Before going any further you may find its a good idea to perform some basic maintenance on our re-purposed server. Even if you are using a machine with a fresh install of Windows you will still want to perform this preparation procedure.

1. Update virus definitions and scan for viruses

   1. Use what ever software you already have installed

   2. Take whatever steps to remove the viruses, if any are indeed found, as recommended by your anti-virus vendor

2. Run a disk clean-up. On Windows XP this is the procedure

   1. Double click on the “My Computer” icon.

   2. Right click the “C” drive.

   3. Click on the “General” tab

   4. Click on the “Disk Cleanup” button

   5. A new window will open presenting you with a list of check boxes.

      1. Choose the items that you feel are appropriate for windows to clean up. Since, in this case, the server will be a learning area I’m going to check all the items.

   6. Click “OK”

   7. The Cleanup process will run

3. Remove any programs that won’t be needed by our application

   1. The test server is slow enough as it is on its own with Windows running alone so I will remove almost everything except that’s not related to operating the hardware or protecting the operating system

   2. Make sure to remove any previously installed Java Development Kits and Java Runtime Environments

      1. We’ll be installing these later!

4. Defrag the hard drive

   1. Double click on the “My Computer” icon.

   2. Right click the “C” drive.

   3. Click on the “Tools” tab

   4. Click the “Defragment Now…” button

   5. A new window will open

   6. Click the “Defragment” button

      1. You may want to hit the “Defragment” button a few times so you get a good defrag result

5. Error check the hard drive

   1. Double click on the “My Computer” icon.

   2. Right click the “C” drive.

   3. Click on the “Tools” tab

   4. Click the “Check Now…” button

   5. A new window will open

   6. Click both check boxes on this window

   7. Click “Start”

      1. You will get a message indicating that C is in use and the scan will occour the next time you restart the machine

         1. Click “Yes”

   8. Restart the machine

6. Update Windows

   1. Open Internet Explorer

   2. Go to http://update.microsoft.com

   3. Follow all the instructions to make sure the operating system gets fully patched

      1. You may have to navigate to the site and use the “Custom” option several times to be sure you got all the available updates

7. Ensure that you can see and change file extensions

   1. Double click on your “My Computer” icon

   2. Double click on your “C:” drive

   3. On the menu click View –> Details

      1. View should change to a list showing for each file it’s Name, Size and Type

   4. On the menu click Tools –> Folder Options…

      1. A new window will open

   5. Click the “View” tab

   6. Click the radio button next to “Show hidden files and folders”

   7. Uncheck the box next to “Hide extensions for known file types”

   8. Click the “Apply to All Folders” button

   9. Click the “OK” button