70-291 Failed (Help needed)

hdgore

Hi All. How are you ?
I am new member in this forum and i'm hoping to get your valueble suggestions & feedback wrt 70-291 exam
Recently i passed the CCNA and Microsoft 70-290 exam. Today i took the 70-291 exam and i failed with a score of 619 I was shocked as I was expecting to pass.There were 48 questions of which one question was a simulation questions on DNS MX record (which i goofed up). There were lot of questions on command line utilities which i feel might contributed to my low score.
I've been preparing since last 3 weeks. I read the Microsoft 2277 coursebook and practiced exam questions from
1] Measure-up (at my training institute)
2] ********* (free download from internet)
3] *********** (free download from internet)
I need to know how to prepare well for the 2nd shot 70-291 exam Unfortunately there is no free 2nd shot right now. Do i need to practise a few more questions database or study from the Microsoft learning centre website ? Please do let me know. Thanking you.

tonydotigr

Take time and "learn" the material, don't rely on ****.

drewkeg

Like he said, don't rely on ****. Use Measure Up, and/or Transcender as resources for practicing your test taking skills, time, and measure of your strong and weak areas. When I was preparing, I would try to do at least one practice test a day to help keep 'my head in the game'. I used that same 2277 book. I thought it helped. Flash cards will help a lot too. especially on the command line utilities. Also check around on the forum for other resources. The more the better. Set a VM environment and practice the labs in that book.
Good Luck

RobertKaucher

Ok, not sure what your free downloads were, but I don't need to know. If they are ****, ditch them. They will not help you learn.

With a score of 619 you are relatively close. What I propose will require you to purchase test prep material from either SelfTest or Transcender.

I will assume that one month will be sufficient for you since you had a score close to the minimum.

Week One: Start with a MeasureUp test. Take the test very quickly. Do not answer any questions you do not know the answer to. By this I mean you should understand and be able to explain to your grandmother why the answer is right. Print all of the questions you got wrong. Study the scenarios in those questions and set up labs using Virtual PC or VMWare. Do this twice in the first week. The test should take no more than 30 minutes.

Week Two: Look at the areas you did poorly in the previous two practice tests. Review those topics in your course material. Take another fast test using MeasureUp. Review the questions you got wrong as mentioned previously. Use TechNet and any other online resources that will not get you stripped of your certs. Purchase Transcender's or SelfTests test prep software. At the end of week two take a practice test usinf Transcender/SelfTest. Simulate the actul exam. Take it slow give your self plenty of time to think through the answers.

Week Three: Using those results as your guide perform a massive review of all the exam topics focussing mostly on the areas you did poorly in on your last practice test. Do as many mini-labs as you can. At the end of week three take another practice test.

Week Four: Review the topics you have done poorly in and continue taking practice tests EVERY DAY. Continue to review and cram in those areas you are doing poorly in (which should be few in number at this point).

Retake your exam.

Johnny Johnson

I recommend using Transcender and either the MCSE Guide to Managing a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Network, or the MS Press book for the exam. Good luck!

Todd Burrell

I just passed last Friday, and my main advice is to learn the following:

1) All of the Network related commands (Ping, Pathping, Net, Netsh, Tracert, etc...) and ALL of the different options. And try each command to see what the output looks like... Know when to use each command.
2) Know RRAS inside and out. This is a big subject on the test. And you need to know how to setup each type of RRAS function (NAT, VPN, Demand-dial or dial-in). And understand RRAS and IAS and how they function together.
3) Learn DNS and DHCP as well, and know about all of the different zone options and when to use them, and know how these 2 products inter-relate.
4) Play around with WSUS, MBSA, System Monitor and Network monitor. And you need to know some about WSUS, so I would set it up on a server.

Also, this link has some good study info:

MCSE 70-291 Study Guide - Proprofs

Overall you just need to know the material. For this test the MS Press book was actually pretty good, and the MCSE in a Nutshell book is a good source for reviewing.

Also, work as many problems as you can... I probably worked around 2500 different problems before I took this test, and it really paid off.

Good luck. You're very close, so you probably only need to get 4-5 more questions right to pass.

siniabhilash

Hai

Wholly agree with the above suggesstion. **** will lead you no where mate although you could pass exams (i think so), you will be easily caught on a very simple interview. Knowledge is more powerful, hence go through the material and try transcender which is more rigorous but very explanative. Command lines are something which you should know, the only way is to set up a VM and play around.

I have tasted failure and can assure you it is not sweet but the pass after that will make you confident because you went back and learned your weak areas.

hdgore

Hi All. Thanks a lot for your valuable feedback.
Appreciate your suggestions and tips !!
I certainly wont rush for the 2nd shot 70-291 exam.
DNS and RRAS are the two sections which i scored less.
So i will be focussing on those two particularly.
Yup....i completely agree knowledge and basic fundamentals are more important than ****.
I would follow a more systematic approach.I will practice more labs on Virtual PC and practice tests using Transcender. I have learnt my lesson through this failure. Thanking you.

RobertKaucher

For a secondary source on DNS I suggest:
Amazon.com: DNS on Windows Server 2003 (9780596005627): Cricket Liu, Matt Larson, Robbie Allen: Books

GAngel

You've been preparing for 3 weeks but how long have you been in the field?

petedude

GAngel wrote: »

You've been preparing for 3 weeks but how long have you been in the field?

Exactly. All too many people try to cram these exams, hoping they can be the "I passed in 21 days" types.

You either know the material or you don't. For me, most Microsoft exams take at least three months to adequately prepare for, and I've been at IT a while now.

Mishra

Don't post any questions or what the simulations are. I would suggest edited your post and removing the comments you made about what the simulation was.

Yes, understanding each chapter, not just remembering is going to be your best plan of action to get the most of out these exams.

Psoasman

I would look the exam objectives and go line by line and make sure you can answer questions about the material, as well as do any hands-on with that material.

TheDonger

petedude wrote: »

Exactly. All too many people try to cram these exams, hoping they can be the "I passed in 21 days" types.

You either know the material or you don't. For me, most Microsoft exams take at least three months to adequately prepare for, and I've been at IT a while now.

3 months? Do you study every day? Do you have major life commitments like a wife and kids? I can see that if you can only study an hour a day or so, but when I'm studying for these things it usually comes out to about a month to a month and a half from cracking the MS book to showing up for the exam. I'm not being condescending, just saying that it's different strokes for different folks.

Staying on it is the hardest part for me, so I have to just devour it and let it become my life for awhile. This leads to burnout afterwards so I have a hard time getting back on the horse, but I've gotten 3 certs this year and it's kept the recruiters calling.

Bottom line: if I don't jump on these hard and fast, I'll put them off forever.