Passed 70-642 with a 940!!!

I am not sure why but this test had my number the first 2 times, but today I got a 940 and feel it was well deserved. I would have to say I am disappointed on how poorly the official Microsoft Training kit prepared me on the first two attempts. There were many questions on each attempt that were not in any way covered in the study material or references and I had to do some serious research and labing to come up with the answers. One had me perplexed until I tried it on Server 2008 and realized how different that one item was compared to 2008R2.

I will say knowing the right answer is one thing, but when you know why the others are wrong that is even better.

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Comments

joehalford01

Wow, that's great! Congrats dude!

Essendon

Great example of perseverance paying off. Well done!!

What's next?

netsysllc

My second attempt at the 70-640 is next. Certificate services, RMS, Federation services, and LDS had a very high percentage of the questions on the first round yet are only a small portion of the self paced training kit and really did me in. Server 2000 was all about groups and Active Directory, not any more though. Now that I did the 742 it will help has I have gotten more familiar with the DNS cmd tools.

Until last year it had been 10 years since taking a Microsoft test and I will say they have made them much harder. They might introduce multiple variables and technologies in a question and you have to determine what it is they are asking beyond the surface of the stated question.

whatthehell

Congratz on the pass!

tprice5

netsysllc wrote: »

I will say knowing the right answer is one thing, but when you know why the others are wrong that is even better.

This guy gets it.

Congratulations! Your persistance is admirable.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

Dr IT

Congrats well done what were your resources ? . i am preparing for the 642 and i am really struggling to understand the concepts of the exam .

brad_121

Well done mate.

I have failed that exam twice and have been doing some serious thinking as to how I study before i take it for the 3rd time. So your advice helps!

I'm totally with you when you say that the training materials alone don't prepare you for the exams.

netsysllc

This test covers many different technologies and it is tough to master.

Know the command line options for dnscmd, wecutil, wevutil, wbadmin, and the dfs commands very well, dont just remember them but understand them. Be sure you know the old from new on the dfs commands. Know when to use a globalnames zone or stubzone. Know the IPv6 address types and basic sub-netting. Know your roles and role services very well. Know your printer .vbs commands and unix services. Branchcache and direct access are also important to know, along with network monitor and ipsec.

Lastly make sure you are familiar with all of the different features and their options in the management tools.

The book is like a starting point and covers all of it at some level, but doing hands on and technet research will be what is needed to get the missing parts. I spent an additional 60 hours in the two weeks before my passing attempt digging in deeper. I will say failing a few times helps too, you have a better idea of what they are looking for.

Read the questions a few times to try to decipher what they are asking. A question might mention vista and xp but the technology will only apply to vista so gear the answer towards that. If it does not mention Server 2008R2 then they could be asking about Server 2008, know the management tool differences.

Many of the cmd options are here Technology Lists

quinnyfly

A well proven winner Mate:) Well done, everyone is indeed correct, it shows that perserverance pays. Awsome score, and thanks for your input on the study material, it's things like that which help us all.

daba

netsysllc wrote: »

My second attempt at the 70-640 is next. Certificate services, RMS, Federation services, and LDS had a very high percentage of the questions on the first round yet are only a small portion of the self paced training kit and really did me in. Server 2000 was all about groups and Active Directory, not any more though. Now that I did the 742 it will help has I have gotten more familiar with the DNS cmd tools.

Until last year it had been 10 years since taking a Microsoft test and I will say they have made them much harder. They might introduce multiple variables and technologies in a question and you have to determine what it is they are asking beyond the surface of the stated question.

I'm in a similar boat. My last MS exam was 5 years ago. I dont know why I stopped. I am learning a hell of a lot though. I'm starting with 640 and have been studying for about a month. Was 642 a bit easier?