After having used the Exam Cram series of books to help me with my MCSE exams I decided to try the Exam Notes series by Sybex. I found the Sybex to be well written, informative, easier to read and above all I passed my test. I highly recommend this book and their other book series.

I used Gary and Roberts Workstation Notes along with the current Transcender exam to DEMOLISH the MS Workstation exam in 6 days. I'm now on my second 6 day track to blow away the server exam. This book attacks the subject matter head on! No playing around , straight forward and to the point. I'm scoring 922 to 1000 on all the transcenders "every time" . WHO NEEDS A 5K COURSE WHEN THESE TWO GUYS ARE LOOSE ON OUR STREETS. Gary, Robert and Transcender have made be a more knowledgeable and competent Network Administrator, and very soon a more wealthy one!......Thanks Guy's

I just picked up this book. It seems to be great if your pressed for time and need to know the material. If you supplement this book with Transcender exams, you should pass the exam no problem. The book has a few gramatical errors but then again don't they all. It's worth the price for book. I'm probably going to buy the whole series.

Great book. This book was a great help in passing my test. Completed the book and the upgrade test in less than 1 month.

I passed exam (58 correct answer per 60 questios) using only this book for preparation. The good things that it's relatively short and information is given in condensed form. If you have some practical background and know general terms (and you should know it as 7.3 DBA!) you don't need to waste your time on basics. The bad thing that it has many minor mistakes. It's not crucial for a test, but a bit annoying.

Excellent resource for preparing for the exam. Using this book as my main study guide and supplementing with other sources on the "hot" topics (partitioning, objects, RMAN, etc.), I was able to pass the test the first attempt. I will definitely be purchasing the upgrade to 8i book once it becomes available.

This was the first Readiness Review book that I used for a Microsoft test and it was very good. It made an excellent supplement to the Sybex study guide. The questions tend to be a little on the easy side when compared to the actual test, so you should make sure you can answer every question before taking the actual exam. Some of the questions in the Review were nearly word for word on the test. This book helped me get a 933 on this test.

Very helpful book to pass the exam, questions are very similar to the real test. But you need to have read a text book before using this book, I read first a TCP/IP book ISBN: 0130112518, then I complement it with this Readiness Review and scored 866 on the exam.

If you want to prep for the TCP/IP test then you should add this to your arensal. The CD that accompanies the book is worth more than the book itself. The CD allows you to take 60 question tests and lets you review the answers. The CD also mixes up the tests so you get different questions all the time. The subnetting questions are just like the ones on the exam. If you can do well with this you can pass the test. This along with the official M/S Press TCP/IP study kit can get you through one of Microsoft's most difficult tests. I know it helped me and I am fairly new at this computer game. Well worth the investment.

If you already have read a thick TCP/IP study guide, then this book is perfect as a review the day before the test. It covers all the exam objectives clearly. But again, don't depend only on this book to pass the test.

I studied TCP/IP for NT 4.0 for two weeks using this book and the Transcender test. I scored 640 (need 570 to pass on the new adaptive test). I used Gary Govanus' other exam notes book for NT Workstation and aced that test too (882/1000)! He is a totally awesome author and this series blows away Exam Cram any day!

When I walked in the testing center and sat down, I had no clue Microsoft changed TCP/IP to adaptive (only 25-35 questions depending how many you get wrong). But this book combined with Transcender is still on the right track because after my 25th question my test ended, which means I answered enough correctly that it didn't need to continue (adaptive tests are totally different than what MS was using before). Being that Microsoft has made Network Essentials adaptive, and plans to make all the NT core exams adaptive in the next couple weeks, this book is still right one target!

Only one error in this book, and that's on subnetting. Most books slughter their subnetting sections, but not this one. The best explanation on subnetting I could find (that I actually learned from) was the 40 page booklet that comes witht the Transcender test (which still rocks for the adaptive test!).

Overall, Gary's book is awesome. At my college, we're using the New Riders TCP/IP which sucks so bad it's criminal! Most books out there have too much info....this one is nicely layed out in 300 pages and each chapter covers Microsoft's "Exam Objective". Thanks Gary! You rock dude!

Mark L. Holloway

This particular Exam Notes book in conjunction with the Exam Cram book were all I needed to pass the TCP/IP exam without a problem. In fact, I found it to be the easiest exam so far, even easier then the NT Workstation and Server exams (probably because I didn't waste my time on this particular publisher's 600+ page study guides).

