Passed 70-270 with a 1000

Well, I aced the 70-270 exam today, and I have a few observations.

The test was much easier than I expected. I studied like crazy for 70-290, and I think I actually over studied for this exam - at least I certainly over-stressed. There were no simulations or drag and drops. Some people who have reported failing the 70-290 have reported that they were shocked at how much harder 70-290 was than 70-270. I can see that now - except that I took these exams in reverse order 70-290 then 70-270. I suggest this for everyone who has not taken either of these exams - there is alot of overlap, and 70-270 expects a basic knowledge of domain policy - there were several questions on my exam about how policy (local and domain) will effect end users.

Without trying to sound boastful, I really was surprised at how easy this exam turned out - especially compared to 70-290. Last weekend I did not get nearly the amount of studying in that I was hoping to and said to a coworker and instructor who have both passed the exam that I think I need to take another week to study - they both told me not to bother and just go take the test.

As far as taking the exam itself, the way I take a question on a multiple choice exam is to see if I can answer it before I look at the answer choices. If I am not sure without looking at the answer choices, then I try and eliminate the answers that I know are wrong. For 70-270, on many of the questions there really was only one possible answer. The other 3 answers were often far off the mark.

For study, I used the Microsoft Press coursebooks, exam cram 2, MS self paced training, and the exam sims, and this site. I have 12 years field experience and 4 years solid experience supporting Windows XP and almost 7 years of Windows 2000. I found that I needed the most study on automated install - including RIS, as well as USB and Bluetooth - all of which were covered on the exam.

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Comments

LukeQuake

Congrats sir!

royal

Congrats and very nice score!

Ricka182

congrats!

sprkymrk

I have to say, I expected a little better than that from you deneb.

Awesome!

kujayhawk93

Congratulations!

I'm taking the 70-270 test next Friday, your post makes me feel much better about it. Without violationg any non-disclosure agreements, can you reveal the basic gist of the USB and Bluetooth questions? Are they more hardware or software-oriented questions? Thanks!

deneb829

kujayhawk93 wrote:

Congratulations!

I'm taking the 70-270 test next Friday, your post makes me feel much better about it. Without violationg any non-disclosure agreements, can you reveal the basic gist of the USB and Bluetooth questions? Are they more hardware or software-oriented questions? Thanks!

On the USB, know about how much power that local, self-powered (i.e. AC adapter), and USB powered hubs use and the problems that you might have plugging something like an air conditioner or a microwave into a USB powered hub - not even close to violating the non-disclosure there (the test actually asked about USB powered space heaters)

On bluetooth, know the different ways that devices can find each other.

sprkymrk wrote:

I have to say, I expected a little better than that from you deneb.

Awesome!

As strange as it sound, I was actually a bit embarrased to post my score. After all my machinations about Server, I really did think that 70-270 would be harder.

elover_jm

no no no hold a darn minute.......

listen man be honest with me...... Did you use ****?

Slowhand

Congrats on the score, not too shabby.

deneb829

elover_jm wrote:

no no no hold a darn minute.......

listen man be honest with me...... Did you use ****?

Nope, no ****. Seriously, it's not a hard test. I really think besides study - taking 70-290 first and working with XP (including work and home) since it was released makes a difference. I was honestly surprised that I aced it.

I don't have alot of faith in **** - I used to work with a guy who's pretty sharp who only used **** to study and failed 70-290 twice before actually studying and passing with a 780. They didn't help him one bit.

There's got to be more people on this site who have aced it.

elover_jm

well in tht case pls accept my apologies

congrats awsome score....

kujayhawk93

deneb829 wrote:

As strange as it sound, I was actually a bit embarrased to post my score

I understand, I felt the same way when I aced Net+. Thanks for the tips on USB and Bluetooth, looks like I'll need to dig my A+ notes out!

eurotrash

Congrats!

janmike

Congratulations!

!30

Nice score dude !

Kepp it up ! Congrat's !

Cingular

Wow, very nice score deneb.

I'm in the process of studying for my 70-270, i have been wondering how hard the exam will be, thank you for clearing that up

deneb829

Cingular wrote:

Wow, very nice score deneb.

I'm in the process of studying for my 70-270, i have been wondering how hard the exam will be, thank you for clearing that up

Thanks to everybody!

