I just took the "Supporting the End User Desktop" assessment on the MS site and was wondering if anyone else had taken it.

I ended up with a 53% score. Not exactly what I was expecting.

All of the trouble-shooting or assistance questions were a breeze. It was the SLA, Incident and Problem Resolution ones I hosed. Toward the end of the assessment I was just clicking Next on those questions because I was clueless what they wanted.

Despite 10+ years supporting the desktop, I've never used any of that. All my experience with support has been small-ish companies where the procedures/reporting are a "back of the envelope" kind of thing.

Are those types of questions on the MCDST exam ?

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John

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I took the assessment myself and scored 70%. I have taken the MCDST exams, and done better. I recall in the 85 to 90% range, but I was fresh from studying at the time. Really, I think the assessment gives a good feel of the real exams. I know what you mean on the SLA questions though.

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Welp....I just passed the 70-271 exam and thought I'd update this post with some info and a question.

899 was my final score....anyone know the max score you could get ??

I know 700 is passing.....899 a decent score ??

As far as materials I used it's hard to say really. 10+ years of tech support prepared me for a lot of it but I'll list what helped me round off my edges.

MCDST Self-Paced Training Kit...buy this book. Material and samples questions VERY close to exam. Pay very close attention to the File and folder permissiona chapter and the network connectivity chapter.

ActualTest....very close to the exam.

Transcender....good questions that are harder than actual test. Do well here and the exam is cake.

Sybex study guide. Includes 70-271 and 70-271....buy this only if you have the money to burn. The sample questions are good but cramming both exams into one book ain't a good idea.

MeasureUp.....total waste of time/money. I don't know what exam the samples were from but it wasn't 70-271.

And....the Assesment on the MS site that I originally posted about ?? Stay as far away from it as possible. It accomplishes nothing except to kill your confidence.

Well...that's it. Interested to hear any other comments.

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John

Last edited by Patoooey on 09-16-05 at 06:50 PM

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Just passed the 70-272 exam and decided to update this.

Only got a 781 on this exam. It was VERY hard to study for. Going thru the details of the various apps would just put me to sleep.

60-70% of the 272 exam is carried over from 271. Network connectivity/File security/XP look and feel questions.

The new stuff was mostly geared towards Outlook Express and Internet Explorer with just enough Outlook and Word questions tossed in to keep you honest.

For those seeking to take this one...read my comments above and add:

1) Outlook Express(master this entire app)
2) Internet Explorer(master the Security and Privacy tabs)
3) Word(pay attention to macro security)

According to the print-out given out after the exam, I royally hosed the Application Customization questions. I aced the other categories so I managed to pass. A 781 ain't that great but it's still passing.

Oh well....off to start studying for 70-270.

Good luck.

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John

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