Nov 19 2008 5:59PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
Desktops,
Enterprise desktop,
Group Policy Objects,
Windows Vista,
MCSA,
MCTS,
Vista Upgrade Advisor,
Windows Vista troubleshooting,
Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor,
Windows Update,
Windows Vista SP1,
Vista System Health Report,
Vista application compatibility,
Vista ACT,
Vista ACT resources,
MS Exam 70-623,
70-624,
MS Exam 74-134
Another doozy of a title, this exam is likely to appeal to IT professionals who work with Vista in all situations (SOHO, SMB, tech support, enterprise, and so forth) and of all stripes (help desk, tech support, IT administration, and so on). As with other exams in the 70-620 through 70-625 Vista sequence, this one’s Preparation Guide follows the old-style format. In short, anybody who deploys or maintains Windows Vista desktops is likely to benefit from studying for and taking this exam, even though its official target audience is candidates with “a minimum of one year of experience managing day-to-day issues with desktop deployments.”
There’s one more incredibly useful nugget inside this prep guide. It reads: “This exam is the Windows Vista version of Exam 74-134: Pre-Installing Microsoft Products and Technologies, [and is] focused on the OEM Pre-Installation Kit (OPK).” Why so? Because you’ll find some great links to study materials for the other exam on its prep page (linked at the head of this paragraph) that don’t appear on the 70-624 exam page.
The prep tools and resources that appear on the 70-624 page include the following:
- Classroom training: Course 5105: Deploying Windows Vista Business Desktops and Course 5058: Deploying Microsoft Office 2007 Professional.
- e-learning offerings: Collection 5058: Deploying 2007 Microsoft Office System Client Products.
The lack of books and complete e-learning coverage explains nicely why the 74-134 page is referenced, and also why it’s a good idea to dig up its study material citations to help you get ready for this exam as well.
Skills measured on the 70-624 exam break down as follows:
- Deploying 2007 MS Office System:
Configure MS Office settings & components, install 2007 MS Office system, and migrate from earlier MS Office versions.
- Configuring Windows Vista Automated Installation Settings:
Configure Vista automated install settings, manage Windows Vista catalogs, add device drivers to Vista installs, manage Windows components, and configure and manipulate Windows Imaging Format (WIM) images.
- Deploying Windows Vista:
Deploy Vista using Lite Touch Installation (LTI) and Zero Touch Installation (ZTI), customize Windows Preinstallation Environment (PE), and troubleshoot deployment issues.
- Using Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) Workbench:
Install BDD, configure distribution point in BDD 2007 Workbench, create a reference computer image, manage XML files in BDD Workbench, automate 2007 MS Office system installation, and customize and maintain Windows PE in BDD Workbench.
- Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT):
Install and configure ACT 5, deploy ACT 5 agents, report application compatibility, and fix compatibility issues.
- Managing User State Migration:
Upgrade user state from XP to Vista, automate user state migration, manage Vista deployments using SMS 2003, determine Operating System Deployment (OSD) prerequisites, install and configure SMS 2003 OSD Feature Pack, and troubleshoot and plan for user state migrations.
There’s a lot more to this exam than the title conveys, especially where automation, deployment, and user state migration are concerned. This one’s going to take some work and experience to get through, so be prepared to invest substantial time and effort in preparing, unless you work with these tools and technologies on a daily basis. My guess is that those conditions hold only in enterprises or outside services companies big or specialized enough to have their own Vista deployment teams. How many of those can there be? The total count for MCTS: Business Desktop Deployment certified professionals as of 10/27/08 is 4,868, so the answer could be: “More than you think!”
Nov 12 2008 4:03PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
Desktops,
Enterprise desktop,
Windows Vista,
MCTS,
MCITP,
Windows Vista troubleshooting,
MS Exam 70-620,
MS Exam 70-622
Wow! What an exam title, eh? Interestingly, 70-622 also still sports an old-fashioned exam page, too. Along with 70-622, this MCITP exam qualifies those who pass it to earn the MCITP Enterprise Support Technicican credential, however. Together those two exams sum up the requirements for that particular certification.
Microsoft lists the following items under its “Preparation tools and resources” heading:
- Classroom courses: 5118 Maintaining and Troubleshooting Windows Vista Computers, and 5119 Supporting the Windows Vista Operating Sytem and Applications.
- E-learning offerings: Collection 5366: Maintaining and Troubleshooting Computers Running Windows Vista, and Collection 5372: Deploying Windows Vista Desktop Images and Applications.
- MS Press books: MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-622) Supporting and Troubleshooting… (you know the rest: book title matches exam title).
Here are some highlights of what this exam covers (for all the details see the “Skills Measured” table on the exam page; configuration and troubleshooting topics are covered throughout):
- Deploying Windows Vista:
Analyze environment and select appropriate deployment method; prepare system for installation (clean or upgrade install); and deploy Vista from a custom image.
- Managing Vista Security:
Manage IE 7 security; apply security updates; work with UAC; manage resource access and security issues.
- Managing and maintaining Vista Systems:
Working with policy settings, Task Scheduler, Event Forwarding, Windows Update, and performance and reliability issues.
- Networking:
Network protocols, networks services at the client level, remote access, wireless networking, network security, and network resource access.
- Supporting and maintaining desktop applications:
support deployed applications, software restrictions, and maintain desktop applications.
So far, just over 7,000 of these certifications have been granted, which makes it neither the most nor the least popular of the MCITP designations. That may reflect its deep and broad coverage of Vista application deployment tools and technologies. Veteran Microsoft cert guy Andy Barkl took the beta version of this exam in September 2007, and wrote up a nice overview for MCP Magazine at that time. He also provides good pointers to other Microsoft materials available online through TechNet that proved useful for his exam preparations; you’ll probably find it useful, too.
