which books should I buy to study for MCDST

keeranbri

Can anyone give me any advice on what book to buy on amazon to study for the MCDST? i wanted to buy one that is worth buying and has good ratings on passing.

Devilsbane

I've heard the Microsoft resource kit books are good, but I haven't purchased them yet.

etbjr182

Yep Ms Press books way to go for this exam.

70-271
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-271): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System (Pro-Certification) (9780735622272): Walter Glenn, Tony Northrup: Books

70-272
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-272): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting…

GaryLeung

If you can get your hands on CBT Nuggets, go for it. A good studying tool for both exams.

Devilsbane

Thanks for the Amazon links. I'm planning on knocking this cert out at the end of the summer.

varelg

etbjr182 wrote: »

Yep Ms Press books way to go for this exam.

70-271
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-271): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System (Pro-Certification) (9780735622272): Walter Glenn, Tony Northrup: Books

70-272
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-272): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting…

+1 for MS book. Most of the times when the cert's vendor provides the literature as well, go for the vendor's literature. Years ago, I took this exam and failed- I used third party guides and I think that's part of the reason I failed.

unandig

The MS Press books are what I just used to pass with, so +1 for them.

raptor63

I will also use these books for study.

Michael.J.Palmer

MS Press definitely and if you can find any sort of practice test engine online that would help you as well, there are free ones you just have to search for them.

raptor63

etbjr182 wrote: »

Yep Ms Press books way to go for this exam.

70-271
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-271): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System (Pro-Certification) (9780735622272): Walter Glenn, Tony Northrup: Books

70-272
Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-272): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting…

Purchased my books yesterday

etbjr182

Have you taken the test yet? If so how was it? I was about to study the 70-680 Windows 7 exam but I think I will squeeze this one out first

Cisco Inferno

etbjr182 wrote: »

Have you taken the test yet? If so how was it? I was about to study the 70-680 Windows 7 exam but I think I will squeeze this one out first

thread necro!

but hey im working on it as well before my 680 exam. i think its very possible to do both mcdst exams before june 31st.
i would suggest the MS Press books for each exam. they have alot of practice questions! (the last third of the book is just Q&A!) and the software is nice.

There seems to be much overlap with the A+ and Net+ too. id call it easy but the only con is its microsoft and they word things funny. The questions are much longer as they word things in paragraphs and scenarios. This is a troubleshooting certification so it's pretty much expected.

If you can get the CBT Nuggets for MCDST, do so. I've used them for my A+ and Net+ and am very familiar with the teaching style. only problem is that Todd Logan's voice is annoying. That or he needs to hit puberty.

good luck

etbjr182

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

thread necro!

but hey im working on it as well before my 680 exam. i think its very possible to do both mcdst exams before june 31st.
i would suggest the MS Press books for each exam. they have alot of practice questions! (the last third of the book is just Q&A!) and the software is nice.

There seems to be much overlap with the A+ and Net+ too. id call it easy but the only con is its microsoft and they word things funny. The questions are much longer as they word things in paragraphs and scenarios. This is a troubleshooting certification so it's pretty much expected.

If you can get the CBT Nuggets for MCDST, do so. I've used them for my A+ and Net+ and am very familiar with the teaching style. only problem is that Todd Logan's voice is annoying. That or he needs to hit puberty.

good luck

Haha yea I know But yea I'm not too worried about the deadline, from what I gathered seems to be 2 - 4 weeks is about the average study time per test. Just ordered my MS press book for the 271 today! Yea I figured it was more troubleshooting scenarios than what is "x"type of questions. I def have the CBT nuggerts and couldn't agree more! Hahaha James Conrad was WAY better! thanks for the pointers and good luck to you too!

Mike-Mike

I have the Sybex book, I haven't taken the test yet, but I did read the whole book and I thought it was pretty good

RobertKaucher

I used the MS Press books in conjunction with the XP Resource Kit. PAssed the 271 in the mid 900s. I also used ExamCram and found that book to be a little more in line with the 270.

Dakinggamer87

I would also recommend MS Press books.

badboyeee

For the MS Press 70-271 Books, does anyone know the difference between the hard cover and paperback in terms of content??

Same author, but different co-author. Paperback published 1 year ahead. Also different amount of page numbers..

Hardcover: Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-271): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System (Pro-Certification) (9780735622272): Walter Glenn, Tony Northrup: Books

Paperback: Amazon.com: MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-271): Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft Windows XP Operating System (Pro - Certification) (0790145206527): Walter Glenn, Michael T. Simpson: Books

Cisco Inferno

good question!

one of them is 1st edition and the other is 2nd edition!
make sure you get the second edition. Its the one with the big number two in the upper right corner. The first edition came out before service pack 2! and from what i heared the test is based off service pack 2 and its features.

badboyeee

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

good question!

one of them is 1st edition and the other is 2nd edition!
make sure you get the second edition. Its the one with the big number two in the upper right corner. The first edition came out before service pack 2! and from what i heared the test is based off service pack 2 and its features.

ahh thats what i figured after i posted, since they were published a year apart. i just noticed there is also a 3rd option at amazon, a hardcover that looks like the first edition. used price is only $2 + ship! the paperback used is like $6 + ship. i was hoping i could get those, oh well ill settle for $14 + ship for the 2nd ed

qwism

First post on this board! Anyhooooo....

