Windows Interview Questions

Windows Admin Interview Questions

10 Apr, 2007  No Comment

1. Describe how the DHCP lease is obtained.

It’s a four-step process consisting of (a) IP request, (b) IP offer, © IP selection and (d)
acknowledgement.
2. I can’t seem to access the Internet, don’t have any access to the corporate network
and on ipconfig my address is 169.254.*.*. What happened?
The 169.254.*.* netmask is assigned to Windows machines running 98/2000/XP if the
DHCP server is not available. The name for the technology is APIPA (Automatic Private
Internet Protocol Addressing).
3. We’ve installed a new Windows-based DHCP server, however, the users do not
seem to be getting DHCP leases off of it. The server must be authorized first with the
Active Directory.
4. How can you force the client to give up the dhcp lease if you have access to the client
PC?
ipconfig /release
5. What authentication options do Windows 2000 Servers have for remote clients?
PAP, SPAP, CHAP, MS-CHAP and EAP.
6. What are the networking protocol options for the Windows clients if for some
reason you do not want to use TCP/IP? NWLink (Novell), NetBEUI, AppleTalk
(Apple).
7. What is data link layer in the OSI reference model responsible for? Data link layer
is located above the physical layer, but below the network layer.
Taking raw data bits and packaging them into frames. The network layer will be
responsible for addressing the frames, while the physical layer is reponsible for retrieving
and sending raw data bits.
8. What is binding order?
The order by which the network protocols are used for client-server communications. The
most frequently used protocols should be at the top.
9. How do cryptography-based keys ensure the validity of data transferred across the
network?
Each IP packet is assigned a checksum, so if the checksums do not match on both
receiving and transmitting ends, the data was modified or corrupted.
10. Should we deploy IPSEC-based security or certificate-based security?
They are really two different technologies. IPSec secures the TCP/IP communication and
protects the integrity of the packets. Certificate-based security ensures the validity of
authenticated clients and servers.
11. What is LMHOSTS file?
It’s a file stored on a host machine that is used to resolve NetBIOS to specific IP
addresses.
 12. What’s the difference between forward lookup and reverse lookup in DNS?
Forward lookup is name-to-address, the reverse lookup is address-to-name.
13. How can you recover a file encrypted using EFS?
Use the domain recovery agent.

