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These exam cram guides point you most directly at the Microsoft thought process justifying most questions. This book is no different. But you must understand the overall Microsoft thought process for these guides to assist you to be successful. They don't necessarily give you the answers (and they shouldn't anyway), but they do give the correct pointers so that you know what Microsoft is thinking in their exam questions, which is the most important thing anyway.
If you know the subject matter and what Microsoft is thinking in their exam questions, you will pass the exam. This guide is an excellent assistant toward these goals.
I would not consider, however, this book to be enough to pass the test unless you have extensive experience in using IIS, MTS and building COM components. The MSDN library is an excellent source of information for those items which only receive light or no coverage in this book. At the end of each chapter, there's a "Need to Know More" section which indicates where to get more extensive explanations and examples of the topics covered in the chapter. I found this to be very valuable in saving me time by not having to research this information on my own.
The test at the end of the book is very similar to the actual test. There's also a test included on a CD when this book is purchased as part of the Exam Cram pack. I bought the 3-book pack myself and believe it's worth buying. I found the exam included on the CD to be helpful plus I have read that the book on the Architectures exam is good too (I haven't read it yet). The book for the MCSD VB 6 Desktop is okay (not great).
In addition to this book and MSDN, I highly recommend taking the Transcender exams. Many of the questions on the test were also similar to the ones on the Transcender CD. And only by taking the Transcender exams, will you know what this book is not covering. Then it's up to you to find this information on your own.
Good luck on the test! I think this exam is easier than the MCSD VB 6 Desktop exam.
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Everything on the test is in this book. A must have if you are doing 640-505. My score 960, if you know this book you cannot help but do well too.
Also, see Ricahrd Deal's other book Remote Access Exam Prep for the 640-505 test. I feel the Switching book is a better one but Remote Access is also excellent.
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I did my actual tests today and i passed well. I got 1067 in the OS section. I used this book as the primary source and used cram sheets and various internet notes. Also the main thing is to do as many prac tests as you can to get a wide range of questioning used.
However this book gets 4 stars because it has some errors. Some you might be able to pick up some you might not. Like this on page 136 "For the exam, serial communications is not capable of full-duplex transmission" Well in fact it is because it contains 9 or 25 pins which have send and receive at the same time capability. All you have to see is a diagram on the inside of a serial cable and you will see my argument.
Anyway regardless it will help you pass if you read cover to cover and do all the practise questions.
A+ students just starting with computers really need something that is portable, instantly informative and gives them enough to get them started as a PC tech. This book does just that. Gives them what they need to pass the exams and get started working with computers.
The opening section on Computer Adaptive Testing really sets the standard for the rest of the book. This is critical information that really gives the student an edge in the exam room.
Finally an A+ book that covers Windows NT as thoroughly as the CompTIA exams!
Cherina Sparks
A+ Cramsession Author...
He arranges the A+ material differently than other authors: by subject rather than by CompTIA objective. Saw one review that said this is a weakness: I had no problem with his approach. This book has up-to-date hints about the test questions that I didn't read in any of the other books. Also, his one-line test tips for Windows 9x, NT, and Windows 2000 were good.
In addition to this book, I would buy one of more of the current A+ references, like Charles J Brooks' A+ Certification Training Guide, Mike Meyers' A+ Certification Exam Guide, or even the or even the Microsoft A+ Certification Training Kit. Even though you could pass both A+ exams with this book and a reference book, I would also buy other adaptive study guides, like Mike Meyers' A+ Certification book in his Passport series because although both book cover the required objectives, each book covers different topics in detail beyond the test requirements.
PS. I tried the several practice tests on the included CD but didn't find them their questions all that difficult or cover anything new.
PPS. Forget the other cram/Q&A lists on the Internet: they are a mixed bag. Lot of their questions seemed copied from the major A+ books. The rest of unique questions are good things to know, but about mostly outdated topics not on the current tests. The quality of my two A+ cram/exam sheets were fair at best: typos, correct answers with incorrect explanations, and incorrect answers with correct explanations. Spend your money on another major A+ book.
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To my surprise, I managed to score 860 / 1000 on the actual 70-210 exam taken at a Prometric exam center USING THIS BOOK ALONE (even though I had the Windows 2000 Professional MCSE Training Kit book by MS Press). The book has its good and bad points.
Good points
- 300 some odd pages
- Straight and to the point; it'll get you up and operating Win2k instantly
- Easy read (as oppose to the Win2k Pro MCSE TK by MS Press)
Bad points
- Doesn't elaborate with greater details on some of the more important concepts (i.e. RIS, network protocols, Windows registry, printer administrations, etc.)
- Unclear / ambiguous explanation on certain concepts (i.e. Group Policy Objects, software assignment / publishing, etc.)
