70-270 Exam - Treading Water

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Hello, first time poster here. About a year ago i started training for an MCSA with a private training company, the first exam being 70-270 Windows XP Professional. The initial class based training went well, and i left full of hope that i would quickly move through the exams and start on the MCSE. This was 10 months ago.

Having used Transcender and seemingly doing well and regularly achieving a pass, i moved onto Measure-Up which completely sapped my confidence and to this day i have never achieved a pass on the Measure-Up exam. I have since discovered CBT Nuggets videos and have now watched them all once, and am about to go through them again, however a recent taking of a Measure Up exam revealed that i have not progressed at all.

I feel like i am stuck where i was 10 months ago, without the confidence that the training brought. Due to my situation with benefits etc. i cannot simply go back to the training for a refresher.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom for me.

 

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The way I do it is to have a book, like the Microsoft Press book for the cert I am working on and a set of training videos (I use TestOut). Work through them both and do all the exercises etc. Then start taking some practice exams with Trancender and Measure Up. Anything I get wrong I write a word or two on a list to remind me what I need to study more, e.g. boot.ini file, profiles etc (on my current list for 70-284 I have powershell, dcdiag, SMTP virtual servers so far). Then the next evening have a Google around and read up on all the stuff you listed. Then take another practice exam, make a list, read up on it all. After a few weeks your scores will start to get higher and you will eventually get to the point where you feel ready to have a crack at the real exam. Don’t forget the free resit offer that’s running at the moment. Also read up on people’s experiences with the exam on this very site, you may find there is something that was in their exam that you have not covered in your studies.

 

How much real-world IT experience do you have? Microsoft recommends getting 6 months to a year of real-world experience administering XP Pro in a domain environment before pursuing 70-270. That sort of real-world experience is what will enable you to get over the hump.

If you don't yet have real-world IT experience, I'd recommend that you pursue the A+, Network+, and MCDST certifications.

Hope this helps!