Failed 70-271 twice. Please help!

PtrollyPtrolly Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
in MCDST
Hello folks. Late last week I took the 70-271 exam and failed for the 2nd time. The first time I scored a 674 and the second time I scored a 622. I studied with official Microsoft books/cd and have no professional field experience at all. The only experience I do have what i've done at home over the years so there's a lot of processes I was not familiar with prior to my studying.

I'm intent on passing in a fair and ethical manner (no braindumps), but my confidence has been pretty severely injured. Does anyone have any suggestions for study material or methods? Both times I feel like quite a bit of the questions I answered were addressed only in the vaguest fashion in the book leaving me to answer based on my intuition. Is it common for people who take this exam to already have field experience?
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  • steve13adsteve13ad Member Posts: 398 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I was using the Brad Causey book, from Amazon.

    I'd suggest trying ucertify, I've had good luck with them in the past.
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  • Cisco InfernoCisco Inferno Member Posts: 1,034 ■■■■■■□□□□
    lab lab lab! are you doing them?
    the back half of the official book is all practice q&a. how are you doing on them?

    also, do you have the second edition of the official ms press book?
    the second edition covers drastic changes and updates found in win xp Service pack2 that is quizzed a lot on the test. The first edition doesnt cover it.
    2019 Goals
    CompTIA Linux+    [ ] Bachelor's Degree
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  • peakbagger66peakbagger66 Member Posts: 47 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Ptrolly wrote: »
    Hello folks. Late last week I took the 70-271 exam and failed for the 2nd time. The first time I scored a 674 and the second time I scored a 622. I studied with official Microsoft books/cd and have no professional field experience at all. The only experience I do have what i've done at home over the years so there's a lot of processes I was not familiar with prior to my studying.

    I'm intent on passing in a fair and ethical manner (no braindumps), but my confidence has been pretty severely injured. Does anyone have any suggestions for study material or methods? Both times I feel like quite a bit of the questions I answered were addressed only in the vaguest fashion in the book leaving me to answer based on my intuition. Is it common for people who take this exam to already have field experience?


    Have you tried studying in conjunction with some of the better known test simulators like Transcender, MeasureUp, or Self Test Software? I particularly like Transcender with their Transcender Flash cards. At any rate I have found these to be invaluable. As someone mentioned earlier - getting in there and digging around in labs is very important as well.
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  • PtrollyPtrolly Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Cisco Inferno wrote: »
    lab lab lab! are you doing them?
    the back half of the official book is all practice q&a. how are you doing on them?

    also, do you have the second edition of the official ms press book?
    the second edition covers drastic changes and updates found in win xp Service pack2 that is quizzed a lot on the test. The first edition doesnt cover it.


    I quickly went through them since I thought they were the same questions as on the cd which I had gone through more than a few times. Is this not the case? I do have the 2nd edition
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  • PtrollyPtrolly Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    peakbagger66 wrote: »
    Have you tried studying in conjunction with some of the better known test simulators like Transcender, MeasureUp, or Self Test Software? I particularly like Transcender with their Transcender Flash cards. At any rate I have found these to be invaluable. As someone mentioned earlier - getting in there and digging around in labs is very important as well.

    I hadn't tried any of those or the one that Stevie13ad mentioned. Food for thought
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  • badboyeeebadboyeee Member Posts: 348
    Yeah looks like you need to do some actual labbing. Are you using XP Pro or Home? Maybe try CBT Nuggets video training. Did you get a print out of what areas you did strong or weak on??
    2011 Certification Plans so far:
    [Cisco: CCENT (ICND1)-> CCNA (ICND2)]
    [MS: MCP-> MCDST-> MCTS / MCITP:ESDT7-> MCITP:EDA7]

    Class taking:
    [Cisco NetAcademy - Network Fundamentals (35%)]

