Which of the following commands in the
Windows command line launches a diagnostic tool for detecting display,
sound, and input related problems?
BOOTREC
REGSVR32
MMC
DXDIAG
EXPLANATION
DxDiag ("DirectX Diagnostic Tool ") is a diagnostics tool used to test DirectX
functionality and troubleshoot video- or sound-related hardware
problems. DirectX Diagnostic can save text files with the scan results.
These files are often posted in tech forums
or attached to support emails in order to give support personnel a
better idea of the PC the requester is using in case the error is due to
a hardware failure or incompatibility.
DxDiag is located in %SystemRoot%\System32.[1] Starting from Windows Vista, DxDiag only shows information; it is no longer possible to test the hardware and the various DirectX components.[2]
Functions
The System tab displays the current DirectX version, the computer's hostname, the operating system's version, information on the system BIOS, and other data. The DirectX Files tab displays information about the versions of specific DirectX system files, which are portable executables or dynamic-link libraries (DLLs).
DxDiag displays information about the current display settings and the video hardware on the Display tab. If the computer has more than one monitor, then DxDiag will display a separate tab for each monitor. This tab can disable DirectDraw, Direct3D, and/or AGP Texture Acceleration for troubleshooting purposes. If the installed display driver has passed Windows Hardware Quality Labs testing, DxDiag will display this result on the right side of the window.
The Music tab displays information about the computer's MIDI settings, and lists different music-related software and hardware on your computer. The Input tab, displays information about input devices installed in the computer such as keyboards and mice. It will also attempt to detect problems with these devices. DxDiag also displays information about the installed DirectPlay Service Provider.
It is possible to create chat rooms with DxDiag that can be
accessed by other computers, as long as anyone attempting to join knows
the IP address of the host computer.
In Windows XP Professional x64 edition, Windows Vista x64
edition, and Windows 7 x64 edition, two versions of DxDiag are included,
a native 64-bit version and a 32-bit version.
See How to Read Command Syntax if you're not sure how to read the shutdown command syntax shown above or described in the table below.
Shutdown Command Options
Item
Description
/i
This shutdown option shows the Remote Shutdown Dialog, a graphical
version of the remote shutdown and restart features available in the
shutdown command. The /i switch must be the first switch shown and all other options will be ignored.
/l
This option will immediately log off the current user on the current machine. You can not use the /l option with the /m option to log off a remote computer. The /d, /t, and /c options are also not available with /l.
/s
Use this option with the shutdown command to shut down the local or /m defined remote computer.
/r
This option will shut down and then restart the local computer or the remote computer specified in /m.
/g
This shutdown option functions the same as the /r option but will also restart any registered applications after the reboot.
/a
Use this option to stop a pending shutdown or restart. Remember to use the /m option if you're planning on stopping a pending shutdown or restart that you executed for a remote computer.
/p
This shutdown command option turns off the local computer completely. Using the /p option is similar to executing shutdown /s /f /t 0. You can not use this option with /t.
/h
Executing the shutdown command with this option immediately puts the computer you're on into hibernation. You can not use the /h option with the /m option to put a remote computer into hibernation, nor can you use this option with /t, /d, or /c.
/e
This option enables documentation for an unexpected shut down in the Shutdown Event Tracker.
/o
Use this shutdown switch to end the current Windows session and open the Advanced Boot Options menu. This option must be used with /r. The /o switch is new beginning in Windows 8.
/hybrid
This option performs a shutdown and prepares the computer for fast startup. The /hybrid switch is new beginning in Windows 8.
/f
This option forces running programs to close without warning. Except with the /l, /p, and /h options, not using shutdown's /f option will present a warning about the pending shutdown or restart.
/m \\computername
This shutdown command option specifies the remote computer that you want to execute a shutdown or restart on.
/txxx
This is the time, in seconds, between the execution of the shutdown
command and the actual shutdown or restart. The time can be anywhere
from 0 (immediately) to 315360000 (10 years). If you don't use the /t option then 30 seconds is assumed. The /t option is not available with either the /l, /h, or /p options.
/d [p:|u:]xx:yy
This records a reason for the restart or shutdown. The p option indicates a planned restart or shutdown and the u a user defined one. The xx and yy
options specify major and minor reasons for the shutdown or restart,
respectively, a list of which you can view by executing the shutdown
command without options. If neither p nor u are defined, the shutdown or restart will be recorded as unplanned.
/c "comment"
This shutdown command option allows you to leave a comment
describing the reason for the shutdown or restart. You must include
quotes around the comment. The maximum length of the comment is 512
characters.
/?
Use the help switch
with the shutdown command to show detailed help about the command's
several options. Executing shutdown without any options also displays
the help for the command.
