block of text)
* SHIFT with any of the arrow keys (Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text in a document)
* CTRL+A (Select all)
* F3 key (Search for a file or a folder)
* ALT+ENTER (View the properties for the selected item)
* ALT+F4 (Close the active item, or quit the active program)
* ALT+ENTER (Display the properties of the selected object)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Open the shortcut menu for the active window)
* CTRL+F4 (Close the active document in programs that enable you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
* ALT+TAB (Switch between the open items)
* ALT+ESC (Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened)
* F6 key (Cycle through the screen elements in a window or on the desktop)
* F4 key (Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
* SHIFT+F10 (Display the shortcut menu for the selected item)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the System menu for the active window)
* CTRL+ESC (Display the Start menu)
* ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name (Display the corresponding menu)
* Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu (Perform the corresponding command)
* F10 key (Activate the menu bar in the active program)
* RIGHT ARROW (Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu)
* LEFT ARROW (Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu)
* F5 key (Update the active window)
* BACKSPACE (View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer)
* ESC (Cancel the current task)
* SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive (Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing)
* CTRL+SHIFT+ESC (Open Task Manager)

Dialog box keyboard shortcuts

If you press SHIFT+F8 in extended selection list boxes, you enable extended selection mode. In this mode, you can use an arrow key to move a cursor without changing the selection. You can press CTRL+SPACEBAR or SHIFT+SPACEBAR to adjust the selection. To cancel extended selection mode, press SHIFT+F8 again. Extended selection mode cancels itself when you move the focus to another control.

* CTRL+TAB (Move forward through the tabs)
* CTRL+SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the tabs)
* TAB (Move forward through the options)
* SHIFT+TAB (Move backward through the options)
* ALT+Underlined letter (Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option)
* ENTER (Perform the command for the active option or button)
* SPACEBAR (Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box)
* Arrow keys (Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons)
* F1 key (Display Help)
* F4 key (Display the items in the active list)
* BACKSPACE (Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box)

Microsoft natural keyboard shortcuts

* Windows Logo (Display or hide the Start menu)
* Windows Logo+BREAK (Display the System Properties dialog box)
* Windows Logo+D (Display the desktop)
* Windows Logo+M (Minimize all of the windows)
* Windows Logo+SHIFT+M (Restore the minimized windows)
* Windows Logo+E (Open My Computer)
* Windows Logo+F (Search for a file or a folder)
* CTRL+Windows Logo+F (Search for computers)
* Windows Logo+F1 (Display Windows Help)
* Windows Logo+ L (Lock the keyboard)
* Windows Logo+R (Open the Run dialog box)
* Windows Logo+U (Open Utility Manager)

Accessibility keyboard shortcuts

* Right SHIFT for eight seconds (Switch FilterKeys either on or off)
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN (Switch High Contrast either on or off)
* Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK (Switch the MouseKeys either on or off)
* SHIFT five times (Switch the StickyKeys either on or off)
* NUM LOCK for five seconds (Switch the ToggleKeys either on or off)
* Windows Logo +U (Open Utility Manager)

Windows Explorer keyboard shortcuts

* END (Display the bottom of the active window)
* HOME (Display the top of the active window)
* NUM LOCK+Asterisk sign (*) (Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder)
* NUM LOCK+Plus sign (+) (Display the contents of the selected folder)
* NUM LOCK+Minus sign (-) (Collapse the selected folder)
* LEFT ARROW (Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder)
* RIGHT ARROW (Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder)

Shortcut keys for Character Map
After you double-click a character on the grid of characters, you can move through the grid by using the keyboard shortcuts:

* RIGHT ARROW (Move to the right or to the beginning of the next line)
* LEFT ARROW (Move to the left or to the end of the previous line)
* UP ARROW (Move up one row)
* DOWN ARROW (Move down one row)
* PAGE UP (Move up one screen at a time)
* PAGE DOWN (Move down one screen at a time)
* HOME (Move to the beginning of the line)
* END (Move to the end of the line)
* CTRL+HOME (Move to the first character)
* CTRL+END (Move to the last character)
* SPACEBAR (Switch between Enlarged and Normal mode when a character is selected)

Microsoft Management Console (MMC) main window keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+O (Open a saved console)
* CTRL+N (Open a new console)
* CTRL+S (Save the open console)
* CTRL+M (Add or remove a console item)
* CTRL+W (Open a new window)
* F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
* ALT+SPACEBAR (Display the MMC window menu)
* ALT+F4 (Close the console)
* ALT+A (Display the Action menu)
* ALT+V (Display the View menu)
* ALT+F (Display the File menu)
* ALT+O (Display the Favorites menu)

