Failed 70-271

tko03831

Well I failed 70-271 scored a 666 out of 700. Any advice on studying?

tko03831

Also is there any practice test I can buy? or other books that would help?

Chivalry1

What Books are you studying from?

Ricka182

Check out the free course available from M$. Do a search at the site, and you should find it. If I can find the link, I'll post it here also.

davsp

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/offers/mcdst/
there, then click on the free training.

Am also just curious, what review materials did you use?

tko03831

I was using the Microsoft Offical Course books 2261 and 2262. I have even set the class at New Horizons, I went out and got ExamCram2 70-271,70-272. This was my first microsoft test to take. I already have my A+ and scored really well. I think the ExamCram2 practice test are gonna help.

davsp

Oh, okay. Good luck on your next try. I hope you registered for the Second Shot promo.

Anyway, I'd like to ask another thing, do you have experience using Windows XP? A lot of other people passed the exams relatively easily.

As for me, I'm booking my exam 70-271 for next week, then 70-272 shortly thereafter... Microsoft free online study clinic, Sybex MCDST Study Guide, Exam Cram 2, and...

...****? I've heard somewhere that **** is braindump material. Can anyone confirm this? Their main site looks believable. Would like to know if i'm studying "illegally" or not.

Thanks

**

Okay. It's braindump material indeed. Oh well. Gotta love auto filter

Chivalry1

LOL. That auto filter is FUNNY. I am studying for the 70-272 and plan to take it this week. I have a questions also, do the MEASURE UP questions that come with the Microsoft books any help. These questions seemed to be relatively twice as hard than the questions in the book. Can anyone who studied using the Microsoft Press books tell me how the Measure Up questions relate to the actual test. Because these questions seemed to be twice as hard and confusing. And generally is the Microsoft Press books any good helping you pass the test.

Lorien

For 70.271, I decided first to get 70.270 because it's essentially the same material but has better coverage. For each, I'm using the Microsoft Self-Paced Training Kits (books) as well as the ExamCram2 books (this combination has always worked for me in the past). I intend to study to pass BOTH tests at the same time (before taking either exam), but take them separately starting with 270 (on which I'll focus the most attention first).

Besides the excellent study guides offered on this site, I located about 20 different sites with sample questions or free study materials related mostly to 270 (but some for 271). From what I've seen so far, 271 is a bit more detailed in certain areas than 270, but it essentially covers the same material. I'm convinced that taking and passing 270 FIRST is the best way to prepare for 271.

Oh, and for what it's worth, the questions for 270 and 271 seem a lot more complicated and the wrong answers seem much closer to being right than anything I encountered with A+ or Network+ - both of which I passed in the last 30 days (or for that matter with any of the Microsoft tests I passed with I got my original MCSE-NT certification about 7 years ago). IMHO, you're going to have to study harder and actually work with the product more to pass these newer Microsoft tests - you can't compare them with the CompTIA exams. That's an advantage of the Microsoft Self-study Training Kits because they include an evaluation copy of the software you're studying so you can install it and work with it even if you don't otherwise own a copy of the program - a critical part of learning the material to the point where you can pass the tests.

In short, I strongly suggest you study for and pass 270 before you try for the MCDST exams. Of course, I've yet to pass them so you have to take my suggestion with a grain of salt, but given the topics covered and the information that Microsoft says you need to understand, the overlap is clear and I'm sure this is the way to go. Good luck to everyone else who's on whatever certification path they're pursuing.