Preface

Complete with a clear, succinct explanation of key concepts, self-assessment questions, tips, and mock exams with detailed answers, this MD-100 study guide covers different facets of upgrading and deploying Windows 10. You'll learn how to manage devices and data, configure connectivity, troubleshoot the operating system and apps, and secure and maintain Windows 10 with updates and recovery.

You'll explore different Windows 10 editions and learn how to choose the best fit for your organization. This book will guide you through installing and configuring Windows 10 using different approaches. Toward the end of the book, you’ll get to grips with managing local users and groups in Windows 10 and learn how to establish connections via different networks, such as a LAN or WLAN/Wi-Fi.

You'll learn how to deploy Windows 10 in a variety of ways, and to manage local users, groups, and devices. You'll also learn how to configure networking and remote connectivity, and gain insights into Windows 10 maintenance. You will also learn how to customize different Windows 10 features and become an expert at troubleshooting and recovery. Also, you'll get to grips with managing log files, and monitoring and managing Windows security.

You will learn about managing devices and data, configuring connectivity and security, and maintaining Windows 10 with updates and recovery.

By the end of this book, you'll have covered everything you need to pass the MD-100 certification exam and become a Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator Associate.

Who this book is for

This book is for both experienced and novice IT administrators who deploy, configure, secure, and monitor devices. Anyone who wants to take the MD-100 exam should have a working knowledge of managing identity, access, policies, updates, and apps. Although not necessary, experience with Microsoft 365 workloads, Windows 10 devices, and non-Windows devices will be helpful.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Deploying Windows 10, describes the different methodologies of installing and deploying Windows 10 on a device. You will explore Windows 10 and learn how it operates across a plethora of devices. Understanding which edition is required for the enterprise is important because each edition comes with its own unique features.

Chapter 2, Upgrading Windows 10, describes the different processes for upgrading from an earlier version of Windows to the current Windows 10. You will explore how to configure language packs, troubleshoot activation problems, and migrate user data.

Chapter 3, Customizing and Configuring Windows 10, explains how to customize different Windows 10 features and configure startup options. You will explore concepts such as configuring desktop settings, Start menus, and color schemes.

Chapter 4, Managing Local Users, Groups, and Devices, shows you how to manage local users and groups. You will subsequently explore how devices are managed in a Workgroup.

Chapter 5, Configuring Permissions and File Access, discusses the different file systems in Windows 10 and explains how to configure NTFS and share permissions on folders and file access.

Chapter 6, Configuring and Implementing Local Policies, explains how to configure local policies and how to implement them in Windows 10. We can set different policies to users or to devices.

Chapter 7, Securing Data and Applications, discusses User Account Control, how to configure Threat Protection and AppLocker, and how to implement disk encryption.

Chapter 8, Configuring Various Networks, explains the fundamentals of how to configure different options to create formidable connections such as LAN, Wi-Fi, and mobile connectivity.

Chapter 9, Configuring Remote Connectivity, discusses remote management via PowerShell to a Windows 10 device. You will learn how to connect to a Windows 10 desktop via Remote Desktop access.

Chapter 10, Understanding Troubleshooting and Recovery, discusses errors in Windows 10 that can be dealt with in several ways. You will learn these different ways, such as file recovery and recovering a complete Windows 10 installation or application. We will look at troubleshooting during the startup/boot process of Windows 10.

Chapter 11, Managing Updates, discusses several key strategies for keeping Windows 10 up to date, as it is common knowledge that it is important to keep Windows 10 and your applications up to date.

Chapter 12, Managing Log Files, explores different log files that are built in to Windows 10 and how to read those files.

Chapter 13, Mock Exam A and B, contains mock exams for the reader to test the knowledge they have gained from the book.

Assessments, contains the answers to the questions asked in the chapters.

To get the most out of this book

You should know the basics of Windows 10, Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) and Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Microsoft Intune) before you can proceed with the book.

Before starting with this book, you should join the Microsoft 365 Developer Program to set up and configure an Azure AD Developer tenant. More information about this program can be found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/developer-program/microsoft-365-developer-program.

If you already own an Azure AD tenant for testing purposes, then you can use that.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code via the GitHub repository (link available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to copy/pasting of code.

Download the example code files

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The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Microsoft-Exam-MD-100-Windows-10-Certification-Guide. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Code in Action

Code in Action videos for this book can be viewed at (https://bit.ly/2LsQDqD).

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://static.packt-cdn.com/downloads/9781838822187_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "Replace <KBnumber> with the actual KB number in the command if you wish to uninstall the update."

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

wmic qfe list brief /format:table

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Open Settings | Update & Security | Windows Update option."

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

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