Exam Reviews
70-272: Application Support Challenge
This exam tests your work with XP installations, gaining access to resources, hardware, the desktop and user environments and network protocols and services.
Exam 70-272 gives you the chance to prove your support knowledge of applications
running on Windows XP. It is one of two tests you need to pass in order
to achieve your Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician credential
(the other being 70-271,
reviewed
here). Its questions focus on all aspects of supporting XP applications
in these key areas: configuring and troubleshooting applications, resolving
issues related to usability, resolving issues related to application customization,
configuring and troubleshooting connectivity for applications, and configuring
application security. In this article, I help you prepare by covering
some of the objectives as listed in the exam preparation guide that you'll
find by
clicking
here.
I took the exam in beta form. I received 85 questions and was given 205
minutes to complete them. The final version of the exam will probably
have only 50 to 60 questions and you'll have somewhere around 90 to 120
minutes to finish. You'll be able to move forward and backward through
the question set. Very often, a later question can help you answer an
earlier one for which you may not have been absolutely certain of your
answer. However, you should always choose an answer for each and every
question before moving forward since you may run out of time, and any
unanswered questions are scored incorrect. You can mark questions you're
unsure of and return using the back button or by using the review screen
at the end prior to scoring.
First Base for Study
My first recommendation for study material falls under the category of
basic networking. If you're relatively new to the world of computers and
networks, you'll need to have a firm grasp of the networking reference
model called the OSI model. In spite of its venerable age (it was drawn
up in the early '80s!), the Open System Interconnection model is known
and used by anyone who supports networked computers and devices such as
routers, switches and hubs. One of the best online resources I know of
to study and understand the OSI model and networking in general is the
"Internetworking Technology Handbook" by Cisco Systems (the
leader in networking technologies). You can get it free by clicking
here. Concentrate on the first seven chapters and chapter 31 (Internet
Protocols (IP)).
Another resource I highly recommend is the book, Microsoft
Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation, from Microsoft
Press. If you were to sit down, read and memorize this volume's 1,700-plus
pages, you'd be ready for the exam! However, it doesn't exactly flow like
a novel, so you might want to take it in pieces.
There are also many self-study guides — published by Microsoft Press,
Exam Cram, Sybex, Syngress, Osborne and others — for the XP Professional
exam, 70-270, that cover the same material you need to understand in order
to pass 70-272.
You can also take the courses listed in the box at your local training
center. You'll learn more about those at the Web page linked to each.
You might also consider starting your certification quest with CompTIA
exams such as A+ and Network+. These tests will introduce you to the support
role of XP, PC hardware, and basic networking.
Tip: The Microsoft exam writers love to create questions from the
resource kits and study guides published on the Microsoft Web site. Keep
this in mind as you decide what's worth reading during your studies. Here's
a great place to start: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/itsolutions/howto/winxphow.mspx.
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If this is your first IT exam or at least your first
Microsoft exam, there are some things you should know.
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needed to pass.
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at the completion of the exam.
- You'll also receive a printed score report upon
exiting the exam booth.
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letter and MCP number after requesting the certification
package from Microsoft's Web site. (Don't forget to
give a valid e-mail address when registering for your
exam.)
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On the Applications Front
Let's start with the topic of "Configuring and Troubleshooting Applications."
Microsoft Office includes the popular applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint
and Outlook. These applications are all "Internet ready," meaning
they can access, read and save data to and from the Internet. With this
in mind, you'll need to know how they're configured and repaired when
a user calls with a question.
You have three methods to install and configure the Office suite of applications:
manual, automated, or upgraded. During the manual method, you provide
all the answers to the setup prompts. For an automated installation, you
use an install script created specifically for a single PC or multiple
PCs. During the upgrade method, you choose which Office components to
upgrade and install. The installation source using any of these methods
can be the local CDROM or a network location. There are also other Microsoft
methods or sources of installation: Active Directory Group Policies and
Microsoft's Systems Management Server (SMS). When applications are installed,
the user or administrator must choose to make the application available
to all users or just the logged-in user.
Tip: Group Policy deployment of Office requires a Windows domain running
Active Directory. Microsoft's SMS deployment method of Office doesn't
require a Windows domain or Active Directory.
Proper user rights are required when a user needs to install an application.
By default, this is administrators and users who have been granted the
right to install software such as all user accounts in XP Home Edition.
If an application has been previously installed, Windows Registry changes
may prevent the successful reinstallation. Many applications require large
amounts of disk space for installation; even when the user or desktop
technician specifies an alternate drive, the application may still need
disk space on the primary drive for temporary files during installation.
The Microsoft Office setup provides options for creating log files and
other setup options and switches that can be extremely useful when troubleshooting
failed installations.
To prepare to troubleshoot failed application installations you should
start with an understanding of the application itself. And you need the
ability to find the answers to problems and implement the solution! The
product manual, colleagues, the Microsoft Knowledge Base, online Support
and Help in the product or operating system, and finally books and white
papers, can be invaluable when troubleshooting application errors.
