70-697 Configuring Windows Devices: What the Exam Covered and How to Plan Your Next Step
Exam 70-697, identified by Microsoft as “Configuring Windows Devices,” validated practical Windows 10 device-administration knowledge across identity, security, applications, mobility, virtualization, data protection, and integrated Azure features. It was intended for people working in Windows desktop support or device administration, with supporting knowledge of networking, Active Directory, and Microsoft Intune. This guide helps you make the important decision first: whether you are researching a retired exam for historical or professional context, or should instead pursue a current certification path.
Is 70-697 still available?
No. Microsoft Q&A states that exam 70-697 was retired on April 30, 2019, and Microsoft’s retirement policy says a retired exam cannot be taken and its associated certification or credential cannot be earned after retirement. A candidate cannot currently schedule 70-697 as a new exam. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/0249896/697-and-698-completed-do-i-just-need-to-do-md-101; https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
This changes how the exam should be used. The objectives remain useful as a historical description of Windows 10 administration skills, and they may help you interpret an older transcript, job requirement, training course, or legacy study material. They should not be treated as a current Microsoft exam blueprint or as a basis for purchasing a booking, voucher, or question collection.
If your goal is a current Microsoft credential, stop before building a study plan around 70-697. Check Microsoft Learn for the certification that currently matches your role and the technologies your employer uses. The 70-697 material can still reveal useful skill gaps, but it is not a substitute for a live exam’s current objectives.
What did 70-697 validate?
The exam validated configuration and management of Windows devices rather than a narrow troubleshooting specialty. Microsoft’s objective document grouped the knowledge around identities, data-loss protection, mobile-device-management policy, Hyper-V virtualization, Company Portal or Windows Store application management, Windows 10 security, and integrated Azure features. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
That scope describes an administrator who must connect several decisions: how a user authenticates, where the user’s data is stored, which applications can be installed, how a device is managed, and how the endpoint is protected. Studying isolated command names would therefore be a weak approach even when the exam itself was active. The stronger interpretation is end-to-end Windows device administration.
The objectives also covered installing and managing Microsoft Office 365 and Windows Store applications, app sideloading with Microsoft Intune and into online and offline images, Windows Hello, user-profile migration, mobility settings, and Hyper-V configuration. These subjects sit at different technical layers, so preparation required both conceptual understanding and hands-on configuration practice. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Who was the intended candidate?
The intended candidate was a Windows device support technician or Windows Device System Administrator with practical desktop-administration experience. Microsoft’s objective document also expected Windows desktop administration, maintenance, and troubleshooting experience, plus basic Windows networking knowledge and introductory knowledge of Active Directory and Microsoft Intune. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
This profile matters because the objectives assumed more than familiarity with the Windows interface. A suitable learner would be able to investigate a device problem, understand local and domain context, identify which policy or service is involved, and choose a configuration that fits the organization’s requirements.
A beginner could use the objective document as a curriculum, but should first establish the foundations Microsoft listed. Review Windows administration and troubleshooting before moving into policy, identity, Intune, or virtualization scenarios. Otherwise, advanced topics can become vocabulary exercises rather than operational knowledge.
For an experienced desktop technician, the main challenge would have been breadth. Someone comfortable with local Windows support might still need deliberate practice with profiles, image servicing, application deployment, authentication methods, Hyper-V networking, and Intune-related workflows.
Which skills should a study plan prioritize?
Because 70-697 is retired, there is no current scheduling decision or live blueprint to prioritize. For historical study, organize the objectives by dependency: establish Windows administration and networking, then study identity and data, followed by applications and management, security and mobility, and finally integrated troubleshooting across those areas. Do not invent domain percentages where the supplied objective document provides none.
Identity and authentication
Identity work should be studied as a configuration-and-troubleshooting chain. The objectives included certificates, Microsoft Passport, virtual smart cards, picture passwords, biometrics, domain authentication, account policies, credential caching, Credential Manager, and Windows Hello. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
For each method, record its purpose, dependency, user experience, security implication, and likely failure point. For example, distinguish a problem with the user’s credential from a problem with domain authentication or device policy. A comparison table in your notes is more useful than a list of definitions.
