Customer Reviews

MCSE in a Nutshell: The Windows 2000 Exams

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

 

 

This book will be a great review book, when all the errors are corrected. I've submitted three errata's on the book and I'm only through the first chapter (2000 Pro). While two of the errors were minor, there was one major one. That one stated that RDISK was the way to make a recovery disk in Windows 2000, which it's not....

With the information that's correct, it's a very easy to read book with "In the real world" sections that describe how things really work, not how Microsoft thinks they should work. This books shouldn't be used as a main point of study (and they state that in the book). There are also "One the Exam" sections that explain little things that you need to be familiar with.

It should be used to test your knowledge and give you pointers to work on. It's more of a review book then a flat out study guide. The exercises at the end of the sections are also useful things to run through. And some good questions at the end of each section.

If you think you're ready for your test this book is good to review and find out, but make sure you have solid knowledge before picking it up, especially with the errors in it right now.

When the errors are fix, this book will be worth 4.5-5 stars.

This book hits on the concepts necessary for a 50,000 foot view of the MCSE but lacks anything like the detail necessary to actually sit at the exam terminal. I rate it as high as I do only because I had diminished expectations of it from the start - its only a tenth the size of any other MCSE study guide, so how could it possibly cover everything? The answer is that it doesn't come close. None the less, I found its high level coverage of the subject to be extremely useful when I was completely lost in the deep details of the full coverage texts and needed a guide to show me the big picture of what was to be accomplished by those details. I would recommend getting this and read each exam topic here first before digging into the serious books that are going to get you through the exams. Other reviewers here have detailed the technical errors in the books so I won't, but they were less encumbering to me in the manner that I used the book (as a general rather than a specific reference). But be aware that there are some serious errors and I wouldn't bet the rent based on anything from this manual.

Compared to the two previous "MCSE in a Nutshell" (Core Exams & Elective Exams for NT 4.0), this book is a major disappointment! It's really valuable as a highlighter's index only - for that you're better off downloading the free stuff from Cramsession.com! The review questions are far too basic. When I did the review for 70-217 (Active Directory administration), I got all the ones in this book right, but only scored about 60% on the questions found in the readiness review from MS Press. Using the MS Press review, I wound up scoring 883/1000 on the actual exam. The Windows 2000 exams' difficulty was cranked up a notch and this book falls short.

Buy this book if you already have substantial experience with NT4 and Windows 2000 and you need help passing the MS tests. I passed the monster 70-240 with this book. The "On the Exam" tips were especially helpful. Also, the "In the Real World" comments were very entertaining.

I already have my MCSE certification and am using this before I start interviewing to review all the information I learned in a 7-month class I recently completed. This is a great overview and review book! It definitely is nowhere near the only information you need to pass the Microsoft exams, but I don't think they're claiming that it is anyway. The only complaint I have is that it's full of errors! It looks like they took an older edition, maybe for Windows 98 or NT, and went through it changing parts that were new, only they forgot to make half the changes. But overall I'm very satisfied with it as an overview to jog my memory about a lot of things I'll need to know in technical interviews.

If you don't know what you're doing, this is not a book for you--the Nutshell series expects you to have at least a working knowledge of things, and preferably an intermediate to advanced knowledge of them.

MCSE in a Nutshell IS a good book because it allows the advanced user to do a quick study of the topics they're familiar with, and use alternate learning materials for the areas in which they are not. It is also excellent for giving you a quick idea of how much or how little you know. It's my favorite book on the subject because it's concise, contains good information, and tells you both what to expect in the real world, and what to expect on the tests. (As we all know that Microsoft's view of the world does not always coincide with reality.)

If you buy this book, though, use it as a REFRESHER and not a teacher. I noted one or two instances where the information given would have gotten me a wrong answer on the test, because while it applied to reality, MS's view on the topic was different... But this is how it is with MOST books (including official MS documentation).

This is a good book if you work with Win 2000 and have NT 4 test taking experience. People seem to think this book is for starting out, it is not. This book is for people who are versed in the subject and want a good summary of things to concentrate on for the test. I would give this book a 5 star but there seems to be a few leftovers from the NT 4 book. All in all it is a great book for test reference.

I would love to rate this book but am still waiting after 3 months to get it. Talk about backordered!

i used this book as my primary review for 070-240, the combined test for nt4 mcse's, in addition to the readiness review cd from the microsoft kit. i passed the exam.

don't buy it if you're looking to learn the material; what it's useful for is if you either already know the material, and need to make sure there aren't any gaps in your knowledge, or if, like me, you need a good outline-type review of the material. it's condensed, sure... if a topic doesn't feel like you know it, you will need to reference other books to learn it. but as an overview, to make sure you know what you need to know for the exams, it's perfect.

I am very disappointed with this book. Essential information is lacking, and too many details look like they were lifted from the older edition (which was excellent in my opinion). Better written and more comprehensive resources can be found online.