Scheduled to take the 70-270

Jybfan04

I have been studying for this test off and on for about 4 or so months. My question to you guys is what do you do to gauge whether or not you are ready to take the test. I am a little nervous about taking it and because money is short these days I can't really afford to just simply take it again, so I'm banking on passing the first time if possible. What would you guys suggest doing? What were some of your studying methods? I am scheduled to take it on 10/02/08.

Thanks for the help

dynamik

Did you sign up using the second shot promotion? You'll get a free retake if you fail. You needed to use the code when you signed up for your original exam though. You can always cancel it, get a refund, and register again with the code if you didn't. I usually use Transcender to gauge my readiness, but that might be out of your price range if you're on a budget.

gravyjoe

I've heard that Transcender tests are a great way to know how ready you are to take the real test. Unfortunately, Transcender is expensive. As far as the test being too expensive to re-take, fortunately you are wrong. Microsoft has the second shot deal going on now. Basically, if you fail the first time, you can take the test over again for free!! You have to go to Microsoft.com to register for it though. Here's the link.

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/secondshot/default.mspx

ladyfox

I took this exam a few weeks ago and felt the same as you. I thought that 270 covered so much variation that it was hard to know if i had studied the right things. As i said in a post somewhere on here but i cant quite find, I had questions on such varied subjects that it is hard to know what to study, and indeed i studied some areas to not have a single question on it. Its the luck of the draw.

I guess all you can do is go over your books and practice tests and go over any areas you are not so comfortable with. Read the notes on this site, read up on the installation methods, disk types, drivers, all the areas that are kind of self explanatory but when sat in the exam you suddently need to not only know but articulate the difference between say striped or spanned disks.

I found that understanding the basics helped me as id look at a question and try to eliminate the answer, so going back to the discs, if the answers were choices between RAID-0, RAID-5, striped or spanned I could think what properties each had and use that to rule out answers (if that makes sense?). That way, even if i had no real clue at the answer i could be comfortable with a guess. e.g; A question where there are only two hard disks and RAID-5 is an option, i know that isnt right as you need a minimum of 3 disks for RAID-5, that kind of thing.

Cram before the exam so its fresh in your mind, then go into the exam with a clear head and know that if you dont pass first time, no real bother, you get a second shot for free and that time you WILL pass as taking the exam first time will show you what areas you are not strong in.

Good luck with the exam!

ComputerLover1

Well Sadly for me I took the exam last week and failed because I underestimated the test . But I registered for the second shot deal , got my voucher but I have not scheduled the test as of yet . The materials I used were of course this lovely site all areas of it are very helpful . I purchased the Microsoft Training Kit which comes with free bonuses and the test engine is measure up with 400 questions . The great thing is it is helping me strengthen my weak areas and not only that the test engine resembles the questions that I had on the exam to my suprise . Also I purchaed the XP fast pass by Sybex and I am using the three resources together . This site is the best I have seen and the people are just wonderful here .

The things on the exam to be preapred for are :

Make sure you know unattended installations
RIS , Sysprep.exe , Risetup.exe
Security settings (GPO )
Users and groups
File sharing
Offline files
Power Options
TCP/ IP tools
USMT
Upgrade paths to XP
Internet Explorer
IIS
IIP
And there are a lot more but I had at least 10 or more questions on unattended installs. I was told that if you get 90% or higher on the pratice tests that you are ready . Go in with a positive mind , use the process of elimination also what is helping me to prepare is to also know the wrong answers and why it is wrong . If you have a spare pc setup XP on that and pratice how things work . Become like a mad scientist that is what I am doing also . You can install virtual pc on a standalone computer and install XP on that while preserving your primary OS .depending on the ram and hardrive space available .

GOOD LUCK !!

Best Regards ,
Computerlover1