70-270 2nd attempt

dkbromleydkbromley Registered Users Posts: 1 ■□□□□□□□□□
in Windows XP Professional
I took the 70-270 for the second time today and unfortunately didn't pass. I found it rather weird that the exam was no longer 50 questions. It was 72 questions and was completely different then the last exam i took. The first exam i took was pretty straight forward multiple choice. The second time around i had tables that i had to order the text in a sequence of steps. I also had a lot of repeated questions that were worded different.


I find this very odd and i feel like i wasn't taking the right test, even though it said 70-270 on the screen.

Anyone else run into this or know of any changes being made to the exam??
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Comments

  • DevilsbaneDevilsbane Member Posts: 4,214 ■■■■■■■■□□
    72 seems like a lot. I thought the range for this exam was something like 40-50. That with the interactive questions might be the reason that this one took you down.

    How was your score? Close? I don't think they changed the exam, but the exam itself has many components to help keep dumpers from passing. Keep at it and keep learning. What topics are you having trouble with?

    Try not to get discouraged, you'll get it next time.
    Decide what to be and go be it.
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  • uneasyrideruneasyrider Registered Users Posts: 9 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I took it cold yesterday and did not pass, 589. I found this site before, looking for info but did not get into it since I was OVER CONFIDENT.

    Many of the questions were like the test on this site but more wordy questions. When I was done I spent a few hours on the practice test here and the questions are quite similar in nature, more important they have steered me towards areas to focus on and just plain practicing taking a test.

    I had 72 questions. 12 were supposed to be for test improvement and general MS purposes and 60 counted, 3 hours to take the test. I found it difficult know what the question was with less than 3 minutes for each one. No doubt about it I needed some preperation, I have not taken a test in 30 years.

    Did I mention that I started to panic when I realized at the halfway point I had less than 2 minutes per question remaining? I hardly read some of them reverting to skimming. Not good.
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  • Shadly1Shadly1 Member Posts: 96 ■■□□□□□□□□
    I HATE the organizing steps questions. I'm pretty sure that I've gotten every organizing steps question wrong on every test I've ever taken...
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  • DevilsbaneDevilsbane Member Posts: 4,214 ■■■■■■■■□□
    uneasyrider wrote: »
    I took it cold yesterday and did not pass, 589. I found this site before, looking for info but did not get into it since I was OVER CONFIDENT.
    You are not alone. Many people shrug this off as "just XP" and end up with the same result.
    Did I mention that I started to panic when I realized at the halfway point I had less than 2 minutes per question remaining? I hardly read some of them reverting to skimming. Not good.

    It's all down hill from here. Part of the game is controlling your stress and no panicing. When I sat down to take the 70-299 I looked at the time vs questions and it was at 2 right out of the starting gate. Left me finishing with only minutes to spare and I am an extremely quick test taker.

    Good luck next time. Don't underestimate this one again.
    Decide what to be and go be it.
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  • uneasyrideruneasyrider Registered Users Posts: 9 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Devilsbane wrote: »
    You are not alone. Many people shrug this off as "just XP" and end up with the same result.



    It's all down hill from here. Part of the game is controlling your stress and no panicing. When I sat down to take the 70-299 I looked at the time vs minutes and it was at 2 right out of the starting gate. Left me finishing with only minutes to spare and I am an extremely quick test taker.

    Good luck next time. Don't underestimate this one again.

    You have my number. Where I work now I have 1 XP machine left and hardly used, job that want's me and I want is 100% XP and they want 70-270, 70-290, and 70-291. I can see why, after taking the exam I realized that I needed to study up on XP. Mostly I have been supporting Vista and 7 and it was a reach back for me to get so specific about XP. I was always an XP fan too.
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  • DevilsbaneDevilsbane Member Posts: 4,214 ■■■■■■■■□□
    You probably would have faired better with one the the MCDST exams (now retired). They really focused on supporting users. (Screen resolution, office, troubleshooting internet access, ect)

    The 270 covers some of these things, but really from the enterprise perspective. Installing (when is the last time you installed xp?), much more focused on device manager, event viewer, and perfmon. Not to say that these things weren't covered in the 271, they were just touched and moved on while the 270 demands full understanding.

