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NIIT Lab@Home 3 EBDD

1. NetStars Inc. wants to upgrade the OS of all Windows 7-based desktops to Windows 8. However, before upgrading to Windows 8, the organization wants to check the hardware and device compatibility with Windows 8. In addition, the organization wants to create a comprehensive report of Windows 8 hardware assessment, hardware summary, and machine inventory results. Identify and explain the tool that you can use for creating the preceding report. In addition, list and explain other tools that you can use for assessing the network within the organization.

The tool that can be used in this scenario is MAP. MAP is an effective toolkit for inventory
evaluation and reporting. It can run in any business environment and does not require any
supporting software. The reports generated by this tool clearly indicate the readiness of hardware,
thereby simplifying the planning phase. If you want to upgrade the desktops in your organization by
using MAP, you can scan the network infrastructure of your organization and create an all-inclusive
report, which contains extensive hardware and software information. It also helps in determining
whether the desktops are ready for deployment by providing migration readiness reports.

2. Technotics Inc. wants to upgrade the OS of all Windows XP-based desktops to Windows 8. However, the employees of the organization are using various applications that are developed according to the specifications of the Windows XP architecture. These applications may not run if the systems are upgraded to Windows 8. It means that the applications may also need to be changed or upgraded with the OS. This will be a time-consuming task. Therefore, the organization has assigned you the task of analyzing the compatibility of the currently running applications prior to the deployment of Windows 8. Identify and explain the application compatibility process and the tools that you can use for the same. In addition, identify and explain the components of the network infrastructure that you need to assess while planning for desktop deployment.

The application compatibility process involves the following stages:

1.             Identifying the applications that need to be tested for compatibility with the new OS in a testing environment
2.             Running the applications on the new OS in a testing environment and identifying the incompatibilities
3.             Resolving application compatibility issues by using the tools provided by application vendors
4.             Deploying the applications and distributing the application compatibility solutions to the testing machines for hosting the applications
5.             Identifying the post deployment application compatibility issues that might arise, creating solutions, and distributing solutions

The tool that can be used to check application compatibility is Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT). It helps you to check the compatibility of the existing
applications including line-of-business applications with the new OS, which you plan to deploy on the desktops.

3. Describe different types of application compatibility issues. In addition, explain, in detail, the tasks that you need to follow to check and resolve application compatibility issues (if any).

Some of the compatibility issues encountered are:
·         Setup and installation issues

·         Permissions issues

·         Miscellaneous issues

Setup and Installation Issues

During or after the installation of the existing applications on a new OS, the following problems may arise:
·         The level of security or permissions may change in the new OS. This may prevent the application from being
          installed successfully due to insufficient security permissions. For example, features, such as User Account
          Control (UAC), may prevent an application from creating files and folders in the system partition. As a result,
          the installation process of the application fails.

·         Different operating systems have different locations for saving the application settings. For example, the
          applications settings are stored in the Documents and Settings folder in Windows XP, whereas the same settings
          are stored in the AppData folder in Windows 8. The changes in the folder structure may cause conflicts, such as
          the application settings may not be available to applications on the new OS.

·         The application writes directly to the registry without using installation programs or Application Programming
          Interfaces (APIs). This may cause problems due to the security features of the OS, such as UAC, which may prevent
          the application from writing data to the registry and cause it to malfunction.

·         The application requires only a specific version of the OS to be installed.


Permissions Issues

Permission issues arise when an application writes to an area in the file system or registry that was accessible in the
earlier OS, but is not accessible in the new operating system. Usually, applications are allowed access only to the following areas:

·         Certain registry keys in Windows, such as HKEY_CURRENT_USER

·         User profiles, such as the Documents folder and personal settings

·         Shared document folder

·         Any folder created by the application where it is allowed to write

Miscellaneous Issues

The following miscellaneous issues may be encountered by the applications:
·         The new OS may consume more memory than its previous versions. This may limit the amount of memory available for
          running applications, causing them to crash due to insufficient memory.

·         Shared system files are deleted or overwritten during the installation of an application. At the time of overwriting
          a system file, no check is made to verify the authenticity of the new system file.

·         The list of supported hardware devices is changed. Therefore, the hardware devices whose entries have been
          deleted are not supported by the application.

·         The list of supported fonts is changed because of which the application is not able to access the fonts whose entries have been deleted.

·         Certain services or applications have been withdrawn from the new OS. The applications that require those services or applications will
          not run on the new OS.

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