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70-292 Exam Review
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I passed the 70-292 MCSA 2003 Upgrade exam yesterday. It was my first MS exam that uses the new question types and testlets, which was quite challenging sometimes, but doable if you are prepared. With multiple-choice questions, you can always rule out at least one or two incorrect answers, with the simulations/testlets you can do a lot wrong, and there is only a single way to perform the required tasks correctly. I took the 70-218 exam less than 2 weeks ago and that one was a lot easier. The scenarios in the 70-292 exam are just as long though, hence lots and lots of reading. I do think Microsoft achieved their goal to test skills rather then just theoretical knowledge with this exam.
TIP: Read the last one or two lines (the actual question), and the answers before you read the entire question so you will know what to look for. Most of the text is irrelevant, probably there just to distract, confuse, and trick you.
I didn’t use any exam preparation books or software for this one (apart from my own TechNotes and practice questions though. ) Instead, I got most information from the Windows 2003 product documentation, and by practicing with one Windows 2003 server, with one Windows XP client (used MS Virtual PC). A large part of the exam consists of the same old Microsoft topics, those that haven’t changed from NT 4 or 2000, such as NTFS and share permissions, basic TCP/IP configuration troubleshooting, auditing, and backup types. The “Skills being Measured” are well defined for this exam. I did get several duplicate/similar questions about a single topic though.
The most important topic for this exam, and this seems to be a favorite of Microsoft for many other exams, is DNS. Know it inside out, and make sure you get some hands-on with configure pretty much all options of a DNS server, DNS client and DNS related services (DHCP-DNS, WINS-DNS).
Apart from various questions about the remaining exam objectives (GPOs, IIS, users and groups), most of the questions focus on the new features in Windows 2003 and things that have changed since Windows 2000. Some of the most important are:
- SUS, Automatic Updates and Windows Updates.
- Terminal Services (troubleshooting, licensing, permissions, read about the differences with 2000)
- Remote Server Management (Remote Desktop Connection, Remote Desktop Web Connection, Remote Desktop Administration, Remote Admin (HTML) for IIS, Remote Assistance)
- New command-line utilities to manage the AD, user and group objects, and security and software updates.
Another topic I was actually glad to receive several questions on, is the Shadow Copy Volumes. If you read and understand everything in my Shadow Copy Volumes TechNotes, you will be able to answer all those questions easily. Another important topic to practice on a Windows 2003 server, as well as the client side.
The following quote is from the Microsoft Exam and Testing Procedures FAQ:
At the end of the exam I got a big “Congratulations, you passed…” but indeed no score. However, when the test center lady handed me over the results on paper, I told her I didn’t mind I didn’t get a score, but a detailed report (with the topic sections) would have been nice. She looked surprised at me and asked me if I didn’t see the score at the end of the exam (as if I was blind), and said “you scored a 812” (passing score is 700, nr. of questions is 56). Although the report didn’t show the sections, it did indeed show the score.
Johan
I passed the 70-292 MCSA 2003 Upgrade exam yesterday. It was my first MS exam that uses the new question types and testlets, which was quite challenging sometimes, but doable if you are prepared. With multiple-choice questions, you can always rule out at least one or two incorrect answers, with the simulations/testlets you can do a lot wrong, and there is only a single way to perform the required tasks correctly. I took the 70-218 exam less than 2 weeks ago and that one was a lot easier. The scenarios in the 70-292 exam are just as long though, hence lots and lots of reading. I do think Microsoft achieved their goal to test skills rather then just theoretical knowledge with this exam.
TIP: Read the last one or two lines (the actual question), and the answers before you read the entire question so you will know what to look for. Most of the text is irrelevant, probably there just to distract, confuse, and trick you.
I didn’t use any exam preparation books or software for this one (apart from my own TechNotes and practice questions though.
) Instead, I got most information from the Windows 2003 product documentation, and by practicing with one Windows 2003 server, with one Windows XP client (used MS Virtual PC). A large part of the exam consists of the same old Microsoft topics, those that haven’t changed from NT 4 or 2000, such as NTFS and share permissions, basic TCP/IP configuration troubleshooting, auditing, and backup types. The “Skills being Measured” are well defined for this exam. I did get several duplicate/similar questions about a single topic though.The most important topic for this exam, and this seems to be a favorite of Microsoft for many other exams, is DNS. Know it inside out, and make sure you get some hands-on with configure pretty much all options of a DNS server, DNS client and DNS related services (DHCP-DNS, WINS-DNS).
Apart from various questions about the remaining exam objectives (GPOs, IIS, users and groups), most of the questions focus on the new features in Windows 2003 and things that have changed since Windows 2000. Some of the most important are:
- SUS, Automatic Updates and Windows Updates.
- Terminal Services (troubleshooting, licensing, permissions, read about the differences with 2000)
- Remote Server Management (Remote Desktop Connection, Remote Desktop Web Connection, Remote Desktop Administration, Remote Admin (HTML) for IIS, Remote Assistance)
- New command-line utilities to manage the AD, user and group objects, and security and software updates.
Another topic I was actually glad to receive several questions on, is the Shadow Copy Volumes. If you read and understand everything in my Shadow Copy Volumes TechNotes, you will be able to answer all those questions easily. Another important topic to practice on a Windows 2003 server, as well as the client side.
The following quote is from the Microsoft Exam and Testing Procedures FAQ:
Q. Why don’t Exams 70-292 or 70-296 show a numerical score?
A. Only pass or fail status can be provided for these exams because each is a composite of two exams rather than a single exam.
At the end of the exam I got a big “Congratulations, you passed…” but indeed no score. However, when the test center lady handed me over the results on paper, I told her I didn’t mind I didn’t get a score, but a detailed report (with the topic sections) would have been nice. She looked surprised at me and asked me if I didn’t see the score at the end of the exam (as if I was blind), and said “you scored a 812” (passing score is 700, nr. of questions is 56). Although the report didn’t show the sections, it did indeed show the score.
Johan
