Customer Reviews

MCSE Windows Server 2003 All-in-One Exam Guide (Exams 70-290, 70-291, 70-293 & 70-294)

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

 

 

I'm halfway through this book and have recorded a total of 10 typos and a dozen flat-out errors. A typo is relatively harmless, but errors include things like saying the correct answer was "C" when in fact it was "B" or visa-versa (answers 4 & 5 on page 355), asking a question like number 7 on page 63 when the material is not covered until page 226, displaying a dialog showing a configuration that allows all IP addresses except 1, but claims to deny all except 1 (page 250), or just flat-out misinforming the reader, such as by saying things like a subnet of 255.255.254.0 can be expressed in CIDR notation as /21 (page 334) or that a misconfigured subnet mask will always result in NO other machines being reachable (page 497).

Even the practice exam I took says that granting Change permissions to an NTFS folder is a correct answer. We all know that NTFS folders do not have a Change permission, only shares do.

The book leaves you wondering what is true and what is false, although it is at least 90% true, so I guess I can expect to get at least a 90% on the exam, right?

Overall, it reads well, doesn't beat around the bush too much, and is not a terrible choice of study material, but very sloppily edited.

As a follow up: I understood all of the material in the book well and did well on the practice exams, but barely passed 70-290 and got a 693 on 70-291 (need 700 to pass). Passing the NT 4.0 MCSE or Win 2000 MCP using Exam Cram was a breeze by comparison. This book just doesn't cut it.

I've gotten through the first chapter, and I am so distracted by the errors that it's going back. Read the other comments. Answers are wrong, errors are throughout the text. A complete waste. Get another book

I thought the review that the book is a complete waste of money was a bit strong. I have read many computer books, including the Sybex books the other reviewer mentioned, and I think the book was helpful to me. It was certainly better than the MSPress books that are available. I thought the questions on the CDROM were helpful, and using the book with other study methods, such as Transcender exams, helped me to be successful in passing my exams.

In my opinion, the authors seem to assume that their audience should know a lot of what is going on. Most of the self-study certification books that I have read will tell you what is required to truly practice the labs as you read through the book.

This book does not tell you what and how many boxes you need, it does not tell you how to configure your volumes, it does not tell you that you should log onto the server over the network except when you are doing some administrative tasks. Because of this, many of the labs are not working according to how the authors said.

Another thing that I found is that the book has many mistakes. The labs seem to not be correct and do not match the explanations that the authors gave.

Recommendations:
(1)The authors should go back to the beginning and state what hardware is needed and also the configuration that should be used. Let the student know that they need to have Server 2K3 installed and Active Directory and DNS configure.

(2)Each exercise's introduction should inform the student whether they are to log on interactively or over the network.

(3)I believe that the book needs proofreading and the labs all to be done carefully documenting the results of each lab.

(4)The authors point to data files that are to be copied from the cdrom but there are no data files on cdrom.

Because the book lacks these and with the contradiction between the labs and the explanations, it leaves the student doubting what they have read. So taking the Microsoft certifications using this book alone as a study guide is not comforting but instead stressful.

Just my opinion for improving this product.

Foyah

This book is complately inadquate as a preparation for any of the tests mentioned on its cover. It cannot be a reference guide either because of all the bugs and mistakes in it. It can only be used as a door stopper when you don't have a spare phone book. I am very unhappy with this book and I doubt I will ever buy a certification book from Osborne. I took one look at the sybex book and it has so much more info and so much more stuff in it. Yes, you will need to buy 4 books instead of one, but either that or be stuck with a book where you will have to double check *everything* that is in it against MS build in help. You will thank me for telling you not to buy it. If you don't trust me and buy the book, you better have the recipt in a safe place because very quickly you realize I was writing the truth.

this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
you can get more help in this link
(getcert's POST)

http://www.mcse.ms/message2132798.html

thanks

I was hoping this book would help prepare me for exam 70-293 but it certainly did not deliver. The material was very general and did not go into nearly enough detail to prepare you for the exam, not to mention pieces of it are incorrect! If you are going to use this book make sure to use supplemental materials as well. In fact, don't use this book at all since it's just a waste of time. I don't know how this book was ever published since it's so off the mark...

Overall i am very happy with this book, It covers "all" exam objectives in a "easy concept based" way. This book features brian culp "which i think is a excellent author". I used his passport book and became an MCP certified in WinXP so i highly recommend him. All Objectives are throughly explained in detail. Im using this book in conjuction with the microsoft 2003 administrators companion russel/crawford, which is an excellent reference book.

Its far better than the Self based training kits microsoft puts out for sure! All those books are good for is firewood! Sybex is only marginally better....

This text proves that on the internet or in print, a person or persons can create a completely fictional persona and "resume" of qualifications. I recommend searching further for a text with more experienced, polished, knowledgeable authors.