Windows Server 2003 Interview and Certification Questions

10 Apr, 2007  No Comment

1. How do you double-boot a Win 2003 server box? The Boot.ini file is set as read-only,
system, and hidden to prevent unwanted editing. To change the Boot.ini timeout and
default settings, use the System option in Control Panel from the Advanced tab and select
Startup.
2. What do you do if earlier application doesn’t run on Windows Server 2003? When
an application that ran on an earlier legacy version of Windows cannot be loaded during
the setup function or if it later malfunctions, you must run the compatibility mode
function. This is accomplished by right-clicking the application or setup program and
selecting Properties –> Compatibility –> selecting the previously supported operating
system.
3.  If you uninstall Windows Server 2003, which operating systems can you revert to?
Win ME, Win 98, 2000, XP. Note, however, that you cannot upgrade from ME and 98 to
Windows Server 2003.
4. How do you get to Internet Firewall settings? Start –> Control Panel –> Network and
Internet Connections –> Network Connections.
5. What are the Windows Server 2003 keyboard shortcuts? Winkey opens or closes the
Start menu. Winkey + BREAK displays the System Properties dialog box. Winkey +
TAB moves the focus to the next application in the taskbar. Winkey + SHIFT + TAB
moves the focus to the previous application in the taskbar. Winkey + B moves the focus
to the notification area. Winkey + D shows the desktop. Winkey + E opens Windows
Explorer showing My Computer. Winkey + F opens the Search panel. Winkey + CTRL +
F opens the Search panel with Search for Computers module selected. Winkey + F1
opens Help. Winkey + M minimizes all. Winkey + SHIFT+ M undoes minimization.
Winkey + R opens Run dialog. Winkey + U opens the Utility Manager. Winkey + L
locks the computer.
6. What is Active Directory? Active Directory is a network-based object store and service
that locates and manages resources, and makes these resources available to authorized
users and groups. An underlying principle of the Active Directory is that everything is
considered an object—people, servers, workstations, printers, documents, and devices.
Each object has certain attributes and its own security access control list (ACL).
7. Where are the Windows NT Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and its Backup
Domain Controller (BDC) in Server 2003? The Active Directory replaces them. Now
all domain controllers share a multimaster peer-to-peer read and write relationship that
hosts copies of the Active Directory.
8. How long does it take for security changes to be replicated among the domain
controllers? Security-related modifications are replicated within a site immediately.
These changes include account and individual user lockout policies, changes to password
 policies, changes to computer account passwords, and modifications to the Local Security
Authority (LSA).
9. What’s new in Windows Server 2003 regarding the DNS management? When DC
promotion occurs with an existing forest, the Active Directory Installation Wizard
contacts an existing DC to update the directory and replicate from the DC the required
portions of the directory. If the wizard fails to locate a DC, it performs debugging and
reports what caused the failure and how to fix the problem. In order to be located on a
network, every DC must register in DNS DC locator DNS records. The Active Directory
Installation Wizard verifies a proper configuration of the DNS infrastructure. All DNS
configuration debugging and reporting activity is done with the Active Directory
Installation Wizard.
10. When should you create a forest? Organizations that operate on radically different
bases may require separate trees with distinct namespaces. Unique trade or brand names
often give rise to separate DNS identities. Organizations merge or are acquired and
naming continuity is desired. Organizations form partnerships and joint ventures. While
access to common resources is desired, a separately defined tree can enforce more direct
administrative and security restrictions.
11. How can you authenticate between forests? Four types of authentication are used
across forests: (1) Kerberos and NTLM network logon for remote access to a server in
another forest; (2) Kerberos and NTLM interactive logon for physical logon outside the
user’s home forest; (3) Kerberos delegation to N-tier application in another forest; and (4)
user principal name (UPN) credentials.

