MCSA - 2 Questions

tk123

I've been studying for about 2 months my first mcp - 70-290 as part of an mcsa/mcse. I'm just wondering what other people used to gauge if they were ready for the exam - preplogic/transcender/testking etc - I've been using all three and find preplogic and testking really easy and transcender tough in places? Also has anybody bought exam insurance - I've seen adds for it but can't seem to find a price anywhere?

donaghs

The unfortunate truth about some of the transcenders I've used is that some of their material bears no relationship whatsoever to the exam. The only such one I can think of right now is "Transcender.com". I remember a colleague using another Transcender that asked a ridiculous question like "What are the 3 options listed under Kernal Memory in the Performace tab of Task Manager". Never going to see that on an exam, or need to know it in real life. I remember "Measure Up" being more accurate, it was a good help when I did the A+ a few years ago.

Similarly I have used the MS Press books to prepare, and unfortunately (even if you know it backwards cover-to-cover) they won't cover everything that may come up in the exams. The good thing about these books is they contain relevant info about getting to know the actual product.

Testkings are cheating, and there's no avoiding that conclusion. But apart from talking to people who've done the exam, I'll admit they will give an accurate idea of whats on the exam. That said, its ALWAYS better to work with and understand the product.

hshortt

Measureup tests that come with the MS Press books are excellent. They challenge quite closely to the material and will be a good aid in judging if you are ready. As donaghs said already, something will come up in the exam that you've not covered but you will have a good idea if you understand the material the product well.

Best of luck, and if you are doing 70-297 then especially good luck! This one is hard.

Cheerio
Howard

Static M.e.

I'll admit they will give an accurate idea of whats on the exam.

Sorry thought that was funny, they certainly do give you an accurate idea of whats on the exam, more to the point they give you the actual exam questions used in the exam.

Exam Insurance.
basically from memory its costs you a third of the value of the exam so an exam for ~140 with exam insurance costs ~200. Its a good idea maybe for trying out exams where you dont think you will pass or for some of the design exams which are never easy.. personally I dont attempt exams unless I feel I can pass them for the get go but as mentioned I can see the value for some of the tougher exams.

I'm just wondering what other people used to gauge if they were ready for the exam - preplogic/transcender/testking

When Ive read all the docs, revised and done some sample questions I can usually guage my level of understanding from that although thats a personal thing so I dont know its for you.

Transcender are tougher than the actual exam if your doing well in the transcender then you I would give you high hopes for passing.
Preplogic not as tough as transcender but decent none the less again if your getting 80% on average you should attempt the exam.
Testking.. what to say if you pass a testking exam you will pass the actual exam, testking use actual MS exam questions.

Have a look though the MS requirements for the exam what the exam covers and see if you know the stuff then decide if your ready or not. You could also just go for it and gamble your ~140 euro.

Taking the first MCP exam is always a valuable experiance either way even if you dont pass it will prepare you alot for the 2nd attempt. Remember to bring in some water or food with you if you plan to use all your exam time you cant leave once you begin the exam.

Good Luck with it and let us know how you get on

kaizersoze123

OP how are you studying for them? Did you buy the MS Press book on it?

tk123

Thanks for the relplies guys. I'm using cbt nuggets and MS Press books and I work as an admin so I'm familiar with parts of it too. I think i'll try the insurance so I can take the exam and see what it's like - at least this way I won't be out of pocket too much if I fail and I'll have a better idea of what to expect..

Static M.e.

If you have any questions at all or if your unsure about the logic behind some of the answers let us know.

HTH

mick.fr

tk123 wrote:

testking etc - I've been using all three and find preplogic and testking really easy and transcender tough in places?

Testking is the actual dump of the real exam question.
So I am sure you must be feel ready :-)
I will not comment of the way you perform you study as the previous time I got banned from this forum.

I will post an explicative post about IT Certifications and hopefully my buddy Aidan will stick it.

donaghs

TK123, don't forget there's simulation questions on this exam, so a working knowledge of the product is necessary to complete them. If I remember correctly I had 3 simulation questions. I can only remember 2 of them. One was on allocating NTFS & share permissions on file and folders, for users & groups. Thats stuff is essential knowledge for all MCSE exams. Should be straightforward if you read it carefully. The reset button allows you to undo mistakes and start again.

The other involved the AD Users & Groups console. It involved creating users and moving them in and out of AD containers. No problem if you work with user management as part of your job. Otherwise you'll need to pratice it in a test domain (or even one computer functioning as a Domain Controller).

tk123

I just ordered my insurance voucher I use AD/GPOs everyday and assign permissions etc so hopefully I'll be ok. My biggest problem is that I doubt myself and change my answers at the last minute so I'm training myself not to!

Ginger

I found with the MCPS especially when its the arch exams .. you do the MS way rather than what you may do in a normal day.. Can be kinda hard

mick.fr

Ginger wrote:

I found with the MCPS especially when its the arch exams .. you do the MS way rather than what you may do in a normal day.. Can be kinda hard

That's maybe because we use to do it the wrong way, or what we think to be the good way ?

_CreeD_

The MS recommended procedures are not always the best for your environment, it's all subjective. Anyway yup for the exam do as the books tell you, not necessarily the way you are used to. I'm surprised you're taking 290 first as most go for 270 and there is a lot of overlap, even though the latter is an XP exam it's XP as a 2k3 client. Probably the single biggest aid to MCP/MCSA?MCSE studies is to get VMware (Server is free...) and some eval copies of Server 2003. Make a few VMs, at least 2 servers, and 1 or 2 clients then practice everything you read and have not performed already in real life. Imho microsoft exams are not too tough in that there is not a lot that is hard to understand but they do throw a lot of information at you on areas that you are rarely like to see (and consequently know without study)...that's not such a bad thing as you never know when that little fact will come in handy and it is what distinguishes an MCP from an uncertified support tech. Sooo, tricky more than hard.
On a side note I just passed 70-291 today Been doing Cisco stuff for so long it was a bit of a culture shock doing an MS exam again. 5 Paragraphs and 20 useless facts when all they really want is a very simple procedure....that tricky thing again.

Ginger

mick.fr wrote:

That's maybe because we use to do it the wrong way, or what we think to be the good way ?

What I meantis that its more to do with that you arent given any other option other than MS products which is fair enough as it their exam etc..

donaghs

Even the MS Press books have sections which explain the difference between MS Exam scenarios, and what the books call "Real-world" scenarios. What you should know, and what you should do. A very blatant acknowledgement of theory and practice.

Ginger

For one of the exams, when I was preparing for it, I went through the product sheets for some of the server applications such as BizTalk, Host Integration server and Commerce Server because it was recommended that I know some of these applications for designing enterprise apps.