Microsoft e-Learning

Taking the Plunge: Signed up For Collection 5347

OK. I did it. Today I visited the Career Assist page at Microsoft Learning, signed up for the Second shot offer therein, and got my promotion code to buy a collection online class for $35 (it added up to $37.89 actually, after I paid local sales taxes). I now have 90 days to complete Collection 5347: Installing and configuring Windows Vista which should entitle me to go after a Vista Technical Specialist credential by taking Exam 70-620 Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client.

At this point, I’ve completed several online courses from Microsoft Learning —specifically:

• Course 3392: Working with Windows Vista
• Course 5352: Fundamentals of the Windows Vista Startup Process
• Course 5354: Fundamentals of Windows Vista File Systems

I think that entitles me to make some observations about these offerings:

1. I wish they offered a printable manual of some kind to summarize and re-present course materials. Right now, the only way to refresh concepts is to repeat the courses or to take copious notes and/or shoot lots of screenshots while inside the e-learning GUI. I’m not completely happy about either of these alternatives, but may have to learn to use both of them often and well.
2. The material is generally interesting, well broken up into small digestible modules, and fairly useful. I do wish they inlcuded a built-in connection with TechNet, user manuals, and so forth, along with links to more details, so that these tools could provide more guided learning, in more technical depth as one completes individual course modules. Of course, this is pretty easy to do on your own on a multi-display set-up like mine, simply by opening another browser window to dig into stuff on one screen while working through the prepared e-learning materials on the other screen.
3. Access to flash cards, or easy repeat access to review questions from these materials, would really help with exam prep and refresh stuff. Right now, there’s no easy drill and practice capability included, and I believe that both drills and practice are essential to passing cert exams and putting that knowledge to work on the job. The labs, when available, are pretty good, though.

I’ll find out if these observations stick as I dig into the aforementioned collection and will also report on same. I’m going to be looking for tips and tricks to put stuff together to prep for 70-620, using this material as my primary preparation source (I can always take up the SecondShot offer if I don’t pass the exam on the first try, and dig into other prep materials at that time).

HTH,

–Ed–

MS eLearning Course 5352: Fundamentals of the Vista Startup Process

Starting Up Windows Vista covers hardware startup, BIOS, POST, then bootstrap load via MBR, and takes you all the way through the boot-up process until the initial log-in prompt appears, after which the login process, services start-up, and the overal startup process completes. I learned a fair amount from this course, although the material was already 90% familiar to me, thanks to over a year’s daily experience in working with Windows Vista.

Here’s how the course lays out

1. Starting up Windows Vista
   1. Windows Vista startup process
   2. BIOS and MBR (Master Boot Record
   3. Windows Boot Manager in Windows Vista
   4. Windows Vista OS loader
   5. Interoperation with earlier Windows versions
2. Logging On to Windows Vista
   1. Overview of User Logon Process
   2. Process for computer logon
   3. User and Kernel modes of operation
   4. Process for initializing drivers in Windows Vista
   5. Process for starting services in Windows Vista
   6. Process for User Logons in Windows Vista
3. Using Other Start Mechanisms and Startup States
   1. Windows Vista Preinstallation Environment (WinPE)
   2. Pre-boot execution environment and Windows Deployment Services
   3. How Windows Vista Starts Up from the Network
   4. Additional Startup States in Windows Vista
   5. How Windows Resumes from the Sleep State
   6. How Windows Resumes from the Hibernate Stare
4. Using Windows Advanced Boot Menu Options
   1. Windows Vista Advanced Boot Menu Options
   2. What is Safe Mode in Windows Vista?
   3. What is the LKGC Option in Windows Vista?
   4. What is Boot Logging?
   5. The Low Resolution Video Opotion
   6. Guidelines for selecting Boot Menu Options
5. Lab: Managing the Vista Startup Process
   1. Scenario & Exercise Information
   2. Troubleshooting Missing Startup Files
   3. Troubleshooting Missing OS Files
   4. Launch Labs/Lab Review/Module Summary

Microsoft told me it would take about two hours to work my way through the class, and they were right. By and large, most of the material was well-presented and made a reasonable amount of sense. I found myself visiting TechNet a few times throughout the class when the level of detail didn’t quite go low enough to help me understand what was going on (more information about BCDedit, and a demo on running various boot-time utilities would have worked better for me than their simulated labs, wherein the interface didn’t work properly, or perhaps just not as it said it should).