Windows Server 2003 Interview and Certification Questions

II
1. What snap-in administrative tools are available for Active Directory? Active
Directory Domains and Trusts Manager, Active Directory Sites and Services Manager,
Active Directory Users and Group Manager, Active Directory Replication (optional,
available from the Resource Kit), Active Directory Schema Manager (optional, available
from adminpak)
2. What types of classes exist in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory?
o Structural class. The structural class is important to the system administrator in
that it is the only type from which new Active Directory objects are created.
Structural classes are developed from either the modification of an existing
structural type or the use of one or more abstract classes.
o Abstract class. Abstract classes are so named because they take the form of
templates that actually create other templates (abstracts) and structural and
auxiliary classes. Think of abstract classes as frameworks for the defining objects.
o Auxiliary class. The auxiliary class is a list of attributes. Rather than apply
numerous attributes when creating a structural class, it provides a streamlined
alternative by applying a combination of attributes with a single include action.
o 88 class. The 88 class includes object classes defined prior to 1993, when the
1988 X.500 specification was adopted. This type does not use the structural,
 abstract, and auxiliary definitions, nor is it in common use for the development of
objects in Windows Server 2003 environments.
3. How do you delete a lingering object? Windows Server 2003 provides a command
called Repadmin that provides the ability to delete lingering objects in the Active
Directory.
4. What is Global Catalog? The Global Catalog authenticates network user logons and
fields inquiries about objects across a forest or tree. Every domain has at least one GC
that is hosted on a domain controller. In Windows 2000, there was typically one GC on
every site in order to prevent user logon failures across the network.
5. How is user account security established in Windows Server 2003? When an account
is created, it is given a unique access number known as a security identifier (SID). Every
group to which the user belongs has an associated SID. The user and related group SIDs
together form the user account’s security token, which determines access levels to objects
throughout the system and network. SIDs from the security token are mapped to the
access control list (ACL) of any object the user attempts to access.
6. If I delete a user and then create a new account with the same username and
password, would the SID and permissions stay the same? No. If you delete a user
account and attempt to recreate it with the same user name and password, the SID will be
different.
7. What do you do with secure sign-ons in an organization with many roaming users?
Credential Management feature of Windows Server 2003 provides a consistent single
sign-on experience for users. This can be useful for roaming users who move between
computer systems. The Credential Management feature provides a secure store of user
credentials that includes passwords and X.509 certificates.
8. Anything special you should do when adding a user that has a Mac? “Save password
as encrypted clear text” must be selected on User Properties Account Tab Options, since
the Macs only store their passwords that way.
9. What remote access options does Windows Server 2003 support? Dial-in, VPN, dial-
in with callback.
10. Where are the documents and settings for the roaming profile stored? All the
documents and environmental settings for the roaming user are stored locally on the
system, and, when the user logs off, all changes to the locally stored profile are copied to
the shared server folder. Therefore, the first time a roaming user logs on to a new system
the logon process may take some time, depending on how large his profile folder is.
11. Where are the settings for all the users stored on a given machine? \Document and
Settings\All Users
12. What languages can you use for log-on scripts? JavaScipt, VBScript, DOS batch files
(.com, .bat, or even .exe)
Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Security
questions
1. What’s the difference between local, global and universal groups? Domain local
groups assign access permissions to global domain groups for local domain resources.
Global groups provide access to resources in other trusted domains. Universal groups
grant access to resources in all trusted domains.
2. I am trying to create a new universal user group. Why can’t I? Universal groups are
allowed only in native-mode Windows Server 2003 environments. Native mode requires
that all domain controllers be promoted to Windows Server 2003 Active Directory.
3. What is LSDOU? It’s group policy inheritance model, where the policies are applied to
Local machines, Sites, Domains and Organizational Units.
4. Why doesn’t LSDOU work under Windows NT? If the NTConfig.pol file exist, it has
the highest priority among the numerous policies.
5. Where are group policies stored? %SystemRoot%System32\GroupPolicy
6. What is GPT and GPC? Group policy template and group policy container.
7. Where is GPT stored? %SystemRoot%\SYSVOL\sysvol\domainname\Policies\GUID
8. You change the group policies, and now the computer and user settings are in
conflict. Which one has the highest priority? The computer settings take priority.
9. You want to set up remote installation procedure, but do not want the user to gain
access over it. What do you do? gponame–> User Configuration–> Windows Settings–
> Remote Installation Services–> Choice Options is your friend.
10. What’s contained in administrative template conf.adm? Microsoft NetMeeting
policies

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Security

questions II
1. How can you restrict running certain applications on a machine? Via group policy,
security settings for the group, then Software Restriction Policies.
2. You need to automatically install an app, but MSI file is not available. What do you
do? A .zap text file can be used to add applications using the Software Installer, rather
than the Windows Installer.
3. What’s the difference between Software Installer and Windows Installer? The
former has fewer privileges and will probably require user intervention. Plus, it uses .zap
files.
4. What can be restricted on Windows Server 2003 that wasn’t there in previous
products? Group Policy in Windows Server 2003 determines a users right to modify
network and dial-up TCP/IP properties. Users may be selectively restricted from
modifying their IP address and other network configuration parameters.
5. How frequently is the client policy refreshed? 90 minutes give or take.
6. Where is secedit? It’s now gpupdate.
7. You want to create a new group policy but do not wish to inherit. Make sure you
check Block inheritance among the options when creating the policy.
 8. What is “tattooing” the Registry? The user can view and modify user preferences that
are not stored in maintained portions of the Registry. If the group policy is removed or
changed, the user preference will persist in the Registry.
9. How do you fight tattooing in NT/2000 installations? You can’t.
10. How do you fight tattooing in 2003 installations? User Configuration - Administrative
Templates - System - Group Policy - enable - Enforce Show Policies Only.

