Installing and Configuring Windows 10: 70-698 Exam Guide: Learn to deploy, configure, and monitor Windows 10 effectively to prepare for the 70-698 exam

In order to complete the labs for this chapter, you will need one of the following pieces of equipment:

Windows 10 (codenamed Threshold) was released on July 29, 2015. Windows 10 represents another of Microsoft's Windows NT family operating system (OS) that merges Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 into a single OS. Windows 10 provides support for two physical processors, 32-bit and 64-bit, and ARM architecture. According to Microsoft, Windows 10 is the last OS released for personal computers (PCs). That said, Windows 10 new releases are offered through the Windows as a Service format. For the first anniversary in July 2016, Microsoft released Windows 10 Anniversary Update (codenamed Redstone 1), introducing a number of new features and enhancements. And so the practice of releasing new Windows 10 versions continues to be present even today. Recently, Microsoft has released the Windows 10 October 2018 Update (version 1809), which is included in this book.

As far as the minimum system requirements are concerned, Windows 10 can be installed on a PC with the following technical specifications:

However, be aware that those are just bare minimum specifications, meaning that your computer will only be able to run the most basic tasks. Hence, if you want to avoid slow performance on your computer, then you'd better stick to the following recommended system requirements:

As the name indicates, whether you are installing Windows 10 on a new hard disk or on an existing disk, the clean install (see Figure 1.1) formats the new disk so it can install the new OS, or reformats the existing disk by erasing the existing OS, users' data, and apps to install the new OS. To summarize, a clean install (re)builds the OS and its utilities entirely from scratch, thus overwriting all the previous content on a disk:

Figure 1.1 Clean install option from Windows 10 setup

Unlike clean install, upgrade (as in Figure 1.2) replaces your existing OS with a new one. That means that you retain your files and settings. It is often called an in-place upgrade because it takes place on a machine with an already installed OS. Prior to running an upgrade, it is recommended that you make a backup of Windows system states, files, and folders:

Figure 1.2 Upgrade option from Windows 10 setup

Never in the history of Windows OS has a single version had more editions than Windows 10. There are altogether 12 editions of Windows 10, each with unique features: 

How to determine which Windows 10 version your PC is running?

To find out which version of Windows 10 is running on your PC, do the following:

1. Click the search icon in the taskbar.
2. Enter about as a keyword, and selectAbout your PCfrom the search results, as shown in Figure 1.3:

Figure 1.3 Finding out information about Windows 10 using the About your PC option

3. Under Windows specifications on the About page of Windows Settings, you will find information about the Windows 10 edition, version, when it was installed, and the OS build.

Another way to find out which version of Windows 10 your PC is running, is as follows:

1. Press the Windows logo key +R.
2. Enterwinver and then selectOK, as shown in Figure 1.4:

Figure 1.4 Finding out information about of Windows 10 using the winver command

3. From the About Windows dialog box, you will find information about the Windows 10 version, the OS build, edition, and to whom the product is licensed.

As you may have noticed in the Determining appropriate editions according to device type section earlier in this chapter, the Enterprise and Education editions are the only full-featured editions of Windows 10. That means that not all features work or are available in each edition of Windows 10. So, depending on the edition, at your disposal are some of the unique Windows 10 features, such as Cortana, Windows Hello, Continuum, Secure Boot, BitLocker/BitLocker To Go, Client Hyper-V, Skype, and other features.

An installation media is a medium that contains the operating system files. Whether you are making a clean install or an upgrade to Windows 10, you will definitely need an installation media. You can have a fabricated installation media that you have probably purchased from Microsoft or its channel partners, or you can create one. Before you go on and purchase a fabricated installation media or create one on your own, it is recommended to assess what format of an installation media your device supports. Nowadays, while most end devices are equipped with USB ports (including micro USB ports), not all devices have a DVD drive. Therefore, it is your device that determines the format of an installation media. With that in mind, when opting for a fabricated installation media, in most cases you will end up receiving a DVD disk. Whereas, if you decide to create one on your own then you need a Windows 10 ISO file and a DVD disk or USB flash drive. Due to the size of the Windows 10 ISO file, it is recommended that the capacity of the DVD disk and USB flash drive be at least 8 GB. To learn how to download the Windows 10 ISO file and how to burn an ISO file to a DVD disk or create a bootable USB flash drive on your own, see the Chapter lab – downloading Windows 10 section later in this chapter.