Office 2003 requires product activation very much like XP. This can be
done either via an Internet connection or over the phone. Office 2003
gives the user a "launch grace" of 50 uses before requiring
activation. After 50 uses, the user is prevented from creating new documents
or editing existing ones. However, he or she can still view and print
existing documents.
Tip: Office 2003 Product Activation doesn't send user or computer
information to Microsoft unless the user also chooses to "register"
with Microsoft during the activation process.
Microsoft Office allows you the option of installing the individual components
of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook to the local hard disk. Or you
can specify not to install them, which means the user can add them later
when needed.
Tip: The Office setup wizard prompts the user for which components
of the Office suite should be installed locally. The user can always choose
to add and remove components at a later time using the XP Add/Remove Programs
icon or by reinserting the Office CD.
Office offers a Detect and Repair option on the Help menu in any of the
Office suite of applications. This option should be attempted prior to
reinstalling any Office application. The Detect and Repair option also
offers the ability for a user to remove all customized settings and restore
the defaults.
Tip: If the Detect and Repair option of Office doesn't solve the user's
problem, have the person reinstall the Office application or applications.
Shadow Copy is a new feature of Windows Server 2003 that allows users
to retrieve a previous version or versions of a file stored on a Windows
server. However, the user must install or have installed the Shadow Copy
client software from Microsoft.
Tip: If shadow copy is enabled on the Windows 2003 server and the
Shadow Copy client software is installed on the client machine, the user
will find a Previous Versions tab in the network server's deleted folder.
He or she simply needs to right-click and select Properties to undelete
the missing file.
Operating and File system Security
Windows XP supports the FAT, FAT32, and NTFS file systems. When configuring
a PC for multiboot — that is, two different versions of Windows installed
on the same PC such as Windows 98 and Windows XP — you must choose
a compatible file system. Both FAT and FAT32 are common and compatible
with Windows 98 and greater. But NTFS is only used and compatible with
Windows NT, 2000, and XP. NTFS is the only file system that offers file-level
security and Encrypting File System (EFS) security. EFS encodes files
so that even if someone else obtains a copy of a file, he or she won't
be able to decrypt and access the file! If a user calls and complains
that he or she can't access a particular file, it may be because the file
was encrypted by another user of the PC while logged in. EFS files can't
be shared or copied across the network in an encrypted form. They can
be copied to floppies, however. By right-clicking a file or folder on
an NTFS formatted disk and selecting Properties | Advanced, you can enable,
disable or view the encryption state.
Tip: Encrypted files are displayed in green text in Windows Explorer.
Application Security
Let's look through some of the areas of study for "Configuring Application
Security." A macro is a form of programming that allows the user
or application developer to "automate" various processes or
functions in Word and Excel, for example. Office applications are susceptible
to macro viruses. A macro virus can attempt to exploit this "automation"
process and change or even destroy user data. Office offers three levels
of macro virus protection: High, Medium, and Low. The default level is
High and should only be changed after careful consideration.
Tip: Antivirus software installed on a user's PC will detect macro-type
viruses and many others before a user accesses and opens a file.
Security updates aren't only for operating systems! Microsoft also offers
updates for Office, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. You should
direct users to the Microsoft Office Web site to scan their PC for installed
applications and available updates. The operating system update Web site
is http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
and the Office site is http://office.microsoft.com.
Supporting Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is, of course, the Web browser included with XP. For
this exam, you should be intimately familiar with all user configurable
options and technician- or administrator-defined security options. For
instance, have you ever seen your browser's home page change without "approval"
or your intervention? This is a common change that Web developers can
initiate when you visit their Web sites. Do you know how to reset the
home page option in IE? From the Tools drop-down menu, select Options
| General tab and then click one of the buttons to reset the home page
to current, default or blank. Or you can simply type in the preferred
home page location. I actually prefer to use the blank option. How many
times a day do you see a user open his or her browser and wait for the
page to load before navigating somewhere else?
Tip: In some cases, users may be unable to change their browser's
home page location. This is usually the case when the user is connected
to the corporate network and using Windows Server Group Policies and Active
Directory. The administrator has prevented users from being able to make
the change.
Temporary Internet files available in IE allow a Web developer to store
files in a cache (temporary storage) location on a user's hard disk. These
can speed the process of loading the Web site the next time the user visits
the Web site. But it can also eat up precious disk space! Become familiar
with where and how to set the temporary Internet files location and what
the options, "Every visit to the page," "Every time you
start IE," "Automatically" and "Never" mean.
You can find these configurable options behind the Settings button of
the General tab in the same location where the home page is set.
Using the Security and Privacy tabs of IE, you can define trusted Web
sites using Web content zones, cookie settings and ActiveX controls and
signatures. Make sure you understand where these options are located and
what the purpose is for each. Web content zones allow for security configuration
based on internal (intranet) or external (Internet) Web sites. By default,
each zone defines the type of controls and signature checking allowed
by the user's browser. Constantly displayed in the bottom right corner
of the Web browser window, the current zone type indicates a level of
security. Very often in the corporate network environment administrators
predefine the zone level of each user's browser with custom settings controlled
by Windows 2000 domain group policies. A user may call the helpdesk because
he or she is unable to connect to a particular site or view the full functionality
of a Web page because corporate or security guidelines are in place. Before
visiting the user's desktop or assuming IE application issues exist, take
a minute to access the same Web site or page using your own PC to note
any restrictions that may be different.
