Just passed 70-290

I took the exam on Wednesday after being pushed by my boss to start working towards MCSE.

I have to say I went into the test very nervous and thinking I would fail, partly because this is my first Microsoft test and partly because I have been out of school for so long.

All in all the test was what I expected it to be, many times there was one sentence in the question that said what you needed to do, the rest was just garbage. I studied off the MCSE Self-Paced 70-290 Training Kit from Microsoft and it covered everything that I saw in the test. I use Server 2003 extensively at my current job (2+ years) so that helps too. I would *highly* recommend that you get as much hands on experience as possible, I see no other way to prepare for the simulation questions.

The simulations were by far the easiest for me, the multiple choice questions with 2 or 3 correct answers were the most difficult and I went back and changed my answers for them at least once.

OH, I got a 700

, just barely made it!

If anyone has any questions let me know, I will try to check back later and answer...

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Comments

spudnik

congrats, a pass is a pass

TeKniques

Congrats, I agree that this test is very hard without much hands on experience. But at least you passed!

jescab

CONGRATZ dude - a pass is a pass

squirrelyosis

Congrats! This is a difficult test to start with. I was gonna start with this one but decided to go with the 270 exam. This is my next test to conquer.

What other books are good besides the MS Press books? They tend to be HUGE. Sybex, Sygress or Exam Cram which one covers everything? I used the Exam Cram to start preparing for the XP exam and I really liked it. Has anyone used the Exam Cram for the 290 exam?

spudnik

I did use exam cram for 290 but felt it didn't cover enough so went out and bought MSPress, which was alot beter and felt covered more of the exam objectives clearer and much more in depth. hope this helps

shadown7

spudnik wrote:

I did use exam cram for 290 but felt it didn't cover enough so went out and bought MSPress, which was alot beter and felt covered more of the exam objectives clearer and much more in depth. hope this helps

I agree! Exam Cram books should not be used as the only source. They are to be used as a last minute test prep. They don't cover all the objectives as much as the MS Press books.

I like to use the Exam Cram as my last test prep material before I take the exam.

janmike

Congratulations!

squirrelyosis

I'll definetly keep MS Press in mind when I go to purchase a book for the exam. Thanks for the recommendations! I have to learn te in's and out's of IIS 6 for work by the first of next year so I'm gonna buy the MS Press Pocket Reference book and read that first then I'll probablly start on the 290. Before taking the XP exam I didn't think I would want to take another exam but doing good motivated me to learn more and work towards the next one.

squirrelyosis

How do you make a poll? I think a sticky poll for each exam, or at least this one to start, on what book you think is the best would be great. Just a suggestion, let me know if you think it would be a good idea.

Trailerisf

You can buy 290,291,293,294 in a set from Sybex on amazon.com and save a tonne of cash.

Ally77

hey congrats, nice job. Jus a quick text as u say ur thinking about using the MS press book for fututre exams. I used it for the 291 exam and must admit i wasn very impressed with it!Found a lot of mistakes in the book and the software so id check with other people first n c what they think about it