Reviews (3)

Working on your MCSE? Then get this set of books
This was my sole study guide for the MCSE Server 2003 based certification path, and I was not disappointed.The format is clear and easy to read.The books do a fantastic job of outlining WHY you are learning something, not just WHAT you need to know to pass the exam.I think this is what sets MS Press books apart from the competition: the book itself is structured to the best LEARNING format, and NOT to just passing the exam.I came away from these books with a much greater appreciation for Microsoft's Server and AD technologies (I come from a Linux background since 1995 and I'm the first to knock MS), and these books will be on your reference shelf for years to come -- or at least until the next version of Server ships.
Well Done.
I've belonged to the Unix world since 1993, working with low level stuff as kernel, device drivers, virus, assembly, C, etc.. and now I'm trying to learn Windows a bit and have enough conditions to take all tests (290, 291, 293, 294). No problems. This a very good kit about MS Windows 2003, well written,well organized and deserve 5 stars.
Pretty Good
I would recommend that anyone buying this looks at the publication date as a lot of errata has been corrected in the most recent editions.Orin Thomas has a very useful forum http://www.certtutor.net/
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. General    6. Microcomputer Operating Environments    7. Operating Systems - Windows    8. Programming - Software Development    9. Software Engineering    10. Computers / General    11. Computing and Information Technology    12. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (27)

Disappointing
I took the exam today....and....passed.Phew!This is one VERY tough exam to study for.I spent about 200 hours preparing for this exam.The exam is very broad and very deep.I bought this book and used the Transcender.
Acceptable Study Resource
I read this book twice. And I used the MS Press Training Kit Exam Prep application. I studied all 304 questions. I passed the test. So the study guide works. And this was the hardest exam I've taken (I've taken six).
I passed and that is the most important thing
Well I just took the exam today and passed (I didn't do exceptionally well but I have the certificate!). My only source was this book. By me passing I guess you can say it did the job for the task at hand. About 11 out of 16 of the chapters in the book are very easy to understand and very helpful and straightforward (minus the typos). However, some of the others, particularly those dealing with diagnostic and management configuration could use some work. My biggest issue with the book is not with how it is written, but the content. There were about 5 questions which I had no clue about and do not remember their content being directly mentioned (if at all) in the book. I am not pointing fingers at anyone, but there is a problem there with either the book's content or the access the authors had of what would be covered on the exam. All in all, I give it a 3 out 5 since I did pass. Although, I did study this book everyday, heavily, for three straight weeks. As for the practice questions, I thought they were ok as well. They helped me learn some things not covered in the book (oddly enough)and were useful to point out important points on specific topics. This isn't the greatest book in the world, but if you know it really well and do al of the examples and labs, you will probably pass. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computer Engineering    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Digital Computer Design    7. General    8. Microcomputer Application Software    9. Programming - General    10. Computer Programming    11. Computers / General    12. Computing and Information Technology    13. Networking packages   

Reviews (4)

Pretty good kit
I've been working with SQL2000 for a few years (but no MS Cert), but really interested in getting my MSTS cert in SQL2005. I've started this kit/book, and so far seems to be a pretty good system overall. Good hands-on excercises, and if you have the resources to do so, be sure to set up a good test/play system to work with during this course. I don't really care for the practice test software that is in this kit (and no, not just because I missed a couple questions!), and have always used Transcender exams for material like this. Just seems a little awkward, and even though I've tried a couple of times, I've found it difficult to test just on certain subjects, such as Chapters 1 & 3 for example. The software would generate a test with a few items covered in later material - - but then again, this testing software was new to me. With that said, I'll will probably get the Transcender to suppliment this kit.

Good for reference and for the exam
This is one of the best Microsoft Press Training kits that I have seen. It has good overall coverage of the administrative features of SQL Server 2005 in addition to covering the exam objectives. It also has some useful dynamic management view (DMV) queries. It has a good lesson on how table partitioning works, which is very useful. Overall, a very valuable book.

Good book
Taking the test which this study guide is focus to is a very important step before give any content's feedback (i'm still preparing myself for the test) But i will give my 1st impression about the book anyway.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Database Engineering    6. Database Management - General    7. General    8. Programming Languages - SQL    9. Computers / General    10. Databases & data structures    11. SQL   

Reviews (27)

