If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all :)

[macleod1021]

Well, I finally went to take my 70-306 test yesterday. Got to the testing facility 45 mins early cuz traffic wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. First thought: this is a great day! LMAO

Walk in and the person looks at me with a bewildered look (my thought: this can't be good). I explain that I'm there for a test to which he replies "I don't have you on my list".

So, he logs into Person and discovers that my test is in fact there, they just failed to notify him earlier in the day. This is where I learned that Person Vue's software doesn't play well with others (according to the administrator). So much so that they have a seperate machine to run their software. This facility actually leaves the machine turned off when not used. Needless to say, he had troubles getting the test downloaded and running on the client. An hour and 15 mins later, I'm ready to start my test.

I was a bit nervous going in because I had been psyching myself out on this test. As I was going through the test, I was feeling better because of how easy the questions seemed. I get to question 31 of 38 and the test stopped responding

Apparently, the host machine experienced a BSoD. The admin rebooted the server and client machines and I was on my way again. Click next to go to question 36 of 38 to get the same error as before.

This time...a little bit different problem. The host machine did not produce a BSoD...it just stopped responding. A reboot of the host machine showed that machine had died. It never came back up.

The admin then called Person Vue to explain the problem and try to get the test reset so that I could start it again on a different machine. Apparently Person Vue does not keep an admin in the office to assist on issues such as this on the weekends.

SOOOOOOOO.....looks like I won't be taking my test until next weekend.

 

[Wishdiak]

macleod1021,

Things like this happen. I've been taking exams at Vue testing centers for a few years, and at one point one testing center was down for weeks, maybe a month, because they had to upgrade their testing workstations to the minimum standard for Vue testing centers. This was the testing center at the school I was going to.

Of course, BSoD's happen, systems die for a variety of reasons, and sometimes you get a flat tire.

I wouldn't take it personally that God hates you or anything. It's just one of those setbacks. At least you didn't fail the exam due to circumstances that were beyond your control.

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

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[macleod1021]

Oh, I wasn't taking it personal I actually considered it comical. And the best part is that I got a chance to "review" the test before taking the one that counts

 

[Wishdiak]

macleod1021,

I would consider it comical if it happened to me, except for the waste of my time. The ability to see the actual exam questions as you did may make up for it.

Better luck with the testing center next time!

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

http://www.wishdiak.com

 

[IT4EVR]

Sounds like you got a good head start on the test. It's not a hard test anyway.

VB.NET?

 

[macleod1021]

Yeah, VB.Net. I agree...I was going through the test and there was only 4 questions that I wanted to go back and review at the end. Prior to it crashing I was expecting to get out of there with at least 900.

Another funny aspect of the test was that a person at work recently took the test and there was a question about stepping through a stored procedure. He missed it, but then looked it up and was telling us that microsoft looks for using Server Explorer to step through it. That was the VERY first question on my test

 

[IT4EVR]

Yep, I passed the C# version of that test and really there is little difference between the two tests. It seems to be more about .NET than language specific material.

And yes, the way to pass these tests is to look for how Microsoft wants you to answer the question.

 

[macleod1021]

/sigh

I will never test through Pearson Vue again!

I called them on Tuesday to reschedule. After spending almost an hour on the phone they FINALLY let me reschedule. So, I rescheduled for today and another location (figured the same location was still down). Then, late Friday afternoon I get an e-mail from Pearson saying that I need to call them because the testing facility "cannot deliver the exam". OK...I call them. I tell the lady that I HAVE to have a saturday appointment. So, she starts going through this list of facilities and after each one I ask if they have an appointment on saturday...to which she replies "let me check". So, we go through that for about 15 mins. Finally, she gets to the one that went to last weekend. I ask, again, if they have an opening for tomorrow(today). She checks and says yes. I then say I want them to verify the appointment will occur by calling the testing facilty. At this point I must have started speaking in another language because she couldn't understand what/how/why I would want her to do that...and that was AFTER explaining that they had a hardware failure the previous weekend. After about 5 minutes of explaining this, I told her to forget it, I'll call myself.

So, I call the testing facility directly. The administrator there says he's working on installing the software and it "should" be ready the following morning. They open at 10, which is when my test was scheduled. He wanted me to call before I got there, however because he didn't open until 10 and I live 40mins away, that wasn't an option.

I arrive at the facility at 10:00 sharp and discover that he didn't have the software installation finished. He promised it would be done by 1:00. So, I leave and come back at 1. Apparently, he had a lot of trouble with the installation and couldn't get it working. At this point, I decided that I was going to fix this problem and take my test today no matter what. So, I look into the problem. Sure enough, the application is missing files. I do a re-install of the application to no avail. Call Pearson's testing site tech support line and discover that there are updates that he was told he had to install before it would work. So, I start downloading the updates. 30 minutes later, the updates are done. I go to the client, do an uninstall and reinstall of the application and it loads up without a problem.

I got to question 25 and I start hearing the hard drive in the workstation PC start clicking. I immediately started rushing through the test to get it done. I knew going in that I had to get 27 questions right to pass and since I was someone sure I got most of the beginning questions right, I didn't spend much time on each question. I also didn't review anything. I just continued hitting the next or continue button until it exited.

Luckily, I did rush through the last part because right as the app was exiting, the hard drive changed from clicking to clunking...and for those that don't know hardware; that's the read write arm slamming back to the reset position. It's usually a VERY short time after that starts that you have a complete hardware failure.

Long story short, I made it out of there with a 775. The weird part was according to the bar graph at the bottom I scored perfectly on 3 sections, about 90% on 2, about 80 on 1 and about 60 on 1. And the ones that I made perfect scores on have the phrase "Needs Development" under it :?

 

[IT4EVR]

Wow, that sounds like a test from hell. Stay away from that place on June 6. I use Prometric and even with them, I've had to reschedule tests occasionally due to server failures, etc.

Prometric has worked well for me. They offer a wide array of testing centers in my area and flexible scheduling. I basically take mine at a local community college.

At most there will be only a few people in the same room, it's quiet (even the hard drives).

I am finding more and more that the testing environment can really impact your test score.

Your story really drove that home.

But the main thing is, you passed.

Congrats

 

[58sniper]

I was having a bad day dealing with the "client from hell" in the morning. I knew I had to sit one of my Exchange exams in the afternoon. I rush out of the client's office, do a drive by at Burger King, and get to the testing facility (New Horizons) just in time. In the 10-15 minutes it took to inhale my lunch, get in, registered, and sitting at the PC, ol' Burger King started kicking back - in a VERY BAD WAY. I got about 75% of the way through it, feeling like rigor mortus was setting in, when the machine barfs on me (funny, 'cuz I thought I was gonna barf on the machine).

I drag my food poisoned self out to the reception area, and her first offer was "we can reschedule you for another day". That was good enough for me.

I spent the next two days on my back, sicker than heck. Sat the test the next week and it was my first perfect score. It was meant to be!

Pat Richard, MCSE(2) MCSA:Messaging, CNA(2)
Want to know how email works? Read for yourself -

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2821.txt

 

[macleod1021]

Sweet...grats on your perfect score!