Windows NT 4.0 does a very similar thing when the appropriate options are checked in the Startup and Recovery options under the System object in Control Panel. Problem is...it's the ENTIRE memory space. If you have 128 MB of RAM, you better have 128 MB of swapfile space on the system partition. Not a smart thing to do when the boot partition (where the \WINNT directory is) resides in the same partition...the hard disk has to constantly shuffle btw the swap file and the \WINNT directory. If you place the swap file on a different partition (i.e. optimize for I/O speed), the crash dump file (memory.dmp) is not created when NT bluescreens. This particular thing that SGI's doing is a MUCH smarter way of going about it. Though one of the coolest things about Win2K is the fact that you can choose btw a full mem dump, a kernel mem dump, and a 64K minidump. That's a Good Thing for those of us who like to optimize our swap file and move it to a different partition or split it up a bit.
However...sifting through that crap with the dumpchk.exe and dumpexam.exe utilities is akin to getting your teeth pulled...:)
Another nifty thing NT has is the ability to t-shoot a box by hooking up another NT box to it thru the serial port (or remotely, with a modem) and, by using the symbol files, find out EXACTLY where in the OS code a particular process is failing, because when NT bluescreens, it's not really crashed...the kernel is still spinning happily away churning out that dump file. That ain't too bad, but it's a bitch to set up.
I prefer just to decipher the bluescreen and find out which piece of shit hardware (or driver) is causing the failure...:)
-Kevin Bunn, MCSE/MCT - MCP ID # 1198191
PS: Yes, you heard it correctly. The way NT does it, the BOOT partition is where the system files (i.e. \WINNT) are and the SYSTEM partition is where the boot files (i.e. boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com) are. Another weird MS-ism...:P
It's generated based on the machine name, workgroup name and some other randomness thrown in. If there's a domain involved, the PDC randomly creates the machine SID upon install. In the case of a domain, the PDC does know all the machine's SIDs in its domain, but in no way does the NT install program EVER need to contact MS to find out what SIDs have (or haven't) been used.
If you have ever installed NT not connected to a network, you'd know this.
I'm a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer/Microsoft Certified Trainer. I instruct for one of the largest computer training companies in the world. I also run Linux...and MacOS...and BeOS...and AmigaOS... But I'm not here to debate the relative merits (or demerits) of an operating system because I've seen too many people complain about what they do not know about to know they're full of shit. But this guy scares me. Not only is he an MCSE, but Microsoft actually let him put that drivel on their page. I for one HATE paper MCSE's, because they take the relative value of the certification and kill it. I'm not saying he's one, but jeez! This guy, even though he claims to have used NT since 3.1 Advanced Server, says some pretty stupid shit:
1. To quote: "Windows NT has an abstraction layer between the hardware and the operating system. When a program wants access to a hardware device...it must go through this layer to do so. The purpose of this is security, and to ensure a bad application can't steal all resources from a given hardware device."
Yeah, right. Don't be a jackass. Yes, although the NT ARCHITECTURE is supposed to promote security (in many different contexts), the true purpose of the HAL is to make all hardware look the same to the microkernel. Therefore MS wouldn't have to use different source code every time NT was ported to a different platform. MS actually had the engineers code the prerelease versions of NT 3.1 on a MIPS box, and then PORT it to x86. NT's original premise was PORTABILITY...and that's where the HAL comes in. Now that all the other ports are gone (RIP Alpha...stupid MS) the only thing the HAL is good for is to maybe port W2K to IA-64? Who knows, but security ain't the issue here.
2. Here's another one: "If you install NT into the same partition, you'll end up sharing the \Program Files directory, which could be catastrophic for Internet Explorer, for instance. This is an easy one to avoid."
Whatever. Go to your NT box. Open that Program Files Directory. NT specific binaries are stored in a "Windows NT" subfolder. IE, specifically, is stored in %systemroot%\Program Files\Plus!\Microsoft Internet. When you install or upgrade a 9x machine (even with Plus!) with IE3/4/5, it installs to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer. This guy's talking out of his ass. I've done dual boot 9x/NT boxes all day long. I DID, however, keep both copies of IE the same rev...for consistency's sake...:)
3. One more: "The key to ensuring your two Windows NT computers can communicate is to make sure the guest account in user manager is enabled. This is the account that is used when one computer connects to another, with relatively little security--the reason it is disabled by default."
Wha...WHAT?! Are you out of your freaking MIND?! One of the first things we teach in the classes is to keep Guest diabled. Why don't you just create a local user, put 'em in the appropriate ACL's for the share, use the "conenct as" option and be DONE with it...
There are more...but I gotta get back to work...:)
This guy says he's an MCSE? And MS puts his stuff up for the whole world to see? People like him make people like me look bad.