    Video currently watching:
    [CBT Nuggets - CCENT w/ Jeremy (50%)]
    [CBT Nuggets - 20-721 (40%)
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  • Cisco InfernoCisco Inferno Member Posts: 1,034 ■■■■■■□□□□
    go to technet i think they have free training modules from MS
    2019 Goals
    CompTIA Linux+    [ ] Bachelor's Degree
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  • badboyeeebadboyeee Member Posts: 348
    Cisco Inferno wrote: »
    go to technet i think they have free training modules from MS

    oh and i found this awhile ago. i didnt read it yet but may be helpful. also not sure if i got this thru technet:

    https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=26272&tab=overview
    2011 Certification Plans so far:
    [Cisco: CCENT (ICND1)-> CCNA (ICND2)]
    [MS: MCP-> MCDST-> MCTS / MCITP:ESDT7-> MCITP:EDA7]

    Class taking:
    [Cisco NetAcademy - Network Fundamentals (35%)]

    Video currently watching:
    [CBT Nuggets - CCENT w/ Jeremy (50%)]
    [CBT Nuggets - 20-721 (40%)
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  • Cisco InfernoCisco Inferno Member Posts: 1,034 ■■■■■■□□□□
    badboyeee wrote: »
    oh and i found this awhile ago. i didnt read it yet but may be helpful. also not sure if i got this thru technet:

    https://www.microsoftelearning.com/eLearning/courseDetail.aspx?courseId=26272&tab=overview

    yes thats it
    2019 Goals
    CompTIA Linux+    [ ] Bachelor's Degree
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  • heylandheyland Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Hi all, I did my 70-271 exama a couple of weeks ago and passed which is good so booked my 272. I did it on Friday and failed so booked it again for yesterday. Despite all my study I failed again but with a higher mark - about 620.

    For my retake I got exactly the same questions that I had in the first attempt. Of course having seen the questions before it prompted me to second guess my original selections and change some as I was unsure if I got them right the first time.

    Has anyone heard of people getting exactly the same questions in their first and retake exams?
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  • Asif DaslAsif Dasl Member Posts: 2,116 ■■■■■■■■□□
    heyland wrote: »
    Hi all, I did my 70-271 exama a couple of weeks ago and passed which is good so booked my 272. I did it on Friday and failed so booked it again for yesterday. Despite all my study I failed again but with a higher mark - about 620.

    For my retake I got exactly the same questions that I had in the first attempt. Of course having seen the questions before it prompted me to second guess my original selections and change some as I was unsure if I got them right the first time.

    Has anyone heard of people getting exactly the same questions in their first and retake exams?
    It can happen, even more likely since they are finishing up the exam for good. But sorry to say your done with MCDST. There's a two week retake policy after 2 successive failures which means you've missed the 30th June deadline. What had you planned for next?
    You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions. - Naguib Mahfouz

    The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something, you can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent. - Arnold Schwarzenegger
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  • DevilsbaneDevilsbane Member Posts: 4,214 ■■■■■■■■□□
    heyland wrote: »
    Has anyone heard of people getting exactly the same questions in their first and retake exams?

    I've seen it before, not the same test but one or two questions here and there.

    I'm afraid that Asif is correct.
    Exam Retake policy
    1. General Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) Exam Retake Policy
      1. If a candidate does not achieve a passing score on an exam the first time, the candidate must wait at least a 24-hour period before retaking the exam.
      2. If a candidate does not achieve a passing score the second time, the candidate must wait at least a 14-day period before retaking the exam a third time.
      3. A 14-day waiting period will also be imposed for the fourth and fifth subsequent exam retakes. A candidate may not take a given exam any more than five times per year (12 months). This 12-month period would start the day of the fifth unsuccessful exam retake. The candidate would then be eligible to retake the exam 12 months from that date. In order to take a given exam more than five times per year, a candidate must submit a request and obtain prior permission from Microsoft.
      4. If a candidate achieves a passing score on an exam, the candidate cannot take it again.
    Microsoft Certification Exam Policies l Exam Retake Policy l Non-Disclosure Agreement for MCP Exams
    Decide what to be and go be it.
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  • Mike-MikeMike-Mike Member Posts: 1,860
    i used the Sybex book
    Currently Working On

    CWTS, then WireShark
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