Windows Administrator Interview Questions

Basically, Windows administrators install and set up the Windows systems and servers. They offer back-end support, maintain the system’s stability and configure user access. An administrator also offers technical support to users and other administrators and assists the IT team in solving technical issues. 

Furthermore, an administrator also maintains system security by noticing the system's faults and the server's architecture. So, if you are preparing to get a job in this industry, this post will help you become familiar with some of the best and latest Windows administrator interview questions.

Windows  administrator 2024 (Updated) Questions and Answers have been divided into stages they are:

• Freshers
• Experienced

Frequently Asked Windows Administration Interview Questions

What is an active directory? How do you take active directory backup? What do you know about group policies? How do you force the DNS dynamic update? What do you know about GPOs? Differentiate between a thread and a computer process. What do you know about wins servers? What is the difference between an antivirus and a firewall?

Windows Administrator Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers

Jotted down below is a complete list of some of the latest Windows Administrator interview questions for beginners. Let’s have a look:

1. Define server and domain?

The server is a network operating system that offers services to the client operating system. On the other hand, a domain offers authorisation and authentication within a specific area where services can get deployed.

2. What is an active directory?

An Active Directory (AD) is a directory service that was developed by Microsoft and is used to store varying objects, such as network information, printer, computer, user, and more. It is used to facilitate the network efficiently with multiple domain controllers in varying locations with the AD database.

3. What do you mean by ADC?

ADC is an acronym for Active Directory Domain Controller. It is a type of server that holds an active directory database. All of the active directories are replicated to the directory controller.

4. Define active directory partition. What are its types, and how can it be configured?

It concerns how and where active directory information is generally stored. Some of its types include

• Schema
  
• Application partition
  
• Configuration
  
• Domain.
  

You can configure the application partition manually to use it with active directory integrated applications.

5. What is an active and schema directory?

It is about defining objects and information about all the objects that can get stored in the active directory. Active Directory schema is an amalgamation of objects as well as their attributes. For example, you will be an object, and your first and last name will be the attributes.

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6. How do you take active directory backup?

System state backup is used to back up the active directory through NTbackup. Minimally, you must back up at least two domain controllers in every domain. Also, you don’t have to back up the Relative ID (RID) master, as the RID master shouldn’t be restored.

7. Where is the active directory partition stored?

You can authentically restore objects from domain partition and configuration. Authoritative restores schema-naming context doesn’t get supported. 

8. What do you know about group policies?

Group policies specify how network resources, programs and operating systems work for workstations and users in a company. It is a collection of workstations and users’ configuration settings that get applied accordingly. Group policy objects are used to better administer group policies in the Windows environment. 

9. What do you know about DNS Scavenging?

DNS Scavenging is to remove and cleanup stake DNS records, such as housekeeping activity to delete unused or unwanted DNS entries in the DNS zone or server. It also cleans the dynamic DNS record but not the one that has been created manually. 

10. How do you force the DNS dynamic update?

One of the simple ways is to restart the system that triggers the DNS dynamic update. You can use the Ipconfig / registerdns command to force DNS Dynamic Update. You can also restart the netlogon service on service.msc.

Windows Administrator Interview Questions and Answers for Experienced

If you already carry a significant amount of experience as a Windows administrator but are looking forward to changing your job, here is a list of Windows Administrator interview questions for professionals you should refer to for better preparation. 

1. What are the active directory database files?

Some of the active directory database files are:

• NTDS.DIT : NTDS.DIT is the AD database that is used for storing all of the AD objects. The default location is the %system root%nrdsnrds.dit.
• EDB.Log : EDB.Log is one transaction log file. When it is full, it gets renamed to EDB Num.log, where num is referred to as the increasing number that begins from 1, such as EDB1.Log.
• EDB.Che : EDB.Che is the checkpoint file that is generally used to trace such data that hasn’t been written to the database file. This indicates the beginning point from which the data has to be recovered from the log file if there is a failure. 
• Res1.log and Res2.log : Res is known as a reserved transaction log file that offers an adequate amount of time to shut down in case the disk doesn’t have enough space. 

All AD changes are not directly written to NTDS.DIT database files. To begin with, you’ll have to write to EDB.Log and then to the database. Next, EDB.Che is used to track the updates of the database from log files. This is done to know what changes have been copied to the database file. 

2. What do you know about GPOs?

GPO stands for Group Policy Objects. These are the settings that are responsible for controlling the working environment of user and computer accounts. They help in defining software installation, security options, script options, folder redirection options and registry-based policies and maintenance options. 