-Kevin, MCSE/MCP+I/MCT, MCP ID # 1198191
PS: Just to be fair...I do agree with him on the service pack issue...I don't use a newly released SP until it's been out in the field for a while. SP3, for instance, was an apology for SP2...:)
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Windows NT 4.0 does a very similar thing when the appropriate options are checked in the Startup and Recovery options under the System object in Control Panel. Problem is...it's the ENTIRE memory space. If you have 128 MB of RAM, you better have 128 MB of swapfile space on the system partition. Not a smart thing to do when the boot partition (where the \WINNT directory is) resides in the same partition...the hard disk has to constantly shuffle btw the swap file and the \WINNT directory. If you place the swap file on a different partition (i.e. optimize for I/O speed), the crash dump file (memory.dmp) is not created when NT bluescreens. This particular thing that SGI's doing is a MUCH smarter way of going about it. Though one of the coolest things about Win2K is the fact that you can choose btw a full mem dump, a kernel mem dump, and a 64K minidump. That's a Good Thing for those of us who like to optimize our swap file and move it to a different partition or split it up a bit.
However...sifting through that crap with the dumpchk.exe and dumpexam.exe utilities is akin to getting your teeth pulled...:)
Another nifty thing NT has is the ability to t-shoot a box by hooking up another NT box to it thru the serial port (or remotely, with a modem) and, by using the symbol files, find out EXACTLY where in the OS code a particular process is failing, because when NT bluescreens, it's not really crashed...the kernel is still spinning happily away churning out that dump file. That ain't too bad, but it's a bitch to set up.
I prefer just to decipher the bluescreen and find out which piece of shit hardware (or driver) is causing the failure...:)
-Kevin Bunn, MCSE/MCT - MCP ID # 1198191
PS: Yes, you heard it correctly. The way NT does it, the BOOT partition is where the system files (i.e. \WINNT) are and the SYSTEM partition is where the boot files (i.e. boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com) are. Another weird MS-ism...:P
Um...No Fox Mulder.
It's generated based on the machine name, workgroup name and some other randomness thrown in. If there's a domain involved, the PDC randomly creates the machine SID upon install. In the case of a domain, the PDC does know all the machine's SIDs in its domain, but in no way does the NT install program EVER need to contact MS to find out what SIDs have (or haven't) been used.
If you have ever installed NT not connected to a network, you'd know this.
-Kevin, MCSE/MCT
I'm a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer/Microsoft Certified Trainer. I instruct for one of the largest computer training companies in the world. I also run Linux...and MacOS...and BeOS...and AmigaOS... But I'm not here to debate the relative merits (or demerits) of an operating system because I've seen too many people complain about what they do not know about to know they're full of shit. But this guy scares me. Not only is he an MCSE, but Microsoft actually let him put that drivel on their page. I for one HATE paper MCSE's, because they take the relative value of the certification and kill it. I'm not saying he's one, but jeez! This guy, even though he claims to have used NT since 3.1 Advanced Server, says some pretty stupid shit:
1. To quote: "Windows NT has an abstraction layer between the hardware and the operating system. When a program wants access to a hardware device...it must go through this layer to do so. The purpose of this is security, and to ensure a bad application can't steal all resources from a given hardware device."
Yeah, right. Don't be a jackass. Yes, although the NT ARCHITECTURE is supposed to promote security (in many different contexts), the true purpose of the HAL is to make all hardware look the same to the microkernel. Therefore MS wouldn't have to use different source code every time NT was ported to a different platform. MS actually had the engineers code the prerelease versions of NT 3.1 on a MIPS box, and then PORT it to x86. NT's original premise was PORTABILITY...and that's where the HAL comes in. Now that all the other ports are gone (RIP Alpha...stupid MS) the only thing the HAL is good for is to maybe port W2K to IA-64? Who knows, but security ain't the issue here.
2. Here's another one: "If you install NT into the same partition, you'll end up sharing the \Program Files directory, which could be catastrophic for Internet Explorer, for instance. This is an easy one to avoid."
Whatever. Go to your NT box. Open that Program Files Directory. NT specific binaries are stored in a "Windows NT" subfolder. IE, specifically, is stored in %systemroot%\Program Files\Plus!\Microsoft Internet. When you install or upgrade a 9x machine (even with Plus!) with IE3/4/5, it installs to C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer. This guy's talking out of his ass. I've done dual boot 9x/NT boxes all day long. I DID, however, keep both copies of IE the same rev...for consistency's sake...:)
3. One more: "The key to ensuring your two Windows NT computers can communicate is to make sure the guest account in user manager is enabled. This is the account that is used when one computer connects to another, with relatively little security--the reason it is disabled by default."
Wha...WHAT?! Are you out of your freaking MIND?! One of the first things we teach in the classes is to keep Guest diabled. Why don't you just create a local user, put 'em in the appropriate ACL's for the share, use the "conenct as" option and be DONE with it...
There are more...but I gotta get back to work...:)
This guy says he's an MCSE? And MS puts his stuff up for the whole world to see? People like him make people like me look bad.
-Kevin, MCSE/MCP+I/MCT, MCP ID # 1198191
PS: Just to be fair...I do agree with him on the service pack issue...I don't use a newly released SP until it's been out in the field for a while. SP3, for instance, was an apology for SP2...:)