| | |  | Sybex | Home » » » » MCSA/MCSE: Windows Server 2003 Environment Management and Maintenance Study Guide: Exam 70-290 | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | - This exam (70290) is a core requirement for both the MCSA and MCSE
- Updated to cover the latest exam version, which includes questions on Windows Server 2003 R2 and Windows XP Professional SP2
- The CD-ROM features our exclusive WinSim simulation program plus a testing engine, hundreds of sample questions, a PDF of the book, and flashcards
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Lisa Donald | | Paperback:
| 720 pages | | Publisher:
| Sybex | | Publication Date:
| January 24, 2006 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0782144489 | | Product Length:
| 9.24 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.39 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.54 inches | | Product Weight:
| 2.37 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 2.25 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 20 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 20 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 A great book, but you will need more references to pass the examJul 06, 2005
By Daniel Calbimonte
Sybex books are usually my favourite books for the exam.
The book is easy to understand and to read. It contains useful tips and tries to cover most of the topics required.
For this exam, my favourite book is the Syngress book, but after that it is the Sybex book. This book is the best book for the SUS chapter. It has great information for IIS, terminal services and printers.
Unfortunately the questions included are different than the exam.
I recommend to use practice tests like transcender or boson.
It is a really hard exam, if you want to learn and not to pass the exam, this book is recommended.
I recommend this book for beginners and as a reference book.
Experienced users will find some important tips on the book.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Ok, not great. Don't count on it alone for the test.Sep 23, 2003
Just got back from taking the test after using this book as my only study source (living dangerously..yes). I failed the exam scoring 690 with 700 necessary to pass.
First about me: I orginally obtained my MCSE on NT4 in 1997 and recently decided to upgrade it to 2003. I've been working as a systems administrator/engineer since the early 90's, administering NT networks since 97, and currently administer a large AD domain with 200+ servers spanning 30 sites nationwide. I'm not the best but I've been around the block. I passed the XP exam after brushing up with the Exam Cram 2nd edition book and chose Sybex to prepare me for the 70-290. I figured with my experience and this book to familiarize me with exam objectives I would be able to do ok. That was certainly the case with the XP exam and it was a challenging test.
Second, the book: It had a handful of editorial glitches, but nothing seriously bad. It spends many pages taking you step-by-step through configuration processes. This is a strength of the Sybex books as they allow you to "see" what it is like to do a task without actually having the machine in front of you. This book got a little annoying though in that it would spend a couple of pages of text giving you a step-by-step, then follow it up with a page or two exercise that repeated the same steps. I would have preferred a little less step-by-step repetitiveness and lot more meat and minutae. In the end the book does a good job familiarizing you with the tasks/topics it is addressing, but it just doesn't cover enough material.
Third, the test: It pulled material from everywhere. It also forces you to read very quickly as many questions are long. It also tended to be tricky as often as it could, probably the trickiest I have seen on a certification test (btw: I've taken close to 30 different IT certification tests over the years, I hold numerous certs from Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, CheckPoint and Citrix). Also, the test was annoyingly slow taking 5-10 seconds to move between questions.. really adding to the stress as the clock ticks down. In fairness to Sybex I did miss two questions that were addressed in the book. But let me also say I would have come nowhere close to passing without my real-world experience. There are several questions/topics that weren't even hinted at in the text (most notably a suprising question requiring you to properly edit a vb script..)
In summary, if you are already well-rounded with Win2k this book will give you a decent overview of many exam topics. You will likely need additional sources to pass the test though. If you are new to Windows don't even think about counting on this book alone to get you past the test.
Would I buy it again? Yes, but not as my only source.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Not perfect, but still a great study toolApr 18, 2006
By courndog
Before you do anything, make sure you are looking at the 2nd Edition of this book. If the top of the book does not say "Updated For Windows Server 2003 R2", then this review will probably not be helpful.
I should probably tell a little about my background. I earned an A.A.S. in Computer and Information Science early in 2005 and I have spent the last year working as a junior administrator for a small company. We have a mix of Windows XP clients and Windows 2000 servers. In addition to passing this test this morning and the Windows XP in March, I also have a couple of CompTIA certifications.
I found the book to be an excellent study tool. They chapters do a pretty good job of explaining all of the topics. The practice tests were pretty good as well. Some of the questions were a little too simple while others were very similiar to what was on the real exam.
I gave the book 4 stars because while I couldn't have passed the test without it, there were topics on the test that were not covered in the book. There was also a question on one of the included practice exams that was programmed incorrectly; it marked the correct answer as wrong. I would recommend to anyone about to take to test to use this book as a guide, but I would also set up a test server and do the exercises on a real machine. That's really the only way you can practice for the simulation questions.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Pretty goodDec 02, 2004
By B. Conrad
Passed this morning. All the topics in this book were covered in the 70-290 exam, or vice versa. The book content is good, the chapter tests are pretty good but the 2 bonus Testsims are another story. If you can get through these test sims without banging your head on your desk or pulling out your hair you are a better person than I am.
...So read the book, take some online sample tests, get the Minasi 2003 book and study hard, you should be all set.
Ben
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Does the trickSep 29, 2003
Sybex has always had a good reputation for MCSE books. Over the course of my career I have needed to update my MCSE certs regularly and have more or less relied on them. This book pretty much follows the pattern of the others: Explanations, screen shots, lab exercises, practice questions. I worked through the book, played around a bit with the more obscure parts of the operating system that I usually don't see, and passed the test. I'd recommend a lot more studying, though, if you don't use Windows 2000 or Server 2003 in your daily work. In short, solid book, covers all of the bases, clear explanations.
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