Passed.

Bombed a few weeks ago with a 565, came back and passed yesterday with a 742.

Here's what I used heavily:
-- My 70-216 and CCNA experience
-- the Microsoft Second Shot
-- Cricket Liu's DNS and Windows 2003 book
-- TechNet.
-- ExamForce.
-- Tom Kitta's 291 notes web page
-- VMs (a demo copy of Server 2008, with lots of Hyper-V practice on 2003 VMs)

Here's what I used hardly:
-- Exam Cram
-- Preplogic

I might come back and fill in some details. Now, on to the 290!!

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Comments

mikedisd2

Congrats on the pass. But why do you have MCSE and MCSA listed in your certs?

Edit: May be 2000?

petedude

mikedisd2 wrote: »

Congrats on the pass. But why do you have MCSE and MCSA listed in your certs?

Edit: May be 2000?

Yup. I earned both the MCSA and MCSE for 2000.

I'm applying my MCSE 2000 toward my MCSA 2003. Given where things are going on both personal and industry fronts, I'm not thinking an upgrade to MCSE 2003 will do me much good-- the MCSA '03 should suffice en route to my MCITP.

Essendon

Congratulations. The 290 shouldnt be too hard for you.

bwcarty

petedude wrote: »

I might come back and fill in some details. Now, on to the 290!!

Congrats fellow failer of 291 before taking 290!

291 was my first MS exam, and I missed passing by 1-2 questions on my first attempt. I passed on the second attempt and then went on to 290, which was a breeze.

petedude

bwcarty wrote: »

Congrats fellow failer of 291 before taking 290!

291 was my first MS exam, and I missed passing by 1-2 questions on my first attempt. I passed on the second attempt and then went on to 290, which was a breeze.

Between not studying enough, rushing through the exam and having the interface change on me I got clobbered the first time. I did not know command lines were going to be such a big deal. The exam interface had changed a bit since the last time I took an MS exam, and I didn't realize there was a "mark this question" box until I was nearly finished. To make it all worse, I rushed through the exam.

On the last run I took my time and made VERY good use of the exam review functionality.

thatguy85

Can you provide a link to the 291 web page you mentioned?

OoteR

thatguy85 wrote: »

Can you provide a link to the 291 web page you mentioned?

I think it's just tomkitta.com

The notes are right there on the main page...

EDIT: http://www.tomkitta.com/guides/70-291.cfm

Johnny Johnson

Congrats man! You should have no trouble with 290.

petedude

About what I relied on:
-- My 70-216 and CCNA experience
I was surprised how much about IPSEC and certificates I remembered.
-- the Microsoft Second Shot
It's incredibly, indescribably helpful to see what this test actually looks like-- especially since none of the current practice tests available actually look like it.
-- Cricket Liu's DNS and Windows 2003 book
A very well written and enjoyable read for most of the book, and a great reference to keep around.
-- TechNet.
Better and cheaper than lugging around a large MS Press book.
-- ExamForce.
Pros: From what I'm reading, EF covers DNS and WSUS much better than Transcender at the moment. Cons: Some poorly written questions and interface glitches. I did get a good deal on 290/291 exams through them, though.
-- Tom Kitta's 291 notes web page
Especially helpful in the last few days of prep.
-- VMs (a demo copy of Server 2008, with lots of Hyper-V practice on 2003 VMs)
This exam would be very difficult to pass without some hands-on exposure to some of the technologies.

About the rest:
-- Exam Cram
Got an updated edition, and it was still nearly worthless. Decent overview read but not well-written.
-- Preplogic exam
The interface looks a lot the MS exams did in the past, but the test is TOO easy. Got 915 on their practice exam just before I failed the actual!!
-- MeasureUp web demo
Useful for a reality check before sitting the exam, but that was about it.