70-640: Barely

Well, after relying solely on the Sybex book, I failed with a 500 on June 1st.

After studying again with the MS Training Kit, passed with a 700 (does it get any closer??)

There was some content in the Sybex book that helped, but I'll never rely on that publisher and in the future will JUST use it as something to fill in the gaps. I did 290 and 291 with just the Sybex and was fine. 2008 is just a different animal I guess.

Hope this information helps someone!

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Comments

earweed

Congrats and welcome to the 700 club!
Yeah, it's not a good idea to rely on just one source. When all is said and done the MS Press books are the single best source for the 2008 tests but I also used a lot of technet bstudying to supplement.

crrussell3

Congrats on the pass! A pass is a pass, so don't beat yourself up too much about it. I have always found the Sybex books to be lacking as a main resource. Stick with the MS Press, technet, and you can always use Sybex as a filler.

sherrill

I'm using the MS Press book, and Exam Cram (plus a ton of Technet). On my first go I got a 680. I borrowed the Sybex book and I didn't think it was comprehensive enough to use as a single source.

On a different note: Have any of you ever been cancelled on short notice? I had rescheduled for Friday and got called today because "they will be closed". I had to reschedule for Wednesday, which is very annoying as I am out of the country the next day.

Danny boy

Well done for passing. I currently have Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2, and was thinking of getting the Sybex book, as the MS book hasn't been upgraded for R2 yet. Is this the best book to get for this cert, or are there any suitable alternatives?

alan2308

Congrats on the pass!

I was hoping that it wasn't just me with the Sybex books. I read the Sybex book for the 70-642 and wasn't able to finish the MS Press book before my date came up and failed pretty bad. Not a big deal since it was my free Dreamspark student voucher, but still frustrating. I remember taking the exam and thinking to myself that this can't be the right test, I haven't seen half of this stuff.

sherrill wrote: »

On a different note: Have any of you ever been cancelled on short notice? I had rescheduled for Friday and got called today because "they will be closed". I had to reschedule for Wednesday, which is very annoying as I am out of the country the next day.

Yes, the first time I had the CCNA scheduled last November, the testing center cancelled my test and never notified me. I got there that morning and they were closed. It was in a pretty shady looking building in a shady part of town, so I've never used that center again after that.

pzero

tru504187211 wrote: »

After studying again with the MS Training Kit, passed with a 700 (does it get any closer??)

Whether its 700 or 1000 a pass is a pass. Congrats!

Essendon

I concur with pzero. Congrats!

LCA

In my world 'barely' is cool concept when doing MS exams.

Well done and great to see the hard study paying off!

worldmac1

Man, Congrats! I am taking the exam tomorrow myself at 9:45 am EST. I am stoked, but nervous as he11 too. I read the Sybex and watched some Trainsignal and CBTs, so I hope that gets me through. I think hands on is a def for this one.

When you think about your exam, do you remember if one area was favored heavily?

pzero

worldmac1 wrote: »

When you think about your exam, do you remember if one area was favored heavily?

I am also interested to know this as I have booked this exam for a few weeks time.

MentholMoose

Which Sybex book did you use?

Hypntick

sherrill wrote: »

On a different note: Have any of you ever been cancelled on short notice? I had rescheduled for Friday and got called today because "they will be closed". I had to reschedule for Wednesday, which is very annoying as I am out of the country the next day.

Had something like that happen to me with CCENT. For some reason the VUE site let me schedule at 6 pm, turns out the center closes at 4:30. Could have just been an issue with the VUE site as I remember previously being limited to certain times.

tru504187211

Thanks for all the kind words guys!

I used the Operating Systems: MCTS: Windows Server 2008 R2 Complete Study Guide (Exams 70-640, 70-642 and 70-643) - Book Information - Sybex book.

As for the areas tested, it seemed like the percentages that MS lists as what is part of the exam, was right on. As expected, I did GREAT on the AD stuff (minus backups), but kinda bad on the AD CS questions. It did seem like the things that the MS book emphasized, did make it onto the exam in some form.

70-642 R2 (MS Training Kit) book ordered! I did not find the MS book as dry as I was expecting, based off of others' reviews. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't read it laying down because I'd fall asleep within 1 minute, but it was not an extremely difficult read.

worldmac1

It seemed like I got hammered with ADCS questions, but that was a weak point for me. I flunked it today, but at least I have a second shot to schedule...

I think I need to do more hands on with Enterprise CA, and responder (OCSP) stuff. Oh well...its kind of a bummer, but I think I'll def be ready for the next take.

Everyone have a Great 4th weekend!!!

tru504187211

Good luck, worldmac1!

It was nice to at least use the 1st try as something to break me in to the 2008 exams. Thankfully I had the second shot too

wgc01

I passed with a 720, not a personal best but a pass, I stuided the microsft book, did allot of virtual labs, my test hit me hard with allot of questions about CA's, off to 70-642 now..

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on pass!!

Monos

Congrats on the pass Tru. Are the MS training kit books on R2 now where did you order them ive googled my fingers off. Thanks.

found it http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780735663039