If you were lucky enough to get in on the Windows 7 beta certification exam, you have a few weeks to study. And basically no approved study materials available, as shown at the 70-680 summary page:
So how can you learn enough to pass the test? There's a rather long list of competencies necessary for this test, again listed on the
70-680 summary page. This page is NOT a brain dump and isn't full of cheat notes, but should help you corral up enough study material to vastly improve your chances of passing the test.
I'm starting a collection of links that may be helpful:
Study objectives and links. I started by pasting in the study objectives from the
70-680 description page. That's the first- and second-level bullets. The third-level bullets are study links with technical details; often from Technet and often written for Vista, but in most cases there are few changes from Vista. Where there is something new and fairly different in 7, I will
highlight in yellow. If you are very familiar with Vista, I recommend hitting the highlighted links first.
- Installing, Upgrading, and Migrating to Windows 7 (14 percent)
- Perform a clean installation. Includes: identifying hardware requirements; setting up as the sole operating system; setting up as dual boot; installation methods; boot from the source of installation, preparing the installation source: USB, CD, network share, WDS
- Upgrade to Windows 7 from previous versions of Windows. Includes: upgrading from Windows Vista; migrating from Windows XP; upgrading from one edition of Windows 7 to another edition of Windows 7
- Migrate user profiles. Includes: migrating from one machine to another; migrating from previous versions of Windows; side-by-side vs. wipe and load
- Deploying Windows 7 (13 percent)
- Capture a system image. Includes: preparing system for capture; creating a WIM file; automated capture; manual capture
- Prepare a system image for deployment. Includes: inserting an application into a system image; inserting a driver into a system image; inserting an update into a system image; configuring tasks to run after deployment
- Deploy a system image. Includes: automated deployment methods; manually deploying a customized image
- Configure a VHD. Includes: creating, deploying, booting, mounting, and updating VHDs; offline updates; offline servicing
- Configuring Hardware and Applications (14 percent)
- Configure devices. Includes: updating, disabling, and uninstalling drivers; signed drivers; conflicts between drivers; configuring driver settings; resolving problem device driver
- Configure application compatibility. Includes: setting compatibility mode; implementing shims; compatibility issues with Internet Explorer.
- Configure application restrictions. Includes: setting software restriction policies; setting application control policies; setting through group policy or local security policy
- Configure Internet Explorer. Includes: configuring compatibility view; configuring security settings; configuring providers; managing add-ons; controlling InPrivate mode; certificates for secure Web sites
- Configuring Network Connectivity (14 percent)
- Configure IPv4 network settings. Includes: connecting to a network; configuring name resolution; setting up a connection for a network; network locations; resolving connectivity issues; APIPA
- Configure IPv6 network settings. Includes: configuring name resolution; connecting to a network; setting up a connection for a network; network locations; resolving connectivity issues; link local multicast name resolution
- Configure networking settings. Includes: adding a physically connected (wired) or wireless device; connecting to a wireless network; configuring security settings on the client; set preferred wireless networks; configuring network adapters; configuring location-aware printing.
- Configure Windows Firewall. Includes: configuring rules for multiple profiles; allowing or denying an application; network-profile-specific rules; configuring notifications; configuring authenticated exceptions
- Configure remote management. Includes: remote management methods; configuring remote management tools; executing PowerShell commands
- Configuring Access to Resources (13 percent)
- Configure shared resources. Includes: folder virtualization; shared folder permissions; printers and queues; configuring HomeGroup settings
- Configure file and folder access. Includes: encrypting files and folders by using EFS; configuring NTFS permissions; resolving effective permissions issues; copying files vs. moving files
- Configure user account control (UAC). Includes: configuring local security policy; configuring admin vs. standard UAC prompt behaviors; configuring Secure Desktop
- Configure authentication and authorization. Includes: resolving authentication issues; configuring rights; managing credentials; managing certificates; smart cards with PIV; elevating user privileges; multifactor authentication
- Configure BranchCache. Includes: distributed cache mode vs. hosted mode; network infrastructure requirements; configuring settings; certificate management
- Configuring Mobile Computing (10 percent)
- Configure BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. Includes: configuring BitLocker and BitLocker To Go policies; managing Trusted Platform Module (TPM) PINs; configuring startup key storage; data recovery agent support
- Configure DirectAccess. Includes: configuring client side; configuring authentication; network infrastructure requirements
- Configure mobility options. Includes: configuring offline file policies; transparent caching; creating and migrating power policy
- Configure remote connections. Includes: establishing VPN connections and authentication; enabling a VPN reconnect; advanced security auditing; NAP quarantine remediation; dial-up connections; remote desktop; published apps
- Monitoring and Maintaining Systems that Run Windows 7 (11 percent)
- Configure updates to Windows 7. Includes: configuring update settings; determining source of updates; configuring Windows Update policies; reviewing update history; checking for new updates; rolling back updates
- Manage disks. Includes: managing disk volumes; managing file system fragmentation; RAID; removable device policies
- Monitor systems. Includes: configuring event logging; filtering event logs; event subscriptions; data collector sets; generating a system diagnostics report
- Configure performance settings. Includes: configuring page files; configuring hard drive cache; updated drivers; configuring networking performance; configuring power plans; configuring processor scheduling; configuring desktop environment; configuring services and programs to resolve performance issues; mobile computing performance issues; configuring power
- Configuring Backup and Recovery Options (11 percent)
- Configure backup. Includes: creating a system recovery disk; backing up files, folders, or full system; scheduling backups
- Configure system recovery options. Includes: configuring system restore points; restoring system settings; last known good configuration; complete restore; driver rollback
- Configure file recovery options. Includes: configuring file restore points; restoring previous versions of files and folders; restoring damaged or deleted files by using shadow copies; restore user profiles
Some quick notes of buzzwords I wrote down after my test:
Winrm, loadstate, savestate, powercfg.exe, wuapp.exe, migapp.xml and miguser.xml
imagex, sysprep, loadstate, savestate.
System Protection as opposed to VSS. backup options. VHDs!!!
Firewall changes as opposed to new application control profiles
bootrec or bcdedit /options when cannot boot?
branchcache and its various modes,
directaccess - how does it connect? IPv6?
FYI, you don't get your score at the end of the test like you do with non-beta exams; they promise to email it to you. It's been 3 days and I haven't gotten the email yet.
I took and passed the 70-620 (Configuring Vista) test. It seemed quite easy, and everyone else I have talked says the same. All in all I would rate the 71-680 (Win7) as being a bit more difficult. As best I can recall, the Win7 test referred to more specifics and more commandline ways of doing things. if you are proficient with Vista, I most definitely recommend that you study up on BranchCache, DirectAccess, USMT, VHDs, BitLocker (including the To Go version), and AppLocker.
Good luck!
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