680 Exam & Active Directory

rht

Hi guys,

So i am in the process of buying books for MCSA win 7 but i hear that to pass the 680 exam you need knowledge of Active Directory which i dont have, how true is this?

Do i need to buy an active directory book as reference to pass this exam? Recommendations?

Thanks

Bloogen

It is very true. the 70-680 is a desktop OS exam but within an Active Directory environment. Read over the skills measured and the table of contents of some of the books you are looking at and then look those topics up on TechNet to get a good idea of what's involved.

This is not an exam you can pass just because you have used Windows 7 extensively as a power user. It involves knowing about VPNs, DirectAccess, Migrating User Profiles, Image deployment and management and a lot of topics may touch on AD.

This is not to discourage you, take this as an opportunity to dive in head first and go beyond the scope of the exam, build a home lab with Active directory and Windows 7 clients and really understand how everything works as a whole.

A good general understanding of Active Directory would definitely be useful as core knowledge before attempting this exam. Here are some quick suggestions for you.

Free Active Directory Training, 70-640:
Active Directory Free 70 640 course

Free Windows 7 Training, 70-680:
Windows 7 Free Training
Professor Messer's Free Microsoft 70-680 Certification Training | Professor Messer - CompTIA A+, Network+, Security+, Linux, Microsoft Technology Training

This along with Microsoft's TechNet should be enough to get you started. But I strongly encourage you to build your own lab environment with VMware Workstation or VirtualBox as you are learning. Maybe you have to watch the videos, take notes and then go through again building your lab, whatever it takes. Come back here and ask questions if you get stuck.

LittleBIT

I recently passed the 680 (beast of an exam). It covers so much - so glad to be done with it...

My advice, to add onto above me, purchase the official MS Press book Training kit for the 70-680. Using Prof. Messer is good, using in combination with CBT Nuggets is good as well, James Conrad does a good job on the CBT Nuggets.

You dont need 'extensive' knowledge of AD, but you should grasp the concept of what it does, and what it is.

The MS Exam is mostly book reference questions, using personal experience will make you fail the exam. (I failed 2 times.)

I would go as far to say that the MS Exam focus was on the newest technologies of Win 7, WDS, DISM, ImageX, etc, and knowing what tools to use when.

Go through the objectives for the MS 70-680 exam, you will get an idea of what they will be asking for.

I used Don Poulton's book at first, I didnt like it much, I used MS's Press Book, and personally found it a better resource then Don's book, although Don's book was good, I wasnt used to his writing style.

Good Luck, hope this helps

rht

Thanks for the excellent replies and tips guys

Thanks for the links and encouragement! I am going to get CBT nuggets and watch professor Messor as well as Windows 7 Free Training. Also i already passed A+ and Net+ so i do have some knowledge which i hope it will help since everyone talks about how hard this exam is.

However I am torn between the Don Poulton and Ms Kit but which is easier to read and understand since English is not my first language and sometimes things become difficult to understand. I Used the MS Press kit for A+ which i found easy to read but did not prepare well for the exam although i passed since i had good knowledge of the material from experience.

I was going for the Don Poulton Book for its reviews only, but maybe you guys can help? Which is easier to read and understand? I am looking for lists or examples to follow not just paragraphs of text that takes ages to understand and pick out whats important.

I am wiling to buy 2 books for 680:
I was looking at this book Windows® 7 Administrator's Pocket Consultant: William R. Stanek: 9780735626997: Amazon.com: Books what do you think?

Do i need to buy books on active directory/ GP or would Windows 7 Free Training be enough as well as online reading?

rht

I decided on the following resources for 680 exam if anyone is interested:

Videos:
1. Proffesor Messer Videos
2. CBT nuggets James Conner
3. Windows 7 Free Training

As for books:
1. MCTS 70-680 Cert Guide: Microsoft Windows 7, Configuring, Poulton
2. Windows 7 Desktop Support and Administration: Real World Skills for MCITP Certification, Darill Gibson (i am planning on 685 after 680 so i bought this now)
3. Windows 7 Portable Command Guide: MCTS 70-680, 70-685 and 70-686, Darill Gibson

As for Active Directory and GPO i am going to use youtube, http://itfreetraining.com/70-680/windows-7/ and Labbing.

Bloogen

Awesome. Lack of study resources will not be an issue at this point .

The key now is study habits and strategies. I would suggest also looking for other peoples 70-680 study notes and exam experiences and make sure you work hard on going over topics you found difficult the first time around.

rht

Well if these resources dont get me past this test, i am officially going to blame Microsoft for this! At least it will make me feel better :P

coralreefguy

I passed in January. I had at least 5 questions pertaining to Group Policy specifically. A majority of the questions assume you know the basis of AD (forest, domain, OU, Sec group, etc).

rht

i just finished reading Don Poultons book, there are many GPO in the book and I am not sure what i need to know for the exam. Should i know the nods only or should i be able to know what the objects themselves can do?