This is off-topic, strictly speaking, but I do want input from this forum. Apologies all around. Beyond any reasonable doubt many of you guys (and girls) have to administer NT in addition to Linux and other unices. It looks like I am to administer an NT machine - not by choice, believe me. Life sucks. I need a source - probably a book - that would kickstart me on NT administration quickly and serve as a reference. I do not believe that the bloody thing is self-evident. I do not believe I can do without documentation. I have tried whatever online help comes with the system, and it is not intuitive enough for me, I don't know of an easy way to search it (there probably is, but I have not managed to figure it out yet), the principles are not clear to me at this point, etc. I am sure that any search, be it Amazon.com or Dionon, will result in a long list of titles. I am a priori sure that most are lousy and some are excellent. This is where I count on your input to make a smart choice (or a few smart choices). Requirements: 1) It must cover administrative tasks and maintenance (as opposed to programming etc). More like "Essential System Administration" rather than "Advanced Programming In the UNIX Environment", if you know what I mean, Pooh. 2) It should describe concepts clearly, and be comprehensive at the same time. I need a useful reference source for the future. 3) [Clinch!] It should be suitable for someone who is fluent in UNIX/Linux, but does not know the Microsoft grammar. It shouldn't assume that the reader is a certified M$ engineer or anything like that, nor should it assume that the reader is a certified dummy. Put another way: it should assume that the obvious things are obvious, but nothing Microsoft-specific is. I don't need a lengthy explanation of the concept of files or directories, but I do need to know how the filesystem is organized (anything like FHS/FSSTND there?). I am sure you got the picture. 4) No problem if it is expensive 5) This is probably separate: interaction between Linux and NT. Yes, I know where the standard Linux documentation repositories live, still, maybe there is something less obvious, maybe there is a particularly good source you'd like to recommend? In short, pretend you don't know anything about NT or 98 or 95, assume you've never met a wizard or stroked a 2-button rodent, but without detriment to any of your other qualifications. Which of the many NT books that you've seen would you prefer to get started and keep on your desk as a reference? Any useful URLs (not tidbits - I am interested in comprehensive resources at this point)? Sorry again for a partly off-topic question, and I don't mind personal emails if you are concerned about the signal-to-noise level on the list. Thanks in advance, -- Oleg Goldshmidt | BLOOMBERG L.P. (BFM) | [EMAIL PROTECTED] "... We work by wit, and not by witchcraft; And wit depends on dilatory time." - W. Shakespeare. ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
