MCSA 70-740 Exam Preparation.

Kiph8nKiph8n Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
This is my first post on this forum as I'm need on serious help. I really want to pass 70-740 and I have been watching cbt nuggets videos so far but I'm finding it hard to answer questions on their practise exams.

I have been using just the videos and doing their labs but when it comes to the question I find it hard to understand and feel like cbt nuggets dont cover most of it. You can say I have very little I.T background. I'm a desktop support engineer level 1. So I do work with basic things like working with AD and troubleshooting with users desktop and applications. I'm wondering what is the best way to pass this exams.

Need some desperate help. Is there some other website I should sign up to for help.

Everytime I do practise exams on CBT nuggets I get a really bad score and get disheartened.

How have other people passed it who have basic experience.

Comments

  • malachi1612malachi1612 Member Posts: 430 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Get this https://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1119359341,miniSiteCd-SYBEX.html

    It helped with the parts I didnt understand or CBT Nuggets didnt cover and finally check here for extra info https://www.edx.org/course?search_query=server+2016

    I passed 70-740 first time round with CBT Nuggets and the Sybex book.
    Certifications:
    MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, MCSA: Windows Server 2016, ITIL Foundation, MCSA: Windows 10, MCP, Azure Fundamentals, Security+.

  • Kiph8nKiph8n Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Did you have alot of I.T experiance before hand? How long did you study for? Did you watch the videos and then read the book after? Did you take any other Microsoft exams prior to taking 70-740?
  • malachi1612malachi1612 Member Posts: 430 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I have worked in IT for about 14 years but always been in desktop support. I wanted to get some certs behind me so I studied for MCSA in Windows 10 last year. I wanted to learn server technology too as I hardily do it in my job, I decided to do MCSA in Server 2016 aswell.

    It took me 4 months to study for 70-740, I only had PluralSight first and the MS Exam ref. Then CBT Nuggets released their videos halfway through my studying and I decided to get the Sybex book too. I stopped using PluralSight and the MS Exam ref because I felt they wasn't covering much in the exam objectives. I found CBT Nuggets to be perfect for my studying needs.

    I only discovered EDX when I was studying for my 70-741 but if I had found it when I was studying 70-740 I would of used that instead of buying the Sybex book.

    Also I labbed ALOT, combined with technet https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/windows-server and takes notes. Read over my notes everyday before I went to bed and early in the morning.

    All my study materials never came from one source.
    Certifications:
    MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, MCSA: Windows Server 2016, ITIL Foundation, MCSA: Windows 10, MCP, Azure Fundamentals, Security+.

  • Jon_CiscoJon_Cisco Member Posts: 1,772 ■■■■■■■■□□
    I really like CBT Nuggets but video courses are just the first step. They give you a great overview.

    I would suggest reading a book in addition to videos. I used Pearsons Cert Guide but the specific book is not that important. For me I prefer to watch the videos first because I feel like I read the material faster when I am already familiar with the topic.

    Don't stress about the bad test score. My first test was like 15% right. About a month later I had a better understanding of the types of questions and the material. I passed the exam with a low 700s score. In hindsight I know I needed about two more weeks to study and I would have done better. But a pass is a pass so I am on to 70-741.
  • Kiph8nKiph8n Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    How do you guys practise lab questions? Do you use virtual lab from cbt nuggets or have vms at home? Like I understand the concept but I get confused when they ask questions about it. I won't give up and keep trying. I bought a Sybex after listening to malachi1612.
    Do you guys read through the whole book ?

    Sorry this is my first time attempting to do a cert. I have been a desktop engineer for 2 years now.
  • malachi1612malachi1612 Member Posts: 430 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I build my own virtual labs at home, everything I can lab at home then I will. Because I learn more if I am building the labs myself in Hyper-v instead of the pre build labs from CBT Nuggets etc.

    I don't read the whole book but most of it, once I take notes then I have no reason to read the book again. I read the book once and sell it on on ebay if I buy the physical book.
    Certifications:
    MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, MCSA: Windows Server 2016, ITIL Foundation, MCSA: Windows 10, MCP, Azure Fundamentals, Security+.

  • Jon_CiscoJon_Cisco Member Posts: 1,772 ■■■■■■■■□□
    I usually read the entire book from start to finish. If time permits I usually prefer two books to help reinforce the information.

    Whenever possible I attempt to create labs at home. Fixing the problems that come up is usually when I learn the most. This can be done on most computers using free software like VMware player and virtualbox.
  • eillinois31eillinois31 Member Posts: 38 ■■■□□□□□□□
    If you want some in depth videos, https://www.itdvds.com/ has 70-740 videos. You can go https://itdvds.com/TrainingList.aspx and search 70-740. Cost is $25 a month, cancel anytime. I used these and CBT nuggets when I passed the 70-740 back in April. In my opinion, itdvds.com goes way more into depth that CBT nuggets, but CBT nuggets are good also :).
  • eillinois31eillinois31 Member Posts: 38 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I use a computer with 12GB of RAM and use either VMware workstation or Hyper-V to set up test lab VM's. I prefer setting up own lab and playing around with everything.
  • mike01010011mike01010011 Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I just started studying for the 70-740 exam using the Microsoft press book by Craig Zacker (Kindle version) and I create flash cards using the Ankidroid app for my phone (extremely helpful for remembering important details, I create my own questions and copy and paste the answers from the book). So far I've create 2 virtual machines (desktop experience and server core in VirtualBox) but I'll need to switch to and focus on Hyperv. I'll spend a lot of time using the virtual machines until I master everything I need to know for the exam. When I'm finished the Microsoft press book and going to quickly reach the 70-740 chapters in William Panek's complete study guide and I'll finish up by watching the cpt nuggets videos and practice tests.
  • malachi1612malachi1612 Member Posts: 430 ■■■■□□□□□□
    Small tip, always create your VM's in Hyper-V if you can. It will help with any Hyper-V questions you see in the exam if you playing around with it anyway to create VM's.
    Certifications:
    MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, MCSA: Windows Server 2016, ITIL Foundation, MCSA: Windows 10, MCP, Azure Fundamentals, Security+.

  • elvis-ishelvis-ish Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I concur... itdvds.com takes a much deeper dive into the subject matter than CBT Nuggets. I have never been disappointed with the content, and I typically watch the videos on one monitor with Onenote running on my other monitor so that I can take my own quick notes as the video plays. It's also pretty economical at $25 per month.
  • andrewb7821andrewb7821 Member Posts: 6 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I passed my MCSA 2016 a few weeks ago and I used ITDVDS.com for 70-740 & 70-741(70-742 isn't out yet) plus I read through https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/windows-server
    Microsoft keeps their information up to date
    ITDVDS.com : $25/mo
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