Finished my I.T degree now want to study for MSCE

jvigna

Hey guys, im new to the site. Just want to say hi and ask a few questions regarding the 70-270 Windows XP exam. The only source of study for the 70-270 exam i have are all the CBT training videos for 70-270 (CBT Nuggets) . Just wondering if this is sufficient to pass the exam or do I need a book to read and practice exams? if so where can I find this book and practice exams.

Thank you
J

Michael.J.Palmer

Welcome to TE! As far as whether the CBT are enough is really just up to how much experience you have with XP installation and configuration prior to studying. I'm sure that since you have your IT degree that you'll probably do fine, but still, it doesn't hurt to use another source just to check up on, maybe the MS book for example, I'm sure you can get the 270 book for fairly cheap on Amazon these days.

Also, why are you going the 270 route to start in the first place? Personally I'd probably do the 680 instead since it'll help you more in the long run. With your IT degree, any potential employer will probably just assume that you have experience with XP throughout the years but they may question your Windows 7 experience.

Just food for thought there.

jvigna

Hi Michael, thank you for the reply. The reason why I'm going for the XP first is because Ive been to a fair few interviews and all they ask me is on XP and nothing on windows 7. I know it would be better in the long run but im planning on doing both. Possibly do windows 7 next year. So you can get the MS book for 270 fairly cheap on Amazon? So CBT videos and MS should be enough? Yeah but in an IT degree they dont teach you XP or ad etc. Its more management, coding, databases, systems.. alot of theory and not enough hands on experience.

Also is this the MS book your talking about? http://www.amazon.com/MCSA-MCSE-70-270-Exam-ebook/dp/B00142KQ02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A24IB90LPZJ0BS&s=digital-text&qid=1280632742&sr=8-1


thanks!

Michael.J.Palmer

This one would be it: Amazon.com: MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional: Installing, Configuring, ... Second Edition (Pro-Certification) (9780735621527): Walter Glenn, Anthony Northrup

If folks are asking about your XP experience and that's why you want to take the 270 then you may want to look into just going after the MCDST instead. It's two exams for it, but it covers pretty much everything you'd need to know about XP while the 270 just simply covers the installation and configuration process (which is covered in the MCDST as well, but you also get an education on many cmd system tools and application/network troubleshooting techniques).

jvigna

Michael.J.Palmer wrote: »

This one would be it: Amazon.com: MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional: Installing, Configuring, ... Second Edition (Pro-Certification) (9780735621527): Walter Glenn, Anthony Northrup

If folks are asking about your XP experience and that's why you want to take the 270 then you may want to look into just going after the MCDST instead. It's two exams for it, but it covers pretty much everything you'd need to know about XP while the 270 just simply covers the installation and configuration process (which is covered in the MCDST as well, but you also get an education on many cmd system tools and application/network troubleshooting techniques).

thanks for that! I will look into these exams... and let you know how my progress is going!

J

Devilsbane

The 270 cbt's weren't that great, the instructor bothered me. His voice was annoying, and he just spent loads of time sitting on the desktop explaining things. What a waste of a video if there is nothing to look at? There were a few good ones though, so if you were to just watch a few that you needed extra help on (like language settings, because if you are like me you have never touched them).

The 70-290 and 70-291 were awesome though. I really only wanted the 290 and 291 videos, but to buy them both was $400. The MCSA pack is also $400, so I bought that and watched a few of the 70-270 videos, and there was also another set of videos included that I never looked at. But at least I have them.

Devilsbane

Michael.J.Palmer wrote: »

This one would be it: Amazon.com: MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-270): Installing, Configuring, and Administering Microsoft Windows XP Professional: Installing, Configuring, ... Second Edition (Pro-Certification) (9780735621527): Walter Glenn, Anthony Northrup

I prefer the soft cover MS books, but they are also a lot more expensive. ($100ish vs $30ish for the book Michael linked) I bought this book as well and just skimmed it to fill in holes. Seemed to be a lot of the same information.

jvigna

Devilsbane wrote: »

I prefer the soft cover MS books, but they are also a lot more expensive. ($100ish vs $30ish for the book Michael linked) I bought this book as well and just skimmed it to fill in holes. Seemed to be a lot of the same information.

thanks for the info mate! Also where do I go to actually book and sit the exam? Is it all done through the internet or ?

Cheers

EDIT: sorted it out! Your closest testing centre got it! cheers

Devilsbane

jvigna wrote: »

sorted it out! Your closest testing centre got it! cheers

Good to hear. Don't take this test lightly. It is one of the hardest MCSA tests, and will likely take you by surprise if you aren't ready. There are a lot of things that pop up that you wouldn't expect to see on an XP test.

Good luck