Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - MCSE    2. Client-Server Computing - Windows    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Communications / Networking    6. Networking - General    7. Computer Software Packages    8. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (16)

Simply badly designed for exams
I believe that the writers made some bad choices when they first began to write this book. First of all, unlike most other certification books the exam goals are not together in one section. Instead there are whole chapters for queries, indexes, views, etc with all of the information about each topic in that chapter. So if you wanted to read about 'query optimization' you would have to read the sections within that chapter about query optimation from the queries chapter, from the index chapter, some from the views chapter, etc. So if you want to review a specific topic that you are not as good at you will be doing a lot of page flipping.
This Won't Prepare You For 70-229 But a Good Starting Point.
This book is a very easy read, explains concepts clearly, but lacks the kind of detail necessary for passing the 70-229 exam, especially if you are taking this as an elective on the developer track. It will get you through most of what you need to know at 10,000 feet, but it will not take you to a passing score. It taught me things I had never used and for that it is well worth the time investment. I also love the fact that you can install the "e-book" on a laptop and a desktop at home and never carry the hard cover book around.
Book for SQL novice
This book is good for a person whom does not know any thing about SQL and Database Designing. If you are an Experience whom trying to get ready for the exam. then save your money and look for different one. This book will just wast your time. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSD    4. Certification Guides - Msce    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computers    7. Computers - Data Base Management    8. Database Management - General    9. Database Management - SQL Server    10. Databases    11. Design    12. Electronic data processing per    13. Electronic data processing personnel    14. Examinations    15. Microsoft software    16. Programming Languages - SQL    17. Relational Databases    18. Sql (Programming Language)    19. Study guides    20. Computers / Database Management / General    21. Database software   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Management - General    6. General    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Relational Databases    9. Software Design    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Database software    13. SQL   

Editorial Review

Anyone wishing to become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer has to pass four mandatory exams and two electives. Read more

Reviews (14)

MCSE W2K Exam Cram Core Four
I am currently preparing for MCSE in Windows 2000.These books provide an excellent supplement to the material learned in class. Excellent prep
I'd have to say this is the best set of books to help you pass the core Microsoft exams you can get....but it is FAR from perfect.The Server book gave me to much of "you'll have to know" whatever to pass the exam, and then went on to NOT inform me of that subject.That's why I bought the book isn't it? A very useful resource
I just passed my 70-240 exam today, due in part to this set. Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - MCSE    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Microcomputer Operating Environments    8. Networking - General    9. Operating Systems - Windows    10. Operating Systems - Windows 2000    11. Reference - General    12. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (22)

Very satisfied
I bought this new book which I got it for $4 less than any other place including internet and book stores. I received the book on time and as I expected. Started reading and enjoying it...

Use this book along with additional resources
The book is well structured to cover the exam topics. It does, however, omit certain details in some topics which would be unclear from just the book alone if I didn't already know them or didn't find some better explanations elsewhere online. You'll need some additional resource, including .NET class library online reference and online tutorials to fully understand certain topics.

Pretty decent
I've not finished reading this book yet, nor have I completed all exercises. Already having a fair bit of experience with .NET and ASP.NET I can see that this book covers only the basics, though it seems to cover them quite well.I have, however, found a few code errors in the examples, which I feel detracts a fair bit from the overall quality of the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSD    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Microcomputer Application Software    11. Microsoft .NET Framework    12. Microsoft software    13. Programming - General    14. Programming Languages - C#    15. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    16. Study guides    17. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    18. C & Visual C    19. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (21)

this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
Badly structured and written
I'm an experienced vb6 programmer and looked for a book to help me make the switch. I found this book diving into issues without giving you any prerequisites. I had a hard time understanding where he wants to take me.

Maybe good for exam, but you won't learn .NET or C# here
This book has some highlights, but it is tightly authored to the VS.NET version it comes bundled with. Some folks will find this a bonanza, but that's only if you're willing to rubber-stamp your exam. There's abundance of Wizard code specific to VS.NET 2003 version. I am working with VC# Express 2005 and many of the things are N/A in this environment. ... anyway, I could sort my way out by looking at the samples and learn that what used to be a Control is nothing more than a Class that derives from Controls and some additional boilerplate.
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Subjects:  1. C# (Computer program language)    2. Certification    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Certification Guides - MCSD    5. Computer Books And Software    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microcomputer Application Software    12. Microsoft software    13. Programming - General    14. Programming Languages - C#    15. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    16. Study guides    17. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    18. C & Visual C    19. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (15)