I don't want to sound like the 70-270 is going to be a cakewalk for anyone who takes it. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I've been supporting XP since it was released and supporting Windows 2000 since it was released - before that it was a few years of supporting NT4.0 (and even a few months of NT3.51). I also teach a Windows XP class, and I put in a solid 40 hours of study over the past month (not as much as I did for 70-290, but still a decent amount).

When I took the test Friday, I arrived at the testing center early. Last time, no one was testing, so he let me in early. This time there was a guy taking the 70-270.

When I arrived back at my appointed time, the other guy had finished and was gone. I asked the proctor how he did. The proctor told me that the guy had failed with a score in the 600's - thinking he had missed by only one question. That was sobering, since I really didn't know what the test was going to be like.

When I say the 70-270 was easier than I expected, remember that I took 70-290 first and expected something on par with that exam. Still, I do believe with study and some hands on, most tech savvy people could pass the exam. I'd just hate to hear that someone failed the exam because deneb made it sound so easy.

helms20

deneb829 wrote:

I don't want to sound like the 70-270 is going to be a cakewalk for anyone who takes it. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I've been supporting XP since it was released and supporting Windows 2000 since it was released - before that it was a few years of supporting NT4.0 (and even a few months of NT3.51). (

This makes a huge difference as hands on experience is proven to "sink in" more than studying brain **** or even written material.

By the way congrats and great score.

Cingular

Haha, don't worry, im not taking this easy by any means, with any exam i just assume it's a really, really hard...and begin to think it's too hard :O

Somtimes i need to be brought back down to earth lol, and hearing about your 70-270 experience did just that

sharptech

Congrats!

ddunn1943

Congrats man great score. I'm just starting my quest for my certifications, having just recieved my associate in Computer Network Systems. Tring to figure out the best path to take these exams in. Again great job.

lungsucker

Just wanted to say congrats. I took the 70-270 a few wks ago and failed. Made in the 600's. I studied three different books, Examcram2, Sybex, Preplogic notes, and 100's of questions. I did great on all the questions.The actual exam was nothing like the questions that these books have. I am a student in computer Science. Except for what i do at home, i dont have the luxury of experience. So now im at a loss for where to go next. Do i buy a fourth book, buy some more videos, answer some more easy questions. I cant get experience,. So any suggestions. Besides going to a ****. thanks

goforthbmerry

deneb, great score congrats

lungsucker, keep studying, You will get it. Try to set up a procatice lab if you can. if if you use vmware it helps.

deneb829

It's really hard to say what you need to do next lungstudy. You have some decent material on hand. You might want to look at how you study. You're not that far away from a passing grade.

I am finding that it is the students in college who seem to be having the toughest time with the certification exams. You can't study for a certification exam like you do for an exam at school. I find many students really don't study at all and still manage to get decent grades in most of their classes. If this is you, you're going to have to learn to study differently. You might want to consider at least 8-10 hours of study a week for 6 weeks.

eyeoftigr

Congrats and good luck on the future exams...

Chronic24

deneb829 wrote:

elover_jm wrote:

no no no hold a darn minute.......

listen man be honest with me...... Did you use ****?

Nope, no ****. Seriously, it's not a hard test. I really think besides study - taking 70-290 first and working with XP (including work and home) since it was released makes a difference. I was honestly surprised that I aced it.

I don't have alot of faith in **** - I used to work with a guy who's pretty sharp who only used **** to study and failed 70-290 twice before actually studying and passing with a 780. They didn't help him one bit.

There's got to be more people on this site who have aced it.

I doubt he would need **** (Y)

He was my teacher for the 70-290 class at my college

neathneathneath

Hi,

recently tried the 70-270 and got 654 marks - (700 pass) OUCH!!!

Trying it again in a few days after brushing up on weakest topics.

Personally, I found this exam harder than the 70-290 even though the format of questions was easier (no simulations etc). XP exam is vey wide ranging I reckon.

Any similar experiences ???

eviltrashcan

helms20 wrote: »

This makes a huge difference as hands on experience is proven to "sink in" more than studying brain **** or even written material.

By the way congrats and great score.

Yeah I agree, couple hours of some hands on beats 100pg of text and images. I'm about 1/2 through my 70-270 study. I'm using the MS Press book, CBT Nuggets training videos, I have a PC at home with XP Pro installed, and seveal Virtual Machines to simulate Windows network with Server 2003/2000 servers for the network portions of study.

rogue2shadow

Congrats! Well earned.

Dakinggamer87

Congrats!!