Tài liệu Preventing System Failures docx

Preventing System Failures

Now it is time to discuss the measures that will help you prevent system failures.

Naturally, all emergency planning should be done beforehand.

Performing maintenance procedures on a regular basis allows you to prevent possible

problems or, at least, minimize their negative effect. The general procedures are listed

below:

ƒ Most of the time, system malfunctions, or even boot failures, are caused by

overwritten system files or by incompatible drivers. This usually happens when

you install incompatible third-party software. This problem exists not only in

Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, but in all earlier

versions of the Windows NT operating system as well. Windows 2000, Windows

XP and Windows Server 2003 implement additional tools, though, which protect

system files and drivers with a digital signature. The digital signature guarantees

that the system file or driver is Windows-compatible. If you want to avoid any

possible problems, it is recommended that you use these tools. This topic will be

covered in greater detail later in the chapter.

ƒ Back up the System State data and prepare for the Automated System Recovery

process (ASR) on a regular basis. Don't forget to perform these operations before

introducing significant modifications in the system configuration (including new

hardware and software installations). A usable and up-to-date backup copy of all

your important data will also be helpful.

ƒ In Windows XP systems, don't disable System Restore. Although some users may

think that this tool consumes too much free disk space, it can still be very useful if

you need to restore a damaged system.

Detailed instructions on performing these operations were provided in Chapter 2.

ƒ View system event logs on a daily basis (or, at the very least, view the system and

application logs). Pay close attention to the messages generated by the FtDisk

driver and hard-disk drivers, because they may report possible file-system errors.

If you don't follow this rule, file-system errors may remain unnoticed until the

Chkdsk utility detects them. Notice that, in this case, the damaged data may even

be included in the backup copy, since most backup utilities (including the Backup

program supplied with Windows 2000 and later versions) don't recognize errors in

user data.

ƒ Check your disks on a regular basis for early detection of possible file-system

errors. It is also recommended that you defragment your disks regularly to

eliminate any possible performance problems. Use only built-in tools or third-