According to the Microsoft Born to Learn blog, the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial has been extended. Anyone looking to become more familiar with Windows 7 Enterprise on a professional or educational level can download a free 90-day trial version of the software for their own personal use.

This free download is particularly useful to individuals who want to pass Windows 7 related certification exams, including Windows 7 Configuration (70-680), Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician (70-685), Upgrading to Windows 7 MCITP Enterprise Desktop Support Technician (70-682) and others. These exams are important components to MCITP certification, and the free 90-day trial will help you become familiar with the Windows 7 Enterprise environment.

The free 90-day trial is now available through December 31, 2010. If you have any questions about Windows 7 certifications, give PrepLogic a call at 1-800-418-6789.

Well, it’s time for another round of Q and A with PrepLogic’s Managing Editor.  The first item comes from the A+ Practical Application (220-702) Practice Exam.

The question is:

You work as a customer support specialist for a company that provides support to end users. You receive a call from a customer who complains that after turning on Windows XP Firewall, certain programs cannot access updates. What should you instruct the customer to do? Select the best answer.

A.) Instruct the customer to right-click on the appropriate interface, select Properties, TCP/IP Properties, Advanced and then Settings. From Settings, tell the user to click on the Exceptions Tab and choose to add a program. From the list of programs, the user should then double click on the blocked program to allow access and then click OK.

B.) Inform the user that once he turns on Windows Firewall, there are certain programs that will not be allowed to access the Internet, in order to protect the system, and that this feature cannot be changed.

C.) Instruct the customer to right-click on the appropriate interface, select Properties, Advanced and then Settings.  The customer should then click on the Exceptions tab and choose to add a program. From the list of programs, the customer should double click on the blocked program to allow it, and then click OK.

D.) Instruct the customer to click on Start, Settings, Control Panel and then to choose Windows Firewall. From there, the user should click on Advanced Settings, select Properties, Advanced and then Settings. From Settings, the user should click on the Exceptions Tab and choose to add a program. From the list of programs, tell the user to double click on the blocked program to allow access and then click OK.

The correct answer is C.  So why is C the correct answer?  Simply, because the processes listed in answer choices A and D won’t get you to the Exceptions tab where you can add and remove programs.  Answer choice B is right out because, of course, there is a way to give the non-updating software access to their much needed updates.

Chuck from Tennessee writes: “The “correct” answer does not make any sense. What is the ‘appropriate interface’? On my XP, to solve this problem I would: Start->Control Panel->Windows Firewall, Exceptions tab, Add program button, then select the program.

And Chuck is right, his navigation scenario would take one to the Exceptions tab.  The only problem is, that’s not one of the answer choices.  Now, it’s true, the question may seem tricky in answer choice C, leaving out that the user would need to have their network connections open on the screen.  But, CompTIA likes to be tricky, too.  So, in order to better prepare you for the kinds of questions you’ll encounter on the test, we have to take a page out of their book.

Just remember, when you’re actually sitting for the exam, to carefully examine every answer choice and ask yourself, “Which one of these is more right than the others?”

Ok, the second item comes from Server 2003 Network Infrastructure (70-291) Practice Exam.  The question is:

You are the network administrator of a Windows Server 2003 network. You are in charge of configuring DHCP. The IT manager wants to use DHCP for all IP addressing. Three servers on the network are running applications that require the servers to have static IP addresses. What can you do to accomplish this? Choose the best answer.

A.) Configure each server with a static IP address.

B.) Exclude the IP addresses assigned to each server from the scope.

C.) Create a client reservation for each of the servers.

D.) Exclude all IP addresses from the scope, except those assigned to the three servers.

The correct answer is C.  Client reservations ensure that that DHCP sends the IP addresses we want to the three servers that need to have the same address all the time in order to run their applications.  Answer choice A is obviously wrong because, well, the Boss is asking us to use DHCP for all addressing.  What the Boss wants, the Boss gets.  Answer choice B is incorrect for the same reason A is incorrect: we would need to exclude our servers’ IP addresses from the DHCP scope, but only if we were using static IP addressing on the servers.  Since the question stem stated that we couldn’t (even though we’d really, really like to), B is out.  D is basically the opposite of B.  If we exclude everything from the scope but the addresses to the servers, then on top of having to manually configure every client’s IP address on the network, our three servers would just trade their IP addresses around!

Feedback comes from Samuel from Toronto who writes:“If the servers need static IP addresses their IP addresses should be excluded. If they have a static IP address they will not Acquire a DHCP IP address so a reservation will not be affective right?”

This goes back to understanding what the stem of the question is really asking.  Essentially, we want a way to make sure that our three servers running our applications always have the same IP address.  Now, the way to do that with the least administrative effort is to statically configure those servers for IPs and then just exclude them from the DHCP scope.  But The Boss wants DHCP used on every machine, even the ones that need a static IP for their applications.  So, we have to “trick” DHCP into statically configuring the servers for an IP address it’ll always have.  We do that with client reservations.

Ok, that’s all for now!  Check back soon for another round and keep sending in that feedback.