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Exam Objectives

Exam Objectives

The exam objectives are broken up into six different categories. The 70-686 exam measures your ability to accomplish the technical tasks listed below.

The objectives for Exam 70-686 as stated by Microsoft are as follows:

Planning and Managing a Client Life Cycle Strategy

  • Plan and manage client licensing and activation.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: applications and operating systems; activation method; KMS vs. MAK; prerequisites; choosing a SKU; licensing infrastructure; licensing compliance audits; inventory audits; virtualization licensing considerations; making recommendations for licensing strategy and compliance

  • Plan and manage software updates.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: application updates and operating system updates; evaluating and approving software updates; enterprise applications; designing an update strategy; choosing an update tool; planning and deploying a service pack; schedule considerations; network considerations; test updates; auditing for security compliance

  • Plan and manage a physical hardware and virtualization strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: analyzing existing hardware environment; determining which systems meet minimum requirements; tradeoffs of physical vs. VDI environment; network load considerations; disk space; direct connection vs. brokered connection; determining a VHD strategy; choosing 32 bit vs. 64 bit

Designing a Standard Image

  • Design an image creation strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: identifying operating system and enterprise applications that will be included with the standard image; thick, thin, or hybrid; role-based or geographic-based images vs. single core image; image localization

  • Design a custom image.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: identifying applications to be installed; identifying features and components to be enabled or disabled; testing the customized image

  • Define an image update strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: performance optimization; security considerations; efficiency; offline servicing vs. online or post-image updates; re-creating; recapturing

Designing Client Configurations

  • Design standard system settings.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: choosing methods, including logon scripts, startup scripts, and Group Policy; designing profiles; designing error reporting; designing audit policy

  • Define client security standards.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: application control policies; encryption; stopping unnecessary services; designing firewall rules; defining anti-malware settings; changes to Kerberos and NTLM; configuring user rights; defining UAC policy; designing a security template for system lockdown; defining account policies; designing security standards for removable storage

  • Define Windows Internet Explorer settings.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: defining security zones; cache location; branding; in-private mode; restricting or allowing plug-ins; add-ons; privacy policy; browser protected mode

Designing a Windows 7 Client Deployment

  • Analyze the environment and choose appropriate deployment methods.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: building the infrastructure; advantages of lite-touch vs. zero-touch vs. local install; capacity and scale considerations; determining required changes to the infrastructure

  • Design a lite-touch deployment strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: unicast vs. multicast; auto-cast vs. scheduled-cast; staggered deployment; scheduling considerations; network load considerations; choosing a client boot method for deployment; unattended answer files; restricting who can receive images; choosing a delivery mechanism

  • Design a zero-touch deployment strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: designing and configuring task sequencing; unattended answer files; scheduling considerations; staggered deployment; network load considerations; restricting who can receive images

  • Design a user state migration strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: determining which user data and settings to preserve; local vs. remote storage considerations; determining mitigation plan for non-migrated applications; securing migrated data; testing designed strategy; wipe-and-load migration vs. side-by-side migration

Designing Application Packages for Deployment

  • Design a delivery or deployment strategy.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: auditing for prerequisites and minimum requirements; choosing a deployment method such as virtualized, Remote Desktop Services, Group Policy, or software distribution; server-based or client-based install; scheduling considerations; staggered deployment; network considerations; package creation standards

  • Manage application compatibility.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: testing incompatibility; choosing a method for resolving incompatibility, such as upgrading, Remote Desktop Services, shim, or VDI; auditing incompatible software

Identifying and Resolving Deployment and Client Configuration Issues

  • Identify and resolve Internet Explorer issues.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: security zones; Web applications; advanced settings; Group Policy restrictions; certificates

  • Identify and resolve Group Policy issues.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: delegation; inheritance; policies are not effective; blocking; permissions; loopback processing; user vs. computer settings; filtering; performance

  • Identify and resolve networking issues.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: wireless; remote access; VPN; certificates; performance; IP communication; Windows Firewall

  • Identify and resolve authentication and authorization issues.

    • This objective may include but is not limited to: user rights; distinguishing between client-based and server-based issues; time synchronization (Kerberos)

Where to Go from Here

Candidates who pass the 70-686 exam earn the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Administrator certification. The exam does not count as credit toward any other certifications.

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