Windows Enterprise Desktop » MCTS

Exam 70-625 TS: Connected Home Integrator

Ed Tittel — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:18:57 +0000

At last, a Vista exam title that you can get out of your mouth out loud without having to stop halfway through to draw breath! That said, this Technology Specialist exam is not without some interesting twists and turns, and includes coverage of Windows Home Server as well as numerous aspects of Windows Vista. Candidates typically come from the ranks of retail support operations who can recommend, implement, and (most important) troubleshoot connected solutions based on Windows Vista. Some experience in installing Vista, managing Vista security, and troubleshooting Vista networking issues is also required, with a minimum of six to twelve months in harness as a retail support technician.

The only preparation tools available for this exam come from a handful of e-learning offerings:

Collection 7038: Microsoft Consumer Technology Solutions Sales and Technical Training
Course 7040: Designing and Building a Consumer Technology Network
Course 7041: Setting up Windows Vista for a Consumer Technology Solution
Course 7043: Configuring and Troubleshooting Networking in a Consumer Technology Solution
Course 7044: Setting Up Windows Home Server for a Consumer Technology Solution

To follow one list with another, here’s a rundown on the skills measured table from the Exam Page:

Installing or upgrading Windows Vista:
prepare a system for clean install or upgrade, deploy Vista from upgrade or clean install, perform post-install tasks, and troubleshoot deployment issues.
Configuring connected solutions:
Configure Windows Media Connect and Media Sharing, Configure MS Xbox 360 and Media Center Extender v1 for Media Sharing, and Configure Media Center Extender v2.
Managing and maintaining Windows Vista systems:
Configure an troubleshoot security for IE7, troubleshoot Windows Firewall and Defender issues, apply software updates, set up user accounts and parental controls, and troubleshoot issues using Reliability and Performance Monitor.
Configuring Windows Home Server (WHS):
Set up WHS, add users and media to WHS, set up PC backup within a WHS network, restore PCs within a WHS network, and troubleshoot issues with WHS or networking.

It’s interesting to note that the total count for those who’ve taken this exam and earned the TS: Windows Home Integrator credential stands at a relatively miniscule 235 as of 10/27/2008. The exam went live in August, so that shows less than 100 people passing this test per month, on average. Interesting exam but perhaps not as commercially viable a focus as Microsoft might like it to be? Only time will tell, and it will be equally interesting to see if the run rate climbs, holds steady, or falls in the months ahead. I’m not sure if there are enough people working at the intersection of Windows Vista and Windows Media technologies to make this credential truly popular, but we’ll be finding out!

Exam 70-624 TS: Deploying and Maintaining Windows Vista Client and 2007 Microsoft Office System Desktops

Ed Tittel — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:59:37 +0000

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!”

Exam 70-622 Pro: Supporting and Troubleshooting Applications on a Windows Vista Client for Enterprise Support Technicians

Ed Tittel — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:03:52 +0000

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.

MS Exam 70-621 Pro: Upgrading Your MCDST to MCITP Enterprise Support

Ed Tittel — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:20:47 +0000

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.

MS Exam 70-620 TS: Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client

Ed Tittel — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:55:32 +0000

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.