15.6. The Bottom Line

Verify your network configuration

DHCP provides centralized IP address configurations, and all Windows clients understand DHCP without any additional installations required.

Master It

You need to verify that a client machine has received the correct IP address configuration via DHCP for the network you are working on. Which of the following commands would return these results?

ipconfig /all
ipconfig /refresh
msconfig /show
msconfig

Join a client computer to a domain

Joining an Active Directory domain is key for workstations, because this provides centralized management from the Domain Admins within the domain. Group Policy is centralized, security can be established, and even software can be controlled centrally.

Master It

Is the following statement true or false? "When joining a computer to an Active Directory domain, the only way this can occur is if the user joining the computer to the domain is a Domain Admin."

Change user passwords

By default Windows AD provides a 42-day maximum password age limit. This limit is preceded by a 14-day reminder that you need to change your password. The 42-day maximum is designed to maintain a certain level of security for the enterprise, not allowing passwords to become stale.

Master It

A user has become paranoid and wants to change his user account password right away. He does not know how to do this and calls the help desk. The computer he is using is running the Windows 7 operating system. What do you tell him?

Connect to network resources

A user wants to connect to a printer on the domain that does double-sided printing and also stapling. But the user does not know where the company keeps these printers. The user calls the help desk.

Master It

Which of the following is the most efficient way for the user to find printers matching this description?

1. Tell the user to walk around the office complex and check each printer to see whether it has these features.

2. Tell the user to use the net view command to check for shared printers on a per-computer basis.

3. Tell the user to start the Add Printer Wizard and then select the Search Active Directory option.