This is one of the most important exams for those who work with Vista in an enterprise setting. Though you’ll want to take enough time to prepare for it properly (and neither the foregoing summary of exam objectives nor the information on the MS exam page really do its coverage complete justice, owing to the wealth of details and information these items cover), you will also learn a lot as you get ready to take this exam. Highly recommended.
Nov 10 2008 6:20PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
Desktops,
Windows Vista,
MCTS,
MCITP,
Windows Vista troubleshooting,
MS Exam 70-621,
MCDST
This exam applies only to those who’ve earned the Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, or MCDST, credential for Windows XP who wish to upgrade their coverage to include Windows Vista. As such, it is probably of little interest to anyone except the nearly 50,000 individuals who have earned this credential according to Microsoft’s latest certification counts. Nevertheless, I include 70-621 here in the interests of complete coverage of MS Vista-related certification exams.
A quick visit to its exam page shows that it still adheres to the “old school” of layout and formatting, as opposed to others in this series (see 70-620, for example). My guess is that this is a deliberate decision on Microsoft’s part, because of the ceiling on the potential audience and the relatively short period of time that this upgrade will retain its appeal, with Windows 7 now very much in the offing, probably no further out than 2010. Then, too, the 70-621 counts only towards two certifications–namely MCTS Windows Vista Configuration and MCITP Enterprise Support Technician, which also limits the reach of this topic’s coverage and consequence. But 70-621 also satisfies the same requirements as 70-620 as well, so perhaps this exam is really just coat-tailing its immediate numerical predecessor.
this probably also explains why there’s some significant overlap between the content and coverage of 70-620 and 70-621. Recommended courses include 5119 Supporting the Windows Vista Operating System and Applications and 5118 Maintaining and Troubleshooting Windows Vista Computers. Corresponding e-learning offerings include Collection 5347 Installing and Configuring Windows Vista, Collection 5354: Configuring Windows Vista Networking and Security, and Collection 5360 Configuring Windows Vista Applications and Devices, though Collection 5103 Upgrade Skills to Configure Windows Vista may be of more interest and relevance to MCDST holders. Not surprisingly, the 70-620 and 70-622 Self-Paced Training Kits from MS Press are cited as the relevant prep books.
In fact, other than to point you at the Skills measured matrix on the 70-621 page, I’m going to punt here with the rest of this exam description and say: re-read 70-620 then go ahead to 70-622 (as soon as it’s available) to get the rest of the details. That’s because 70-621 is primarily a conflation of 70-620 and 70-622, though it does skip some basic details and information that already-experienced support personnel will already have mastered.
Nov 7 2008 8:55PM GMT
Posted by: Ed Tittel
Desktops,
Enterprise desktop,
MCSE,
Windows Vista,
MCSA,
MCTS,
MCITP,
Microsoft e-Learning,
Microsoft e-courses,
MS Exam 70-620
In digging up the info on this, the first in my series of four MCTS and MCITP Vista-related exams that I’ll be covering over the next week or so, I discovered that Microsoft has finally changed the format for its exam pages. I’ve been tuning into these documents since the late 1990s and it’s nice to see that they’ve finally gotten a facelift (looking at the source, I can see that MS has switched from HTML 4.01 to XHTML 1.0, and the markup looks programmatically generated, but I can’t find any evidence for the tools used to generate it except the file extension .aspx which would indicate ASP.NET is involved). If you take a quick look at the 70-620 exam page, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
The 70-620 counts toward a surprising number of credentials:
- Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Consumer Support Technician
- Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Support Technician
- Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000
- Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) on Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
- Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Administrator
This exams aims to certify that individuals have at least one year of experience working in IT, often providing telephone support at the tier-1 or tier-2 levels across various types of environment that range from retail stores, to medium sized companies, to enterprise environments. General areas of knowledge required to pursue this exam include networking, desktop operating systems, security, and end-user applications, plus basic administrative tasks including solving logon problems, resetting passwords, and supporting desktop applications.
The exam’s coverage is broken into seven areas:
- Installing and Upgrading Windows Vista
Covers the basics of hardware requirements and compatibility checks (e.g. Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor), performing a clean installation, upgrading to Vista from an earlier Windows version or from one version of Vista to another, troubleshooting installation issues, and installing and configuring Windows Vista drivers.
- Configuring and troubleshooting post-install system settings
Includes troubleshooting post-install configuration difficulties, configuring and troubleshooting Aero, parental controls, and Internet Explorer (version 7 is the primary current focus).
- Configuring Windows Security features
Working with User Account Control (UAC), Windows Defender, Dynamic Security for IE 7, and security settings in Windows Firewall and Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.
- Configuring network connectivity
Configuring networking through the Network and sharing centers, troubleshooting connectivity issues, and configuring remote access (Remote Desktop Connection).
- Configuring applications included with Windows Vista
These include media applications (Media Center, Media Player), Mail, Meeting Space, Calendar, Fax and Scan, plus the Windows Sidebar.
- Maintaining and optimizing systems that run Windows Vista
This means troubleshooting performance issues, using built-in tools to troubleshoot reliability issues (System Health Check, Reliability Monitor, Problem Reports and Solutions, and so on), plus configuring Windows Update and data protection.
- Configuring and troubleshooting mobile computing
This entails managing mobile display settings, and configuring mobile devices, Tablet PC software, and power options.
In the new exam page format, Microsoft not only lists relevant Classroom training courses, it also lists e-learning items as well as Microsoft Press books that focus on the exam. All in all this exam should help IT professionals establish a solid working knowledge of basic Vista operation, installation, configuration, and troubleshooting. As we’ll see in the next exams, things quickly get more complex and interesting from here.
