Datasheet

36
Chapter 1
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Getting Started with Windows Vista
use FAT16 or FAT32 and cannot recognize NTFS. All Windows-based operating systems
can recognize FAT partitions.
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If you will dual-boot with Windows 9x, you must turn off disk compression or Windows
Vista will not be able to read the drive properly.
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Do not install Windows Vista on a compressed volume unless the volume was compressed
using NTFS compression.
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Files that are encrypted with Windows Vista will not be available to Windows NT 4.
If you are planning on dual-booting with Windows NT 4, you should upgrade
it to NT 4 Service Pack 4 (or higher), which provides NTFS version 5 support.
Once you have installed each operating system, you can choose the operating system that
you will boot to during the boot process. You will see a boot selection screen that asks you to
choose which operating system you want to boot.
The Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store contains boot information parameters that were
previously found in boot.ini in older versions of Windows. To edit the boot options in the
BCD store, use the BCDEdit utility, which can be launched only from a command prompt. To
open a command prompt window, you can do the following:
1. Launch \Windows\system32\cmd.exe.
2. Open the Run command by pressing Windows+R and then entering cmd.
3. Open Run from the Start menu, if the Start menu is configured to display it.
After the command prompt windows is open, type bcdedit to launch BCDEdit.
Using Windows Activation
Windows Activation is Microsoft’s way of reducing software piracy. Unless you have a corpo-
rate license for Windows Vista, you will need to perform postinstallation activation. This can
be done online or through a telephone call. Windows Vista will attempt automatic activation
three days after you log on to Windows Vista for the first time. There is a 30-day grace period
when you will be able to use the operating system without activation. After the grace period
expires, you will not be able to create new files or save changes to existing files until Windows
Vista is activated. When the grace period runs out, the Windows Activation Wizard will auto-
matically start; it will walk you through the activation process.
Using Windows Update
Windows Update, as shown in Figure 1.4, is a utility that connects to Microsoft’s website and
checks to ensure that you have the most up-to-date version of Microsoft products.
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