70-642 -- Please help!

Hello everyone, I'm kind of bummed I failed the 70-642 for the second time today. I felt really good when I clicked finished, but was very shocked when it said I failed... with a worse score than my first take (643 and 605)! I even remembered the port number for secure LDAP from the 70-640 test!! I got home and googled a couple of the error messages I remembered that were on the test, no good hits. Grrr...

Anyways, so now I'm trying to pump myself up and thinking of a different strategy. My lowest scores were in the "Configuring Network Access" and "Monitoring and Managing a Network Infrastructure" areas. I was thinking of getting the Sybex book and reading it cover-to-cover. Is Sybex any good for the 70-642? I used Sybex to pass the Network+. I have the MS Press book, took the practice tests in that, did the Kaplan and ******** tests. What next? I feel like I've got all the concepts down, just need more experience with labs and command lines.
Thanks in advance for any help.

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Yrret

Well, 55 views and no advice? That's not good. Well, it looks like Sybex never came out with a 2nd edition to cover 2008 R2. I'm really upset that I've spent almost $500 and haven't passed. Maybe it's because I underestimated it because the book is like 400 pages shorter than the 70-640 book? I'm going to blow up my test lab and start from scratch. I'm going to set up every kind of NAP type I can. I'll go buy a 802.1x switch if I have to. I'll do every kind of backup and restore there is from the command prompt, set up every kind of Event Viewer subscription, and back them up too, and schedule those backups with Task Scheduler from a command prompt. That's just off the top of my head. There's so much more I need to work on, I better get at it!

Forgive my frustration, maybe I was just unlucky with the questions I got, and unlucky with the couple guesses I had to make. But that's how I get fired up and even more determined -- I won't be denied! They're just delaying the inevitable.

P.S. Anyone else notice that you can't do a carriage return when posting from IE10? Maybe it's just me.

cruwl

Your plan in your second post is what helped me pass the 640. Lab lab lab. I also failed my first 642 attempt, and have my 2nd one coming up end of this month. And Im giong back and labbing everything I can over in my weak areas.

As far as books go I have been using the MS press one, and I have the pearson Cert book too and I am really not impressed with that one. It has no labs, and it seems to leave out important info the MS press one has.

Yrret

Thanks Cruwl, funny that I didn't really have a problem with the 70-640. It was tough, but almost all of the questions I had already seen something similar in the text, or on practice tests. Maybe I got lucky they didn't crush me with backup and restore questions. We use third party backup software, so I've never used Windows Backup. Now, I have to memorize a bunch of crazy port numbers, all the different security options for RDP, uncommon error messages, and who knows what else that's not covered in the text. I'm not trying to be all doom-and-gloom, but I'd like to help other people out with the (painful) truth of the 70-642 exam.

And speaking of the text (the MS Press text 2nd Edition), there's an error on page 90. For Unique Local Addresses it says, "Such addresses begin with "fd"". This is not true. The range of Unique Local addresses is FC00::/7, so they can start with FC or FD. Hope that helps someone out there.

Edit: Also watch out when you're trying to set up a VPN (or WPA-Ent Access Point, IIRC) lab by using certificate authentication. Apparently, the newest user or computer CA templates aren't compatible with this type of authentication. It took almost a whole weekend of troubleshooting and researching to figure this out. I just barely found a MS forum question from some poor guy in the same boat as me. The details are a little fuzzy, but I hope you get the point.

Lexluethar

I feel your pain on this one. I too have failed twice, both in the low 600's. It's difficult to study for because the amount of material that you have to know and how specific you have to know it.

It's not good enough to know the topic, but you have to know how to apply it and what specific actions can or can't be taken when applied.

I'm glad they are making these exams a little more difficult, but it's kinda stupid how hard they are. I realize they are wanting people to be able to apply this stuff, but some of the questions I got on my last exam were EXTREMELY detailed and you had to have specific memorization (yes memorization not knowledge) of what specific screens looked like to answer the question correctly. I get they are try to ensure people who pass these exams aren't cheating and know their stuff - but as of lately these exams are entirely too vague and difficult.

I know, not everyone should get 100% but PLEASE show me a System / Network Admin that knows all of the information that showed up on my last test. It's silly (no seriously, the specifics of the questions are crazy).

I'm taking the test at the end of the month for my third and last time, if I don't pass then I guess I don't have what it takes to be certified with MS.

Okay, i digress. I'm not much help when it comes to additional information. I'm going to try the CBT Nugget videos this week. I've heard good things and the only consistent item i've seen people use when passing the exam.

blargoe

Lexluethar wrote: »

I realize they are wanting people to be able to apply this stuff, but some of the questions I got on my last exam were EXTREMELY detailed and you had to have specific memorization (yes memorization not knowledge) of what specific screens looked like to answer the question correctly. I get they are try to ensure people who pass these exams aren't cheating and know their stuff - but as of lately these exams are entirely too vague and difficult.

This kind of thing really annoys me too. I wish they would just use a handful of lab/simlation type questions when it comes to UI questions, instead of having to memorize what a screen looks like to answer a question. I have seen this kind of thing on EMC and the VCP test too.

Comments like these make me rethink my study strategy for 640/642. While I have been heavily using Server 2008 since it was released, there are features that I have never had a need to deploy in the real world, and I wonder if I need do more deep-dive labbing in those areas rather than reading and cursory "turn it on and play with the interface" kind of stuff.

Lexluethar

Spot on man, thanks. Just been extremely irritated at MS over the past few weeks because of their exam policies and procedures. Heck reading posts from TEST CREATORS saying it's their job to ensure you don't get 100%... really? Sounds like some a-hole professors at my college that didn't give a crap about learning and just wanted to make sure the 1% of people that memorize stuff could get an A.

I agree, I wish they would use more labs. I use server 2008R2 on a daily basis, but NO COMPANY uses all of the tools that come with it unless they are a small shop, in which case they probably don't need all of the tools anyways. Most companies like mine use 3rd party tools to facilitate infrastructure needs (IE Backup). Who uses 2008 as a router when i can pickup a $30 one from newegg? Yes i will use some of the RRAS features like DHCP relay agent or NAT, but i'm not going to use the route add command to add a perpetual route to a specific gateway (yes things i know how to do but how these are asked in the exam are extremely vague).

I too wish they would lab more in their exams, i think it's more relevant, more advantageous and would help the vagueness of these questions. Again, all for these being more difficult but I believe its getting silly at this point.

<Stepping off soap box>

Lexluethar

I'll either fail every exam or just not be MS certified before using brain **** or cheating. In my mind there is no point to be certified because you won't know your stuff. So the entire point of getting certified (landing a job) won't matter because you won't really know what you are doing.

I think that is what is wrong w/ MS's thought process here. People still **** and will always ****. I believe they may be pushing more people to **** because of the level of difficulty.

Psoasman

Lexluethar wrote: »

I'll either fail every exam or just not be MS certified before using brain **** or cheating. In my mind there is no point to be certified because you won't know your stuff. So the entire point of getting certified (landing a job) won't matter because you won't really know what you are doing.

I think that is what is wrong w/ MS's thought process here. People still **** and will always ****. I believe they may be pushing more people to **** because of the level of difficulty.

+1 Good post. I feel the Microsoft exams have gotten more difficult in the last few years. I would much rather see simulation based exams, as they are a better gauge of knowledge.