Appalling
I have not yet taken the exam, so I can only tell you about the material covered for it's own value.
Go get another book if you want to pass the exam
This book gets one star because it does not cover the material required to pass the exam.I would have almost failed the exam had I used just this book for my preparation.Luckiliy I have used online questions from one of the web-sited listed on Microsoft's web-site and that helped me to pass the exam.
confusing, vague, ambiguous, and difficult to read
This book uses words pretty loosely, and frequently confuses the readers. Explanations are not clear. Material is incoherent. Microsoft's proofreaders, reviewers, and/or editors did a poor job on this book. Buying it is a waste of money. Please look elsewhere. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSD    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Management - General    7. Microcomputer Application Software    8. Programming - General    9. Computers / Database Management / General   

Reviews (3)

useful, but has factual errors (partly Microsoft's fault)
OK, I'm modifying this since some of the RAID confusion seems to have originated in the MSDN docs, rather than with the author.
Use as a Sudy Guide
This is a lightweight book designed to be easily carried with you. The size is such that your palm can almost fit the whole book. It uses cheap newsprints for its pages which make it lighter than it would normally have. It has a little more than 330 pages but the main part has 220 pages, the rest are for the practice tests and answers.
A Pretty Good Introduction and Sample Exams
This is a book designed purely to get you a passing grade on the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist 70-431 test on Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Note that this test is not concerned with the use of a database, there's nothing on areas like programming in T-SQL. Instead it's oriented more to the database administrator.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Database    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Database Engineering    7. Database Management - General    8. Database Management - SQL Server    9. Database design    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Microsoft software    13. Sql (Programming Language)    14. Study guides    15. Tests    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Databases & data structures    18. SQL   

Reviews (9)

A must...
I haven't read this yet. I'm still going through the XP book, but if this one is even close, this book is a must. An easy read and well laid out. The accompanying CDs are very beneficial also.
Excellent guide
Any book from Tony is probably going to be good. This book is no exception. It is very well written and organized. It covers all aspects of Windows Server 2003 security. It is not quite comprehensive as you'll need the earlier 2003 Server books (or know those topics well enough) to fully cover the test. It includes good chapter summaries and practice labs. This book will also be useful to you as a reference after you have passed the exam.

Best study guide I've read yet
This book is an excellent resource and preparation for the 70-299 exam. I've read through a lot of exam books over the years and this is the one that prepared me the best. Upon finishing this book, you feel as though you really understand the material, rather than feeling that you still have holes in your understanding, as you often do with other books. This book is comprehensive, well-laid out, and has a lot of good practice questions in the book and on CD. Microsoft Training Kit CDs are often quite meaty, and this is no exception. I highly recommend this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Client-Server Computing - General    5. Computer Books And Software    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Data Processing - General    9. Electronic Data Processing    10. Electronic data processing per    11. Electronic data processing personnel    12. Examinations    13. Microsoft software    14. Programming - Software Development    15. Security - General    16. Software Engineering    17. Study guides    18. Computer Communications & Networking    19. Computers / General    20. Computing and Information Technology    21. Home Computing    22. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (12)

This must be great!
I never got around to reading it but I did get to read the handy Caram Sheet found inside the cover.I also took the time to look at some of the questions found in the book and the table of contents.The questions and the content seem to cover the exam very well.I believe this book is sufficient to pass the test.I passed with a score 850.

Good book with easy simultion exam questions
This book is a great way to start studying the 70-290 Exam. It is well organized and tries to cover most of the topics. The book is interesting and useful as a reference book for the real life.
You'll need more than this book will provide.
This book is not enough to pass the exam, at least the exam I received. To many holes on security. My test was 1/2 security type questions and needless to say I did not pass. I did have a home test lab and did every lab at least twice. In my lab I had 98, 2k, and XP home and Xp Pro. I do have extended experience in the networking world. I did buy the XP Pro Manual as well and I am equally disappointed. I did purchaced additional manuals to pass the the tests.Exam Cram manuals WERE one of the best.
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Subjects:  1. Business Software - General    2. Certification    3. Certification Guides - General    4. Certification Guides - Msce    5. Client-Server Computing - General    6. Computer Books: General    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Microcomputer Operating Environments    13. Microsoft Windows server    14. Microsoft software    15. Operating Systems - Windows    16. Study guides    17. Tests    18. Computers / Technical Skills    19. Microsoft Windows    20. Systems management   

Reviews (1)