When talking about clients, servers, hosts, and nodes, we are actually talking about computer network components.At first glance, it may seem like, more or less, we are talking about the same component, but in fact each component is unique in itself. Hence,to understand these components correctly, the following sections will explain clients, servers, hosts, and nodes.

Understanding clients and servers

As you may know, the network world recognizes two architectures: peer-to-peer (P2P) and client/server architecture. While a P2P network architecture consists of hosts that, depending on network activity, switch roles from client to server and vice versa, in a client/server architecture, hosts have predefined roles where some are clients and some are servers. Clients are the hosts who make requests for network services, whereas the servers are hosts that provide network services. Both clients and servers play an active role in computer networks. In Figure 1.5, the server with a shared printer acts as a print server, and as such it provides print services to the clients in a network. Whereas, the PC, laptop, and smartphone represent the clients that request services:

Figure 1.5 Client/server network architecture

Note

The origin of the word server originates from the word serve. If you search for the word serve in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, among the results you will find is the one that says: to provide services that benefit or help. Thus, a server in a computer network means a computer that provides services to the clients. From that, the server serves the clients.

In this chapter lab, you will learn how to download Windows 10 from the following:

Downloading Windows 10 from Microsoft Evaluation Center

The steps to download Windows 10 Enterprise (90-day free evaluation) and burn the ISO file to a DVD are fairly simple. To do so, perform the following steps:

1. Open your browser and enter https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/ in the address bar.
2. In the upper-right corner, locate the search icon and enter Windows 10 Enterprise,  and then press Enter.

3. From the list of results, selectWindows 10 Enterprise.
4. After selecting the evaluation file type, click the Continue button.
5. After you have completed the form, click the Continue button.
6. Select the platform and language, and then click the Download button.
7. Specify the location on you computer or on a network share when prompted to save the Windows 10 Enterprise file (see Figure 1.6):

Figure 1.6 Downloading Windows 10 Enterprise from Microsoft Evaluation Center

Once your Windows 10 Enterprise download completes, you can then burn the ISO file to a DVD or create a bootable USB flash drive. Remember, Windows 10 Enterprise is valid only for 90 days from the day that you install it. Afterward, if you want to continue to use it then you should purchase a license. 

 

Note

To find out how to mount and burn ISO files in Windows 10 and previous versions of Windows, navigate to https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/mount-burn-iso-files-windows.

Downloading Windows 10 through the media creation tool

To download Windows 10 and make a bootable USB flash drive, do the following:

1. Open your browser and enter https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 in the address bar.
2. In the Create Windows 10 installation mediasection, click on Download tool now.
3. Specify the location on you computer or on a network share when prompted to save the media creation tool (see Figure 1.7):

Figure 1.7 Downloading the media creation tool for Windows 10

4. Once the download completes, click on Run.
5. Shortly, the Windows 10 Setup window will display the Applicable notices and license terms view. Click on Accept.
6. In the What do you want to do? view, select Create Installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC and click on Next.
7. The next view enables you to Select language, architecture, and edition, and then click on Next.
8. In the Choose which media to use view, select USB flash drive and click Next.
9. Select a USB flash drive and click Next.
10. The next view shows that Downloading Windows 10 has started.
11. Once Windows 10 is downloaded, the next view indicates that the Windows 10 setup is Creating Windows 10 media.
12. Finally, click Finish when you notice the Your USB flash drive is ready view (see Figure 1.8):

Figure 1.8 Windows 10 setup indicating that a bootable USB flash drive is ready

We can summarize the chapter with the following points: