Gaze At Microsoft Windows Xp Exam 70-270

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Hold on to your hats, boys and girls, the fun is about to start. Microsoft has prepared another

batch of exams that will test your knowledge of its most recent operating system, Windows XP.

This Daily Drill Down will show you how 70-270 Exam

fits into your MCP, MCSA, and MCSE study plans. In addition, I'll give you a detailed analysis

of the exam so you can focus your study efforts to ace it the first time through.

The skinny on exam 70-270
The title of exam 70-270 is Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP

Professional, and it will thoroughly test your knowledge of Windows XP. This exam has been

available for testing since October 23, 2001, and, as with all Microsoft exams, it will cost you

$100 to take it. Following the trend of making its certification exams more difficult (and more

valuable), Microsoft is raising the bar to a new level this time around. You'll be given 240

minutes to complete exam 70-270, which will challenge you with 110 form-based questions.

Information ...
... related to the passing criteria was not available at the time of this writing, but

you should not walk into the testing room unprepared.

How this exam fits into the certification picture
If this is the first Microsoft exam you're taking, you'll be certified as a Microsoft

Certified Professional (MCP) when you pass. Should you want to pursue the

href="http://www.mcsa-70-270.com">MCSA or Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)

certifications, exam 70-270 will be one of the first steps you take along those paths. The

material covered by this test forms a foundation that other, more technical exams will build

upon.

Breaking down Microsoft exam 70-270
Given the length of this exam, you'll need to be well versed in every facet of Windows XP

Professional. I'm going to break exam 70-270 down into several broad categories, including

installation, basic administration, hardware devices and drivers, monitoring and optimizing,

configuring the desktop environment, network configuration, and security. I'll cover each of

these categories in depth in the following sections.

Installing Windows XP Professional
While you could probably work through a basic CD-ROM installation of Windows XP, to be able to

pass exam 70-270 you must be knowledgeable about the other types of installations you can

perform, such as network installation and an operating system upgrade. In addition, you must

understand the four stages of the installation process and be familiar with the many switches

that can be used to customize your installation.

Another type of installation is the unattended variety that employs an answer file created with

either a text editor or the Setup Manager Wizard. Ensure that you're familiar with the five

levels of user interaction, as well as with creating a Uniqueness Database File (UDF). This file

is used in conjunction with the answer file, allowing you to perform many individual

installations with a single answer file.

You'll be tested on installing Windows XP using the Remote Installation Services (RIS). You

should also know the RIS client requirements and understand how to create a Remote Installation

Preparation (RIPrep) image.

The final type of automated installation that you'll be challenged on is the System Preparation

Tool, Sysprep.exe. Know the four modes that have been added under Windows XP and be very

familiar with the Sysprep switches and their functions.

Other installation topics you might find covered by 70-

270 include upgrading to Windows XP, uninstalling Windows XP, performing a dynamic update,

and configuring dual-boot workstations. Pay special attention to troubleshooting installations

and upgrades. Microsoft seems to favor tricky questions along this line.