I had to go back and refer to the MCSE Training Kit on Win2k Professional to review the areas that were -not- covered (or not thouroughly covered) in the Exam Cram.
I recommend this book as a -SUPPLEMENTARY- guide. To get the most out of Windows 2000, I suggest reading the Windows 2000 Professional MCSE Training Kit by Microsoft Press (it's about 600 some odd pages and a boring read); but you will not regret it, especially if you want to learn the ins and outs of Windows 2000 Professional [especially important in the workplace] !
Not only brings all the MOC material together in a very concise way, but makes it easy to understand and digest.
I have a couple years experience as a Help Desk Support technician and I used Windows 2000 extensively, but I still learned a lot of last minute details on this book.
I highly recommend it to anyone looking to obtain their certification.
Good luck!
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I have taken some college courses, and have done some coding so I was familar with the technologies involved. I prefered the exam cram over the exam prep, because it is very compact and to the point. This book has all the information you need to study for and pass the i-Net+ exam by comptia. I passed on my first try with 84%.
I would recommend searching the web for free practice tests to give you an idea of where to focus your studying. The exam in chapter 16 gives you a good idea of how you'll do. If you read this book a few times and do some demo practice tests you will pass. I only gave this book 4 out 5 because it didn't come with a CD with practice tests. Hope this helps. Good luck.
A. Mohammed MCP, A+, Network+, i-Net+
I'm heading out to take my test in a couple of weeks and I'm fairly confident I'm going to pass! The pretest in the back of the book and the testing at each chapter made me go back and check out the information I needed to brush up on so I can pass the first time I take the exam (and at 190 dollars a pop for the exam... getting it right the first time is important)!
If you don't have the time to sit and read everything there ever was on the internet, pick up this book!
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The editorial review is quite accurate for this book- it's an EXAM CRAM. I wish the editorial review was there before I bought it. Because I only have a few years of Solaris experience, the information it assumed I knew, I did not know. Lots of technical jargon that I wonder if the author even knew.
Only half of the 506 pgs seem to be actual study material, the rest is info on where to get more information and questions on the chapters. Why not put the questions on CD-ROM and save some trees? (The learnsolaris .com website the author recommended was a good supplement).
I think this book is priced right for the material, but don't use this guide as your only reference before taking the exam. Because I don't have 12 yrs of experience, I like the format of Calkins' Study guides better. They provide more detail and background info to help me learn the topics (and the tests were on CD-ROM!).
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Use it the way it is intended, to help you past the test. When they say it is the first and last book you need to read to pass this test, don't forget the stuff in between! The method that worked for me was to read this book first, then take practice tests from it and Microsoft's site. Then, anything I had any doubts about or missed a question on, I researched in another thicker book (in my case, one by New Riders). That's how I feel those other books need to be used, more as a resource than teaching material.
I then took more practice tests and scanned through the exam cram book again, and passed with flying colors, without feeling like I 'cheated' and only know enough to pass a test, without the real world knowledge.
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The book accomplishes it's stated goal -- to help you pass the NT Workstation exam with the least amount of pain and suffering.
I rated the exam cram for NT Server very high. I cannot, in good faith, do the same here. While this is still a great book for test preparation, there are far too many typos and outright errors to give this a better rating.
Most of the errors are not significant enough to confuse anyone with NT experience (which is highly recommended for MCSE certification anyway). For example, anyone who has gone through the installation documentation will know that there is no /OS option for WINNT (it is /OX) despite it's inclusion in chapter 3.
Overall, these types of typos/errors are more an annoyance than a showstopper, but they should be mentioned. There are a few that could confuse those who are not familiar with NT, but not enough to bring about a failing score on the MCSE exam. If you are diligent, this book will get you a passing score. My advice: get the exam cram pack so you can take the practice exams. I found at least as valuable as the books.
I read this book after covering Coriolis's larger Exam "PREP" book (which I can't recommend) a few days before my test. This book & its sample tests covered much material NOT found in the PREP book. This book, combined with the Transcenders, gave me the ability to score 933.
I have read many reviews that complain about the 11+ pages of errata that Coriolis has provided at its website for the various editions of this book, but I think they are overreacting. What many of these reviewers miss is the fact that most of these corrections have already been assimilated into the newer editions of the book. If your book's publishing date is 1999 or later, you have little to worry about. As Coriolis says, "This page was created so that even those with the earliest printings of each title can have access to the most current updates."
This being said, there are still a few lingering errors, and I even found one case where a question in the 1st sample test directly contradicted a virtually identical, but reworded, question in the 2nd sample test. I forwarded my findings to the publishers & was surprised when Ed Tittle personally replied within one day. They may not have wiped out every single error, but at least they're staying on top of things.
Overall, this is an exceptional review book & a darned good value for the money.
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