Ready to take on the 293 **UPDATE Passed 820

Sanger80

Read the Syngress book and used my VMWare lab to study. Going over the Transcenders this weekend. Will brush up Monday and Tuesday and take the test Thursday. Very nervous about this one. Hope it's not as bad as the 291.

sprkymrk

Good luck.

Sanger80

sprkymrk wrote:

Good luck.

Thanks. I scheduled it for this Friday. I'm going over a couple chapters in the MS book right now. I start a new job Monday, February 25th, so I really want to get this one out the way. I do enjoy taking the tests for some reason. Maybe I'm nuts, but it feels good to prove your understanding of a subject matter. After this I just need to take the 294 and 298 and I'm upgraded from my NT 4.0 MCSE.

techster79

I just got done with 293. I must say know CA/PKI, IPSEC. I got 43 questions, which includes 3 sims. The sims were not too mind boggling, but be sure to read them completely and pay attention to every word. I would say 291 is much tougher than this exam, but this exam was harder than 290 for me. It definitely helped taking 291 first. I would also say there is overlap on one or two questions from 294. Lots of overlap on network infrastructure from 291, and GPO/AD from 290. All in all, I think Microsoft could weed the MCSE track down to six tests instead of seven. I passed with an 835 by the way using only MSPress and Transcender. Good luck.

Sanger80

Thanks for the advice. I am a bit nervous. The 291 was the first test I have EVER failed. So, ever since then I have studied my brains out to pass these tests. I think I'm in pretty good shape. Tomorrow I am going to review Certificates and PKI, since today I reviewed Server and NLB Clustering. Since I'm not working until next week, I have been spending all day studying.

Oh, by the way, since I was already an MCSE on NT 4.0, I only have to take 6 tests. I am, however, going to take two Exchange test to get my Messaging specialty though......

Sanger80

Passed with an 820 with about 25 minutes to spare. This test was mentally draining and a close second to the 291. Not because I didn't understand the subject matter, but because of the way the questions were worded. Also, some very wordy questions should have had an exhibit to make them easier to understand. When I ended the exam, I was concerned that I might have just failed, but to my surprise I ended up with a decent score.

Lots of GPO related questions in addition to just a few Clustering and PKI. Three sims, one of which was broken and didn't allow me to complete the exercise......seriously, it was impossible to do what they asked and I tried in every way possible. I would love to explain in detail, but you know how it goes.

Don't take this exam unless you have already passed the 291. Study your brains out for this one. I used the Syngress Book (cover to cover), MSPress (just for subject matter I thought I was weak on) and the MSPress PKI book (again, for areas I was weak on).

Mishra

Good job! I think you are starting to figure out the Microsoft tests pretty well now.

I think I'm the most nervous about this test when I get to it... All the key/excryption security crap is tough for me to understand. The "normal" sysadmin stuff like DHCP DNS clustering and others I understand and have work with or around at some point.

JdotQ

Congrats on the pass, and thanks for the review!

Goldmember

Congratulations on the pass!

What do you think of MS PRESS 293 book?

I have heard negative comments, but this will be my main study book.

Some people told me they passed with MS Press, but I have heard mixed reviews.

Thanks and congratulations.

dynamik

Poor guy didn't get any 'gratz for almost a month. Sorry

Congratulations though

Goldmember: Review my thoughts on MS Press 293 here: http://techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31740

Sanger80

Goldmember wrote:

Congratulations on the pass!

What do you think of MS PRESS 293 book?

I have heard negative comments, but this will be my main study book.

Some people told me they passed with MS Press, but I have heard mixed reviews.

Thanks and congratulations.

Thanks. I think the MS book was a little weak, so I would read the Syngress book cover to cover, then skim the MS book. Like others have said, the Syngress book is about as dry as they come. I mean, the book was painfully boring and sort of a tough read, but it did give me the knowledge to pass with a decent score so I suppose I can't complain.

royal

Congrats!