Customer Reviews

MCSE Training Guide: Windows NT Server 4 (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The author did a good job in providing us with a concise and effective book for learning Windows NT Server 4.0, both for exam preparation and for using the NOS.

The organization of chapters around exam objectives is a good framework for presenting the materials. Although New Riders should be credited, no every author in this series does it as well as Maione. The contents are insightful, down to the point, and free of filler pages on trivial facts that is plaguing way too many study guides. The inevitable overlapping with the Workstation book is reduced to minimum gracefully. What I appreciate most is the author and/or editors probably have taken their time making this book quite free of errors, too.

The Fast Facts section could help. The Exam Questions are not strong. But if you are serious enough about the exam, you probably have Exam Cram in your hands already. Use that book to obtain a feel of the exam, instead.

Overall, an excellent book on NT. The author should have continued on to write the Enterprise book.

I found this book, as it's workstation counterpart, quite well written and thourough in it's explaining on the topic on hand for the most part. However, the sample questions I found to be quite weak, and also the activities usually are not very involving or indepth, and I find hands-on to be very important. Also some areas the author notes on what a certain function does, but doesn't explain how to use it, though this was done since it really isn't relevent for the test, however it does little to increase the worth of the book to me now that I have past the test. From these standpoints, there is a book I prefer better though will refrain from commenting on since that is not the purpose of these reviews. At the same time, this book does contain everything that would will need to get through the test, exactly what it was designed for.

A+,Network+,MCP

It's nice to have in my possession such an excellent training guide. This book is very well organized and it covers the exam objectives with detail and accuracy. The electronic version of the book included on the CD was a nice plus.

I assure you will be well prepared for the NT server exam by reading this study guide. Be aware that all of the material in this book is relevant for the test, so read and re-read thoroughly, practice and answer all of the review questions.

I'm only into the third chapter and I really like this book. I'm learning MORE from this book than I did during the expensive Microsoft ATEC classes, along with the Microsoft Official Curriculum courseware. The book is well written (other than occassional typos), and closely follows the exam objectives. Although the chapter ending exam questions are not in the same league as Transcender, they DO provide an adequate means of giving you feedback on how well you understood the material covered in that chapter. I am glad I bought this book, and I highly recommend it as an great tool to prepare for the Window NT Server 4.0 Eexam.

I found this book a very good one to study for MCP exam on Windows NT Server 4.0. Well organized, it provides you the necessary skills you should know to pass the test. And, also the tests included at the end of each section are very pratical ones, but what really rocks are the eletronic tests(cd). Really, I liked it very much. If you are trying to find and good/cheap book, that's the one. A must read!

This book is well written, making it easy to read and understand. The content layout is also well done, making it easy to see exactly what is required to know for each exam objective. There is some small detailed information missing but I found that the practice tests identified this information to you anyway, so overall the content is adequate (the Sybex books I'm using, also have information missing). I did notice questions in the real exam relating to previous exams, so I would recommend doing the subjects in the following order: Networking Essentials, NT Workstation4, NT Server4, NT Server4:Enterprise. I found the practice exams to be an invaluable aid for studying for the exam and they are similar to the real exam. I used the Sybex books for my elective subjects, and found them to be very poorly written. The Sybex books were not easy to read and understand and the content was layed out in a poor way, making them hard to identify information for each exam objective.

I found this book covers the topics OK, although it can be more precise & the objectives at the beginning of every chapter can be more succinct. The CD that accompanies the book is loaded with a number of software; however, I find the "Practice Exam" is bug ridden. It does not run properly; the GUI is screwed; the answers pop up at mysterious places; there are a number of typos and grammar errors. This program does not work in either NT server or Windows 95/98. The test questions are weak. My suggestion is use it as a coffee coaster.

This book was really easy to read. Exam tips were really useful. I got a 900 in my test using this one with Test Prep from New Riders also and transcender. A really good choice to become MCP.

I like this study guide more than any of the others I have seen because it communicates the essentials of NT Server to a greater depth. It also reads easy because it is very well-organized and "reader-oriented". I can tell that the author has a tremendous desire and talent to make sure the reader understands concepts. Highly recommended. Don't miss out. It has built my confidence for the exam, and I am only halfway through the book.

I feel like I read a different book than the other reviewers...

I bought this book on the strength of the reviews, to use as a follow-up to the MS training kits. It may work for you as an introduction to NT, but if you are experienced or have used another book prior to this, you will not have the patience to wade through the whole book to glean a few tidbits. It is very poorly indexed, so good luck finding specific information you are looking for. The chapter headings are very vague in relation to what they cover (three chapters called "Installation and Configuration" which cover everything from installation to configuring printers, protocols, and fault tolerance, to Registry and Control Panel settings).

I don't think there is ONE question on the CD exam that does not contain an error of some sort, and several are just wrong because NONE of the answers are correct! It looks as though the CD was prepared from someone's preliminary notes without any second draft or proofreading. For example: on a question asking what resources may need to be assigned to a network card, the answers given are "DMA, I/O base addresses, and Memory"; "wrong" answers are NTIRQ and I/O port. (Should be IRQ, base I/O port address, base memory address, DMA channel - very hard to tell what the 'correct' answers are since all are oddly worded). Another question regarding what is required for remote admin of Win95 clients refers to a chapter that ONLY talks about setting up profiles and policies (NOT remote admin configuration).

The book is OK (if you intend to read it cover to cover), but the CD is terrible!