The Exam 70-720 refers to the Installing, Configuring, and Administering Windows XP Professional exam. The exam is available for people who have working experience in handling medium to large corporate computing environments that utilize Windows XP Professional operating system on their desktops. A candidate is eligible to take the exam if he or she has at least one year experience in administering and implementing desktop operating system within a network environment.

Certification Credits from Passing Exam 70-720

If you successfully pass the exam, you are now entitled as a Microsoft Certified Professional. Passing the Installing, Configuring, and Administering Windows XP Professional exam also earns you core credits towards several certifications such as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer on Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator on Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer on Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator on Microsoft Windows 2000.

Topics Covered by the Exam 70-720

The Exam 70-720 measures the candidate’s ability to handle information systems that uses the Microsoft Windows XP Professional operating system. This certification exam determines the knowledge of the examinee in the proper installation of Windows XP Professional. This section includes performing and troubleshooting attended and unattended installation of the Windows XP Professional operating system. It also covers upgrading issues and procedures from previous Windows versions to Windows XP Professional. This section also includes product activation and troubleshooting failed installations.

The exam also tackles about procedures in the implementation and administration of resources. This includes several practices such as monitoring, management and troubleshooting access to files and shared folders, connecting local and network printing devices and configuration of file systems. This part of the test also discusses topics in managing and troubleshooting synchronization and access to offline data.

The Exam 70-720 also includes questions on the proper implementation, management, troubleshooting and monitoring of hardware devices and drivers. This portion of the exam elaborates procedures in handling disk devices, display devices, Advanced Configuration Power Interface (ACPI) and input and output (I/O) devices. It also includes driver signing and troubleshooting procedures. It also determines the candidate’s knowledge in configuring and monitoring multiprocessor computers.

The other parts of the exam cover concepts and practices in optimizing and monitoring system reliability and performance, proper implementation, management and troubleshooting of services and network protocols and troubleshooting and configuring desktop environments. The exam also tests the examinee’s knowledge in configuring, troubleshooting and managing security systems such as Internet Explorer security settings and Encrypting File System (EFS).