User data and profiles
The objectives included migrating and configuring user data, including user profiles, folder locations, and local, roaming, and mandatory profiles. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Practice explaining why an administrator would select one profile type or folder arrangement over another. Include the effect on user continuity, manageability, storage, and offline use. A useful lab exercise is to document a migration plan, identify which data moves, and list the validation checks you would perform after sign-in.
Applications and deployment
Application management included Microsoft Office 365, Windows Store applications, and sideloading with Microsoft Intune and into online and offline images. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Study the decision behind each deployment route instead of memorizing product labels. Ask whether the application belongs in the base image, should be deployed after enrollment, or needs a controlled sideloading process. For every lab, record prerequisites, package source, target device state, installation result, and rollback or removal method.
Hyper-V and virtualization
The objectives covered creating and configuring Hyper-V virtual machines, checkpoints, virtual switches, virtual disks, and virtual-machine storage moves. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Practice the relationship between the virtual machine, its storage, and its network connection. Create a small test environment, change one setting at a time, and record the effect. Treat checkpoints as a controlled testing aid rather than a complete backup strategy; the key study habit is to understand what state is being captured and what operational problem the feature solves.
Mobility, security, and data protection
The mobility objectives included offline-file policies, power policies, Windows To Go, synchronization options, Wi-Fi Direct, powercfg, and Sync Center. The broader exam scope also included data-loss protection and Windows 10 security. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Build scenario notes around competing requirements: availability while offline, battery conservation, control of removable or synchronized data, and protection of organizational information. For each setting, write down the business requirement first, then the technical control and the trade-off. This prevents a common mistake: choosing a feature because it exists rather than because it addresses the stated risk.
How should you prepare if you are studying the legacy objectives?
Use the objective document as a checklist, not as a promise of current exam content. Mark each topic as explain, configure, troubleshoot, or unable to demonstrate. Then spend most of your time on the last category and on combinations of categories, because Windows device administration commonly fails at the boundaries between identity, policy, applications, data, and networking.
Start with a skills inventory
Create one row for every objective cluster and add four columns: current confidence, evidence of hands-on practice, unresolved questions, and next lab. This takes less time than rereading every topic repeatedly and exposes false confidence quickly.
Separate knowledge from access. You may understand a feature but lack a safe environment in which to configure it. In that case, write a small test plan, use documentation available through Microsoft Learn or other authorized training resources, and record the expected result before changing the lab.
Build a small, repeatable lab
A repeatable lab should let you create a Windows test device, alter a configuration, observe the result, and restore a known state. Include a virtualized environment where appropriate, and keep a change log containing the setting changed, the reason, the observed behavior, and the recovery step.
Do not treat a lab as proof that every historical exam item will appear in the same form. Its value is operational: you learn dependencies, terminology, and troubleshooting habits. Those skills transfer better than memorized answers and remain useful when a technology or certification changes.
Study by incident rather than feature list
Turn the objectives into incidents such as a user receiving a new profile, an application failing to deploy, a device losing access to synchronized data, or a virtual machine lacking network connectivity. For each incident, define the starting state, desired state, evidence to collect, likely causes, and least disruptive fix.
This method also trains prioritization. First establish whether the problem is local to one device or widespread. Then check identity, policy, connectivity, application state, and data location in an order that matches the incident. Avoid changing several variables at once; you will lose the ability to identify the cause.
What practical mistakes should candidates avoid?
The most damaging mistake is preparing as though a retired exam were still an active certification target. Confirm availability and the current certification path before buying training or allocating study time. For legacy learning, avoid answer-dump memorization, unsupported claims about question formats, and any resource that presents leaked or unauthorized exam content as a shortcut.
