Windows XP Pro Case Studies & Practical Application 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A Windows XP Pro system's System Restore points have disappeared. What is the most likely cause?
- System Restore was turned off, or the reserved disk space was reduced to zero (Correct answer)
- The Recycle Bin was emptied
- Windows Update was run recently
- The user logged off without saving
Correct answer: System Restore was turned off, or the reserved disk space was reduced to zero
System Restore requires a minimum disk space allocation; if disabled or the space is set to zero, all existing restore points are deleted.
Question 2: A user's Windows XP Pro machine shows 'Limited or no connectivity' in the network tray icon but is physically connected. What command should be run first?
- ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig /renew (Correct answer)
- ping 127.0.0.1
- netstat -an
- tracert google.com
Correct answer: ipconfig /release followed by ipconfig /renew
Releasing and renewing the DHCP lease forces the machine to request a valid IP address, resolving APIPA self-assigned addresses that cause limited connectivity.
Question 3: An administrator needs to audit which users have logged into a shared Windows XP Pro workstation over the past week. Where is this information found?
- Security Event Log in Event Viewer, after enabling Audit Logon Events policy (Correct answer)
- System Log in Event Viewer
- The user's My Documents folder timestamps
- The Last Known Good Configuration
Correct answer: Security Event Log in Event Viewer, after enabling Audit Logon Events policy
Logon auditing must be explicitly enabled via Group Policy; once active, successful and failed logons are recorded in the Security Event Log.
Question 4: A Windows XP Pro machine is dual-booting with Windows 98. After an XP repair install, the boot menu no longer shows Windows 98. What file controls the boot menu?
- boot.ini (Correct answer)
- config.sys
- autoexec.bat
- ntoskrnl.exe
Correct answer: boot.ini
Boot.ini contains the list of operating systems presented at startup; a repair install may overwrite or reset it, removing non-XP entries.
Question 5: A company policy requires that Windows XP Pro workstations lock automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity. Where is this enforced most reliably?
- Group Policy: Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies and screen saver lock via User Configuration (Correct answer)
- Only through the individual screensaver settings in Display Properties
- By editing the registry on each machine manually
- Through the BIOS power management settings
Correct answer: Group Policy: Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies and screen saver lock via User Configuration
Group Policy enforces screen saver timeout and password protection centrally and cannot be overridden by standard users on domain-joined machines.
Question 6: After applying a Windows XP Pro service pack, a critical line-of-business application fails to start. What is the safest rollback method?
- Use System Restore to revert to a restore point created before the service pack installation (Correct answer)
- Uninstall every Windows update individually
- Reinstall Windows XP from the original CD
- Delete the application and reinstall it
Correct answer: Use System Restore to revert to a restore point created before the service pack installation
Windows XP automatically creates a restore point before service pack installation, allowing a clean rollback of all system changes without affecting data.
Question 7: A Windows XP Pro machine fails to apply Group Policy settings from the domain. Gpresult shows errors. What command forces an immediate Group Policy refresh?
- gpupdate /force (Correct answer)
- secedit /refreshpolicy
- net group policy refresh
- regedit /gp
Correct answer: gpupdate /force
Gpupdate /force triggers an immediate refresh of both Computer and User Group Policy settings, bypassing the normal background refresh interval.
Windows XP Pro Case Studies & Practical Application 4
A Windows XP Pro system's System Restore points have disappeared.
What is the most likely cause?