The Content Advisor is another component of IE that allows you to define
particular or types of Web sites as safe or unsafe and unavailable. After
configuring Content Advisor, a password can be set to restrict further
unauthorized changes by users of the PC.
Tip: Know where and how to reset a user's auto-complete and saved
password options in IE.
Another tab you should know of is the Advanced tab in IE. There are many
options found within here: accessibility, user preferences, and security.
Understanding these different options and how they affect the user's WWW
experience is a must!
Tip: Using the Advanced tab in IE options, you can enable or disable
the "use inline AutoComplete to control the caching of user information
or any browser-typed input.
Do you use the Favorites and History options in Internet Explorer? You
should. They can really save loads of time and store a "record"
of what you like to visit online. For this exam, you'll need to understand
how they work, where they're configured and how to clear them. You'll
find the History configuration options in the same location as noted earlier
by selecting the Tools drop-down menu in IE. Favorites has its own drop-down
menu, where you'll find the options to add, delete, and organize.
Tip: The Languages button on the General tab of IE's options can be
used to load different languages for Web sites.
One last set of options for IE you should be familiar with is dial-up
and VPN connection settings. Your networking experience will help you
here. The Network Connections setting in Control Panel (or from the Start
Menu of XP) lets you define the type and number of connections available
to a user's PC. Configuring a dial-up or VPN connection requires you to
know the account information to authenticate to the network or server
and the phone number or IP address. You should also know how to configure
IE's LAN settings properties found in Tools | Options | Connections tab.
From there you can configure proxy server settings if required. A proxy
server is a server on the LAN that can be used by administrators to define
users' access to the Internet and Internet content including HTTP (WWW)
and FTP (File Transfer Protocol). When typing an IP address supplied by
the administrator or Internet Service Provider (ISP), never include leading
zeros in any field. For instance, the IP address 192.168.1.1 shouldn't
be entered as 192.169.001.001.
Tip: Often the Proxy server name or IP address is entered into the
settings window along with a port number of 8080. This is chosen by the
network administrator and sometimes it can be unique or different.
Supporting Outlook Express
Outlook Express is the free e-mail client and newsreader included with
IE. Configuring e-mail and newsgroup settings and troubleshooting OE is
required knowledge for this test! If you've never used OE's e-mail client
or visited a newsgroup with OE, it's about time you did.
There are three different types of e-mail servers users may want to retrieve
e-mail from: HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Internet Messaging Application
Protocol (IMAP), and Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3). Understanding
how these different servers handle e-mail and user connections is crucial.
HTTP servers such as Hotmail.com or Yahoo.com allow for convenience and
portability by only requiring an Internet connection and browser. Learn
the ins and outs of setting up OE to connect to these Web-based e-mail
servers and create and manage e-mail locally for the full functionality
of an e-mail client application. IMAP e-mail servers offer a "richer"
user experience as well as portability by holding a copy of the user's
e-mail, address book and folders on the server -- when so configured.
A POP3 e-mail server and account is one you might receive as a part of
your ISP service. It doesn't normally offer the "rich" and portability
options that HTTP and IMAP do, but it's still a type many users have and
love.
Tip: IE's connection settings and options as noted earlier apply to
any connection attempts made by the user when using OE's e-mail client
or newsreader.
Microsoft Outlook is a full-version e-mail client application. Its settings
and configuration for connecting to a Microsoft Exchange e-mail server
or an ISP's server are controlled by the connection settings noted above;
but there are also e-mail account options configured with the Mail icon
in Control Panel or in Outlook using the Tools | E-mail Accounts option.
Tip: Know where and how to configure Outlook's e-mail account settings.
Another area of focus for this exam will be the Import/Export process
using IE or OE for favorites, cookies, e-mail accounts, newsgroup accounts
and address books. Don't be blindsided by these on the exam, take time
to explore and understand them today!
Troubleshooting Network Connectivity
As I mentioned in the 70-271 MCDST exam review (click
here), a good understanding of basic networking and Windows networking
will go a long way. It all starts with the OSI model! Understanding how
computer networks operate and how to troubleshoot them is invaluable knowledge
and experience. Troubleshooting network connectivity issues begin with
the OSI Physical layer where connections and cabling are defined. This
really is the weakest link. From there the desktop technician should become
intimately familiar with the TCP/IP troubleshooting tools IPconfig and
ping. IPconfig /all allows you to view the
TCP/IP configuration of a user's PC and discover many common configuration
problems or errors. Hostname, IP address, DNS server addresses and DHCP
address assignment are the critical settings that very often can be the
source of network connectivity. If everything is configured as expected
and you can ping a remote network computer, most other issues are related
to network-based application configurations as noted earlier in this article.
Read the chapters I recommend earlier in this article before tackling
either MCDST exam.
Practice!
That wraps it up for this exam review. Remember, nothing beats hands-on
experience when taking a Microsoft test. Divide your study time among
reading, reviewing and practicing what you've read. There are no real
shortcuts to success. Good luck!