What is Windows XP Boot Sequence????

When you hit the power button on your computer a whole lot of stuff happens. We call this the boot process. In the days when I first started using computers there was literally a "boot disk", a floppy (5.25" not a 3.5") disk that told the system where to go and what to do so that the operating system would start up. Since then the boot sequence has become somewhat more complicated. So let me take you thru the steps the computer takes to get started. For my example I'm going to use a Windows XP system. 1. First is the POST, this stands for Power On Self Test, for the computer. This process tests memory

as well as a number of other subsystems. You can usually monitor this as it runs each test. After that is complete the system will run POST for any device that has a BIOS (Basic Input-Output System). An AGP has its own BIOS, as do some network cards and various other devices. 2. Once the POST is complete and the BIOS is sure that everything is working properly, the BIOS will then attempt to read the MBR (Master Boot Record). This is the first sector of the first hard drive (called the Master or HD0). When the MBR takes over it means that Windows is now in control. 3. The MBR looks at the BOOT SECTOR (the first sector of the active partition). That is where NTLDR is located, NTLDR is the BOOT LOADER for Windows XP. NTLDR will allow memory addressing, initiate the file system, read the boot.ini and load the boot menu. NTLDR has to be in the root of the active partition as do NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI, BOOTSECT.DOS (for multi-OS booting) and NTBOOTDD.SYS (if you have SCSI adapters) 4. Once XP is selected from the Boot Menu, NTLDR will run NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI and BOOTSECT.DOS to get the proper OS selected and loaded. The system starts in 16-bit real mode and then moves into 32-bit protected mode. 5. 6. order. 7. At this point NTOSKRNL.EXE takes over. It starts WINLOGON.EXE that in turn starts LSASS.EXE, this is the program that display the Logon screen so that you can logon. NTLDR will then load NTOSKRNL.EXE and HAL.DLL. Effectively, these two files are windows XP. NTLDR reads the registry, chooses a hardware profile and authorizes device drivers, in that exact They must be located in %SystemRoot%System32.

What's the difference between a Hub, a Switch and a Router?

In a word: intelligence. Hubs, switches, and routers are all devices that let you connect one or more computers to other computers, networked devices, or to other networks. Each has two or more connectors called ports into which you plug in the cables to make the connection. Varying degrees of magic happen inside the device, and therein lies the difference. I often see the terms misused so let's clarify what each one really means. A hub is typically the least expensive, least intelligent, and least complicated of the three. Its job is very simple: anything that comes in one port is sent out to the others. That's it. Every computer connected to the hub "sees" everything that every other computer on the hub sees. The hub itself is blissfully ignorant of the data being

transmitted. For years, simple hubs have been quick and easy ways to connect computers in small networks. A switch does essentially what a hub does but more efficiently. By paying attention to the traffic that comes across it, it can "learn" where particular addresses are. For example, if it sees traffic from machine A coming in on port 2, it now knows that machine A is connected to that port and that traffic to machine A needs to only be sent to that port and not any of the others. The net result of using a switch over a hub is that most of the network traffic only goes where it needs to rather than to every port. On busy networks this can make the network significantly faster.

"Varying degrees of magic happen inside the device, and therein lies the difference."
A router is the smartest and most complicated of the bunch. Routers come in all shapes and sizes from the small four-port broadband routers that are very popular right now to the large industrial strength devices that drive the internet itself. A simple way to think of a router is as a computer that can be programmed to understand, possibly manipulate, and route the data its being asked to handle. For example, broadband routers include the ability to "hide" computers behind a type of firewall which involves slightly modifying the packets of network traffic as they traverse the device. All routers include some kind of user interface for configuring how the router will treat traffic. The really large routers include the equivalent of a full-blown programming language to describe how they should operate as well as the ability to communicate with other routers to describe or determine the best way to get network traffic from point A to point B. A quick note on one other thing that you'll often see mentioned with these devices and that's network speed. Most devices now are capable of both 10mps (10 mega-bits, or million bits, per second) as well as 100mbs and will automatically detect the speed. If the device is labeled with only one speed then it will only be able to communicate with devices that also support that speed. 1000mbs or "gigabit" devices are starting to slowly become more common as well. Similarly many devices now also include 802.11b or 802.11g wireless transmitters that simply act like additional ports to the device.

what is difference between crossover cable & straight through

An Ethernet crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable used to connect computing devices together directly where they would normally be connected via a network switch, hub or router, such as directly connecting two personal computers via their network adapters.