The book is short, concise, and to the point, albeit a bit redundant which is good for reinforcing the myriad of material.

BUY THIS BOOK!!!

This book was very good, and will continue to be a resource for actual implementation of Windows 2000. The book parallels Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) 1560, and does not go into many of the details necessary to pass test 76-203. As an example - the book's material in performing an NT 4 Upgrade with basic disks with a RAID5 configuration to W2K and performing disk replacement was not be be found, but asked on the test. Much of the info. seems to be based on W2K Release Candidate 3.

Bottom line - this is the best book I've seen, it may need a revision shortly, but will not get you through the exams alone.

Bret Moeller MBA, MCSE, MCT, CNA, CCDA, CCNA, CCA

As an MCSE , reading this book refreshed many of the information about NT 4.0 with its first part chapters , uptil part 2 of the book where the real staff of windows 2000 begins which is AD , the third part is exactly as reading a book about the TCP/IP exam "i.e WINS,DNS,DHCP,...etc" for windows 2000. The book is wonderful as a head start , if you are looking for a book to learn the general specification of windows 2000 and comparing them with windows NT 4.0 this the ONE !!!

I read a pre-release copy of this book and it is a solid, informational, nuts-and-bolts tome of information that any Windows 2000 administrator or potential Windows 2000 MCSE should own. Factual, straight-forward and filled with "gotta know it" material

After taking eight Microsoft exams, Win98 is the hardest that I have found and I am very thankful to have had this book to help me through it. The Exam Cram series has been wonderful and this installation is no exception. Of all the study guides that I used for the Win98 exam, this one was by far the best. I would suggest supplimenting it with the Windows 98 Resource Kit.

The Windows 98 exam is one of the toughest - it proved that way for me out of the four MCP exams I have taken so far. Don't think you know Windows 98 for the exam just because you have been using it for years and know how to use the contol panel. The Exam goes heavy into the networking end of using Windows 98, particularly as a client in an Windows NT4.0 or Novell domain. There is lots on the test having to do with Novell integration, TCP/IP configuration and troubleshooting, file utilities, user and hardware profiles, the registry, dial up networking, troubleshooting, boot sequence, system policies, mutimedia capablilities, and security/sharing. The exam has lots of scenario and simulation problems. Exam Cram is a great book to use as a supplement to a full study guide - I used Sam's Teach Yourself MCSE Windows 98 in 14 Days and was very happy with it. A lot of hands on using your computer with Windows 98 to try doing things as you learn them is very helpful. Even though you might not be able to use Windows 98 on a network you can still install and configure most everything you need to do to pass the exam. Exam Cram will help reinforce what you have learned and if you feel unsure about an area of study then you can refer to your main study guide to bone up on that area. The book has a very good focus of what is important to learn for the exam. Exam Cram also has a couple of hundred practice questions - some at the end of each chapter and a 59 question practice exam at the end. The practice exam is tough and the answer section is done in such a way as to explain why a particluar answer is right and why the others are wrong, which will help you learn. I also recommend the book to anyone who just wants to learn the full capablilies of Windows 98. I read a few general purpose Windows 98 books that did not cover ANY of the more advanced topics that you will find in a MCSE type book. Exam Cram MCSE Windows 98 is well worth the money!

As is the case for all the Exam Cram books I've used, this is the best study guide on the market. It is packed full of the information you'll need in order to pass the exam. I thought I was ready to pass, until I picked up this book and learned quite a few little nuances of Windows 98 that I hadn't used before and/or wasn't familiar with. It also provides many study tips and exam taking tips for those who are new to the certification exams. Highly recommended!

Imagine hearing this book read aloud at lunchtimes in the Hennepin County morgue: the perfect setting for hooking a young medical student on this grisly, funny, delightful series. Start with Roseanna, the first of ten books that develop the honorable, persistent, and yes, somewhat pathetic detective Martin Beck into a whole person. The setting - socialist Sweden in the 1960s - is as fully characterized as Philip Marlowe's or Easy Rawlins' L.A. And like Chandler and Mosley, the husband and wife writing team make you care about the hero and his oddball supporting cast. Only dogged police work (and a little luck) allow them to nab the murderer of an unidentified young woman whose nude body washes up on shore. Enjoy!

