Newbie 70-680 Exam

Hi Gents,

To give a bit of background I am about to start working to 70-680 examination, I have nearly ten years experience on IT support (7 of those being a System Administrator in a medium sized environment).

I am looking for some advice on how to go about revising for these exams and best study methods. If anyone can help me out it would be most appreciated.

Many thanks.

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Comments

ally_uk

I'm reading the Microsoft Press book, but I wouldn't reccomend it it's full of errors and the second chapter on deployment is horrendous, no clear explanation or step by step guidelines are given it just bombards you with jargon.

I'm going to wait until April and get the Sybex book. I have read some sample chapters and it seems to be alot clearer.

krusty83uk

I must agree with Ally UK the MS press book is a painful read.

I have found the resources on this web site to be very helpful and is really getting me though the course work. I have been working with Windows 7 since beta so i guess that helps as well.

I also found the web casts that came with the MS press book to be very good aswell.

Russell

Dracula28

I'm really surprised the training kit for 680 is as bad as it is, given how Orin Thomas is one of the co-authors, and his first MS book (the 290 training kit), is among the very best I've ever read. Before that I never really cared for who the authors were, but I knew about Orin Thomas from his pre certtutor.net (don't recall what the site was called before that) days, and he always was a thorough professional.

Perhaps MS press just rushed to get the book out as fast as possible?

mistervince

ally_uk wrote: »

I'm reading the Microsoft Press book, but I wouldn't reccomend it it's full of errors and the second chapter on deployment is horrendous, no clear explanation or step by step guidelines are given it just bombards you with jargon.

I'm going to wait until April and get the Sybex book. I have read some sample chapters and it seems to be alot clearer.

i am so glad that i am not the only one that thinks that about the second chapter. its absolutely the worst piece of technical writing i have ever tried to learn from... however the rest of the book is quite good. does anyone else have any other resources for learning about that information? (VHDs, Sysprep, WMD, and WIM)

Config

mistervince wrote: »

i am so glad that i am not the only one that thinks that about the second chapter. its absolutely the worst piece of technical writing i have ever tried to learn from... however the rest of the book is quite good. does anyone else have any other resources for learning about that information? (VHDs, Sysprep, WMD, and WIM)

Windows 7 Resource Kit

earweed

There's a thread on here windows 7 deployment learning portal which looks like it may help

ally_uk

I sat down last night and started to read information on deployment the only bit I am really confused about is the whole sysprep thing and the Windows 7 PE, what the hell is a Windows PE used for and what is Sysprep? can somebody please shed some light in clear english.

I am guessing the PE is a lightweight version of Windows 7, in which you boot up and then do stuff?? but how can you install Windows 7 from the PE do you need a Wim image highly confused here lol oh I don't know what it is somebody please explain.

What is the purpose of Sysprep and PE??

Many Thanks

Config

ally_uk wrote: »

I sat down last night and started to read information on deployment the only bit I am really confused about is the whole sysprep thing and the Windows 7 PE, what the hell is a Windows PE used for and what is Sysprep? can somebody please shed some light in clear english.

I am guessing the PE is a lightweight version of Windows 7, in which you boot up and then do stuff?? but how can you install Windows 7 from the PE do you need a Wim image highly confused here lol oh I don't know what it is somebody please explain.

What is the purpose of Sysprep and PE??

Many Thanks

Sysprep: System preparation tool, simply put this tool removes all unique information(SID,computer name etc) from an Operating system before it can be imaged, the same tool can be used to add this unique info later on.

WinPE: Windows Pre-installation environment, a replacement for the old text based portion of the installation that was found in XP etc, essentially you can still do most of the same stuff that you could do back then i.e load drivers, connect to an installation share/server etc.

Might want to get yourself a copy of the 70-680 self-paced training kit as it explains all this much better.

[Deleted User]

Config: I think you mean the Resource Kit. I started reading the training kit and so far it is horrendous. I have found myself looking to TechNet to clarify different material in the book. I am contemplating picking up the resource kit or simply waiting until the Sybex book is released before I even attempt this exam.

Claymoore

Before you dive into the excellent Resource Kit, you might want to try the free Deploying Windows 7 Essential Guidance ebook which contains chapters from the Resource Kit along with other previously published articles.

[Deleted User]

Thanks Claymoore!