This is definitely a class for those interested in learning more about Windows Vista’s inner workings. Was it worth $40. Maybe: I knew enough of this material already that I found myself wanting more, but then I have already worked with all/most of the facilities covered in the modules for the class. Somebody just digging into Vista would undoubtedly find it useful and informative, particularly if their prior experience had all been with XP and previous Windows versions (the Vista boot environment includes some significant additions to and changes from previous versions).

All in all it was a pretty interesting experience.

The MS eLearning Adventure Begins

Today, I signed up and paid for 3 Microsoft eLearning courses

• Course 3392: Working with Windows Vista
• Course 5352: Fundamentals of the Windows Vista Startup Process
• Course 5353: Fundamentals of Windows Vista File Systems

I paid about$14 for the first class, which I also completed today, and about $40 each for the other two classes, plus tax for a total outlay of just over $100. My goals are manifold here: to understand and report on how the materials are put together, how well they work, and what they cover; to get a sense of what MS thinks is important about Vista and its capabilities, and ultimately to vote thumbs up or thumbs down on the various courses as to whether I think they’re worth the money or not.

Based on my exposure to the Working with Windows Vista class, which is definitely something I would recommend to my Dad (or your grandfather) if he were to get his first Vista machine, it’s about as gentle an introduction to Vista as you’re likely to find. Though I was personally bored speechless by the content (which I can map all the way back to Windows 3.0 in large part), that gave me lots of opportunities to pay attention to the user interface, the quality of the materials, the polish of the learning experience, and so forth.

I must confess I also learned several interesting and substantial things, all related to Vista’s built-in speech recognition capabilities. Simply put, it rocks! I also learned that USB audio devices can only talk to one application at a time, and the reason that my Logitech A-00008 headset wouldn’t work with MS Speed Recognition at first, even though it worked fine with Skype, was because Skype was still holding onto that hardware resource with both hands. I had to exit Skype before I could use the headset microphone to “talk” to Speech Recognition. That little detail worked out, I enjoyed the adventure into speech recognition on my own desktop. As a professional writer, though, I can indeed type faster than I can talk, and sometimes, even faster than I can think!

The class consisted of a mix of on-screen text materials with reasonably interesting layout and pacing, several animated demos of Windows technology at work (validating Vista, all kinds of animated how-to interface and operation guides, working with Windows Update, and more), lots of monkey-see, monkey-do labs with step-by-step instructions (as I already observed the Speech Recognition bit is a blast), plus interesting visual puzzles and questions to self-test at the end of each module.

Was this class worth $14? To your grandad, or my Dad, very much so. To me? If it hadn’t been for the Speech Recognition part, definitely not. To somebody who’s used other versions of Windows before, but not Vista? Maybe, maybe not, depending on how much they really understand Windows’ inner workings. MS says the class targets information workers, but I think that really means data entry folks and those who use computers to do something else for a living, not those who work with and on computers full-time.

Even so, I am convinced that there’s some real value in these MS eLearning classes, and will be digging into progressively more demanding subject matter each Monday for the next 6 weeks or so, to tell you about my experiences and the content. Please stay tuned to learn more about this. If you want to go looking for yourself, visit Microsoft Learning and check out their course catalog. Many courses for under $40, all for under $200, with lots of good cert prep content along the way.

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

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.

