70-685 cert question

Discussion in 'Windows 7 / 8 /10 Client Exams' started by Kennym, Jan 23, 2014.

  1. Kennym

    Kennym New Member

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    Hi there,

    I'm planning on buying a decent book today or tomorrow to study towards taking the 70-685 Windows 7 support cert in the next few weeks or so.

    But I'm not sure:

    1. Which is the best book to buy for self-study. Can anyone recommend the best(or just a solid book that covers most of the exam topics)? So I can get on Amazon and get it ordered.

    2. With all the talk of some windows 7 certs being retired, I was hoping someone could confirm that the MCSA 70-685 is not going to be retired before the end of 2014.

    I know windows 8 is being rolled out, but I guess the windows 7 certificate is going to still be pretty relevant to employers for the rest of 2014 at least.

    Cheers, in advance for any input.

    Thanks.:biggrin
     
  2. Grim-83

    Grim-83 Nibble Poster

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    MCSA Windows 7 won't be retired but the MCITP windows 7 Certs are (just a name change). I'm using the Microsoft self passed training kit and window 7 resource kit books to study for this exam.

    Friendly tip get some server 2008 r2 knowledge for this exam, you'll only need the basic on what Windows 7 ent/ult need on the server side to use the more advanced options. The self passed training kit covers some of this in a high view mode.
     
    Certifications: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCP 70-270, 70-290, MCTS 70-680, MTA 98-365, 98-366, 98-367
    WIP: CCENT / CCNA
  3. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    hey grim

    Don't suppose you could recommend some ways to get some 2008 r2 knowledge relating to the 70-685 exam

    I have the books and I even have practice exams and exercises I can carry out , but looking for some hands on type experience , I am running win 7 virtually through hyper v on windows 8.1 pro but in order to really get a true understanding of group policy and certifcate authority etc i need to administer a domain from the server. I don't really fancy building a server with win 2008 and buying a licence .. Is there another way round this issue - say from a online test lap or Citrix environment ? . I may be off at a tangent here but there must be an obvious way round this , I just ain't seeing it

    Thanks
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  4. Kennym

    Kennym New Member

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    Thanks for the info Grim83,
    BTW, does anyone know where I can get a ligit trial version of windows 7 ultimate.
    I've been to the Microsoft hp, but every link there seems to have been replaced with trial versions of windows 8.

    I get that they are trying to push everyone onto windows 8, but doing away with the win 7 downloads completely, is a bit of a nonsense...
    (I'd rather not have to resort to using torrent sites etc)
     
  5. monobrow

    monobrow Nibble Poster

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    Guys, there are trials of Windows 7 Enterprise and Server 2008R2 on this page :)
     
    Certifications: MOS Outlook 2010, MOS Word 2010, MCTS Windows 7, ITIL v3 Foundations, MCDST
  6. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    Monobrow

    Great work chap , will go investigate , guess I have to bite the bullet and get it installed , wonder if I can triple boot and the PC and run 2008 r2 and then boot camp my macs to run win 7 enterprise , this is gonna be a learning curve in itself lol ... Fun , but def a learning curve
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  7. ade1982

    ade1982 Megabyte Poster

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    You need to virtualise rather than multi-boot mate.

    Install Win 2008 R2 directly onto the bare-metal computer, install the Hyper-V role from inside 2008R2, and then create your virtual machines inside that (I seem to remember it was 1 x 2008R2 Domain Controller, and 3 x Windows 7 Pro desktops in the labs)

    Or you could stick with your existing computer OS, install something like VMWare onto it, and then create the 4 VMs inside that.

    Multi-booting won't really achieve what you need to do.
     
    Messiah74 likes this.
  8. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    Ade1982

    Thanks for this , it's really appreciated , I reckon it's possible to pass the exams just purely by parroting the definitions and remembering the answers but I want to try and understand why it's the answer it is otherwise I don't think I have a hope in hell of convincing a future employer.

    Ok so prob gonna go down the route of VMware as straight after this I go on to the windows 8 certification and it will just be a faster turn around.

    Any other helpful tips you think I would benefit from feel free

    Thanks again :)
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  9. monobrow

    monobrow Nibble Poster

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    Ade's beaten me to it really, but I was going to suggest using Virtualbox rather than dual-booting.

