Customer Reviews

MCDST 70-271 Exam Cram 2: Supporting Users & Troubleshooting a Windows XP Operating System

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's a lot of unnecessary info in this book that you won't even see on the exam. The practice questions in the book are way too wordy and confusing. Exam Cram has helped me in the past, but not this time.

I believe my email to the editor explains it all. I have copied and pasted it below.

Mr. Tittel,

I have been a huge fan of your Exam Cram books for the last few years and they have helped me pass my A+, Network+, and CCNA certifications. Currently I am working of my MCDST certification and bought your books expecting the same standards your other books hold. Unfortunately, your Exam 70-271 Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Windows XP operating System is not only a disgrace to your line of books, but to you as the editor. I have to ask; did you even read the book or edit it? There are too many spelling and grammatical errors to even list in this book. Many times it should say drive, and instead it says driver or vice versa. You have many of the wizards name's wrong, such as on page 200 first line under Migrating User Settings with the File Settings and Transfer Wizard it says "The File Settings and Transfer (FAST) Wizard." The funny thing is it's the File and Settings Transfer Wizard, otherwise FAST makes no sense the way it is printed and if that's not bad enough on page 201 you have a screenshot of the wizard showing it's correct name. The questions you ask in this book also are horrendous because they contradict what is true or just make no sense. Here is an example of a contradiction. Earlier in the book it says Windows XP can't be upgraded from Windows 95, this is true, but then in question 6 on page 213 it says "After upgrading a group of computers running Windows 95 to Windows XP Professional." See something wrong there? Here is an example of a question making no sense. Look at question 23 on page 336. The question asks for the Power User group and the Administrator group, so logically and correctly the answer should be A, but no you have it as answer C which is the same exact thing as A but leaves out the Administrator group so it would be wrong. In conclusion I must say this was one of the most poorly written and poorly edited books I have ever read. So please, revise this book immediately and get any remaining ones of the shelves because most people are furious about this, you should check out the reviews on Amazon.com and elsewhere.

This book was very helpful in passing my Microsoft 70-271 exam. It provided much relevant material from a users standpoint that prepared me for my certification. It also is a good Book to keep around as a reference.

For those of us looking to fill in our varied real-life technical support experience with some actual honest-to-goodness certifications, this book is a useful cram. I was looking for more of the experience of the test, and I found the difficulty of the questions to be appropriately challenging. I'm pleased to find that they are actually geared towards a higher level exam, since that is my ultimate goal. I also skimmed the book a lot, and did not even try to read it chapter by chapter (I don't study for exams that way). I ended up absorbing a lot more information from this book than I thought I would have, and I must confess I'm extremely desensitized to spelling mistakes in computer software, and didn't notice them in this book. I certainly didn't come across anything that would have stopped me from picking up the sense of the information offered. I definitely picked up new things from this book that I didn't know before, and I appreciated that. Learning more about the innards of Windows XP is never a bad thing, and at least one piece of information I was able to immediately use at work.

I passed the test so I guess that means the book worked. It was actually supplemental material. My first choice is always Sybex. This is a decent book, it went too much into the Remote Installation for what I had on the test but the test may be different for you.

Overall it was a good book withs lots of relevant material. I actually learned some things about XP that I was not already aware of. I haven't taken the test yet, but with the included Cheat Sheet and CDROM, I think I will be well prepared.

This book was very helpful in preparing for my 70-271 exam. Of course, real world experience is really the key to passing an MS exam. If you know what you're doing, check this book out and read it. I think some of the material is more appropriate for the 70-270 exam than the 70-271, and last but not least, ExamCram needs a better editor. There are spelling, and consistency errors in the book (particularly with boldface items.) It is not edited as well as other ExamCram Titles.

I just passed my 70-271 exam and I do believe this book was an important factor in my score. However this book is problematic.

1.) The MeasureUp practice exam questions are 50 of the same questions found in the Microsoft Press book for the same exam. But that book has 261 more questions than this one.
2.) The questions in the book are far more difficult than necessary and many are more appropriate for the MCSA/MCSE exam 70-270.
3.) There are too many typographic errors to name. The major ones have been mentioned by other reviewers.
4.) There is no information on service pack 2.

I intend on using my MCDST credentials as an elective exam for the MCSA, so I appreciate the difficulty of the questions but by attempting to attain an 85% to 90% on the practice exams in the back of this book I had thoroughly convinced myself that I would fail the test and was very close to rescheduling it. I did not, and I passed my test with more than 200 point over the minimum score.

To this books credit I have found the information very useful in my job. I have received several calls from users with processor affinity problems or with 16 bit program errors that I know how to solve immediately because of the high standards set by the questions in this book. I am, therefore, very satisfied with my purchase.

Edit to original review: Having achieved my MCDST credentials and completed my MCSE Security I believe that what I have written concerning this book is correct. Many of the questions in the book are much better suited for the MCSA/MCSE track. I found the extra knowledge useful, but the objective should be to help you prepare for the 70-271 NOT to stress you out with topics you will never see covered on the exam.

As someone stated for a review about th 70-272 book, this book contains alot of high leven material and really no basic information that Technciians deal with on a daily basis. I am sitting this exam tomorrow and purchased this book today for a quickcram. After reading a few chapters I feel like I have never studied before. When they do attempt to hit on some basic stuff they contradict themselves in later chapters.

For example:Capter 1 review question: Which of the following OS's cannot be upgraded to XP Home or Pro? One of the answers is Windows 95 which is fine, but then in a later chapter (I forget which one) a question starts out: "You have just upgraded your Windows 95 PC to Windows XP Pro...."

I would use this as a companion to another study guide.

XP is to old now to cert in, but a great book for those who still use it and want to learn about it.