Generally, there are two different types of group policy objects, such as

• Nonlocal Group Policy Objects : These are the ones that are available only in the environment of an Active Directory and are stored on a domain controller.
• Local Group Policy Objects : These are generally stored on local and individual computers.

3. Explain the primary, secondary and stub zones.

In the windows DNS server, the following are the descriptions of primary, secondary and stub zones:

• Primary Zone : Basically, in the primary zone, the file gets stored as a normal, regular text file with (.dns) as its filename.
• Secondary Zone : This one manages and regulates a read-only copy of the zone database on distinct DNS servers. Additionally, it also serves as a backup server to the primary server. This is done by providing load balancing and fault tolerance. 
• Stub Zone : It comprises a copy of the name server along with SOA records, which are used for decreasing the search orders of DNS.

4. Differentiate between a thread and a computer process.

A thread comprises several executable plans that cooperate as an individual process. For instance, a thread may transmit the failure of a notification to the user, while an option may engage through signals of errors. However, the third thread may complete the foremost action. 

On the other hand, a computer process is a process of programs that is executed regularly through a computer. Such a process can administer a variety of programs on a computer at the same time.

5. What are some personal attributes of an administrator?

System administrators generally come across a variety of challenges and issues. Thus, to handle them, they must be good problem-solvers and administrators. They should have a thorough grasp of software, computer technology and networks. 

Along with that, they should also offer technical assistance to employees. The primary duty of an administrator is to track the system. They can maintain the server performance and come up with innovative computer system designs. 

Also, they should be able to quickly identify the parts that should be replaced in the situation of a hardware failure. 

Related Article: Azure Administrator Interview Questions

6. What do you know about wins servers?

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) is a system that allows you to acquire resources by computer title instead of IP address. In addition to this, it is an Operating System (OS) that practices a centralized computer to provide specific functions and rules for users as well as computers that are connected to a network. 

For instance, if you’d need a computer to track the IP addresses and the names of varying computers in your network, WINS helps you out with this task.

7. What is group policy?

Group Policy is the feature of a Microsoft Windows NT that is also a family of Operating Systems (OS) that handles the work setting of user and computer accounts. Basically, it provides central configuration management of OS, applications and users’ settings in an Active Directory setting.

Some of the roles of FSMO are:

• Infrastructure master
• Domain naming master
• Schema master
• RID master
• PDC

Usually, the rational units of any Active Directory organization are known as a tree, forest and domain. Customers, devices, computers and more that share an analogous active database registry is known as a domain. 

A tree is referred to as an assortment of domains available in the Active Directory that begins at one root and branches out into child peripheral and domains. This may also comprise an adjoining namespace linked in a transitive order. 

And then the collection of domains is also known as the forest. It shares a general logical structure, registry setup, inventory and registry pattern. A forest typically marks the limits of clients, security for groups, and devices, for example, computers. 

8. What is the difference between global, universal and local groups?

Domain local groups typically allocate the access approvals to international groups of domains for the domain’s local resources. Global groups provide access to other trusted and reliable resources of the domains. Here, the Universal group gives access to all of the reliable domain resources. 

9. Can you restore the active directory partitions?

You can authoritatively restore the objects from the configuration and domain partition. However, the authoritative restores of the schema-naming aren’t supported here. 

• Configuration Partition : It is a type of partition that stores the entire data of the Active Directory. The data includes subnet, site, site-link, and more. Configuration partition copies all of the domain controllers available in the Forest.
• Application Partition : This one stores the information of applications in the Active Directory. Some of its examples include ForestDNSZones and DomainDNSZones. 
• Schema Partition : Schema partition stores all the information about objects along with their qualities. It also copies it to other domain controllers in the Forest.
• Domain Partitions : The domain partitions store the information of a domain, such as a group, printer, user, computer and more. It also copies to all the domain controllers in the domain. 

10. What is the difference between an antivirus and a firewall?

Both antivirus and firewall are security tools that have been designed to save systems. However, an antivirus is a software program that is curated to safeguard your system from spyware, viruses, hackers and more. On the other hand, a firewall is a low-level network security system which has been created to safeguard your network and system. It covers both private and public networks from security warnings. 

Conclusion

So far, you must have got an overview of Window administrator questions that could be asked in an upcoming interview. So, going through the list of these questions will surely help you sharpen your knowledge and crack the interview like a profession. So, make sure you read through all of these questions and understand the basic ideas with utmost precision to get the job of your dream.