Contents

[hide]

1 Overview 2 Crossover cable pinouts 3 Automatic crossover 4 See also 5 References

[edit] Overview
The 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX Ethernet standards use one wire pair for transmission in each direction. The Tx+ line from each device connects to the tip conductor, and the Tx- line is connected to the ring. This requires that the transmit pair of each device be connected to the receive pair of the device on the other end. When a terminal device is connected to a switch or hub, this crossover is done internally in the switch or hub. A standard straight through cable is used for this purpose where each pin of the connector on one end is connected to the corresponding pin on the other connector. One terminal device may be connected directly to another without the use of a switch or hub, but in that case the crossover must be done externally in the cable. Since 10BASE-T and 100BASETX use pairs 2 and 3, these two pairs must be swapped in the cable. This is a crossover cable. A crossover cable must also be used to connect two internally crossed devices (e.g., two hubs) as the internal crossovers cancel each other out. This can also be accomplished by using a straight through cable in series with a modular crossover adapter. Because the only difference between the T568A and T568B pin/pair assignments are that pairs 2 and 3 are swapped, a crossover cable may be envisioned as a cable with one connector following T568A and the other T568B. Such a cable will work for 10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX. 1000BASE-T4 (Gigabit crossover), which uses all four pairs, requires the other two pairs (1 and 4) to be swapped and also requires the solid/striped within each of those two pairs to be swapped.

[edit] Crossover cable pinouts

Two pairs crossed, two pairs uncrossed 10baseT/100baseTX crossover Pin Connection 1: T568A Connection 2: T568B Pins on plug face

signal pair

color

signal pair

color

1 BI_DA+

white/green stripe

BI_DB+

white/orange stripe

2 BI_DA-

green solid

BI_DB-

orange solid

3 BI_DB+

white/orange stripe

BI_DA+

white/green stripe

blue solid

blue solid

white/blue stripe

white/blue stripe

BI_DB-

orange solid

BI_DA-

green solid

white/brown stripe

white/brown stripe

brown solid

brown solid

Certain equipment or installations, including those in which phone and/or power are mixed with data in the same cable, may require that the "non-data" pairs 1 and 4 (pins 4, 5, 7 and 8) remain un-crossed.

Gigabit T568A crossover All four pairs crossed

10base-T/100base-TX/1000base-TX/T4 crossover (shown as T568A) Connection 1: T568A Pin signal pair color signal pair color Connection 2: T568A Crossed Pins on plug face

1 BI_DA+

white/green stripe

BI_DB+

white/orange stripe

2 BI_DA-

green solid

BI_DB-

orange solid

3 BI_DB+

white/orange stripe

BI_DA+

white/green stripe

4 BI_DC+

blue solid

BI_DD+

white/brown stripe

BI_DC-

white/blue stripe

BI_DD-

brown solid

BI_DB-

orange solid

BI_DA-

green solid

7 BI_DD+

white/brown stripe

BI_DC+

blue solid

8 BI_DD-

brown solid

BI_DC-

white/blue stripe

Gigabit T568B crossover All four pairs crossed 10base-T/100base-TX/1000base-TX/T4 crossover (shown as T568B) Connection 2: T568B Crossed Pins on plug face signal pair color signal pair color

Connection 1: T568B Pi n

1 BI_DA+ 2 white/orange BI_DB+ 3 stripe

white/green stripe

2 BI_DA-

orange solid

BI_DB-

green solid

3 BI_DB+ 3

white/green BI_DA+ 2 white/orange stripe stripe

4 BI_DC+ 1

blue solid

BI_DD+ 4 white/brown stripe

5 BI_DC-

white/blue BI_DDstripe

brown solid

6 BI_DB-

green solid

BI_DA-

orange solid

7 BI_DD+ 4 white/brown stripe

BI_DC+ 1 blue solid

8 BI_DD-

brown solid

BI_DC-

white/blue stripe

In practice, it does not matter if your Ethernet cables are wired as T568A or T568B, just so long as both ends follow the same wiring format. Typical commercially available "pre-wired" cables can follow either format depending on who made them. What this means is that you may discover that one manufacturer's cables are wired one way and another's the other way, yet both are "correct" and will work. In either case, T568A or T568B, a normal (un-crossed) cable will have both ends wired according to the layout in the Connection 1 column.

[edit] Automatic crossover

Automatic MDI/MDI-X Configuration is specified as an optional feature in the 1000BASE-T standard[1], meaning that straight-through cables will often work between Gigabit capable interfaces. This feature eliminates the need for crossover cables, making obsolete the uplink/normal ports and manual selector switches found on many older hubs and switches and greatly reducing installation errors. Note that although Automatic MDI/MDI-X is generally implemented, a crossover cable would still be required in the occasional situation that neither of the connected devices has the feature implemented and enabled. Prior to the 1000Base-T standard, using a crossover cable to connect a device to a network accidentally, usually meant wasted time troubleshooting the resulting lack of connection, but with this standard in place, that is no longer a concern. Modern switches automatically apply an internal crossover when necessary. Besides the eventually agreed upon Automatic MDI/MDI-X, this feature may also be referred to by various vendor-specific terms including: Auto uplink and trade, Universal Cable Recognition and Auto Sensing.