Each time Windows is shut down or restarted manually, including via
the shutdown command, the reason, type of shutdown, and [when specified]
comment are recorded in the System log in Event Viewer. Filter by the USER32 source to find the entries.
In the above example, the shutdown command is used to restart the
computer that's currently being used and records a reason of Other
(Planned). The restart is designated by /r and the reason is specified with the /d option, with p representing that the restart is planned and the 0:0 indicating an "Other" reason.
Remember, major and minor reason codes on a computer can be displayed by executing shutdown without options and referencing the Reasons on this computer table that's displayed.
shutdown /l
Using the shutdown command as shown here, the current computer is immediately logged off. No warning message is displayed.
shutdown /s /m \\SERVER /dp:0:0 /c "Planned restart by Tim"
In the above shutdown command example, a remote computer named SERVER is being shut down with a recorded reason of Other (Planned). A comment is also recorded as Planned restart by Tim. Since no time is designated with the /t option, the shutdown will begin on SERVER 30 seconds after executing the shutdown command.
shutdown /s /t 0
This shutdown command is used to shut down the local computer immediately, since we designated a time of zero with the shutdown /t option.
The zero in this command could easily be changed 10 to delay the
shutdown for several seconds, 60 to make the computer shut down in one
minute, etc.
shutdown /a
Finally, in this last example, the shutdown command is cancelled
before it can complete. This applies to any restart or shutdown command.
You might use it to cancel something like a timed restart that's
scheduled for, say, two minutes from now.
Shutdown Command & Windows 8
Microsoft made it more difficult to shut down Windows 8 than they did
with previous versions of Windows, prompting many to search out a way
of shutting down via a command.
You can certainly do that by executing shutdown /p, but there are several other, albeit easier, ways of doing so. See How to Shutdown Windows 8 for a complete list.
To avoid commands altogether, you can install a Start menu replacement for Windows 8 to make it easier to shut down and restart the computer.
With the return of the Start Menu in Windows 10, Microsoft again made shutting down your computer easy with the Power option.
Which of the following commands DOESN'T allow you to edit the Windows registry?
REGEDT32
REGEDIT
REG
CHKDSK
EXPLANATION
CHKDSK is a system tool in DOS, OS/2
and Windows. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and fixes
logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix.
CHKDSK can be run from DOS prompt, Windows Explorer, Windows Command Prompt, Windows PowerShell or Recovery Console.[3]
On Windows NT operating systems, CHKDSK can also check the disk surface for bad sectors and mark them (in MS-DOS 6.x and Windows 9x, this is a task done by Microsoft ScanDisk). The Windows Server version of CHKDSK is RAID-aware and can fully recover data in bad sectors of a disk in a RAID-1 or RAID-5 array if other disks in the set are intact.[4]
On Windows NT family, a standard CHKDSK scan consists of three
phases of testing file metadata. It looks for errors but does not fix
them unless it is explicitly ordered to do so. The same applies to
surface scan—this test, which could be extremely time-consuming on large
or low-performance disks, is not carried out unless explicitly
requested. CHKDSK requires exclusive write access to the volume to
perform repairs.[5][6]
Because of the exclusive access requirement and the time-consuming nature of CHKDSK operation, Windows Vista
implemented a new file system health model in which the operating
system fixes errors on the volumes as it encounters them. In the event
that the problem is grave and a full scan is required, Action Center notifies the user to take the volume offline at the first convenience.[7] Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
added self-healing ability, turned on by default, in addition to
providing the CHKDSK command. It detects physical file system errors and
silently fixes them on the fly. Thus, many problems previously
discovered on running CHKDSK never appear. It is administered by fsutil repair command.[8][9]
802.11 Standards Explained: 802.11ac, 802.11b/g/n, 802.11a
Home and business owners looking to buy networking gear face an array of choices. Many products conform to the 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, and/or 802.11ac wireless standards collectively known as Wi-Fi technologies. Bluetooth
and various other wireless (but not Wi-Fi) technologies also permeate
the market, each designed for specific networking applications.
For quick reference, 801.11aj is the most recently approved standard.
The protocol was approved in May 2018. Just because a standard is
approved, however, does not mean it is available to you or that it is
the standard you need for your particular situation. Standards are
always being updated, much like the way software is updated in a
smartphone or on your computer.
Which of the following refers to wireless
devices involved in connecting devices in close proximity to exchange
data or resources?
CAN
MPLAN
WPAN
WAN
EXPLANATION
A wireless personal area network (WPAN) is a type of personal
network that uses wireless communication technologies to communicate and
transfer data between the user's connected devices.
A wireless network defined by personal operating space (POS), which
simply is the area in the near vicinity of a device or individual.
802.15 is the IEEE specification for WPANs and 802.15.1 is the specification for Bluetooth.
