Microsft Certified Training

SRFC_1901

Hello

I have been working in an IT support role for about a year now and would like to start progressing by getting Microsoft certified but I am looking for a bit of advice on it.

First off could someone recommend a decent course to take considering my experience, I have been working on an XP enviornment and the work involved basic software(MS Office etc) troubleshooting, I have worked with Lotus Notes and Outlook but wouldn't be an expert in either,basic Hardware trouble shooting(Printers , PC upgrading) and basic IP troubleshooting, patching new ports etc.

I am looking to stay in the same line of work but basically increase my understanding of it.
I was told MCP was the basic qualification but
MCDST-Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician seems to be a step lower.I was looking at these exams

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Book.aspx?ID=8771&locale=en-us

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/Book.aspx?ID=7870&locale=en-us

Is the first one basically step lower than the second one, if you passed the first would you move onto the second,would there be much difference in the difficulty? I just get confused by the different titles on each.

Also those links don't seem to offer any links to buy the book, can anyone recommend any shops in Dublin or websites that sell these books?

I`ve just found this book on Ebay, is there pretty much one book per exam, if I buy this book is there a chance that it is not the "official" book and is not as good/ does not have the same question/material?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/MCDST-Bundle-Real-Qs-Exams-70-271-70-272-/130407612956?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1e5ce6421c


Many thanks

Cuddlesworth

You would be better off learning newer exams and certs. Upskilling through dead certs is a waste of time.

SRFC_1901

Do you mean Windows 7/Vista?

I thaught that aswell but XP would be by far the most widely used OS in industry and the reason that I am doing this is more for short term gain as I am moving abroad in a few months and wanted something on the CV for that.

Cuddlesworth

The majority of the smaller company's would still be on xp. But with the discontinued support of XP by Microsoft most if not all are facing the harsh reality of changing. And the equivalent of the MCDST which is 680 and 685 deals with the mass upgrade of machines to Windows 7 and management of those machines. A detailed and specific exam for the future of the industry and far more valuable on your CV as a asset then a qualification for a Dying OS.

BLACKEN

have you considered a comptai a+ cert??? because you seem to be doing alot of maintenance and depending on where your moving too this would look good on the c.v. because have someone qualified to repair and maintain a employers systems is something that will be noted.

SRFC_1901

I will be moving to Canada. I haven't actually checked up on a comptai a+ cert as the jobs that I had a quick look at in Canada all seemed to want MS certs, I will have a look into it though.

RogerThis

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

The majority of the smaller company's would still be on xp. But with the discontinued support of XP by Microsoft most if not all are facing the harsh reality of changing. And the equivalent of the MCDST which is 680 and 685 deals with the mass upgrade of machines to Windows 7 and management of those machines. A detailed and specific exam for the future of the industry and far more valuable on your CV as a asset then a qualification for a Dying OS.

Microsoft will still do security updates on Windows XP SP3 in 2014. They won't develop Windows XP any more, but there is no need to as it's a mature operating system. I can see an major rush to Windows 7 until at least SP1 is out of beta, which will be in around 6 months.

But to future proof yourself you'd be better off studying the latest OS from Microsoft.