CBT Nuggets quality and lead time

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Hi guys,

Been lurking a while, so thought I would post.

I am lucky enough that my company have agreed to pay for my exams for the MCDST, and the reading material and any help I need.

I have purchased the Self Paced Training Books, and also the CBT Nuggets videos. Unfortunately, I can't see the books coming for another couple of weeks (long story), and I was wondering if the CBT Nuggets videos are, in themselves, enough to pass the exams. Time is of the essence, not because they are being retired, but if I don't start them soon, I will probably forget about it and add the books to the other courses I started and never finished!

Another question: Is there any lead time on booking the exams with Prometric, to being able to sit them? For example, if I book them on a Monday, will I have to wait a month or something before I sit it?

 

Welcome to CF!
Personally I think you'd be a fool to yourself to miss the opportunity your work has given you. If you don't take it your chances of getting similar offer in the future will be slim and you'll be demonstrating some undesirable qualities to your manager, which may affect future promotion prospects. If you gain the cert though, you look like someone who can see a project through to completion, someone who can learn new concepts and technology, someone who wants to progress!
(okay, maybe overstating it a bit but whatever the result, it won't be negative)
Look around this site, there's plenty of advice and links to resources to keep you right and help you study more efficiently. There's a link to the objectives pinned to the top of this very forum. Use microsoft technet to get a head start on studying. Set up a test computer, either physical or virtual, ready to run through the study material.

Plenty to keep you occupied while the cert fairies (disguised as grumpy postmen), get your study material to you.

 

I must admit they are very good, but what you're missing out on is the practice exam questions and the videos don't cover everything, I use them as a 'fill in the gaps' exercise if you will and to reinforce what I've read.

It depends on how you revise and best take information in, personally when reading lots of material I just glaze over, the videos are somewhat more fun to learn from.

It's certainly worth a shot if it's your only option and you can always practice around the areas in the videos you don't understand either at work or on a home lab.

Either way go for it, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Phil.

 

I agree 100% with Soundian as less and less employers are willing to shell out for their staff to do exams. If you waste your managers time then he/she might not be too chuffed with you wasting their money and future opportunities may be slammed shut to you so you won't be doing yourself any favours.

Now onto the question. I didn't use CBT Nuggets to do my MCDST but have used 1-2 CBT Nuggets through an old employer and found them pretty good. I wouldn't trust them to cover everything. As a rule of thumb you use more than one source of material per exam as in most cases a book won't cover all exam objectives alone. Your saving grace at present is that Microsoft are doing the promotion discount on 2+ exams and free retakes. Personally I would wait for the books as the official ones are really good for the MCDST if memory services me right.

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Man, the trainer on the CBT videos has a dreadful voice!

I was half joking about not doing the certs. I was half way through the A+ exam material last year, when I had a major bout of depression, which kept me out of action for nearly 6 months. By the time I was feeling up to even thinking about anything, the exam was retired. I'm more dreadful for buying DVDs and books with the full intention of reading them / watching them, and because there is such a backlog to catch up on, they fall by the wayside.

It's my New Year's Resolution this year to get better mentally, and get at least one certificate done asap.

 

if you speed him up he doesn't sound too bad and actually sounds normal, plus the videos become half the length of time.

 

Generally I would recommend CBT nuggets, the format is pretty informal and the instructors seem to enjoy what they are doing, and that helps make the topics easier to swallow.
From experience most of the courses I have used with them seem to cover the majority of the topic, although I would supplement the learning with books, and online resources.

In essence if you are relying on the CBTnugget alone then you may or may not be sucessful, however what they will do is speed up the learning process and get the key points in your head, allowing you to devote more study time to finer details.

Also I would recommend getting a practice exam or two to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie and where to focus your study.

 

Depends on your current experience with Windows XP. Some people do not read anything, and they pass. Some have to struggle for months altogether for the same cert.

Start as quickly as possible. I dont recommend leaving out the MS press books. They're of good importance when it comes to the real exam. U should go through them and practice all exam objectives.

 

Well, I am half way through the CBT videos and the books have turned up. Not looked at any questions yet, but the videos have told me nothing I didn't know, except for the key difference between hibernation and standby; that standby loses data.

Been using XP since it came out though, and been supporting the entire company (I am the only IT person) with 50 computers for about 4 years.

Hoping I can get this done quickly.

The guy said he had a young child ... I'm amazed he has ever touched a woman

 

Based on your experience I expect you will find the 271 easy. Just watch out for the 272. It's not a tough exam but there are topics in it that think they know about until they see the questions. eg, most people know a fair bit about Internet Explorer (because they use it etc..) but how well do you know all of the various configuration options within it, all the various security zones etc... or the various options within Outlook Express (a blast from the past for most ).

 

Just to say, I don't think the CBT Nuggets DVDs are enough to pass on their own, as they didn't cover a lot of things I have had in the practice tests on the MS Press books, like the actual detail of installation files and don't cover SP2, Windows Update, DEP or Windows Firewall.

 

I did have the exam booked for the 24th in Cardiff. A rush of blood to the head, and I have rescheduled it for this Tuesday, and booked a day off work. Going to try the practice exams now, and then see how wise it was

 

Good luck - awaiting your thoughts with interest.

 

thanks, Jason.

I have gone through the practice questions at the back of the microsoft book and got most of them right ... I am extremely weak on WINS and ICF, and I don't think I got a question right on the basic / dyanmic / spanned disks bit! At least I know what to hit tonight.

I've done the transcender exams, and get anywhere between 52% and 95% ... so am slioghtly worried about what sort of day I am going to have. Not doing my depression / stress any good anyway!

 

I passed! Got a 933, so very happy. I can honestly say that the CBT Nuggets were not of much use, and the Microsoft Press book was really needed to get there. CBT Nuggets are too general to give any information that would have allowed you to answer the questions.

I had a hell of a lot of questions on ICF, which were annoying.

I also crapped myself when I saw that after the first pass through, I had about 70% of the questions marked, as I was unsure, including the first 3 questions!

 

Congrats!

 

Congrats! That's a good score.

 

Congrats

NB