Introducing Myself

I'm new to this forum and I don't see an introduction topic anywhere so I'll just do it here. I have a fulltime job as a helpdesk employee and in my free time I'm working on my mcdst. Right now I'm going through the 70-271 book and I have 4 more chapters to go through. I've been mostly outlining the chapters/lessons, but I was wondering if anyone else has any tips of what else would be a good way to study?And for anyone who has already passed the 70-271, What are the most imporant things to know for that exam. Like major topics?Thanks in advance!

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juansifu

I failed it the first time around and passed it yesterday. The first time I took it I didn't take it seriously. I should have the questions are tricky. The second time I knew what to look for. I studied two books that I found had test question similar to the test. The books are Sybex MCDST Study Guide Deluxe Edition ( http://www.sybex.com/WileyCDA/SybexTitle/productCd-0782143520.html ) this book is really good and the other book is MCDST: Exam Review 70-271 & 70-272 by Neil R. Tucker, this book had questions that are on the test. You may want to go through the Study Guide first then the Exam Review book last. I also installed Windows XP on an old PC I had at home and went through the examples. Good luck

Alien8predator

thanks for your advice

Someone else advise me the MS Pressbook, but I don't like the MS Pressbook at all. It's too long and going on forever getting me bored after an hour of reading, but the Sybex book I've enjoyed so far. I'm using vwmare server with a virtual pc that has windows xp pro installed on it. I just got the book last week, and I've been reading about permissions but they're a bit confusing to understand. what's the easiest way to remember/understand them? And since some of you know what to expect of the exam?

Mishra

I usually like the way that Sybex explains the information to you but they usually never cover all the details you really need to know about the tests.

slayer3

The MS press book may be boring but it more resembles what will be on the test. The practice test are more close to the real test than Sybex.

tguilbault

Hello-
just passed yesterday (850). I found it pretty hard and took all but 2 minutes of the 2 hours to finish it. I was quite surprised by my score- not too many "slam dunk" questions.
Read each question carefully and more than once- it's easy to be mislead. Alot of the possible answers were very similar. I had alot of remote issues and access to resources type questions. But it touched on all the objectives. The pool of question is quite large I think, so your 50 questions and mine could be completely different, if I'm right.
I took the class, read the book and used transcenders study guide and practices tests.
Good luck

Alien8predator

Hello All,
I past the exam this past monday, but my score wasn't too high, but I'm glad I passed. I probably have some areas I could work on. Now I'll be working on the 70-272, and after that thinking of upgrading MCDST to vista, or maybe doing MCAS. I'm wanting to do MCSA and MCSE too, but I've heard that it's better to wait till I have more practical experience for those. What do people think of this here or any of you have any other ideas/options that I could do?

Essendon

Alien8predator wrote:

Hello All,
I past the exam this past monday, but my score wasn't too high, but I'm glad I passed. I probably have some areas I could work on. Now I'll be working on the 70-272, and after that thinking of upgrading MCDST to vista, or maybe doing MCAS. I'm wanting to do MCSA and MCSE too, but I've heard that it's better to wait till I have more practical experience for those. What do people think of this here or any of you have any other ideas/options that I could do?

Congratulations

I would recommend going on towards the MCSE/A. MCDST is only desktop-oriented. Bigger and better things lie ahead in the MCSE/A. It depends what you want to do.

As for getting more experience and then working towards your MCSE, I would disagree with that to an extent. Learning never hurt anyone, besides the additional knowledge can be applied to your current job. Think of this way, if you have your MCSA, you would also command better salary and be able to move up from helpdesk to atleast desktop support if not server support. I'd say lab up and start studying. Post up any questions and there are plenty of people to help.

brad-

Alien8predator wrote:

I'm wanting to do MCSA and MCSE too, but I've heard that it's better to wait till I have more practical experience for those. What do people think of this here or any of you have any other ideas/options that I could do?

There's an Alice Cooper song that goes something like "Cant get a car if I dont have a job, cant get a job if I dont have a car"...."cant get a girl without a job and a car"...and on and on, you get the idea.

You'll probably move along faster in the sys admin game if you work on those yourself...even if you just learn them without testing. Then you can at least tell an employer that you've done this or that.

Hard to get experience if you dont have credentials, hard to get credentials if you dont have experience. At some point, one has to come first. At least as far as teh credentials go, the ball is in our court.

Essendon

brad- wrote:

Alien8predator wrote:

I'm wanting to do MCSA and MCSE too, but I've heard that it's better to wait till I have more practical experience for those. What do people think of this here or any of you have any other ideas/options that I could do?

There's an Alice Cooper song that goes something like "Cant get a car if I dont have a job, cant get a job if I dont have a car"...."cant get a girl without a job and a car"...and on and on, you get the idea.

You'll probably move along faster in the sys admin game if you work on those yourself...even if you just learn them without testing. Then you can at least tell an employer that you've done this or that.

Hard to get experience if you dont have credentials, hard to get credentials if you dont have experience. At some point, one has to come first. At least as far as teh credentials go, the ball is in our court.

Very aptly put Brad!!

Sie

Welcome!!

You talk of doing the 271 and the 272, and should you go for your MCSA or MCSE?

I would head for your MCSA to be honest from their, last time I read 271 & 272 didnt count towards the MCSE im afraid.

271 & 272 making up the MCDST if my memory servers correct....

Alien8predator

ok thanks. I'll see what I am going to do. gives me a picture of what different peoples opinions are. and what do people think of the A+ CompTIA and N+ CompTIA certifications? and what kind of certifications are they? I get the idea A+ is almost same as MCDST but just from a different company and N+ basic networking from a different company?

Tech109

A+ and Network+ are known as "vendor-neutral" certifications, so will touch on Windows, Unix and Mac.

Been a while since I took A+, but it was actually mostly PC hardware troubleshooting, and PC software troubleshooting.

Network+ is an entry-level network technician certification - you definitely want to have a good foundational knowledge of TCP/IP before taking that exam.

Neither exams are going to guarantee big bucks, but they can get your foot in the door or show your current management that you are trainable in case higher-up positions become available.

BradleyHU

brad- wrote:

Alien8predator wrote:

I'm wanting to do MCSA and MCSE too, but I've heard that it's better to wait till I have more practical experience for those. What do people think of this here or any of you have any other ideas/options that I could do?

There's an Alice Cooper song that goes something like "Cant get a car if I dont have a job, cant get a job if I dont have a car"...."cant get a girl without a job and a car"...and on and on, you get the idea.

You'll probably move along faster in the sys admin game if you work on those yourself...even if you just learn them without testing. Then you can at least tell an employer that you've done this or that.

Hard to get experience if you dont have credentials, hard to get credentials if you dont have experience. At some point, one has to come first. At least as far as teh credentials go, the ball is in our court.

quite true...

Psoasman

I would start in on the MCSA path: 270, 290, 291. The 270 is very similar to the 271, except that it is geared more towards AD domains, rather than workgroups. 290 would be useful as it goes further into groups, NTFS / Share permissions, security, user accounts etc. All useful if you are working in helpdesk role.
Besides, your company may offer to help with tuition or pay test fees. A lot of companies would rather hire internally / promote someone they know is reliable. It will also impress the higher-ups if they know you are working on your education...looks better to them if you are studying rather than watching videos are Youtube!!