Simulators - How are they marked - EXACTLY !

gbhpboy · August 2005

Having just done two exams with Simulators, spoken end emailed to people and read numerous messages and studied the official answers on http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcpexams/faq/innovations.asp
I still have some queries ....................

1. How exactly do you begin a simulator question again from scratch, indeed can you ? The questions have a "Reset" button in them, but how does this work ? does it just reset all the answers that you have previously entered in from the last time you saved, or does it erase every keystroke you have every entered in against this question, from the time you started the exam. I have heard that all attempts you make are stored, even if you reset, and sent for marking presumably, and as we know there is no credit for partially correct answers, what happens if you have 9 incorrect attempts at the answer, reset and on the 10 attempt get it right, from begining to end, no wrong or unnecessary keystrokes.

2. What should your strategy be for simulators ? Should you write out on paper almost every keystroke you need to make, before you begin, then just go in and do them. On the above website link Microsoft say that some mistaked can be corrected some cannot. Does anyone know of any examples where mistakes cannot be corrected, ie incorrectly keying in a password and locking out an account ?

Any advice welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

Webmaster · August 2005

gbhpboy wrote:

1. How exactly do you begin a simulator question again from scratch, indeed can you ? The questions have a "Reset" button in them, but how does this work ? does it just reset all the answers that you have previously entered in from the last time you saved, or does it erase every keystroke you have every entered in against this question, from the time you started the exam. I have heard that all attempts you make are stored, even if you reset, and sent for marking presumably, and as we know there is no credit for partially correct answers, what happens if you have 9 incorrect attempts at the answer, reset and on the 10 attempt get it right, from begining to end, no wrong or unnecessary keystrokes.

I 'assume' that the Reset option resets the sim completely for that particular question/sim. Key strokes are not important, pressing the space and backspace key a hundred times shouldn't have any influence on whether the sim is marked correct or incorrect.

gbhpboy wrote:

2. What should your strategy be for simulators ? Should you write out on paper almost every keystroke you need to make, before you begin, then just go in and do them.

Your strategy should be 'keeping it simple'. Forget about the keystrokes. Just do what's needed to complete the sim and nothing more than that. Asking how the sims are marked "EXACTLY !" is not the right approach. Focus on the technology, in this case the Windows features related to the exam you are preparing for. If you know how to configure Windows properly (which is what the certification is supposed to indicate in the first place) you won't have any problems with the sims.

On the above website link Microsoft say that some mistaked can be corrected some cannot. Does anyone know of any examples where mistakes cannot be corrected, ie incorrectly keying in a password and locking out an account ?

'Mistakes' as in incorrect configuration of certain features, not as in key strokes. That probably means you can change back options after changing and confirming them, unless those changes are major. If you don't do anything really really wrong, you can probably change it back. And then there's always the Reset button, which should clear all mistakes.

gbhpboy · August 2005

Thanks Johan, good advice.

The sims I've done so far, have been almost too easy, taking candy from a baby. You almost wonder what's the point of MS testing that stuff.

It would be nice if someone like MeasureUp who are "partners" with MS got together some sims with proper simulation environments, and MS marking logic and feedback / explanation, and bundle them up with their practice tests. But there again we don't want to have it to easy do we ?

Webmaster · August 2005

You're welcome

gbhpboy wrote:

The sims I've done so far, have been almost too easy, taking candy from a baby. You almost wonder what's the point of MS testing that stuff.

I have heard that more often. I still think adding the sims was a good move, and I haven't seen any live ones myself, but either way, doing the same stuff on a real Windows server isn't that hard either, 'if' you know what you are doing. And that's the point of testing that stuff I guess.

I think MS had to many complaints about MCSA/MCSE certified pros not being able to configure something simple.

It would be nice if someone like MeasureUp who are "partners" with MS got together some sims with proper simulation environments, and MS marking logic and feedback / explanation, and bundle them up with their practice tests. But there again we don't want to have it to easy do we ?

I'm sure many practice exam providers are working on adding sims to their products, but nothing beats hands-on experience. Combine that with reading the help files and product documentation and you got the best self-study kit.

Waggy573 · September 2005

I've just sat through an MCSA, done all three this week so I'm still current on the content.

You can pass the exams without passing the simulators, leave them until last and don't be put off by them. Put it this way Microsoft is still developing its MCSA/E exams and includes beta, ungraded questions. For the 290 and 291 there are 40 graded plus beta. Do a 290 get 44 questions, bet you get 4 sims, 291 43 questions, you'll get 3 sims. Do the math.

A lot of people have reported that the sim engine sometimes crashes during an exam, so I suggest they may still be under development, I can't say when Microsoft will be happy with them and 'include them' in the exam mark. They appear to have released new 293/4 today without any prior warning so everything is going through a state of change.

On the whole they are not bad, just practice on a machine at home doing typical tasks included in the exam. You'll find the experience will make sims just second nature and make you aware of where all the option configuration boxes are, which will help no end in other questions. There are a lot of point and click questions now, configuring option dialogue boxes etc.

If you haven't done the 270 bet make sure you study for new stuff included in XP service pack 3, it's now tested but hasn't filtered through into study material yet.

Hope that helps...

lexncali · November 2005

I think the sims are a good deal. Hit the reset once and it backs up one step. Hit it a second time and it erases the whole sim. Thats what I do. Go through and then hit reset-reset and then do the sim with the least steps. Its does pop up a warning after the second reset.

gbhpboy · November 2005

Thanks for the tip about the reset button.
Do you know if you get penalised for how many times you hit the reset button, I'm assuming not ?
I always leave the sims until the end, and allow 10 minutes of time for each one.

Simulators - How are they marked - EXACTLY !

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