Miscellaneous:

• NTFS in Windows 2000 (version 5) features enhancements not found in Windows NT 4.0 version 4). Reparse Points, Encrypting File System (EFS), Disk Quotas, Volume Mount Points, SID Searching, Bulk ACL Checking, and Sparse File Support. (KB# Q183090)
• Volume Mount Points allow new volumes to be added to the file system without needing to assign a drive letter to it. Instead of mounting a CD-ROM as drive E:, it can be mounted and accessed under an existing drive (e.g., C:\CD-ROM). As Volume Mount Points are based on Reparse Points, they are only available under NTFS5 using Dynamic Volumes.
• NTFS4 stored ACLs on each file. With bulk ACL checking, NTFS5 uses unique ACLs only once even if ten objects share it. NTFS can also perform a volume wide scan for files using the owner's SID (SID Searching). Both functions require installation of the Indexing Service.
• Sparse File Support prevents files containing large consecutive areas of zero bits from being allocated corresponding physical space on the drive and improves system performance.
• NTFS partitions can be defragmented in Windows 2000 (as can FAT and FAT32 partitions). Use Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.
• Local security access can be set on a NTFS volume.
• Files moved from an NTFS partition to a FAT partition do not retain their attributes or security descriptors, but will retain their long filenames.
• Permissions are cumulative, except for No Access, which overrides anything.
• File permissions override the permissions of its parent folder.
• Anytime a new file is created, the file will inherit permissions from the target folder.
• The cacls.exe utility is used to modify NTFS volume permissions. (KB# Q237701)

Windows File Protection Feature (WFP): (KB# Q222193)

• New to Windows 2000 - prevents the replacement of certain monitored system files (important DLLs and EXEs in the %systemroot%\system32 directory).
• Uses file signatures and code signing to verify if protected system files are the Microsoft versions.
• WFP does not generate signatures of any type.
• Critical DLLs are restored from the %systemroot%\system32\dllcache directory. Default maximum size for Professional is 50MB. This can be increased by editing the Registry. (KB# Q229656)

Local and network print devices:

• Windows 2000 Professional supports the following printer ports: Line Printer (LPT), COM, USB, IEEE 1394, and network attached devices.
• Print services can only be provided for Windows and UNIX clients on Windows 2000 Professional (KB# Q124734)- Windows 2000 Server is required to support Apple and Novell clients.
• Windows 2000 Professional automatically downloads the printer drivers for clients running Win2000, WinNT 4, WinNT 3.51 and Windows 95/98. (KB# Q142667)
• Internet Printing is a new feature in Windows 2000. You have the option of entering the URL where your printer is located. The print server must be a Windows 2000 Server running Internet Information Server or a Windows 2000 Professional system running Personal Web Server - all shared printers can be viewed at: http://servername/printers
• Print Pooling allows two or more identical printers to be installed as one logical printer.
• Print Priority is set by creating multiple logical printers for one physical printer and assigning different priorities to each. Priority ranges from 1, the lowest (default) to 99, the highest.
• Enabling "Availability" option allows Administrator to specify the hours the printer is available.
• Use Separater Pages to separate print jobs at a shared printer. A template for the separater page can be created and saved in the %systemroot%\system32 directory with a .SEP file extension. (KB# Q102712)
• You can select Restart in the printer's menu to reprint a document. This is useful when a document is printing and the printer jams. Resume can be selected to start printing where you left off.
• You can change the directory containing the print spooler in the advanced server properties for the printer. (KB# Q123747)
• To remedy a stalled spooler, you will need to stop and restart the spooler services in the Services applet in Administrative Tools in the Control Panel. (KB# Q240683 &
• Use the fixprnsv.exe command-line utility to resolve printer incompatibility issues. (KB# Q247196)

Managing file systems: (KB# Q222189)

Windows 2000 supports both Basic and Dynamic storage. In basic storage you divide a hard disk into partitions. Windows 2000 recognizes primary and extended partitions. A disk initialized for  basic storage is called a Basic disk. It can contain primary partitions, extended partitions and logical drives. Basic volumes cannot be created on dynamic disks. Basic volumes should be used when dual-booting between Windows 2000 and DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95/98 and all version of Windows NT. (KB# Q175761)

Dynamic storage (Windows 2000 only) allows you to create a single partition that includes the entire hard disk. A disk initialized for dynamic storage is called a Dynamic disk. Dynamic disks are divided into volumes which can include portions of one, or many, disks. These can be resized without needing to restart the operating system. (KB# Q225551)

There are three volume types:

• Simple volume - contains space from a single disk
• Spanned volume - contains space from multiple disks (maximum of 32). First fills one volume before going to the next. If a volume in a spanned set fails, all data in the spanned volume set is lost. Performance is degraded as disks in spanned volume set are read sequentially.
• Striped set- contains free space from multiple disks (maximum of 32) in one logical drive. Increases performance by reading/writing data from all disks at the same rate. If a disk in a stripe set fails, all data is lost.

Dynamic Volume States:

Dynamic Volume Limitations:

• Cannot be directly accessed by DOS, Win95/98 or any versions of Windows NT if you are dual-booting as they do not use the traditional disk organization scheme of partitions and logical volumes. MBR on dynamic disks contains a pointer to disk configuration data stored in the last 1 MB of space at the end of the disk. (KB# Q197738)
• Dynamic volumes which were upgraded from basic disk partitons cannot be extended, especially the system volume which holds hardware-specific files required to start Windows 2000 and the boot volume. Volumes created after the disk was upgraded to dynamic can be extended. (KB# Q222188)
• When installing Windows 2000, if a dynamic volume is created from unallocated space on a dynamic disk, Windows 2000 cannot be installed on that volume. (KB# Q216341)
• Not supported on portable computers or removable media. (KB# Q232463)
• A boot disk that has been converted from basic to dynamic cannot be converted back to basic. (KB# Q217226)

Translation of terms between Basic and Dynamic Disks:

There is NO fault-tolerance with Windows 2000 Professional. Fault-tolerance (RAID levels 1 and 5) are only available in the Windows 2000 Server family. (KB# Q113932)

To manage disks on a remote computer you must create a custom console focused on another computer. Choose Start > Run and type mmc. Press Enter. On console menu click Add/Remove Snap-in. Click Add. Click Disk Management then click Add. When Choose Computer dialog box appears choose the remote system.

Windows 2000 now supports disk-based quotas. Quotas can be set on NTFS volumes, but not on FAT or FAT32 volumes. Quotas cannot be set on individual folders within a NTFS partition. (KB# Q183322)

Disk information is now stored on the physical disk itself, facilitating moving hard drives between systems. As managing disk numbering can become quite complex, the dmtool.exe utility has been provided. (KB# Q222470)

When using the Disk Management Snap-in Tool:

• Whenever you add a new disk in a computer it is added as Basic Storage
• Every time you remove or add a new disk to your computer you must choose Rescan Disks
• Disks that have been removed from another computer will appear labeled as Foreign. Choose "Import Foreign Disk" and a wizard appears to provide instructions.
• For multiple disks removed from another computer, they will appear as a group. Right-click on any of the disks and choose "Add Disk".
• Disks can be upgraded from Basic to Dynamic storage at any time but must contain at least 1 MB of unallocated space for the upgrade to work.