Mistaking a historical mapping for a current equivalency
Microsoft’s 2019 mapping associated 70-697 with the Modern Desktop Administrator certification path requiring MD-100 and MD-101 at that time. That historical table is useful for understanding the transition from 70-xxx exams, but it should not be read as a guarantee that those exams are current or that their technology coverage remains unchanged. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/posts/mapping-microsoft-70-xxx-exams-to-new-role-based-certifications]
The Microsoft Q&A material also states that the replacement exams would not satisfy the requirements for MCSA: Windows 10. Therefore, do not assume that passing a replacement exam recreated the retired certification or that an old certification map automatically identifies today’s best credential. Verify the present requirements directly on Microsoft Learn. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/93388/are-there-equivalent-exams-to-the-microsoft-exams]
Memorizing commands without understanding state
A command or setting is only meaningful in context. If you memorize a tool without knowing what it changes, what permissions it requires, and how to verify the result, you will struggle with unfamiliar troubleshooting scenarios. Write a before-and-after record for each lab task and include at least one way to confirm that the intended state was achieved.
Ignoring foundational dependencies
Identity, application deployment, and policy management can depend on networking, directory context, enrollment, permissions, or image state. The objective document explicitly listed basic networking, introductory Active Directory, and introductory Intune knowledge. Treat those as prerequisites for the broader work, not optional background reading. [Source: https://download.microsoft.com/download/4/5/A/45AAB144-8922-4097-B2EA-99BC764AB90D/697_OD_Changes.pdf]
Using stale product assumptions
The objectives describe Windows 10-era features and workflows. A current product interface, policy name, or cloud workflow may differ from the historical material. Label your notes with the technology version or time period, and check current Microsoft documentation before applying a legacy procedure to a production environment.
What was the relationship to MCSA: Windows 10?
Exam 70-697 was part of the historical Windows 10 certification context, but the supplied Microsoft Q&A material states that the replacement exams would not satisfy MCSA: Windows 10 requirements. The same material reports that 70-697 and 70-698 had been retired and were no longer in use. Do not present 70-697 as a route to earning that retired certification today. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/93388/are-there-equivalent-exams-to-the-microsoft-exams]
This distinction is important for candidates reviewing old training records. Passing an exam, completing a certification, and following a later replacement path are separate events. If an employer asks for 70-697, ask whether the request means historical evidence of Windows 10 administration, a transcript entry, or a current certification equivalent. Those are different hiring requirements and should lead to different evidence.
Microsoft’s retirement policy says that a certification earned or renewed before retirement remains in the Active Certifications section of a Microsoft Learn transcript until it expires, after which it moves to Historical Certifications. That policy concerns credentials already earned; it does not reopen a retired exam. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/credential-retirement]
Can a candidate schedule 70-697 or verify a result?
A new candidate cannot schedule 70-697 because the exam is retired. The reliable next action is to check the candidate’s Microsoft Learn transcript or contact Microsoft’s official support channels if an older result, certification record, or historical requirement needs clarification. Do not rely on a third-party page claiming that a retired exam is available.
If you already passed 70-697
Keep the transcript record and any employer documentation that explains when and why the exam was earned. Microsoft says an earned certification remains on the transcript after the associated exam retires, subject to its normal expiration and transcript status rules. A transcript entry demonstrates historical achievement; it does not imply that the exam is current. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/retired-certification-exams]
If a job description still requests it
Ask the hiring contact whether they want the exact historical exam, Windows 10 administration experience, or a current role-based credential covering modern endpoint administration. Explain the distinction clearly and offer evidence that matches the request: transcript history for the exam, work examples for practical experience, or a current Microsoft certification for present-day validation.
If the requirement is unclear, Microsoft Q&A directs users toward dedicated support forums for exam availability and retirement questions. Use official support rather than assuming that an unofficial “equivalent” is accepted. [Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/93388/are-there-equivalent-exams-to-the-microsoft-exams]
A practical six-stage study roadmap for the legacy content
A staged roadmap keeps the historical objectives useful without pretending they lead to a live exam. Move forward only after you can explain and demonstrate the preceding stage. If your actual goal is a current certification, use this roadmap for fundamentals and replace its final validation step with the current official objectives for your chosen role.
Stage 1: Establish the baseline
Review Windows desktop administration, maintenance, troubleshooting, basic networking, Active Directory concepts, and Intune fundamentals. Produce a one-page environment diagram showing devices, users, directory services, management services, applications, and data locations. The diagram becomes a reference for later scenarios.
Next action: list five topics you can explain but cannot demonstrate. Those are your first lab candidates.
