Course Description

Kick-start your IT journey with a fast, hands-on tour of the Microsoft tech fundamentals you’ll touch every day. In 90 minutes, you get a crash course in identity platforms like Active Directory and Entra ID, how access and policy are applied (group policies and Intune policies), and how to read a Windows device at a glance—join state, enrollment signals, and basic client health. We demystify DNS with practical name-resolution checks, decode software installs and return codes (yes, 3010 is success), and put PowerShell to work with common everyday automation tips you’ll actually use. You’ll leave with a simple, repeatable troubleshooting model—reproduce, scope, read the signals, check the right logs—and the confidence to resolve common tickets or escalate with clarity.

No jargon, just clear demos, job-aid takeaways, and the “nobody told me this” tips that make new techs effective on day one.


This FREE 90-minute LIVE Online Training presented by Johan Arwidmark and Andrew Johnson provides a comprehensive guide to the work required.

This LIVE Online Training is for YOU if you want to:

  • Grasp identity basics
  • Make sense of policies
  • Understand DNS (it’s always DNS)
  • Learn about Windows client troubleshooting tips and tools
  • Ask Johan Arwidmark and Andrew Johnson questions directly in a live training environment


If you can't attend the live event, the webinar will be recorded and available within 24 hours of the broadcast. 

Course Schedule

Date and Time for Live Webinars

Upcoming Live 90-Minute Webinar:

  • Date & Start Time: Thursday, Nov 20, 9:00–10:30 AM Central Time (US and Canada)



Course Outline

Active Directory and Entra Crash Course

  • What’s What: AD DS vs. Entra ID and Hybrid Join vs. Join vs. Register
  • Core Objects: Users, Groups, Computers, and OUs
  • Common Gotchas and Troubleshooting Tips


Access and Policy Basics

  • Working with Group Policy: Link Order, Inheritance, Enforcement, and gpupdate
  • Entra Conditional Access and Intune Configuration Profiles


Device Management Primer

  • Join Types: AD-joined, Hybrid, Entra-joined
  • Intune vs. ConfigMgr at a Glance: What Lives Where and to Whom to Escalate
  • Enrollment Signals to Look for


Networking and Name Resolution

  • TCP/IP Essentials
  • DNS Primer: Learn about Record Types, Suffixes, and Split DNS
  • Common Checks and Troubleshooting Tools
  • VPN Basics


Windows Updates and Third-Party Patch Management

  • Windows Update Basics: Quality vs. Feature Updates, Restart Behavior, and “Pending Reboot” Tells
  • App Deployment Signals: MSI vs. EXE and Return Codes
  • Defender for Endpoint/AV Basics: Status, Quick Scan, and Update Definitions


PowerShell for Support

  • Core cmdlets to Get You Started with PowerShell
  • Tapping into Event Logs
  • Objects > Filtering > Formatting
  • Finding a Locked Account and Enumerating Group Members
  • Checking Service Status and Restart


Troubleshooting Tools

  • Troubleshooting Playbook: See It, Scope It, Trace It, Log It, Fix It, Save It
  • Event Viewer and Reliability History
  • Why Is My Machine Slow? Performance Troubleshooting
  • Using Sysinternals Tools

Instructors

Johan Arwidmark

Johan Arwidmark is a consultant, author, speaker, and all-around geek specializing in Enterprise Windows Deployment Solutions and Systems Management. Johan speaks at several conferences each year, including MMS and Ignite around the world. He is also actively involved in the deploymentresearch.com community, and he has been awarded Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) since 2005. Johan is known for his energetic and humorous style, tackling complex concepts using simple "Real World" scenarios and lots of live demos. His areas of expertise include Enterprise Windows Deployment Tools and Management Systems: Intune, MDT, WinPE, WDS, and ConfigMgr (SCCM).

Johan Arwidmark

Technical Fellow

Andrew Johnson

Andrew has served in various technical and leadership roles in IT for over 15 years, spending most of his time in higher education. He's always looking for new ways to perform tasks more efficiently and share knowledge with others. His three favorite technology areas are Endpoint Management, Automation, and Monitoring. When he's not working with tech - professionally or in his home lab - you'll likely find him building the latest Star Wars LEGO set with his family. If you'd like to chat ConfigMgr, Intune, Azure AD, Office 365, Disney World or Star Wars, you can always find him on Twitter, @AndrewJNet.

Andrew Johnson

Solutions Architect, ADM Solutions

Special Guest Instructor

Richard Hicks is the founder and principal consultant at Richard M. Hicks Consulting, Inc. He is a widely recognized enterprise mobility expert with more than 25 years of experience implementing secure remote access and public key infrastructure (PKI) solutions for organizations worldwide. He understands that providing visibility, control, and assurance for field-based devices is vital to ensuring the highest level of security and productivity for today’s highly mobile workforce.

Richard Hicks

President and Principal Consultant