«

Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
worked for me.

I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
the questions to be confusing.

I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
although all areas are covered. I don’t think I had a lot of repeat questions
between the first and second test.

When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
participants. I’ve seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
this site. A one time post saying “I passed and it wasn;t that hard” isn’t
that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.

I’ve seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I’ve been very
fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
my first try didn’t change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
to understand how Microsoft words their questions.

At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
more people will post with their experiences and guidance.

At least you passed - well done. Were there many of those repeating
questions which go something like this

chose from the list on the right and put them in order in the list on the
left?

"DD" wrote:

> Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
> part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
> first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
> shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
> workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
> for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
> and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
> the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
> worked for me.
>
> I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
> second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
> thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
> test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
> of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
> reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
> made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
> I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
> helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
> the questions to be confusing.
>
> I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
> that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
> of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
> strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
> much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
> although all areas are covered. I don’t think I had a lot of repeat questions
> between the first and second test.
>
> When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
> participants. I’ve seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
> to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
> what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
> these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
> this site. A one time post saying “I passed and it wasn;t that hard” isn’t
> that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.
>
> I’ve seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
> know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
> out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
> personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
> very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
> translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I’ve been very
> fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
> my first try didn’t change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
> to understand how Microsoft words their questions.
>
> At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
> more people will post with their experiences and guidance.
>

No, there wern't (but I think they are important). But absolutely know all
your dialogue boxes and aplets and every drop down and check box in them.
Some of it you do so much that you don't realize that your are not really
paying attention and then when you are asked where in this aplet would you
check to accomplish so and so, you think, I can't believe I don't remember
that. The night before the test I was pretty fried but I got in bed and just
opened the management console, control panel, task manager, msconfig, etc and
made sure I knew what all the tabs and configuration options were.

DD

"Slave" wrote:

> At least you passed - well done. Were there many of those repeating
> questions which go something like this
>
> chose from the list on the right and put them in order in the list on the
> left?
>
> "DD" wrote:
>
> > Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
> > part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
> > first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
> > shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
> > workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
> > for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
> > and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
> > the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
> > worked for me.
> >
> > I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
> > second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
> > thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
> > test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
> > of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
> > reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
> > made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
> > I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
> > helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
> > the questions to be confusing.
> >
> > I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
> > that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
> > of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
> > strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
> > much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
> > although all areas are covered. I don’t think I had a lot of repeat questions
> > between the first and second test.
> >
> > When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
> > participants. I’ve seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
> > to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
> > what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
> > these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
> > this site. A one time post saying “I passed and it wasn;t that hard” isn’t
> > that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.
> >
> > I’ve seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
> > know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
> > out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
> > personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
> > very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
> > translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I’ve been very
> > fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
> > my first try didn’t change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
> > to understand how Microsoft words their questions.
> >
> > At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
> > more people will post with their experiences and guidance.
> >

Don't forget that just because there isn't a lot of something on one test, it
doesn't mean it wqon't be on another test. I am sure they have a data base of
thousands of questions and the only thing that I found to be consistent
between the first and second test is - know all the material well!

"Slave" wrote:

> At least you passed - well done. Were there many of those repeating
> questions which go something like this
>
> chose from the list on the right and put them in order in the list on the
> left?
>
> "DD" wrote:
>
> > Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
> > part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
> > first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
> > shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
> > workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
> > for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
> > and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
> > the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
> > worked for me.
> >
> > I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
> > second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
> > thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
> > test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
> > of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
> > reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
> > made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
> > I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
> > helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
> > the questions to be confusing.
> >
> > I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
> > that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
> > of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
> > strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
> > much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
> > although all areas are covered. I don’t think I had a lot of repeat questions
> > between the first and second test.
> >
> > When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
> > participants. I’ve seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
> > to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
> > what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
> > these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
> > this site. A one time post saying “I passed and it wasn;t that hard” isn’t
> > that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.
> >
> > I’ve seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
> > know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
> > out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
> > personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
> > very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
> > translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I’ve been very
> > fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
> > my first try didn’t change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
> > to understand how Microsoft words their questions.
> >
> > At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
> > more people will post with their experiences and guidance.
> >

Congratulations on passing the 70-271. One more to go. Study hard, ask
questions, and schedule your exam.

