Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Activity 2-5: Changing the Computer Name and Workgroup
Time Required: 10 minutes
Objective: Change your computer name.
Description: After installing Windows, you examine the Initial Configuration Tasks applet and
notice that the assigned computer name seems random and the workgroup name is the generic
“Workgroup.” You want to personalize these settings according to your network plan.
1. Log on to your server as Administrator, if necessary. If the Initial Configuration Tasks applet
doesn't start, open it as described previously.
2. Under Provide Computer Information, click Provide computer name and domain to open
the System Properties dialog box.
3. Click the Computer Name tab, if necessary, and then click the Change button.
4. In the Computer name text box, type ServerXX (replacing XX with your two-digit student
number).
5. In the Workgroup text box, type ADCONFIGCLASS or another name assigned by your
instructor, and then click OK . After a moment or two, you should see the message “Welcome
to the ADCONFIGCLASS workgroup.” Click OK . When prompted to restart your com-
puter, click OK . Click Close , and then click Restart Now .
6. When Windows restarts, log on as Administrator.
7. Verify your changes in the Initial Configuration Tasks applet. You can also click Start , right-
click Computer , and click Properties to open the System Properties dialog box, which dis-
plays your computer name, workgroup or domain, and other system information.
8. Close all open windows.
2
Installing Updates One of the most important administrative tasks is installing updates.
Almost immediately after an OS is released, bugs and security vulnerabilities are found and fixed.
These fixes, normally released as patches , can be installed through the Windows Update procedure.
Windows Update also downloads and installs new drivers and service packs. A service pack is gen-
erally a collection of all bug fixes and security updates since the OS release. Service packs can also
add features and performance enhancements or change the functionality of existing features, so you
must understand the effects of a service pack on your server before installing it. Testing a service pack
extensively on a test server is highly recommended before deploying it on production machines.
Interestingly, the initial release of Windows Server 2008 already has the suffix
Service Pack 1 (SP1) because it shares a codebase with Vista, and Microsoft
released Vista SP1 simultaneously with Windows Server 2008. Microsoft
wants to keep the service pack versions of these two OSs in lockstep.
The Initial Configuration Tasks applet is a convenient option for configuring your server for
automatic updates and downloading and installing updates for the first time. You can see these
options under Update This Server in Figure 2-6, shown previously. Clicking the Enable auto-
matic updating and feedback link displays two options: accepting the default settings or config-
uring the settings manually.
Good network administrators want to know exactly what their servers are doing and when, so
checking the manual settings is a good idea. The default settings enroll you in the Customer
Experience Improvement Program (which sends anonymous server use information to Microsoft peri-
odically), download and install new updates automatically every day at 3:00 a.m., and send summary
error reports to Microsoft when problems are detected and notify you if a solution has been found.
Activity 2-6: Enabling Automatic Updates
Time Required: 10 to 30 minutes, depending on number and size of updates
Objective: Configure automatic updates and download and install initial updates.
 
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