Stage 2: Map identity to device access
Work through domain authentication, account policies, credential storage, certificates, Windows Hello, and the other authentication methods named in the objectives. For each, document enrollment or configuration prerequisites and the evidence you would collect when sign-in fails.
Next action: create a comparison matrix that distinguishes authentication method, device dependency, administrative control, and recovery approach.
Stage 3: Protect and move user data
Study profile types, folder locations, migration decisions, offline files, synchronization, and related mobility controls. Design a user-data transition plan that preserves required access while limiting unnecessary data exposure. Include an acceptance checklist for the user’s first sign-in after migration.
Next action: test a profile or folder-location change in a disposable environment and record both the intended and unintended effects.
Stage 4: Deploy and manage applications
Compare Office 365, Windows Store applications, sideloading with Intune, and sideloading into online or offline images. Focus on how the deployment target and device state affect the process. Add verification and removal steps to every exercise.
Next action: write a deployment decision tree beginning with application source, target image or device, management authority, permissions, and validation method.
Stage 5: Configure virtualization and endpoint controls
Practice Hyper-V virtual machines, checkpoints, virtual switches, virtual disks, and storage moves. In parallel, review security, mobile-device-management policy, power settings, Windows To Go, Wi-Fi Direct, powercfg, and Sync Center. Keep the exercises separate at first, then combine them in an incident.
Next action: troubleshoot one deliberately misconfigured virtual or physical test device and write a short root-cause report rather than only documenting the fix.
Stage 6: Validate the decision you actually need to make
Do not finish with a generic practice test. Finish by checking whether your objective is historical knowledge, transcript verification, Windows administration capability, or a current certification. For historical knowledge, complete scenario-based labs and explain your decisions. For a current credential, abandon the retired blueprint as the authority and follow the current Microsoft Learn certification page.
Next action: record the chosen path, the official page you will use, the skills you already demonstrate, and the gaps requiring training or workplace practice.
How should you use third-party study material?
Use third-party material to clarify concepts or provide lab structure, but verify every exam-status, certification, and technology claim against Microsoft. A resource may be accurate for the period when 70-697 was active and still be unsuitable for a current candidate. The objective PDF and Microsoft retirement guidance should control historical scope and availability.
A useful resource passes three checks
First, it identifies whether it is teaching the retired 70-697 objectives or a current certification. Second, it explains configuration and troubleshooting rather than promising recalled questions. Third, it gives you a way to verify learning through a lab, documented result, or explanation.
Avoid material that advertises guaranteed success, exact current exam details without an official source, or unauthorized question banks. Memorization cannot replace the ability to reason about identity, policy, application state, data location, and device configuration.
Keep a source and version log
For each note, record the source, the technology or product version, and the date you checked it. Mark historical facts separately from current guidance. This is especially valuable for Windows 10-era topics whose interfaces, management methods, or cloud integrations may have changed.
When two resources disagree, do not average the claims. Identify whether they describe different versions or different certification programs, then consult the official source for the decision that matters.
What should you do next?
If you need a current credential, do not spend money trying to book 70-697. Identify the modern endpoint, Windows, or Microsoft 365 role that matches your work and use its current Microsoft Learn requirements. If you need historical knowledge, use the 70-697 objectives to build a lab-based Windows administration curriculum. If you need proof of an old result, check your transcript and contact official support.
Decision checklist
Confirm whether the request is for a retired exam record or a current certification.
Check your Microsoft Learn transcript if you previously earned the exam or related certification.
Use the historical objective document to assess identity, data, applications, mobility, security, virtualization, networking, Active Directory, and Intune knowledge.
Build evidence through controlled labs and written troubleshooting decisions rather than exam dumps.
Verify the current certification path directly on Microsoft Learn before scheduling or purchasing preparation material.
Ask the employer or support channel to clarify any claimed equivalency.
Conclusion
70-697 remains a useful historical outline of Windows 10 device-configuration work, but it is not a schedulable exam. The sensible preparation decision is therefore two-part: preserve or verify the credential if you earned it, and use current Microsoft requirements for any new certification goal. Study the legacy objectives through configuration, troubleshooting, and documented lab decisions; do not treat old mappings or third-party claims as current exam authority.
