Suggestions for a Newbie preping for 70-270.

I'm getting ready to take my first exam on the MCSA/MCSE track and I was
looking for some advice for study and practice techniques.

I've been working on the 70-270 exam on and off since September. I've
already read cover to cover the Sybex book and am in the process of doing
review using the ExamCram2 book. I plan on using this book in conjunction
with the cramsession.com studyguide to try and knock into my brain the little
details that I think will be on the exam. After reviewing these I'm going to
run through the practice tests that are shipped with both books ad-nausium.

From your experiences does this sound like a viable study plan? Are there
any other resources that you would recommend (free if possible), like
practice tests, cliff notes, etc...? I think I've got a handle on the core
concepts, but I don't feel comfortable enough to say that I can remember
every single command that is contained in my study materials.

I also wanted to see if the content in these two books are a good
representation of what is on the exam. I took one of the free practice tests
that I downloaded yesterday from some site and it was asking me stuff that
seemed pretty out there and I wasn't even able to find them in the books.

Any help suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Dan

 

Your methods thus far sound good but don't forget to set up a lab, virtual
or physical, and break,fix, repeat. It's not expensive, my 2003 server cost
me 50 clams. As for free resources, look at the MS help files and tutorials
so generously bundled with your software and the MS know-it-all-base. Lot's
of good free info there. Stay away from braindumps and pass guarantees.
Good luck


--
Mitch "yer such a Jameshole" S.
MCNGP XLVIII (Now do the other certs REALLY matter?)
"Place your bet - Ah say - place your bets, gentlemen.
Winnner plays, loser stays. Everyone's a winne - well, not everyone." - F.
Leghorn

 

Thanks, Yeah I don't go after the braindumps at all. But I have been trying
to get ahold of practice exams to add to my review.

So is there content on the exam found only in the tutorials and online help?
Or is this just a recommended plan to help beat into my brain the concepts
covered in the books? And maybe I am not wording the question correctly. I
have a system with a removeable drive and XP installed on one of the 2 hd's I
have. I've been going through and reviewing all the exercises in the book
using that machine and doing step by step what the book is telling me to do.
But thats as far as I've gotten, other than having run XP for about 2 years.

I mean I might be stressing about it more than I should, I dunno. About 3
weeks ago I went to one of those 5 day training courses for the Novell CNA,
and I busted my tail and at the end of the week I took the exam and passed
it, albeit narrowly. I ended up with a bout of food poisoning the night
before the exam, but still felt that I should at least give it a try. So I
took the test Friday, and even though I didn't feel "good" about it, I passed
it.

I know there's no crystal ball, I just wanted to minimize my chances of
being surprised by the exam (if that is even possible).

-Dan

 

As I said the best way is to get hands on. That way when the test throws
surprises at you, you'll be able to deduce the correct answer based on
experience and understanding of the whole. You really need to get another
pc to set up Server so ypu can dive into the networking side of XP. Then
you're already set to continue your studies.


--
Mitch "yer such a Jameshole" S.
MCNGP XLVIII (Now do the other certs REALLY matter?)
"Place your bet - Ah say - place your bets, gentlemen.
Winnner plays, loser stays. Everyone's a winne - well, not everyone." - F.
Leghorn

 

Thank you both.

Mitch, you confirmed what I was thinking. I am currently administering a
Win2k3 network with XP clients. So I've been noting the things I do in
normal day to day administration with group policy, TCP/IP, etc... Things
like where things are, what menu options are available, basically the kind of
stuff that will be asked. Its one of those things that if I was given an
interface, I feel that I would have no problems at all answering the
question. But I guess that's the boat most test takers are in. What I will
need to bone up on is the RIS stuff. So I'll dig around and come up with
another box to install AD on and review some more. You are right on the
money, that there is nothing like first hand experience.

Bob, thanks for the link. I had some trouble with the direct link so I
searched for the MCDST site. I got the following address
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcdst/default.asp but when I tried to
do the free training and clicked on the link it was down, so I will check
back later to see if the page was just being revised.

Once again thank you both for your help and I'll post the results of my test
when I take it.

-Dan

P.S. How long did you two end up studying for the xp exam and how much
experience did you have with xp?

 

Your welcome.

I certified on 2k Pro and with that I had 1 semester of classroom breaking
and fixing and configuring.

--
Mitch "yer such a Jameshole" S.
MCNGP XLVIII (Now do the other certs REALLY matter?)
"Place your bet - Ah say - place your bets, gentlemen.
Winnner plays, loser stays. Everyone's a winne - well, not everyone." - F.
Leghorn

 

Hi. I have a question in a similair vein to snafu-ed (PS study technique
seems pretty sound) relating to 70-270.

In many of the practice exams I have looked at, there is heavy mention of AD
and group policy (specific GPs for specific scenarios).

I have sat the corporate 2272C course with a training provider, using the
official microsoft training book, and there was not one mention of a single
specific GP. Certainly not the nitty-gritty I have seen in these exams.

I wonder if these practice exams have gone too far or if the student is
expected to do a whole lot of un-alluded-to extra research (which by the way
isn't a problem... I have a lot of information at hand including other
training books). I'm just wondering exactly how much I'll need to prepare.

Thanks for any replies.

Lee.

 

:

I too am using the microsoft press book to prep for the exam, and I've run
into a similiar dilemna. A couple of the practice tests I took had questions
on them that went into more detail than what the chapters of the book
covered. I hadn't taken the time to check out the "Further Reading" sections
in the back of the book and I think thats where I made an error. It appears
that theres a good deal of information regarding whats going to be on the
exam posted online at the various url address' under the "Further Reading"
towards the back of the book in the "Preparing for the Exam" section. I might
try checking those out and seeing if it makes a difference because apparently
I havn't done as much prep as I need to.