Wondering if it's possible to study for both 70-271 and 70-272 and to take them both before they retire by the date listed.? (June 30)

I'm a college student at the moment, but have ample time to study in between classes and hw assignments. And won't have any other distractions besides my pension for multi tasking way too much and getting side tracked.

Do you think i should give it a go, or should i just prepare for win 7 material?

And if I don't go for the MCDST, should i order the books anyhow and study them for knowledge sake, and prepare for the MCITP - EDST instead?

Kind of repeating myself, but i'm writing this pretty fast as I have a dinner to get to.

Thanks for reading!

Cisco Inferno

qwism wrote: »

First post on this board! Anyhooooo....

Wondering if it's possible to study for both 70-271 and 70-272 and to take them both before they retire by the date listed.? (June 30)

I'm a college student at the moment, but have ample time to study in between classes and hw assignments. And won't have any other distractions besides my pension for multi tasking way too much and getting side tracked.

Do you think i should give it a go, or should i just prepare for win 7 material?

And if I don't go for the MCDST, should i order the books anyhow and study them for knowledge sake, and prepare for the MCITP - EDST instead?

Kind of repeating myself, but i'm writing this pretty fast as I have a dinner to get to.

Thanks for reading!

yes youll have time.
Buy both MS press books off ebay or somewhere used.
Download and set up a program called Virtual Box.
Install the windows xp cd that comes with the books and get learning on it!

you can also supplement your study with Preplogic's Learnkey video series or CBT Nuggets' video series.

alot of this is hands on work, but if youve used xp for a while youll be very comfortable with 80% of the material.

also, by getting this cert, youre already an MCP, you have more letters on your resume and much of the more important material carries over to win7.

Essendon

Good advice by Cisco Inferno.

Cisco Inferno

also look at the link in my sig.

qwism

Ordered the books, and waiting for them to ship my way. Thanks again for the advice!

Cisco Inferno

Once you get it all set up in Virtual Box and are ready for the 272, you can download a trial version of Office 2003as provided from Microsoft to practice on.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/2/3/6233A257-16BD-4C8D-BF4C-6FA59AF9213A/OfficeSTD.exe

You will need this trial key to install it. This is in no way a full access key, it is just for a 60 day trial of the software.
kkj6d-6hg69-yv2v3-pmt2g-2wy6d

MODS- This is not a full access key. It is only valid for 60 days. Let me know if it should be taken down please. TY

qwism

Thanks for the help Cisco. Books should be here soon. I was wondering why people used vmware typically, what if you can get a cheap or have a cheap xp setup at home on a stand alone desktop/laptop. Wouldn't that be just as good, or is there something about just getting experience using vmware also?

I can pick up a cheap desktop setup with monitor for less than 80 online as the only thing i have to work on now is my laptop.

Is there a benefit to using vmware aside from getting experience using it in regards to studying?

earweed

The big benefit to using virtualization is that it's easier and faster and more energy efficient than using an extra computer. If your laptop is fairly decent and has 4 GB RAM you can run several clients and/or servers on it simultaneously.

Cisco Inferno

earweed wrote: »

The big benefit to using virtualization is that it's easier and faster and more energy efficient than using an extra computer. If your laptop is fairly decent and has 4 GB RAM you can run several clients and/or servers on it simultaneously.

yea or just client running at a pretty good speed.
and yes you can network multiple clients to get a feel of a workgroup/domain etc.

qwism

I actually don't have much of a setup for lab. I actually don't mind having my personal comp and another comp to play with, as i intend to get use it learn linux down the road also.

I guess i have to put together a decent computer for lab work. What are some basic requirements i'd need other than a lot of ram?

Cisco Inferno

qwism wrote: »

I actually don't have much of a setup for lab. I actually don't mind having my personal comp and another comp to play with, as i intend to get use it learn linux down the road also.

I guess i have to put together a decent computer for lab work. What are some basic requirements i'd need other than a lot of ram?

i guess just making sure your cpu supports virtualization. well 90% of todays intels and amd's support it anyways.
4gb of ram aint bad to start out.
i would also reserver 10gb on your hd per each virtual machine.

youll love it. In Virtual box (im running win 7), I have a win xp sp2 machine, a win xp sp3 machine, Server 2003, Mac Os x, and like 3 different versions of Linux I can choose from.

qwism

Where should i go for help with virtualbox? I've dled solaris, cent os and ubuntu...and after i partition the hd, i google "how to install an os on virtualbox" and have been following it, but my laptop crashes horribly... it'll get to a point where when it tries to restart it'll shut down 5-10 seconds into it, and i have to wait it out. and i've done this a few times already. says there's been a change or my computer's power went out and has been shut down improperly. etc etc.


what part of the forums should i post on