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Security questions III

1. What does IntelliMirror do? It helps to reconcile desktop settings, applications, and
stored files for users, particularly those who move between workstations or those who
must periodically work offline.
2. What’s the major difference between FAT and NTFS on a local machine? FAT and
FAT32 provide no security over locally logged-on users. Only native NTFS provides
extensive permission control on both remote and local files.
3. How do FAT and NTFS differ in approach to user shares? They don’t, both have
support for sharing.
4. Explan the List Folder Contents permission on the folder in NTFS. Same as Read &
Execute, but not inherited by files within a folder. However, newly created subfolders
will inherit this permission.
5. I have a file to which the user has access, but he has no folder permission to read it.
Can he access it? It is possible for a user to navigate to a file for which he does not have
folder permission. This involves simply knowing the path of the file object. Even if the
user can’t drill down the file/folder tree using My Computer, he can still gain access to
the file using the Universal Naming Convention (UNC). The best way to start would be
to type the full path of a file into Run… window.
6. For a user in several groups, are Allow permissions restrictive or permissive?
Permissive, if at least one group has Allow permission for the file/folder, user will have
the same permission.
7. For a user in several groups, are Deny permissions restrictive or permissive?
Restrictive, if at least one group has Deny permission for the file/folder, user will be
denied access, regardless of other group permissions.
8. What hidden shares exist on Windows Server 2003 installation? Admin$, Drive$,
IPC$, NETLOGON, print$ and SYSVOL.
9. What’s the difference between standalone and fault-tolerant DFS (Distributed File
System) installations? The standalone server stores the Dfs directory tree structure or
topology locally. Thus, if a shared folder is inaccessible or if the Dfs root server is down,
users are left with no link to the shared resources. A fault-tolerant root node stores the
Dfs topology in the Active Directory, which is replicated to other domain controllers.
Thus, redundant root nodes may include multiple connections to the same data residing in
different shared folders.
10. We’re using the DFS fault-tolerant installation, but cannot access it from a Win98
box. Use the UNC path, not client, only 2000 and 2003 clients can access Server 2003
fault-tolerant shares.
 11. Where exactly do fault-tolerant DFS shares store information in Active Directory?
In Partition Knowledge Table, which is then replicated to other domain controllers.

Windows Server 2003 Active Directory and Security questions IV

1. Can you use Start->Search with DFS shares? Yes.

2. What problems can you have with DFS installed? Two users opening the redundant
copies of the file at the same time, with no file-locking involved in DFS, changing the
contents and then saving. Only one file will be propagated through DFS.
3. I run Microsoft Cluster Server and cannot install fault-tolerant DFS. Yeah, you
can’t. Install a standalone one.
4. Is Kerberos encryption symmetric or asymmetric? Symmetric.
5. How does Windows 2003 Server try to prevent a middle-man attack on encrypted
line? Time stamp is attached to the initial client request, encrypted with the shared key.
6. What hashing algorithms are used in Windows 2003 Server? RSA Data Security’s
Message Digest 5 (MD5), produces a 128-bit hash, and the Secure Hash Algorithm 1
(SHA-1), produces a 160-bit hash.
7. What third-party certificate exchange protocols are used by Windows 2003 Server?
Windows Server 2003 uses the industry standard PKCS-10 certificate request and PKCS-
7 certificate response to exchange CA certificates with third-party certificate authorities.
8. What’s the number of permitted unsuccessful logons on Administrator account?
Unlimited. Remember, though, that it’s the Administrator account, not any account that’s
part of the Administrators group.
9. If hashing is one-way function and Windows Server uses hashing for storing
passwords, how is it possible to attack the password lists, specifically the ones using
NTLMv1? A cracker would launch a dictionary attack by hashing every imaginable term
used for password and then compare the hashes.
10. What’s the difference between guest accounts in Server 2003 and other editions?
More restrictive in Windows Server 2003.
11. How many passwords by default are remembered when you check “Enforce
Password History Remembered”? User’s last 6 passwords.

