70-290 Owned Me

Well, I underestimated the test and failed it with a 688. All in all though I'm actually glad I failed it, because if I would of passed with a low passing score I would not have felt that I was truly certified as a Windows 2003 Server professional or whatever.

The test was by far the toughest exam I have taken to date. On my exam I had:

4 Simulations
A lot of backup (disaster recovery) questions, I couldn't believe how many there actually were.
Quite a few on sharing resources
Lots on auditing

Overall I wasn't ready. I only studied for a month and it definitely showed on the exam. I scheduled it the same day as my 270 because I had the free retake, so I will probably attempt this again at the end of next month. So I guess I will hope that I will have my MCSA before the end of the year.

To prepare I'm using:

Sybex
Transcender
Technotes from here

Any other recommendations on study material would be appreciative. Well, anyways, 1 out of 2 in one day isn't horrible, I will get this thing next time. Best of luck to everyone.

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Comments

jmc724

Whomever said it was easy...blatantly lied to you...good luck on your retake...

dos punto cinco pesos...

Silver Bullet

Again, Congrats on 270 and almost on the 290.

In the past I have only used Sybex and this site to get me through a test but this time I decided to try a second book. I have already read the Sybex and am now going through the M$ Self Paced Training Kit for this test. I have to admit, i am quite impressed at how much more detail the M$ book goes into and plus the exercises are helping alot. I hope to be taking this test before the end of the month.

Good Luck.

janmike

Sorry to hear about your slightly-less-than-passing score. But, M$ does't intend for these exams to be easy.

But........CONGRATS ON PASSING XP PRO!!

Thanks for the heads up on the content. Of course, the luck of the draw may go another path with me.

Good luck on the retake.

Good luck to you too Silver Bullet. I too am now getting into the M$ Press traing kit as a final revision study tool along with some various practice exams.

garv221

TeKniques wrote:

I'm actually glad I failed it, because if I would of passed with a low passing score I would not have felt that I was truly certified as a Windows 2003 Server professional or whatever.

Hey, I would gladly take a 700 on every test until I am MCSE. Its only a test & really just shows who knows how to take a test.

I agree with you that this is a hard test. Try Exam Cram2, I used it & had great luck with it. You only missed the mark by a couple questions. Good Luck next time.

jmc724

Then again why take 3 steps and can only do 1 at a time...

1 step - congrats on 370
2 step - failed, retake 290
3 step - 291 nightmare(what are you trying to do here now?)

2 1/2 pesos

TeKniques

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I think I will go ahead and buy both the MS Press and Exam Cram books for the 290 and 291. Not sure if I have to get that whole MS Press training kit, but I might as well.

About the 291. It only looks intimidating because of the reviews and posts I've read from people who have taken it. It can all be overcomed with a little dedication.

Good luck to the others who are taking this test soon

Silver Bullet

TeKniques wrote:

Not sure if I have to get that whole MS Press training kit, but I might as well.

There is a MCSE book set that you can purchase but each one of the individual books are labeled as training kit. So no, you don't have to buy the entire set.