A couple of issues that I encountered when installing CRM 4 client

I was trying to install CRM 4 Outlook Client on my VPC, and unfortunately (or luckily) ran into a couple of issues. I am just taking a note for future reference.

1. The installation package cannot install MSDE 2005, and it didn't give me enough information about what went wrong. I tried to run MSDE installation alone and it did give me a little more information by providing me a link to the log file. It turns out that my MSXML 6.0 parser was newer than what MSDE 2005 requires. Basically MSDE 2005 requires MSXML 6.0 without any service pack. My VPC has got MSXML parser 6.0 Service Pack 2 installed, and MSDE 2005 installation simply exits when it checks this software requirement. What I did was uninstall MSXML 6.0 Parser, and ran the CRM 4 client installation again, the problem was solved right away.
   
   Note: In such case, you can also try to find the detail errors by looking for MSDE installation log file. It's typically located in %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Setup Bootstrap\LOG\Files folder.
   
   
2. I received an error saying "The path is not of legal form" when I try to specify the destination folder for my Outlook client.
   

Basically the solution has been provided here. What you need to do is to manually update the following registry:

Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Installer\UserData\S-1-5-18\Products\059DD8CB00184F24E99A62CF4D6109FA\InstallProperties]
Name: InstallLocation
Data: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Dynamics CRM”

MS CRM 4.0 Customization & Configuration Exam (MB2-631)

I cleared Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Customization & Configuration Exam (MB2-631) last month. It appears to me that this exam is much easier than the Application one (MB2-632). As long as you have done some customization work and you are familiar enough with the textbook (Course 8912), you should be fine to pass the exam.

The following are a few tips for this exam:

1. Understand the relationship between security role and business unit. You should also have the basic idea about the security model of Dynamics CRM 4.0 application.
2. Know how the default currency works when you create record (Page 4-40).
3. Understand very well 1:N, N:N relationship, it's very important to be able to identify the primary entity in a 1:N relationship.
4. Know the different cascading options when you create a 1:N relationship.

Please excuse me for the incomplete list. It's been quite long time since my test, I can hardly remember anything from the exam. Hope this helps a bit. My advice for the exam is, take it as a motivation to refresh all your knowledge about CRM application, not just to pursue another title on your business card. Passing the exam is pretty easy, getting your skill and knowledge updated is actually more important than passing the exam itself.

Passed MB2-632 CRM 4.0 Applications

I cleared MB2-632 exam today after attending a boot camp a week ago. I did a couple of hours preparation each day in the last 4 days.

It turns out the Application track is much trickier than the CRM 3.0 application exam which I took in 2007. For most of the questions, you should think over and over why the question is asked, and why those options are provided. Trying to understand the scenario is very important. Most questions are scenario-based questions, which test your judgment and knowledge about CRM system.

One thing I appreciate about MS CRM exams is Microsoft CRM team has got a decent training material for you. You should read as much as you can to get yourself prepared, not just for exam purpose, but also for your own long term benefit if MSCRM is a part of your career. The training book provided by Microsoft has got a lot of practices in it, those practices can really help you understand how each CRM feature works. One thing you should challenge yourself during the study is, you should keep asking why MSCRM is working this way, not the other way around. The more questions you ask, the more you understand CRM.

I got a score of 98% (thanks to the boot camp and our tutor Neil), which was a bit surprise for me. For the only one question I missed (total 50 questions), I had an instinct that I should go the other way, but I ended up choosing the wrong answer, which I confirmed after I came back from the exam by looking at the training book. So you should trust yourself when you do the exam.

DISCLAIMER 1: I won't disclose any real exam questions, so please kindly do not ask, thanks.

DISCLAIMER 2: English is not my native language, please kindly excuse me if there is any vocabulary or grammar problem in this post and future posts.