Covers Exchange Server 2003 in detail
The Sybex MCSE 70-284 book has enough information about Exchange Server 2003 to make you an expert, and it equips you with more than enough details about the product for the test. However, to pass the exam you will also need to know a good bit about Exchange and how it relates to various LAN/WAN scenarios that assume you have a strong networking background. This information can be picked up by taking the other MCSA/E core exams beforehand, or by gaining 1+ years of experience as an Exchange admin. 70-284 is the last test you would take if you're going for the MCSA or MCSE. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Operating Systems - General    7. Computers / Technical Skills    8. Networking packages   

Reviews (20)

Excellent Book
This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to become certified or just wants learn how to use Excel. The book is easy to read and the step by step exercises make learning new skills effortless. With all the material covered, you are sure to find what you are looking for. Showing multiple ways to do one thing was also a big plus, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has the need to learn Excel.

More than an MOS guide
Although the book is a study guide for MOS, you don't have to be taking that exam(s) to benefit from this book. If you are intimidated by spreadsheets, and want to get started with a text book equivalent of your school books, this book fits the requirement.
Exactly The Level I Needed
When I saw this book on the shelf I almost passed it by. The blurb on the back cover talks a lot about this being a study guide to pass the Microsoft Office Specialist test. I wasn't interested in taking such a test, I just needed to know more about Excel for a project that I had to do. But I picked it up to look over and was surprised that it contained exactly what I wanted to know.
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Subjects:  1. Business    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Spreadsheets    4. Computer programs    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Electronic spreadsheets    8. Examinations    9. Microcomputer Spreadsheet Software    10. Spreadsheets - Excel    11. Spreadsheets - General    12. Study guides    13. Computers / Technical Skills    14. Excel   

Reviews (7)

Good For Revision, But u need to Couple it with Another Reference

Average exam review
A good review book explains all the topics in a consise fasion this book does explain the topics that well is a bit disorganized and has topics missing. There are better review books out the for SQL 2K

Good but not enough
This book is a good, general introduction to the 70-229 exam concepts - but I had to couple it with the Transcender practice exam before I felt comfortable taking the exam.The exam topics are so broad that the book doesn't do enough to emphasize when to use what.It also skips some important topics (sp_cursoropen) and its practice tests include Full Text Searches which the book notes are unlikely to be on the exam.To the editors: A 'databases' index entry with three pages of sub-entries is redundant in a book about databases.I love the Exam Cram series, but this was the poorest book of the bunch. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Computer Books: Database    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Languages / Programming    7. Database Engineering    8. Database Management - General    9. Programming Languages - SQL    10. Tests    11. Computers / Technical Skills    12. Databases & data structures    13. SQL    14. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Editorial Review

A solid set that will help you get through the exam, the Read more

Reviews (5)

Effective means to get MCSA, when used with other materials
I bought these books in April 2003 along with online study guides to get my MCSA: Some imporvements, still a little more work needed.
Since beginning my quest for the MCSE or MCSA I have been searching for the self paced study guide that will make it easier for me to learn without breaking the bank. Back in April I looked at the initial release of this package, I found it to have several useful features and there were some updates needed. Great Guides!!!
I used this set of study guides to study for my MCSA and easily passed the exams averaging 90% in each exam. I read each guide thorougly and played alot with the Windows 2000 OS to get my grades. The study guides were very indepth in its coverage of each exam and the testing engines were very similar to what i saw in the real exam. The books came with alot of detail plus great summary info on each exam objective...unlike other study guides the Microsoft Press has put heavy emphasis on practical use of the OS to study for the exam...if you are looking for an exam cram style guide that will summarise everything for the test then these books are not for you...BUT if you are after something that will force you to do alot of hands on excercises plus give you indepth coverage then get these study guides. I'll recommend these if you want to really learn about windows 2000 not memorise something quick to pass the test. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Operating Systems    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Microcomputer Operating Environments    6. Networking - General    7. Operating Systems - Windows    8. Operating Systems - Windows 2000    9. Tests    10. Computer Communications & Networking    11. Computers / General    12. Microsoft Windows   

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - MCSE    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Networking - General    6. Computers / Networking / General   

Reviews (28)

Awesome Book!
This book helped me to pass the 70-270 test.It had some information that I did not see anywhere else.I have used cram exam books before and I love the series.I would recommend this book and others for anybody studying to pass any tests.Awesome book!