The nude body of a young woman is dredged from the bottom of a Swedish canal, and Martin Beck, a homicide detective with the Stockholm Police Force, spends the rest of "Roseanna" doggedly looking for clues and trying to solve her murder. Authors Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo supposedly set out to write ten books featuring a homicide detective (Beck), and showing the ills of modern society in the process. Roseanna was the first of the ten books, one per year, that came out in the late sixties and early seventies. But what Sjowall and Wahloo may have succeeded in doing is something a little different - revealing a genius for characterization and story, so that by the tenth book ("The Terrorists", sadly out of print), one looks at Beck and the other recurring characters like old friends. But Roseanna is great reading, whether basking on the beach or in bed on a dark and stormy night. One roots for Martin Beck, a creation every bit as compelling as S! ! am Spade, Travis McGee or Phillip Marlowe, as he stubbornly pursues his seemingly impossible task. And one also has to thank Black Lizard for having the courage to re-issue these masterpieces of crime fiction. Enjoy!

The first in a series of ten detective novels intended to portray the decay of modern Scandinavian society though the lens of the police procedural. Written by a husband and wife team, (Sjowall and Wahloo), the books are excellently plotted and written, with an eye toward detail and realism.

In this first book, the emphasis is more on introducing the characters and their methods, with very little political or social commentary. The protagonist is the hapless Martin Beck, a homicide detective with the Stockholm police force, trapped in a loveless marriage at home and stultified by inept bueracracy at the workplace. His escape from the tedium of existence is his quiet, unstated, love of police work, particularly his own methodical approach to homicide.

This book introduces us to Beck, and follows his patient investigation into the rape, bludgeoning, and subsequent drowning of an American tourist named Roseanna. It is one of the best in the series; in fact, its probably one of the greatest crime novels ever written. Start with this book and read the rest of the series. You won't be disappointed.

I am an experienced administrator and I found this book sorely lacking for the exam prep. I will admit that it is very acurate, but not very complete. I would not rely on this as a sole source for exam preparation. I ended up using quite a bit of other material to fill in the holes left by this book.

I'm holding on to my copy and still consider it money well spent. The concise nature of the book does make it a good quick refrence guide to keep in the office.

If you study carefully, this book has all the material in it you need to pass the Core AND the Enterprise exam. The author has great insight into the certification program and crafted a truly useful book.

I used this one >$20 book to pass both the Core and the Enterprise exam. Prior to the purchase, I would say that my skill level was between beginning and intermediate. After buying - and really analyzing - the book, I feel that I can troubleshoot any NT installation, and proved it to myself, and my employer, by passing both exams without any difficulty at all.

I just finished your book "ORACLE8 DBA: Backup and Recovery" and passed the test successfully. Thank you very much for your very good book. I did not read any other material to prepare for the test. Keep on writing good books!

I've been an Oracle DBA for a couple of years. I bought this book to help me pass the backup and recovery OCP exam. I studied this book for two weeks and passed the exam with flying colors. Thank you Ms. Wong!

I just passed my first OCP test today,3 hours ago. Before reading this book, I tried the free self-test sofware from Oracle and made only 40%. Today I made 90% or 54 corrects out of 60 questions in the real exam. Without this book, I surely will fail, especially at the Recovery Manager sections (18 questions) which I am not familiar with. Besides, thanks to this book, I found many mistakes I made in the backup strategy for our databases and corrected them. Thanks, Debbie!. You wrote a great book!. It helped me more than the 2000-dollar course I attended.

Very well written and very useful in real world. However, test questions in the CD are no where near the real test. The real test questions are long and require understandings and relationship of almost all features of SQL Server 7. Read this book to get guidelines along with using the Transcender exam should be sufficient to get you pass the exam.

I bought this book as a study guide for my MSDBA certification. What I found was an easy-to-read and understand reference guide which will far outlast the passage of the exam. The answers to the questions are not written within the book but are supposed to be on the CD (supplied); however, I cannot seem to retrieve them. Worth while book. I recommend it for anyone working with SQL Server 7.0.

I have asked around a lot for good books to help prepare for this tough exam. I took the MOC course from this book's #1 author (Chris Leonard). He is a GREAT teacher, and I learned a lot in the course. But I learned even MORE from his book! Chris said during class that a lot of folks have trouble finding a good book on this subject and he could "at least vouch for this one." Well, I can too! This book is much, much better than the other prep material I've seen for this exam. The folks who wrote it are big-time real-world DBAs, and they are able to pass on their wisdom very effectively. If you're window-shopping for a SQL core database skills book, this is it! I passed the exam using this book as my main review tool, and I intend to still use this book as a reference frequently. This is the best book I've ever come across for being a combination exam preparation tool PLUS a good reference.