IT Certification and Training Blog

By Val Bakh

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 support a feature called native boot. Native boot refers to a situation where a physical computer boots from a physical disk into an operating system that is installed on a virtual hard disk (VHD). Let’s take a look at how a blank, or bare-metal, computer can be configured for a native boot.

By Val Bakh

Previously, we introduced the concept of virtual hard disks (VHDs) and discussed their possible uses. We mentioned the idea of a virtual computer lab as an attractive alternative to a lab filled with “real,” physical computers. Now we’ll discuss how this new lab can be organized.

2.5.1 A virtual lab (part 1)

How much are you shelling out for your next certification exam? $200? $350? These Cisco certification exams and Microsoft certification exams aren’t cheap. The CISSP certification exam currently costs around $500; if you fail, you're out some serious cash. How much money are you willing to gamble with?

By Michael Aldridge

When I got my first "real" IT job back in 1998, I set my sights on the most prestigious certification that existed back then: the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) certification. Sure, the first step was to become a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). But what did the MCP title really mean? After all, passing any Microsoft exam would enable you to become an MCP. So a developer, a database administrator, and a server administrator might all have the same generic MCP certification. This lack of specificity caused many techs – and many HR managers – to yawn at the MCP credential. Instead, techs set their sights on a certification that indicated to employers exactly what skills they possessed. For server administrators, the MCSE was that certification.

By Val Bakh

2.4.3 How to Load Drivers in WinPE

One of the great enhancements that comes with Windows 7 is Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE). The first version of WinPE was released with Windows Vista; the version that comes with Windows 7 is version 3.0. WinPE is a small starter operating system that can be loaded from a removable medium or device, such as a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive (UFD), and can run entirely from RAM. This means you can breathe some vital signs into a blank computer or try to bring back to life a computer with a dysfunctional, corrupted installation of Windows.

By Val Bakh

2.4.2 Drive Letters (part 2)

In the first part of this article, we discussed the drive letter assignment basics and the changes that Windows Vista and Windows 7 have brought in this area. Now let’s try a few tricks.

Nashville, Tenn. (February 28, 2012) – Boson Software, LLC, announces the release of ExSim-Max for CISSP. This practice exam software helps seasoned information security specialists obtain the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (2012) certification.

Nashville, Tenn. (February 29, 2012) – Boson Software, LLC, has released ExSim-Max for CompTIA Network+ N10-005. With this offering, Boson adds to its growing line of quality CompTIA exam simulation products, which includes practice exams for CompTIA A+ Essentials, A+ Practical Application, Network+ N10-004 and Security+.

By Val Bakh

2.4.1 Drive Letters (part 1)

Disk drives are referred to by using alphabet letters. Drives A and B were commonly used for floppy disk drives, which are now ancient history; virtually no new computers have them anymore. Now drive C is usually the first drive on almost any computer. But what exactly is drive C?