Display Devices, ACPI Settings

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Exam 70-270 Study Guide
Table Of Contents

Contents 1 Display Devices and ACPI 2 ACPI, APM, HAL on XP 3 Display Devices 3.1 The Settings Tab 4 Print Spooling, Print Pooling, and Printer Security Grouping 5 Moving Ahead 6 Quick Review 7 Answers

[edit section] Display Devices and ACPI

Among the objectives for the MCSE 70-270 exam are to understand how ACPI and display devices are configured in Windows XP. In this lesson, we will learn a bit about both ACPI and display devices. We will also continue our earlier foray into printers and how to utilize printer spooling in Windows XP.

[edit section] ACPI, APM, HAL on XP

ACPI, or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface, enables Windows XP to control power management on the computer. Specifically, devices such as hard disk drives and monitors, which typically consume larger amounts of power, can be tweaked to turn off after certain lengths of time. In addition, other devices within the computer itself can be configured to only run when actively in use. ACPI accomplishes power management functions via the Windows HAL, or Hardware Abstraction Layer. The HAL serves as a sort of bridge between Windows XP and the hardware. As such, the HAL takes control of hardware and instructs hardware to turn on and off at different times.

However, to be compatible with the ACPI HAL (that’s a lot of acronyms) the devices used by the computer must be ACPI-compliant. If the computer has devices that are not ACPI-compliant, an APM (Advanced Power Management) HAL will be installed. APM features fewer functions and is less manageable than ACPI but is almost universally-supported, even by older hardware. The only way to upgrade a computer to ACPI functionality is to re-install Windows, which re-installs the HAL. Note that power management settings can be changed using the Power Options control panel window. Within Power Options you can manage:

• Power Schemes: Configure the time intervals that a computer will turn off power to the monitor, disk drives, and hibernate
• UPS: Configure the Uninterrupted Power Supply (computer battery) service and modify settings related to UPS
• Power Keys: Modify which action Windows will take upon the power button being pressed
• Hibernation: Configure if hibernation is enabled or not

[edit section] Display Devices

A display device can output a video signal that allows for display on a monitor, projector, or other video output device. A display device is necessarily required for Windows XP to operate (besides, without a display device, how would you see what you are doing?) and Windows XP allows for much configuration of these devices. Remember that display devices may be installed through the plug-and-play detection process in the Add New Hardware Wizard or through the Device Manager applet.

To configure and manage display devices, you must use the Display Properties dialogue window which can be found by either right-clicking on the desktop and clicking Properties or by going to the Display applet on the control panel. Within the Display Properties window, you can manage:

• Themes: Windows XP allows for Themes, or entire configurations of the user desktop experience that change the way that Windows looks and interacts with the user. From the Themes box, you can select a theme or change to a new theme. You can also manage themes from this tab.
• Desktop: The desktop tab allows you to configure the desktop background
• Screen Saver: The screen saver tab allows you to configure a screensaver or marquee in Windows XP. It also allows you to manage monitor power options and to password-protect a Windows XP screen saver
• Appearance: The Appearance tab allows you to configure the way that Windows buttons, messages, headings, and dialogue boxes appear. It also allows you to select between several visual effects. Remember that “ClearType” is an effect that allows for anti-aliased, high-quality text to appear on the screen.

[edit section] The Settings Tab

The Settings tab allows for the configuration of the actual video card (display device) and various options concerning the display in Windows XP. Some of these settings include:

• Screen Resolution: The total number of pixels on display. A higher number of pixels indicates a higher resolution and more picture quality
• Color quality: The total of number of colors on the palette. A higher number of colors indicates a greater possibility of combinations and more pleasant display. 32-bit is the highest possible quality (true color)
• Advanced Settings: Allows for device-specific settings as well as refresh rate configuration. Also allows for Direct3D configurations

[edit section] Print Spooling, Print Pooling, and Printer Security Grouping

We are now going to dramatically shift gears here and continue our discussion about printing in Windows XP. For some reason, the exam has always had a large number of questions on printing, and in particular, print spooling. Print spooling is the process of keeping files in a “spool” or a queue until they are ready to be accessed by the print device. In particular, a print job (request to print) is sent to the Spooler service, which is constantly running in Windows XP. The spooler service stores the file in the Spooler folder, which is typically located under the \system32\spool\printers folder of the Windows system directory. When the print device indicates to the Spooler service that the device is ready to perform its next job,the Spooler will send the next print job (file) in the queue to the print device to print.

You should also know a bit about the difference between security grouping (printer grouping) and printer spooling in Windows XP

• Security Grouping refers to the practice of having multiple printers point to a single print device. This is usually utilized in settings in which printing may be more important to a particular group of users or in a situation in which a certain group should have priority over another group because print access is limited. For example, “Teachers” may be configured to have priority over “Students” in a Security Grouping application.
• Print Pooling, in contrast, refers to the practice of pointing a single printer to multiple print devices. This is usually utilized in just the opposite situation as Security Grouping – a situation in which many printers are available but only one Security Group need be applied. For example, a large corporate office may have a single “copy” printer to which large jobs are sent, but that printer may point to multiple print devices which are pooled together. Note that all devices in a printing pool, however, must employ the same driver (in effect, they must all be the same devices).

[edit section] Moving Ahead

In our next lesson, we will tackle the heavily-tested subjects of Users and Offline Files in Windows XP. However, you are encouraged to review the previous lessons before proceeding to the next guide (the next lesson) as it covers a new area of examination objectives.

[edit section] Quick Review

1. Your manager asks you to save power by turning off the computers on the network when they are not in use. You suggest to him the idea of computer hibernation and he agrees that this is a desirable solution. How would you go about implementing this on a particular computer?

a. Using Device Manager, configure the “Computer Power” interface to allow for hibernation

b. Using User Profiles, configure the “Power Use” setting to “High”

c. Using User Profiles, configure the “Power Use” setting to “Lowest”

d. Configure the computer to hibernate after a certain length of time in the “Power Options” applet

e. Nothing; this is only possible with the Windows XP Power Pack

2. Which of the following would be employed in a situation in which many users, with different usage priorities, are attempting to access a single printer?

a. Print spooling

b. Print prioritization

c. Print pooling

d. Security grouping

e. Print grouping

3. Where is the video refresh rate configured?

a. Monitor tab after clicking on Advanced options on Display control panel applet

b. Monitor options control panel applet

c. Video options after clicking on Monitor options control panel applet

d. ACPI dialogue box

e. ACPI control panel applet

[edit section] Answers

1. The Power Options control panel applet allows for power management and configuration. The type of power scheme that he is asking for would be configured using the Power Options applet. The answer is D.

2. Security Grouping allows for multiple printers to point to a single print device. The answer is D.

3. The video refresh rate is configured on the Monitor tab of the Advanced Options dialogue under the Display control panel applet. The answer is A.

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