Couple of questions

boatguy1982

First off,

Great articles here they help alot. I am looking to take my exam december 8th. I have a copy of the MSPress book and the 180 day eval of MS 2003. Any advice for someone who is new to this. I have a very strong book background of LAN's and WAN's but not a software background I have been pretty much teaching myself this as I go. I obviously do not want to go in and fail so is it feasible with the book and the eval of MS 2003 to train myself?

Any advice/criticism in any shape or form is appreciated as I don't want to waste 125 dollars.


Also is there a better way to simulate a MSserver 2003 enviroment then installing MS Server 2003 on my comp and swapping os's each time i load? I have a ton of ram as my rig is built for high end apps so ram and hd space is not a problem.

Additionally, do i need a copy of server 2003? I have tons of XP serials lying around at work. If so where can i get a cheap server 2003 i have the 180 day trial version.
Thanks
Phil

royal

Welcome to the forums.

I'd start off by downloading Virtual Server or Vmware Server. Both of these virtualization technologies are free. One thing I'd like to note, is that on my laptop with 2GB of memory, I have run 6 Server 2003 machines with 256K allocated to each without a problem. So this would probably be your best option. I would begin by purchasing a book (MSPress, Sybex, and Syngress seem to be the most popular). I would then follow along in the book and simulate those environments in labs.

Books, labs, articles, and practice exams are all crucial to your success with getting certifications. CBT Nuggets is also a very good supplement to use. It's video training that is highly respected in the industry for training. Testout is also another popular choice which offers video training, simulations, as well as practice exams.

One piece of recommendation I can give you, is study hard and make sure you practice a lot in labs so you know what you are doing. Don't hesitate to ask a question if you don't comprehend something. When you do use practice exams, make sure you use them after you feel like you're fully prepared for each objective on the Microsoft Certification Web Site (http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcse/windows2003/default.mspx). If you use the practice exams prematurely, you'll land up using that as a study guide memorizing questions/answers instead of using it to test your readiness. Also, when you're going through the practice exams, make sure you read each answer and understand why you got it right and why the incorrect answers were incorrect.

Good luck!

boatguy1982

Hmm

Thanks for the quick reply.

Well I am a comp nerd so I have no problem putting in about 6+ hours a day studying for this exam. So the virtual pcs are pretty good, do I need a software license with them or can I just install the software kind of like an snes emulator?

Any major pointers while studying? Or areas that seem to be generally hard for everyone? Once again thanks for the help hopefully this will be my first step in a series of certifications.

-Phil

royal

Vmware Server and Virtual Server are completely free products. Also, in the following thread, myself as well as others have posted their studying tactics.

Studying Tactics:
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18230

Virtual Server:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx

Vmware Server:
http://www.vmware.com/products/server/

boatguy1982

Do you know of anywhere to get discounted training videos? I just got out of the military and I am making it paycheck to paycheck.

Thanks
Phil