    270 can also get into some more advanced AD things that don't seem to fit on a "client" exam. Once you get by the 270, you will find that the 290 is very similar. You are doing almost all of the same things but now on a computer running server 2003 (which looks and feels a lot like xp).

    Good luck.

    And a word of advice, if you are going to do those 3 then make sure to pick up your MCSA. You will have satisfied all of the core goals and will just need an elective. The elective could be A+/Network+, Security+, or the 70-680 (Windows 7 client exam) to name a couple.

    Systems Administrator| MCSA | Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator for a full list of possible electives.
    Decide what to be and go be it.
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  • uneasyrideruneasyrider Registered Users Posts: 9 ■□□□□□□□□□
    Devilsbane wrote: »
    You probably would have faired better with one the the MCDST exams (now retired). They really focused on supporting users. (Screen resolution, office, troubleshooting internet access, ect)

    The 270 covers some of these things, but really from the enterprise perspective. Installing (when is the last time you installed xp?), much more focused on device manager, event viewer, and perfmon. Not to say that these things weren't covered in the 271, they were just touched and moved on while the 270 demands full understanding.

    270 can also get into some more advanced AD things that don't seem to fit on a "client" exam. Once you get by the 270, you will find that the 290 is very similar. You are doing almost all of the same things but now on a computer running server 2003 (which looks and feels a lot like xp).

    Good luck.

    And a word of advice, if you are going to do those 3 then make sure to pick up your MCSA. You will have satisfied all of the core goals and will just need an elective. The elective could be A+/Network+, Security+, or the 70-680 (Windows 7 client exam) to name a couple.

    Systems Administrator| MCSA | Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator for a full list of possible electives.

    Thanks for the good advice on the MCSA, I am going to do the Windows 7 client and also server 2008 but maybe not in that order.

    And what the heck did you curse me? We had a big thunder storm here and our lone XP machine went down and needed a complete reinstall of XP! The good news is that I am on vacation so other than a few phone calls I was off the hook.

    In a way I wish that I was at work because the only reason that we still have that machine is that is that I let several companies access our inventory server through that computer. If I had not been off I would have swapped it for a Windows 7 machine but they were almost done with that one when they called me for the server PW (I make sure people above me have these but I don't think they keep them...)
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  • shawnmstoutshawnmstout Member Posts: 5 ■□□□□□□□□□
    I was suprised myself, i took the test yesterday (July 15, 2011) and yes it is 72 questions. Just a bit of advice here, don't underestimate this test. I had a 2nd chance I purchased so I took the test just to get a feel for microsoft testing. I have already earned my comptia a+ and network+ which was a breeze. I scored a 663 on the test so I failed. This is not an easy test. The questions are not questions that you run into everyday being a technician. Just thought I would let you guys know what I experienced myself. I have been in the industry for 15 years.
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  • KenCKenC Member Posts: 131
    Devilsbane wrote: »
    270 can also get into some more advanced AD things that don't seem to fit on a "client" exam. Once you get by the 270, you will find that the 290 is very similar. You are doing almost all of the same things but now on a computer running server 2003 (which looks and feels a lot like xp).

    Very true. My advice would be to take the server exam before the desktop client. I originally began studying for the 70-270 exam, but I actually found that once I studied for and took the 70-290 exam first, the 70-270 topics made a lot more sense, things just "clicked" with me. HTH, Kenneth
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  • uneasyrideruneasyrider Registered Users Posts: 9 ■□□□□□□□□□
    shawnmstout wrote: »
    I was suprised myself, i took the test yesterday (July 15, 2011) and yes it is 72 questions. Just a bit of advice here, don't underestimate this test. I had a 2nd chance I purchased so I took the test just to get a feel for microsoft testing. I have already earned my comptia a+ and network+ which was a breeze. I scored a 663 on the test so I failed. This is not an easy test. The questions are not questions that you run into everyday being a technician. Just thought I would let you guys know what I experienced myself. I have been in the industry for 15 years.

    I felt the same way when I took the test last week.
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