Know what the critical Windows interfaces are and how to use them. This list includes the Desktop, Taskbar, Start menu, icons, windows, Control Panel, the command prompt, Computer (My Computer), Network (My Network Places), the system tray, and the Registry editor.

Know what file systems are available in Windows and what the differences between them are. The most commonly used file system on Windows hard drives is NTFS. FAT32 is older and perhaps a bit quicker for smaller hard drives, but NTFS adds a plethora of important features, including security and auditing.

Understand what each of the following commands does: CMD, COPY, XCOPY, /?, MD, CD, and RD. Many utilities that come with Windows help you navigate through or manage files and directories from a command prompt. The CMD command opens a command line, where you can type the rest of the commands. If you’re not sure which utility to use, /? will give you information. The MD, CD, and RD commands make, change, and delete (remove) directories, respectively. Both COPY and XCOPY are used to copy files.

Know what the IPCONFIG and PING commands are for. Both IPCONFIG and PING are network troubleshooting commands. You can use IPCONFIG to view your computer’s IP configuration and PING to test connectivity between two network hosts.

Know the main administrative tools. You should know the primary graphical tools for troubleshooting Windows and working with the operating system. These include the disk management tools, Administrative Tools, Device Manager, Task Manager, System Information, System Restore, and Task Scheduler.