MCTS Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield MCTS facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which WCF feature allows a service to route incoming messages to different backend service instances based on message content or headers? → Message Routing Service
2. Why is Group Policy important in Windows networks? → It helps define security policies and permissions.
3. What is the primary function of Windows Services (services.msc)? → Manage background processes and services
4. Which SQL command is used to remove a table from the database? → DROP
5. Which language is most commonly used with ASP.NET for web development? → C#
6. What is the function of the PRIMARY KEY constraint? → Prevents duplicate and NULL values in a column
7. What is the purpose of the SQL Server Agent? → Automates administrative jobs
8. Which protocol does Windows use for secure remote desktop connections? → RDP
9. Which utility is used to schedule tasks automatically in Windows? → Task Scheduler
10. Which system database in SQL Server stores login accounts and system configuration? → master
11. What is the role of an IServiceBehavior implementation in WCF? → It customizes or extends the runtime behavior of the entire service
12. Which utility allows configuration of system boot options in Windows? → msconfig
13. What is the default message encoding used by BasicHttpBinding? → Text/XML
14. What tool allows administrators to monitor system performance in real time? → Performance Monitor
15. What does the Device Manager in Windows allow administrators to do? → Manage hardware and drivers
16. What is the role of MSBuild in application development? → Build and deployment tool
17. Which Windows component allows command-line management of system settings? → PowerShell
18. What is the primary function of the .NET Framework in Windows development? → Provides a development and runtime environment for Windows apps.
19. What is the role of Active Directory in a network? → Manages user accounts and security policies.
20. Which keyword is used to define a class in C#? → class
21. What is the purpose of the [DataContract] and [DataMember] attributes in WCF? → To mark a class and its fields/properties for serialization across service boundaries
22. Which WCF binding is optimized for cross-machine communication over TCP and is NOT suitable for internet-facing services? → NetTcpBinding
23. Which command is used to retrieve data from a SQL Server table? → SELECT
24. What does the Windows Firewall help protect against? → Unauthorized network access
25. What is the function of the Windows Event Viewer? → Track application and system events.
26. Which WCF communication pattern allows the service to call back to the client, requiring the client to implement a callback contract? → Duplex
27. What is normalization in SQL databases? → Organizing data to minimize duplication
28. What role does IIS play in Microsoft environments? → Web server role for hosting websites
29. Which of the following statements about error handling with TRY...CATCH blocks in T-SQL is TRUE? → A TRY block must be immediately followed by exactly one CATCH block within the same batch.
30. What does the term 'debugging' refer to? → Finding and fixing code errors