WAIK question

So, I finally got motivated to resume my Windows 7 cert. Last semester I returned to my community college and took a SQL class that kicked my butt and I realized that studying Windows 7 wasn't so bad after all.

I'm now working with the Windows Automated Installation Kit and I'm curious to know how deeply the 70-680 tests go into this topic. Right now I'm reading the User's guide for the WAIK and I don't know how deeply I should read into this. It's basically diverted my attention from the MS Press book and I'm trying to stay on track with my study schedule. I'd like to take the test before the end of February and don't want to waste time going over stuff that's not going to be on the test. Do I just need to know what it is and how each component of it works, or do I need to dig deeper?

Thanks in advance for any help.

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NOLAJ

There's really no way know. It depends on which questions you get out of the pool. Are you taking practice exams? If so, how are you when it comes to the WAIK questions?

logisticalstyles

I've only taken two practice exams, from the MS Press Taining Kit. I didn't do well on them and decided to delve deeper into the WAIK. As I started reading I realized that this is a pretty deep subject. I don't want to overkill the practice tests just yet, simply because I won't have that many available to me and I don't want to end up memorizing the ones that I do have and walk into the test with a false confidence if that makes any sense. I think I'll continue reading the book and then go back over the WAIK once I've made it all the way through.

Mokilok

Learn your stuff on ImageX and DISM, It's not only in the exam but it's also actually practical when you are supporting Windows Operating Systems (not just win 7).

To the extent that you would want to learn these tools for the 680:

Learn all the basics,
Capture: imagex /capture d: d:\imaging\data.wim "Drive D"
Apply: imagex /apply d:\imaging\data.wim 1 d:\New_Path

Understand the difference between ImageX and other Imaging software out there like Ghost, What makes ImageX Better for Windows Operating Systems?

Understand how to make basic modifications to an existing Image using DISM:
DISM.exe /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\test\images\myimage.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\test\offline
You can do a lot more than these examples I've given you, they are just practical examples that can help you in your day to day job.

Learn how to create and boot Win PE and complete tasks from WinPE (this is where you would use imagex).

I would also learn the basics of WDS (Part of WAIK).

To put all this into a practical example and how it could help you in your job.

Create a WinPE Image.
Create a WDS server from WAIK (to PXE boot your WinPE Image, requires DHCP and DNS Servers)
Using DISM on your WDS Server you could inject drivers into your PE Image for Mass Storage and Network Support
Using DISM you could /Mount-Wim to a temporary directory (remember to unmount properly when your done or you'll have issues)
Once mounted you could open \Windows\System32\Startnet.cmd (in notepad) which is the batch file called when WinPE starts up.
Now you could put in some diskpart and imagex apply commands, maybe a drive mapping command.

What you've got listed there is instructions on making a (well, very close too) Zero-Touch Image (ZTI) Deployment.

hennrizzler

It's better to know more than to know less. You're probably doing it right if you think you're being sidetracked into getting deeper with the waik. If you plan on doing any of the other client exams, they'll feature the waik a lot so get to know it and play around with it. You'll be expected to know how to do most of the basic stuff from dism/imagex/oscdimg usage and how their commands look. If it's your first exam, it might seem like a lot, but a lot of the ms stuff overlap so you'll be doing yourself a favour if you learn it now. I think mokilok has given you good advice there.

logisticalstyles

Thanks for the advice. I'll definitely have to go deeper into the material. I've finally got my lab set up at home so I'll be doing alot of experimenting this weekend. I just need more practice time for sure.

RobertKaucher

I took the Win 7 exam a long time ago. But I would point out that there is the Pro exam for EDA 7; which is strongly focused on WAIK. So I would not put a ton of effort into it just for the MCTS Win 7. Make sure you have a good understanding of it and can use it. If you know the difference between the tools (DISM, ImgX, etc) and when to use each, then you are likely most of the way there.

tr1x

logisticalstyles wrote: »

So, I finally got motivated to resume my Windows 7 cert. Last semester I returned to my community college and took a SQL class that kicked my butt and I realized that studying Windows 7 wasn't so bad after all.

I'm now working with the Windows Automated Installation Kit and I'm curious to know how deeply the 70-680 tests go into this topic. Right now I'm reading the User's guide for the WAIK and I don't know how deeply I should read into this. It's basically diverted my attention from the MS Press book and I'm trying to stay on track with my study schedule. I'd like to take the test before the end of February and don't want to waste time going over stuff that's not going to be on the test. Do I just need to know what it is and how each component of it works, or do I need to dig deeper?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Learn the tools of WAIK, it's on the test. Watch all the Professor Messer video's, do the labs he shows, and read my notes (Microsoft 70-680 notes, Configuring Windows 7) and you'll do fine

j0hnx777

I would say that it could go in to WAIK pretty hard core, not as much as 70-686, but you should also know USMT besides DISM and ImageX.

antielvis

You should understand the WAIK thoroughly for the 680 exam & for practical support in a Win 7 environment. For the 686 exam, it's also very important. The WAIK is the foundation of Windows 7 imaging so I'd recommending not only learning it, but if possible...setting up a lab at home with WDS and creating/deploying images.

logisticalstyles

I've been studying it deeper and watching the videos. I asked my Network Admin here at work about it and he says that I need to know it for the test but we don't use it very much here. We use Ghost for deploying images at my job. I have noticed that there are a lot of tasks here at work that we accomplish using methods other than what is listed in the book. I had to show one of my co-workers how well Windows Easy Transfer works for migrating user profiles. I'm definitely learning through my studies and it is helping out on the job. It just seems like some of this stuff is strictly for the test.