Hit or Miss but Ultimately Useful
Overall, I find this particular book useful in combing through a lot of intricate details of the Windows XP operating system.Though given that, I don't think this resource alone will help you adequately prepare for the exam, which is something the authors themselves note.This book I feel tries to strike a middle ground, but fails in a few regards:
Terrible for a Newbie...
I've been in the IT industry doing mostly web design, so I'm not too familiar with the server/networking side of things.. anyhow this book assumes you know what you're doing...example .. first thing I got stuck on was using the Remote Installation Services..spent three whole days and finally gave up..once you get stuck you're pretty much screwed if you don't have anyone there to help you.I'm going to have to go out and get another book... something more detailed. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Electronic data processing personnel    8. Examinations    9. Information Technology    10. Microcomputer Operating Environments    11. Microsoft software    12. Operating Systems - Windows    13. Operating Systems - Windows XP    14. Study guides    15. Systems Engineering    16. Computers / Technical Skills    17. Computing and Information Technology    18. Microsoft Windows    19. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (7)

Good book for passing the exam
This was my primary resource in preparations for the exam, which I passed easily. Material is well presented, although I have found several mistakes and there are a lot of superfluous "lesson reviews" and "lesson summaries" at the end of each lesson.
Technically very clear and to the point, but lacks all the info
This book is pretty good along the lines of technical manuals. It keeps the information clear and lays it out in a way that makes it easy to understand with no fillers added. The activities at the end of the book are a little much, so I mostly ignored them. Unfortunately one thing this book lacks is ALL the information you might be tested for on the exam. For example, the book does not go into detail on the Authorization Manager. The new revisions might but check the ones you buy for it. Mine did not have it, however the software that came with the book asked questions on these different utilities that weren't covered in the book at all. It was a little suprising to be honest. But overall it was a good book.

Far too many technical inaccuracies
I'm sick of reading reviews about how a particular study guide is a good book for beginers.The title says exam 70-294, but this book falls a bit short.It gives basic coverage of active directory concepts and is technically inacurate in many areas.If your going to spend the time trying to learn this stuff, learn it right.A much better book on the subject matter is the active directory technical reference for windows server 2003, also by MS Press.In fact save some time and money...Just buy the technical reference. It will prepare you for both the 70-294 and 70-297 exams.Belive me, the only reason I read this book (70-294 self paced study guide)after reading the technical reference is because I was forced to teach a course from it.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Client-Server Computing - Windows    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Directory services (Computer network technology)    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    12. Microcomputer Application Software    13. Microcomputer Operating Environments    14. Microsoft software    15. Operating Systems - Windows    16. Study guides    17. Tests    18. Computers / General    19. Databases & data structures    20. Designed / suitable for other (non-UK) curricula & examinations    21. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (1)

All you need....
as long as you have taken Active Directory...etc all the basics that are required over all this is a good book ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - MCSE    2. Client-Server Computing - Windows    3. Computer Bks - Communications / Networking    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Communications / Networking    7. Networking - General    8. Computers / Networking / General    9. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (22)

Pretty Good Book
Not for the light reader, the book has one thousand pages of guidelines, detailed information, hands on labs, review questions and quizzes. The final sections of the book contains a full review, an actual exam and a section on SQL basics. Found the book contained many excellent illustrations which delved into the details of Windows Services, Web Services, COM+, SOAP, Remoting and other distributed topics. Recommended over the 70-320 guide by MS Press, but if you have time. Read that one first followed by this one to "burn in" the subject matter.

Amazing book
Amazing book - you start off scared of new topics, afraid you won't understand - but the book turns it around and just explains everything like it's super easy and natural stuff. Great authors.

This book will make you pass the exam
I just finished my last MCAD test this morning and swore I would come back and write reviews on all the books I used when I was done.
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Subjects:  1. Business Software - General    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Accounting Packages    6. Microsoft .net    7. Operating Systems - General    8. Programming Languages - HTML    9. Tests    10. Web site development    11. XML (Document markup language)    12. Computers / Technical Skills    13. XML   

Reviews (15)

Great intro to VB.Net but poor certification prep
If you are new to Visual Basic.Net then this book is great for getting a basic understanding of the language.If you are using it to introduce yourself to the language then I would highly recommend it.However, this book miserably fails its' title in preparing for the 70-306 exam. Frustrating
This book is chalk full of errors.I am not at all convinced that anyone went back through and actually tried to reproduce the examples and assignments found in this book.If you like a challenge and enjoy debugging someone else's code, this is the book for you.If, however, you feel that your time is b