Windows Server 2003 IIS and Scripting interview questions

1. What is presentation layer responsible for in the OSI model? The presentation layer
establishes the data format prior to passing it along to the network application’s interface.
TCP/IP networks perform this task at the application layer.
 2. Does Windows Server 2003 support IPv6? Yes, run ipv6.exe from command line to
disable it.
3. Can Windows Server 2003 function as a bridge? Yes, and it’s a new feature for the
2003 product. You can combine several networks and devices connected via several
adapters by enabling IP routing.
4. What’s the difference between the basic disk and dynamic disk? The basic type
contains partitions, extended partitions, logical drivers, and an assortment of static
volumes; the dynamic type does not use partitions but dynamically manages volumes and
provides advanced storage options
5. What’s a media pool? It is any compilation of disks or tapes with the same
administrative properties.
6. How do you install recovery console? C:\i386\win32 /cmdcons, assuming that
your Win server installation is on drive C.
7. What’s new in Terminal Services for Windows 2003 Server? Supports audio
transmissions as well, although prepare for heavy network load.
8. What scripts ship with IIS 6.0? iisweb.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and list Web
sites, iisftp.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and list FTP sites, iisdir.vsb to create, delete,
start, stop, and display virtual directories, iisftpdr.vsb to create, delete, start, stop, and
display virtual directories under an FTP root, iiscnfg.vbs to export and import IIS
configuration to an XML file.
9. What’s the name of the user who connects to the Web site anonymously?
IUSR_computername
10. What secure authentication and encryption mechanisms are supported by IIS 6.0?
Basic authentication, Digest authentication, Advanced digest authentication, Certificate-
based Web transactions that use PKCS #7/PKCS #10, Fortezza, SSL, Server-Gated
Cryptography, Transport Layer Security
11. What’s the relation between SSL and TLS? Transport Layer Security (TLS) extends
SSL by providing cryptographic authentication.

Windows Server 2003 IIS and Scripting interview questions II

1. What’s the role of http.sys in IIS? It is the point of contact for all incoming HTTP
requests. It listens for requests and queues them until they are all processed, no more
queues are available, or the Web server is shut down.
2. Where’s ASP cache located on IIS 6.0? On disk, as opposed to memory, as it used to be
in IIS 5.
3. What is socket pooling? Non-blocking socket usage, introduced in IIS 6.0. More than
one application can use a given socket.
4. Describe the process of clustering with Windows 2003 Server when a new node is
added. As a node goes online, it searches for other nodes to join by polling the
 designated internal network. In this way, all nodes are notified of the new node’s
existence. If other nodes cannot be found on a preexisting cluster, the new node takes
control of the quorum resources residing on the shared disk that contains state and
configuration data.
5. What applications are not capable of performing in Windows 2003 Server clusters?
The ones written exclusively for NetBEUI and IPX.
6. What’s a heartbeat? Communication processes between the nodes designed to ensure
node’s health.
7. What’s a threshold in clustered environment? The number of times a restart is
attempted, when the node fails.
8. You need to change and admin password on a clustered Windows box, but that
requires rebooting the cluster, doesn’t it? No, it doesn’t. In 2003 environment you can
do that via cluster.exe utility which does not require rebooting the entire cluster.
9. For the document of size 1 MB, what size would you expect the index to be with
Indexing Service? 150-300 KB, 15-30% is a reasonable expectation.
10. Doesn’t the Indexing Service introduce a security flaw when allowing access to the
index? No, because users can only view the indices of documents and folders that they
have permissions for.
11. What’s the typical size of the index? Less then 100K documents - up to 128 MB. More
than that - 256+ MB.

Windows Server 2003 IIS and Scripting interview questions III

1. Which characters should be enclosed in quotes when searching the index? &, @, $,
#, ^, ( ), and |.
2. How would you search for C++? Just enter C++, since + is not a special character (and
neither is C).
3. What about Barnes&Noble? Should be searched for as Barnes’&’Noble.
4. Are the searches case-sensitive? No.
5. What’s the order of precedence of Boolean operators in Microsoft Windows 2003
Server Indexing Service? NOT, AND, NEAR, OR.
6. What’s a vector space query? A multiple-word query where the weight can be assigned
to each of the search words. For example, if you want to fight information on ‘black
hole’, but would prefer to give more weight to the word hole, you can enter black[1]
hole[20] into the search window.
7. What’s a response queue? It’s the message queue that holds response messages sent
from the receiving application to the sender.
8. What’s MQPing used for? Testing Microsoft Message Queue services between the
nodes on a network.
9. Which add-on package for Windows 2003 Server would you use to monitor the
installed software and license compliance? SMS (System Management Server).
10. Which service do you use to set up various alerts? MOM (Microsoft Operations
Manager).
11. What languages does Windows Scripting Host support? VB, VBScript, JScript.