Pre-Vista Certification Training Warm-up

OK, OK. I know I promised to dig into the various Windows Vista certification exams in their MCTS (Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist) and MCITP (Microsoft Certified IT Professional) programs as my next series of blogs. But hey! I found a resource that relates strongly to all of these credentials, and promises to impact your general learning and preparation experience for any or all of the required exams involved in a positive–and affordable–way. What am I talking about? Why it’s the Windows Vista e-Learning catalog page in the Microsoft Learning Web site, of course!

There are over 70 Vista e-Learning courses available. They cost anywhere from $15 to $192, and include small, focused items at lower prices, and collections of e-courses for higher prices, many of which target specific Vista-related certifications and/or related topics, including

• :Course 5232: Planning for 2007 Microsoft Office System Client Deployment
• Collection 5366: Maintaining and Troubleshooting Computers Running Windows Vista
• Course 5371: Advanced Troubleshooting with Windows Sysinternals Tools
• Course 5384: Protecting Against and Removing Malicious Software on Windows Vista
• Course 5381: Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Client Applications in Windows Vista
• Collection 5379: Supporting Windows Vista for the Consumer Support Technician
• Collection 5106: Upgrading Enterprise Desktop Support Skills to Windows Vista
• Collection 5372: Deploying Windows Vista Desktop Images and Applications

Of course, there are oodles and oodles more of these items you can explore at the catalog page, but you’re bound to find multiple topics of interest there if you do a little digging. The value for the training offered is good, as is the coverage, so please consider adding this resource to your arsenal of potential Vista certification preparation tools.

Next blog: I promise to start with the MCTS credentials for Windows Vista. I swear!

More out-of-cycle Vista patches on Windows Update!

On Tuesday, October 28, as I was knocking off for the day, after 11 PM, I noticed that the autoupdate function in Windows Update had posted two more items to my primary production Vista PC. Both look interesting, but so far I’ve had some trouble trying to ferret out more details about one of these two patches.

Here’s what I know so far:

• One of the items is a security update, labeled MS08-062 and is entitled “Vulnerability in Windows Internet Printing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution.” Interestingly, the security bulletin is dated October 14, and it documents a serious vulnerability in the seldom-used Internet Printing Service–or rather, the IPP protocol and the Internet Printing Client that this service uses–that Vista installs by default (see this vulnerability report dated October 14 for more info on the vulnerability details; this MS White paper describes how Internet Printing works inside Vista; note further that this vulnerability applies to Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003 and 2008, and Windows XP as well). Basically an integer overflow in this service lets attackers run arbitrary code at system level privilege: a proof-of-concept exploit is known, and several “active, in-the-wild exploit attempts of this type have been detected.” If you don’t use Internet Printing, you can follow the instructions in the MS White paper to turn off the Internet Printing Client in Vista instead (under Printing Services, Turn Windows features on or off, Programs and Features, Control Panel).
• More interesting, and more mysterious is the other item: a “reliability update” for Windows Vista described in a currently unavailable Knowledge Base article (KB957200). All I can find on this update so far is the standalone download page entitled Update for Windows Vista (KB957200). Of course, I’m dying to know what’s been tweaked in this particular update, and why MS decided to push it out the door before November 11 (next patch Tuesday). The Web is abuzz with the word that the KB article remains missing in action, so I guess I’ll have to bide my time. As of this morning (10/30/2008) the article remains missing in action, so I posted a query to the Technet Windows Vista Announcements forum in hopes it might provoke some kind of official response (or better yet, the promised KB article).

My advice on MS08-062 is to download and install it, unless you never use the Internet Printing Service, in which case you can simply turn it off on your PCs, or set a GPO to do it globally. Files affected are detailed in KB 953135, and include three Vista DLLs: Msw3prt.dll, Win32spl.dll, and Printcom.dll. As far as the reliability update documented in KB957200 goes, stay tuned: I’ll provide more information about this update as soon as it becomes available.

Wow! Two out-of-cycle update postings for Windows in the same month, after 18 months with no updates except for Patch Tuesday releases. What does it all mean?