    Let us know how you get on though - I've got the book on my desk and really need to get moving on it too
     
    Certifications: MOS Outlook 2010, MOS Word 2010, MCTS Windows 7, ITIL v3 Foundations, MCDST
  10. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    Monobrow, ade

    Thanks indeed , this is just the direction point I need , already balls deep in researching VMware clients , seems I have to climb this mountain before getting to the server / client relationship ( fun stuff :) ) , I hope I can lean on you guys a little going forward , it's hard to find knowledgeable and willing techs at times , don't worry I won't abuse the privilege :)

    Thanks again :)
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  11. ade1982

    ade1982 Megabyte Poster

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    No worries.

    There are tonnes of clients out there, some free, some not, and all do pretty much the same. VMWare Player / Server or Virtualbox are both popular ones which run on top of your existing OS. Hyper-V is Microsoft's version. The other VMWare products like ESX / ESXi are bare-metal products - that is, you install them before you install the OS on your PC.

    You know you also need to pass the 680 as well to get the MCSA Windows 7, yeah? There's a bit of overlap (but not masses) and both require similar lab setups.
     
  12. JamesTaylor

    JamesTaylor Bit Poster

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    Thanks Monobrow. Very useful information. Didn't know this resource existed. Thanks a lot.
     
  13. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    So ,Monobrow . Ade

    It's been a great learning curve , kept with win 8.1 pro as my o.s and threw another 8gb of ram in in facilitate running 4 vm's simultaneously , had a bit of a head scratcher with the virtual switching but eventually just shared my nic with the virtual nic , I coulda just bought another nic but wanted to understand more

    Toyed around with 2012 and 2008 servers with win 7e and win 8e clients. I totally see how folk with no networking exp would find this a massive challenge, glad I have some under my belt. Been tinkering for a while now , going through the excercises in the books to imposing policy changes both from domain and workgroup standpoints , it's been fantastic , it's a little sad but I kinda enjoyed it.. Hyper -v is pretty easy

    Anyway , just thought I would drop you guys a line and let you see how I was getting on , if you have anymore theories on how you think I should proceed to try and really understand this then feel free to throw me a bone

    Oh btw , Yeah I did realise about 685 and the overlap btw but I appreciate the heads up.

    Thanks again guys
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  14. monobrow

    monobrow Nibble Poster

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    Good work. I've only glanced at the 685 book really, so it's interesting to hear how you're getting on. Ideally, I would have jumped straight into 685 about 6 months ago, but the MS Press 680 book left me so dejected that I couldn't face another bout of it.

    How are you finding the book to study from?
     
    Certifications: MOS Outlook 2010, MOS Word 2010, MCTS Windows 7, ITIL v3 Foundations, MCDST
  15. Messiah74

    Messiah74 Bit Poster

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    Monobrow

    Before buying the books , I done a little research around what books were considered the best and there as much in favour of the Northrup books as there wS against , what sold it to me was that they were recommended on the ms certs page. To be brutally honest with you though , ever since school days I'm not the guy who gets a lot out of the reading method of study. The way I study is a little strange. I forward read the chapter , you know page 1 , 2 etc , then do the excercises at the end until I just about understand what I'm doing. Then I answer the questions , then read the chapter again, make notes and then take some test questions on that topic, the questions I get wrong , I read again and do more practice. I know it sounds like a long process , but it means that as I move forward I gain confidence in what I know. Also some parts of the book are extremely easy as they focus on just diagnostics on hardware / software and that is just bread and butter. In answer to you question , the books are **** , let's be honest , practically nobody passes an exam with true understanding after reading a book. Hey but something's working for me , I have the same energy and motivation for it now as I did when I bought the books so it's all good , I think I shall be booking my test date soon , need to get a pass under my belt , got 4 of these to pass before the end if summer
     
    Certifications: Comptia A+ , Comptia N+ , C.C.N.A
    WIP: M.C.S.A
  16. monobrow

    monobrow Nibble Poster

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    My gripe with the MS 680 book was the mistakes. I bought what was labelled as the 'Corrected Edition', and it did include about 90 replacement pages of amendments. The problem was everything else - the missing steps and the incomplete commands. I ended up having to google maybe 80% of the topics and pretty much all of the commands :(
     
    Certifications: MOS Outlook 2010, MOS Word 2010, MCTS Windows 7, ITIL v3 Foundations, MCDST

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