MCSA help

VeNT

VeNT

VeNT

Soldato
Joined
9 Jan 2003
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I'm going to be taking my MCSA exams over the next few months and was wondering if anyone had any advice as to sites where I can do practice tests/questions (for free if pos) or maybe any books I should swat up on before taking the exams?
I feel that my college has totally failed to give me enough training for this, we've worked though all the books we've had but I can't believe that everything was covered in those!
I think that my main gap in knowledge is around domain administration but want to check where I'm lacking so I can work on those areas!

any advice / help would be most welcome and I'd ask that people refrain from the "ZOMG MS CERTS R THE SUCK1111" comments, its costing me £700 and I want this qualification!
 
As far as I'm aware they don't ask any questions that can't be answered by the microsoft press books for the relevant exams.
If you've read through all those and are confident that you've got them 100% down you should be fine.

There aren't any decent free online exam mocks AFAIK, they all tend to be rather expensive.

As for other books, I'd quite reccomend the Exam Cram series as they're nice and concise and quite well written from my perspective.
 
I can recommend the "TestKing" stuff.....BUT!!

Don't use them as a brain dump....learn the stuff and then use them as a testing engine \ revision.
 
optimus said:
I can recommend the "TestKing" stuff.....BUT!!

Don't use them as a brain dump....learn the stuff and then use them as a testing engine \ revision.
Click to expand...

As above. You can brain dump if you want to be a paper MCSa! :p
 
I've done the training, I know 99.9% of the stuff, but I've yet to do any of the exams so I don't know what the questions are like, don't wanna be caught out by silly things
 
With the questions, generally speaking, 2 of the answers are vaguely plausible, the rest are crap, so first off after you've read the question, identify which answers are plausible, then concentrate on them.

Identify which are plausible by proving the others wrong.
As you get a wipeable pad I tend to write down

A
B
C
etc...

And put a cross next to the ones it's obviously not.
When identifying which one's are incorrect, ensure you do it by disproving them rather than cursory gut feeling, so think to yourself "It can't be this answer, because in the question it says X, which means this answer is wrong".

After you've identified the two likely answers and then identified your favourite, double check the question, read through it in its entirity again to ensure that there's nothing to trip it up and disprove it as an answer.

With the MS exams I find it's as much knowing how to answer the question as knowing the material.

Microsoft exams TRY to trip you up, they put trick questions in, or at least questions that seem obvious, but have one /tiny/ detail that swing them in the opposite direction.
 
Some of the exams are also simulations, which are a doddle as it is a simulated Windows desktop where only the options you need to take actually work. Fiddle about a bit to work out what you need to do and then reset it and do it for real.

ActualTests is the one most used for brain dumps but you generally have to pay for them.
 
i found that a lot of material in the exam wasnt mentioned in the slightest in the microsoft text. however they did say there would be a few trial questions (unmarked) (this is only on xp admin etc, i've not done the rest yet)
 
LordSplodge said:
Do you have to do 291 for the MCSA? That exam isn't a lot of fun. Also some exams have simulations.
Click to expand...

i thought 291 wasn't bad at all, 290 was easy.

I did 284 as elective and found that the hardest, then 270 as i covers such a broad range of subjects
 
Although you may know the stuff, you need to be able to answer the questions the way Microsoft want. Getting into their way of thinking is the key to passing the exams :)

I'd suggest paying for the Transenders too, they are very helpful and you can get a lot of practise from them.
 
thats exactly why I'm concerened by the exam, know the stuff but not the answer they want!
 
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