Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Core credit for the MCSE and MCSA on Windows 2000 and 2003
Exam Objectives for 70-270.
Look for a bunch of specific policies ... you don't have to know everything about the order group policies are applied, like for 217, but know the various policies ... for IE, etc. That seemed to me to be the biggest difference between 210 & 270.
I hope you find this and my other lists helpful.
I took 210 back in February 2001, but to prepare for 270 I installed & played with the Beta of XP for a couple days. I also read these articles:
I was well-prepared except for the policy junk. I guessed on that stuff -- don't know how much of it I got, but passed with a 799.
Passing score is 733. For the current time limit and number of questions, (as well as a study resource that was not available when I prepared), check the 270 Cramsession
When you're ready for the exam, save several dollars with this
exam
voucher from Pearson Vue.
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New material in March '03!
This page has been pretty short ... not as helpful as my other MCSE test prep lists, I'm sure. So I'm going to start adding some more information here.Study Guides
My experience has been that the Sybex study guides are the best, but here is Microsoft's as well.
MCSE Windows XP Professional STUDY GUIDE from Sybex |
Microsoft Windows XP Professional: Exam 70-270 Training Kit from Microsoft Press
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Online resources by exam objective
Installing Windows XP Professional- Walkthrough of a clean XP installation -- but hopefully you're actually DOING one of these as part of your training, not just reading about it.
- LabMice.com has put together a list of automated installation HowTo's
- A screen-by-screen walkthrough of an unattended installation from Hytekcomputer.com
- The flags involved in a setup of a basic unattended installation
- Sysprep is for preparing to replicate an installation across multiple HDD's for a batch of identical workstations.
- Overview of Sysprep
- Requirements for running Syspre -- this is great in some cases, but NOT for everyone!
- Sysprep & Product Activation
- Sysprep Components and parameters
- Running sysprep now that you know the technicals behind it.
- Use Remote Installation Services (RIS) if you want to deploy XP throughout an organization on existing computers w/o visiting each one.
- RIS Process overview
- Requirements for RIS -- AD, DNS, DHCP, a RIS server, PXE-enabled NICs in the remote clients, etc.
- Preparing to deploy -- user rights & the like
- RIPrep -- Do not confuse w/ Sysprep. Riprep.exe prepares an image to go on the RIS server. Sysprep prepares a HD to be imaged using Ghost (or similar utility) to clone the installation.
- Using a RIS boot disk if you don't have PXE-enabled NIC's -- as in a laptop. Boot disk made using rbfg.exe.
- Sysprep is for preparing to replicate an installation across multiple HDD's for a batch of identical workstations.
- Upgrade Paths to XP -- from
Windows XP Unleashed
- NTFAQ's explanation of running Product Activation during a unattended installation
- MS' explanation of Product Activation. Keep in mind that the test will be over how the original product worked, not how SP1 has modified that.
Implementing and Conducting Administration of Resources
- File Sharing for Win9x people -- a good introduction to sharing under XP Pro
Implementing, Managing, Monitoring, and Troubleshooting Hardware Devices and Drivers
Configuring and Troubleshooting the Desktop Environment
Implementing, Managing, and Troubleshooting Network Protocols and Services
Configuring, Managing, and Troubleshooting Security -- why is this almost always the last item on the list?
If you know of more resources which should be listed here, please email a link to me. I very much appreciate other resources to study and will be sure to acknowledge you on this page.