--
Michael D. Alligood,
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor



"DD" <> wrote in message
news:70191DEA-1B04-4A41-8771-:

> Don't forget that just because there isn't a lot of something on one test, it
> doesn't mean it wqon't be on another test. I am sure they have a data base of
> thousands of questions and the only thing that I found to be consistent
> between the first and second test is - know all the material well!
>
> "Slave" wrote:
>
> > At least you passed - well done. Were there many of those repeating
> > questions which go something like this
> >
> > chose from the list on the right and put them in order in the list on the
> > left?
> >
> > "DD" wrote:
> >
> > > Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
> > > part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
> > > first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
> > > shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
> > > workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
> > > for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
> > > and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
> > > the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
> > > worked for me.
> > >
> > > I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
> > > second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
> > > thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
> > > test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
> > > of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
> > > reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
> > > made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
> > > I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
> > > helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
> > > the questions to be confusing.
> > >
> > > I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
> > > that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
> > > of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
> > > strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
> > > much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
> > > although all areas are covered. I don't think I had a lot of repeat questions
> > > between the first and second test.
> > >
> > > When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
> > > participants. I've seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
> > > to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
> > > what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
> > > these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
> > > this site. A one time post saying "I passed and it wasn;t that hard" isn't
> > > that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.
> > >
> > > I've seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
> > > know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
> > > out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
> > > personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
> > > very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
> > > translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I've been very
> > > fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
> > > my first try didn't change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
> > > to understand how Microsoft words their questions.
> > >
> > > At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
> > > more people will post with their experiences and guidance.
> > >

I passed 270 in August, without much experience at all in IT. I secured a
temporary position in a help desk environment about two weeks after passing
the exam. I got to tell you, what I do on the job is very different and may
utilize about 10% of what I learned for 270. I am going to sit for 271 in a
few weeks. Wish me luck.

How I did it. I studied the Transcender questions, in addition to the
questions that came on the CD with the book I bought from Microsoft Press.
Those were the most useful part of the plan.

"DD" wrote:

> Having already passed A+, I was surprised at how difficult I found the first
> part of MCDST to be for me. If you read my other post, I did not pass on my
> first attempt. Since I am a strong test taker and a fast learner, I was
> shocked when I failed my first time and set out to make sure I came up with a
> workable plan to pass on the next time around. I have worked in this field
> for over a year and a half (helping just under 100 users and 5 remote sites-
> and some networking responsibilities thrown in), I had a difficult time with
> the test formats. I found the tests to be long and confusing. So here is what
> worked for me.
>
> I found the MS Press book to be the best with the Exam Cram book a close
> second. (They seem to emphasize different things). Reading the book even
> thoroughly is not enough in my opinion. There is a lot of material on the
> test that is not in the book (or it's hidden very well). It seems that much
> of the material is covered in the practice tests (and explanations). After
> reading everything I felt I didn't know in the Ms and the Exam Cram book, I
> made sure I was able to answer all the questions from both those books/cd's.
> I was fortunate to also have access to Transcender questions which were very
> helpful. And after having studied hundreds of exam questions, I still found
> the questions to be confusing.
>
> I'm going to take a wild guess that the data base of questions is so large,
> that there is no way to speculate what areas might be asked on the test (Some
> of the posts ask this). The first time I took it, it seemed that there was a
> strong emphasis on the networking portion and this time there seemed to be a
> much stronger emphasis on understanding and analyzing system performance
> although all areas are covered. I don’t think I had a lot of repeat questions
> between the first and second test.
>
> When I first found this newsgroup, I was hoping for more interaction between
> participants. I’ve seen several posts from people who say they are/were going
> to take the test in November, but no feed back. Did you pass, and if not,
> what were your obstacles, have you worked in IT, etc? The people who pass
> these exams with one arm ties behind their back are not the people who need
> this site. A one time post saying “I passed and it wasn;t that hard” isn’t
> that helpful to the rest of the people who are looking for assistance.
>
> I’ve seen multiple posts from people who have not worked in IT and want to
> know about how hard it is to pass MCDST with no experience. Are there people
> out there who have been successful and how did they do it? I talked to people
> personally who have taken different MS tests 3 times before passing and are
> very good at their jobs. Not succeeding at your first attempt does not
> translate into being a failure at work or anywhere else. I’ve been very
> fortunate to have a lot of success and support at work and not passing 271 on
> my first try didn’t change that. It just meant I had to work harder at trying
> to understand how Microsoft words their questions.
>
> At the beginning of next year I will get serious about passing 272. I hope
> more people will post with their experiences and guidance.
>