70-291 on Monday 1

[HutchHutchison]

Hello Everyone,

This is a really great resource and you all seem to offer honest and creditable advice.

Looking for some myself... taking the 70-291 on Monday and wonder if you can give me pointers.

1. I have built test environments and feel good on the simulations.
2. I have hammered DNS like mad.

3. I feel confident in most other areas as well.

I am using the following aids..
1. Big blue book
2. Exam cram.
3. Some free exams on line
4. My test server environment (W2003 server loaded on a laptop).


Any other good advice out there? I know that this test is rough (because of what I have seen you write).

 

[Future00]

Key points for the 192
1. DNS. You must know this very well. Lot of scenario questions about which types for different locations over different speed connections. Like stub zones and conditional forwarders and if a global catalog is needed in each location and so on.
2. Permissions. Lots of permission stuff like the 290 has.
3. Few sim questions. SUS and DNS stuff.
4. Really pay attention to the wording and remember MS may give you all correct answers but you need to pick the best answer MS thinks is the best. They can get confusing.

I thought this was the hardest of all the tests i have taken so far. Wide range of questions. The questions are also very long questions. So you have a lot of reading. I usually do process of elimination on the answers. Find the ones you know cant be right and decide off the remaining answers when in doubt. Also mark it for review so you can go back to it. Some quetions later in the test may give you the info you needed to make the earlier question right.

Good lunk!

Ryan

MCP/MCDST/MCSA 2003

 

[HutchHutchison]

I PASSED!!!

733! Aced two sections.

Here is the stats

185 minutes alotted to take the exam.
30 additional minutes to read through all the stuff
205 total minutes.

43 Questions
Sims on:
SUS, Delegations in AD, Manipulating DNS,...

The Sims allowed you to keep the question up on the screen while you worked. They were straight forward simulations too (only one piece of an DHCP question was strange). It was easy to use and didn't require you to use "action" to do things...you could right click on the stuff. Just like the real version of windows.

There wasn't anything that was especially crazy or out of the ordinary.

What a relief to be done with this one.

Only one more to go.

Wonder if anyone will actually read this post...

 

[Future00]

Cool Congrats!

I dont mind the sim questions at all. I think there laid out pretty well. You can click where ever you want and reset it back to the beginning and so on...

Ryan

MCP/MCDST/MCSA 2003

 

[Wishdiak]

HutchHutchison,

Congrats indeed! How far are you now from MCSA?

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[royalmail]

Congratulations.

I have it in a couple of weeks.

Any other pointers would be much appreciated.

So you say there were no real surprise questions?

 

[HutchHutchison]

Thanks for all the well wishes. Most people really don't know what it takes to get the MSCA or to take a microsoft exam in general (except for my kind, loving and patient wife!). I honestly appreciate your "congrats." Heck, even Wishdiak chimed in! Sort of like having Santa stop by your house for christmas.

I am one exam away from the MCSA 2003. I have the 70-290 left. Hear that it isn't as rough as the 70-291. Might take it in a few weeks...not sure.

Any truth to that from those who have taken the 70-290?

OK, pointers for the 70-291...the big blue book questions aren't really in the test, BUT THE BOOK IS STILL A GREAT RESOURCE, and the questions are excellent at making you think through what you actually know. I will use it on my next exam!

Know the DNS stuff really well. Know all the options for DNS (at the server and scope level). Know when to use Primary, secondary, caching, and Active Directory Integrated Zones. Know how to configure conditional forwarding. Know how DNS and DHCP are integrated and the options you can choose when you integrate them. Know how to add and change existing DNS records.

Know how to delegrate control to a user in Active Directory.

Know how to configure SUS options. Basic type stuff. Nothing tricky. Just the basics.


Keep in mind that this was just my exam experience. Rumor has it that there are "pools" of exams. Say there are 20 pools and I got pool #13. Who knows what #4 will be like.

Let me know if this was too much of a br@!n dump. I don't want to violate any rules of this great site.

HutchHutchison

 

[royalmail]

Thanks for the information.

I have passed 70-290. The first attempt I failed it by a small margin. This was mainly due to a lack of proper preparation, slight overconfidence, and 'trouble' on the day of the exam itself. The second time I passed it. I didn't find there were too many surprises on the second attempt, but the wording on a lot of the questions was very tricky I felt.

On the first attempt there was one question completely out of the blue about editing VBS scripts. I didn't have a clue about how to do that.

Which are the other two that you have passed apart from 70-291?

 

[Wishdiak]

OK, pointers for the 70-291...the big blue book questions aren't really in the test, BUT THE BOOK IS STILL A GREAT RESOURCE, and the questions are excellent at making you think through what you actually know. I will use it on my next exam!

They aren't the same questions, nor should they be. The questions on the Readiness Review CD are worded similarly to the actual exam questions and test your knowledge to the same degree as the actual exam questions.

The questions on the exam may change, but the concepts won't.


Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[HutchHutchison]

RoyalMail,

I have passed the A+, Network+, 70-270 (XP exam), and now the 70-291.

Only 70-290 left to go!

 

[Wishdiak]

HutchHutchison,

Taking 70-291 today? Good luck!

Wishdiak
A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA: Security 2003

http://www.wishdiak.com