MMC console window keyboard shortcuts

* CTRL+P (Print the current page or active pane)
* ALT+Minus sign (-) (Display the window menu for the active console window)
* SHIFT+F10 (Display the Action shortcut menu for the selected item)
* F1 key (Open the Help topic, if any, for the selected item)
* F5 key (Update the content of all console windows)
* CTRL+F10 (Maximize the active console window)
* CTRL+F5 (Restore the active console window)
* ALT+ENTER (Display the Properties dialog box, if any, for the selected item)
* F2 key (Rename the selected item)
* CTRL+F4 (Close the active console window. When a console has only one console window, this shortcut closes the console)

Remote desktop connection navigation

* CTRL+ALT+END (Open the Microsoft Windows NT Security dialog box)
* ALT+PAGE UP (Switch between programs from left to right)
* ALT+PAGE DOWN (Switch between programs from right to left)
* ALT+INSERT (Cycle through the programs in most recently used order)
* ALT+HOME (Display the Start menu)
* CTRL+ALT+BREAK (Switch the client computer between a window and a full screen)
* ALT+DELETE (Display the Windows menu)
* CTRL+ALT+Minus sign (-) (Place a snapshot of the entire client window area on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)
* CTRL+ALT+Plus sign (+) (Place a snapshot of the active window in the client on the Terminal server clipboard and provide the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on a local computer.)

Microsoft Internet Explorer navigation

* CTRL+B (Open the Organize Favorites dialog box)
* CTRL+E (Open the Search bar)
* CTRL+F (Start the Find utility)
* CTRL+H (Open the History bar)
* CTRL+I (Open the Favorites bar)
* CTRL+L (Open the Open dialog box)
* CTRL+N (Start another instance of the browser with the same Web address)
* CTRL+O (Open the Open dialog box, the same as CTRL+L)
* CTRL+P (Open the Print dialog box)
* CTRL+R (Update the current Web page)
* CTRL+W (Close the current window)

How to Back up FIiles

Manually back up your files

To back up your files to an external hard disk drive

1.	Click Start, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. If the Backup option does not appear on the System Tools menu, you can install it.
2.	The Backup or Restore Wizard appears. Click Next.
3.	On the Backup or Restore page, click Next.
4.	On the What to Back Up page, click All information on this computer, and then click Next.
5.	On the Backup Type, Destination, and Name page, click Choose a place to save your backup, and select your external hard disk drive. Then click Next.
6.	On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click Finish.
7.	Windows Backup saves a copy of your files to your external hard disk drive. When the backup is complete, click Close.

If your computer stops responding, you will be able to restore your files to the state they were in when you completed the backup. However, any new files you have created and any changes you have made to existing files since the backup occurred will not be saved unless you back up your files again. For best results, back up your files every week or immediately after creating important files, such as after you copy pictures from your digital camera.

For an additional layer of protection, purchase a second external hard disk drive and perform another backup of your hard disk drive. Store this external hard disk drive in a different location, such as at a family member's house, to protect your files from theft, fire, or natural disasters that might damage both your computer and your backup.

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Schedule backups

If you're busy, you might not have time to manually back up your files every week. Fortunately, you can schedule backups to occur automatically. This takes a few minutes to set up, but once you've done so, you'll be protected indefinitely.

To schedule a weekly backup

1.	Click Start, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Backup. If the Backup option does not appear on the System Tools menu, you can install it.
2.	The Backup or Restore Wizard appears. Click Next.
3.	On the Backup or Restore page, click Next.
4.	On the What to Back Up page, click All information on this computer, and then click Next.
5.	On the Backup Type, Destination, and Name page, click Choose a place to save your backup, and select your external hard disk drive. Then click Next.
6.	On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click Advanced.
7.	On the Type of Backup page, click Next.
8.	On the How to Back Up page, click Next.
9.	On the Backup Options page, select Replace the existing backups. Then click Next.
10.	On the When to Back Up page, click Later. In the Job name box, type Backup. Then click Set Schedule.
11.	On the Schedule tab in the Schedule Job dialog box, click the Schedule Task list, and then click Weekly.
12.	In the Start time box, specify a time of day when your computer will not be used for several hours, such as 3:00 AM. In the Schedule Task Weekly area, select the day of the week you want to back up your files. If you are backing up files overnight, remember to leave your computer running the night before.
13.	Click the Settings tab. Select the Wake the computer to run this task check box.
14.	Click OK.
15.	In the Set Account Information dialog box, type your password in both the Password and Confirm password fields. Then click OK.
16.	On the When to Back Up page, click Next.
17.	In the Set Account Information dialog box, type your password in both the Password and Confirm password fields. Then click OK.
18.	In the Account Information Warning dialog box, click OK.
19.	On the Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard page, click Finish.