Irrelevant subject mater?

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I've been in IT support in one way or another for 7 years but I don't have any certs so since the job market is getting tighter by the day I thought I'd better get some on my CV.

I scored highly on the 272 practise exams as I could relate to the questions from practical experience but the 271 questions seem mostly irrelevant in the real world, I can honestly say I've never had to install XP in a commercial environment in any of the ways described in the subject mater.

In the real world companies already have images of tried and tested builds which are deployed via either PXE or disk/usb stick, I think Microsoft could have concentrated on more real world scenarios rather than force me/you to learn the various switches and wizard options that you are never going to use. No company lets 1st/2nd line people write build scripts by the way!!

I'm just annoyed that I'm going to have to put extra study time in to prove I know something of little value (IMO).

Anyone else think this or am I being a bit melodramatic!!

 

knowing all the ways is better than knowing some of the ways.

Not all companies have images ready so they can install OSes, not all companies have lots of keys ready to activate those Operating systems. Some companies actually employ people to be on the phone to MS all day long so they can get activation keys.

 

i like that! i may have to use it

 

I've never deployed a Windows install via PXE. Most cases, we sysprepped, created an image, and installed the image over the network.

 

MCDST is aimed at 1st bordering 2nd line, in a locked down corporate environment these guys won't be installing OS's in a way that allows them to customise it.

Saying that... I've always worked in environments with 500-10,000 users so maybe my experience is different to smaller business?

 

It was a Microsoft exam . . .. about Microsoft technologies. You were expecting questions about Norton ghost?

Oh I'm second line and as all of desktop also falls under my remit I can in fact confirm that someone somewhere in second line "writes installer scripts"

Bear in mind that there are company's out there that will be 100% MS and do it the MS recommended way even if it isn't the best way

Expect more irrelevance if you continue certifying

 

I expect what he is actually trying to say why aren't the exams updated for modern MS technologies for deployment, thinking that people would have sifted over to them.

I can fully understand why noobs might think why learn RIS and not WDS. Why use this and not MDT 2010 etc
I think its just lack of real world experience. You soon realise having moved around several companies that most are still in the dark ages.

Also, as touched upon, its always best to know a product inside out.

 

The exams are updated. They get new number and names and cover newer technologies. If that was the ops point then its a little like me doing the NT4 MCSE then complaining that it doesn't mention IPv6 or summat

 

Maybe its the practice tests I'm using that are out of date? I have a 2009 version of the 272 which was good, the 271 was from 2005 I think?

 

No they are different and new exams!

Yes exams are occasionally updated for example the 271 and 272 were updated for SP2, it hasn't been updated for SP3. MCSE 2003 doesn't include SP2 as far as i know.

Vista exams have BDD 2007 they haven't been updated for MDT 2008 or MDT 2010

.. get where i am coming from?

A windows 7 exam isn't an updated Vista exams now is it?

 

Allow me to rephrase then instead of my original flippant remark which has been misinterpeted.

Of course I'm aware they're different exams but if you feel that RIS and other older technologies are irrelevant then there are other newer courses of study that cover the latest MS technologies. You'll still need to learn stuff you'll never use. Thats just the way it is

The OP wants certification. If he feels the MCDST is irrelevant and wants to look at things like MDT 2010 then maybe he should do the MCITP enterprise desktop support technician instead of the MCDST.

Or become a regular on the springboard series pages http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/default.aspx
Its a good way to stay up to date

 

I don't! ...

my point was i can understand why noobs may think that there irrelevant, without real world experience.

And that most exams are left at a point when Microsoft moves on and promotes new tech

 

Agreed

Not so much melodramatic as inexperienced

I remember freaking out at the depth of info I needed to study for the A+.

 

I think all the exam material has relevance as you move throughthe exams and do work in real life, In MDT 2010 tasks for example, they use unnatend.txt and sysprep.inf files, both of which if i remember correctly this exam material does cover, but it does it from a single workstation unnatended installation perspective, so although not obvious there is some relevant matter there.

From experience knowing the OS inside out (or at least to a good level) really helps with deployment, especially if you go for zero or litetouch installs, so really learning these techniques will help the higher up the ladder you go, and also it will be useful if you ever need to help out people who are doing this lower down the IT ladder.

As for the rest of the material, if everyone has the attitude that not knowing what your systems are capable of is ok just because there organisation doesnt use it, means there is no scope for innovation in that company (which means no making a name for yourself), and also makes people poorer technicians because of it.

Good luck with your studies

 

My first-line help desk crew was responsible for installing OSes in a 500-user company. And they were the ones responsible for "customizing" them before they became images.