Customer Reviews

MCSE Planning and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Network Infrastructure Exam Cram 2 (Exam Cram 70-293)

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Have always been a fan of ExamCram books but something went very, VERY wrong with this one: not a SINGLE mention of PKI (MS exam objective "Configure Active Directory directory service for certificate publication"). Which just happens to be a HUGE part of the test.

Lots of practice questions but its hard to ignore the fact that 1. only half the book is actually review text (64 pages are spent explaining what an MCSE is and what an exam looks like, compared to 253 on review topics INCLUDING the per-topic review questions), 2. the practice questions are often outside the scope of the curriculum and exam, and there are several glaring errors in the text and in questions.

Tips for anyone preparing for the exam: 1. don't bother with this book, if the publisher can't be bothered to actually cover the curriculum then don't waste your time and money on this book. 2. the tests overlap so much now that you'll need to be up to speed on 70-291 as well (ExamCram's coverage of which is considerably better), 3. when you get questions about PKI, try not to look all surprised, 4. DON'T rely on any one publisher to cover the curriculum (I didn't) - check the MS site exam objectives, do your research (I did, and passed).

And to the publisher: you could have had this feedback directly (and privately) if your own website didn't bounce back online feedback submissions with relaying errors. If your IT folks need some help configuring mail, I'd recommend Sybex <g>.

This book helped me finish a month long study/review for my 70-293 exam. Is it "the" one and only perfect book - no; no final cram book (you name the publishing comapny) ever is; but it is exactly what it is supposed to be - a final review before the exam. I found it rounded out areas from other study sources that I used and helped complement areas that I already had some knowledge in. I would recommend this as a final / additional review source for anyone studying for the 70-293 exam

I'm currently working on my MCSE certification. I read the Microsoft Press books for each test, then supplement that with the Exam Cram 2 books. I've taken tests 70-290 and 70-291 and found the Exam Cram 2 books to be very beneficial. However, something happened with the 70-293 book. There are lots of inconsistencies and wrong information. On one page, you'll be reading about an item and what it does...on the following page, it will tell you something completely different. Sometimes there are mis-prints in the exam questions...like having the same answer printed twice in a multiple choice question. Don't get me wrong - if the real test was like that, it would be awesome. Like I said before, the first 2 books of the series were great. This one leaves something to be desired. Glad I bought the PDF version instead of the hardcover...much cheaper.

Although I am a fan of the Exam Cram series, this title falls very short of my usual expectations. This book is full of inconsistencies, ambiguities and just plain mis-information. In reviewing several of the tests that are in the book it is revealed that several answers to questions either contradict themselves or are just plain wrong. I would not recommend this book to anyone studying for their MCSE. Buy the Microsoft training kit or just guess on the test, you'd have better luck.

This is probably one of the worst books I have read for exam review. There are so many inconsistencies and wrong answers and information that I don't trust any of the information. There are wrong listings of default services installed, two listings of port numbers with different port information, duplicated exam questions with different answers to each one, continuous repeats of the same information, wrong exam answers [even given the explanations that follow the questions), and scanty information. Don't bother.