Good resource that is missing information
While the content that is coveredin the book is covered in very good detail there are gaps between what is tested on (based on the Measure Up practice tests on the compainion CD) and what is covered in the book. This book does not adequately cover IIS (no mentions of virtual directories for example), does not cover CHAP, MS-CHAP, EAP security. Very important details on how to use Sysprep need to be added (How to add additional drivers to sysprep images, building a single image for use on varied hardware).
In depth and easy to read
This book is excellent. While I am pretty well versed in XP, this book is filling in the blanks nicely. The accompanying CD has a PDF of the book and some excellent multimedia presentation files on various subjects.
Substance and Fluff
This book really does cover the most important topics in substantial detail.It's well worth the money in terms of enabling one to prepare for the exam.Just the same, it can put me to sleep like almost no other book - not because the technology is not interesting - but because it reads too much like a technical document with paragraph upon paragraph of hyper-specific, redundant detail such as: review the following questions, if you have difficulty answering them, go back and review this material until you feel comfortable with it, blah blah blah, zzz.This kind of content gets repeated in every section verbatim.Yuck!Just cut out the fat, and we would have at least a good three hundred pages less of fluff.Otherwise, well worth the money. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Computers - Operating Systems    8. Electronic Data Processing    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microsoft software    12. Operating Systems - Windows    13. Operating Systems - Windows XP    14. Software Engineering    15. Study guides    16. Computers / General    17. Home Computing    18. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (16)

Not adequate for the Access certification test.
This book appears to be fine for a general review of the Access topics, but is lacking in detail for the test. I found that the book alone would have been totally inadequate for the certification test. The MeasureUp online training had value, but it too was limited. Access 2003 has a sorting and grouping icon, yet what I found was that I needed to use Access 2000 procedures for this and other MeasureUp tasks, without the newer icons. The MeasureUp study guide was well-presented, yet I faced a culture shock on test day. The questions were formatted differently, the questions significantly different than the way MeasureUp presented them. MeasureUp wrote their questions in a clearer manner than the test, but the problem is that I needed to see the questions as they would be on the test. The text is essentially a step-by-step book, not of test-taking value. I will keep it as a reference, which was not my reason for purchasing it. The MeasureUp training was great, but not related to the actual test.

A useful guide
This is very much a study guide and is not really aimed at the inexperienced user.It presumes a lot of knowledge and focuses on preparation of the exam elements only.If you need in depth knowledge then there are better books (QUE, other Microsoft products).As a refresher for the exams I have found it to be excellent.It can highlight the areas needing more study and its exercises get your mindset into the MOS exam process.I would recommend it as part of your arsenal in preparing for the MOS exams.

Great Start for Beginners!
Simple, straight forward, easy to understand and follow. The practice exercises are really helping you to master the skills of office. Better reading this book with a computer which has Office2003 on it, so that you can try it yourself once you learn something new. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business    2. Business Software - MSOffice    3. Certification    4. Computer Books: General    5. Computer programs    6. Computers    7. Electronic data processing per    8. Electronic data processing personnel    9. Examinations    10. Microsoft Office    11. Microsoft software    12. Operating Systems - Windows    13. Professional - General    14. Study Guides    15. Computers / General    16. Home Computing   

Reviews (24)

Complemento
Estos libros sin duda que sirven aun mas para reforzar el estudio para los exámenes.- ya que son oficiales trae unos tips que en otros libros del mismo estilo no lo mencionan.
Somewhat OK for Reference, Bad for Test Preparation
I bought these thinking that Microsoft would be in the best position to write a training kit to prepare for the certification tests, since they are, after all, Microsoft tests.Big mistake.If I hadn't used the Transcender practice tests also, I would have gotten a rude awakening at the test center.The MS books have some decent reference information, but they don't prepare you for the tests.

Excelentes
El conjunto de libros y el CD para los laboratorios han sido excelentes para la preparaci�n de la certificaci�n en .NET en la que me preparo. ... 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. Programming Languages - General    10. Computer Communications & Networking    11. Computer Programming    12. Computers / Database Management / General    13. Home Computing   

Reviews (2)

This is the 70-526 Training Kit
The 70-526 Training Kit is now available, but there are still reviews on this site for another book (the 70-536 Training Kit). Please be aware that this is a new title and has not yet been reviewed.

Amazon, please fix your problems!
This book is great! Unfortunately, the 'spotlight review' that is featured above, DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS BOOK! It belongs to the training kit for 70-536. For some reason, Amazon can't seem to get rid of this erroneous review. Please, please, please, fix this problem! ... Read more

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. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (20)

A must if you need to pass the first time.
Depending on your experience this may be the only book you need to pass the 70-721 exam. I did require additional material but this book was certainly the major reason that I passed the exam with a 917 score.
Understanding XP
It is worth every Penny you spend. I will refer back to itfor years.

Workplace Compliance Purchase
I am within hours of retiring from "Corporate America." Then, why would I purchase such a boring piece of reading material? The answer is, the yuppies who run the company think they are doing us a favor by making us learn about technology that will be obsolete in weeks. Even worse they require the cost of that training to come out of our own pockets. I needed a training package to get a better review and a small bonus. After taxes the bonus was only three times the cost of the book. Whoopee! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: Operating Systems    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Computers - General Information    6. Data Processing - General    7. Electronic Data Processing    8. General    9. Microcomputer Operating Environments    10. Operating Systems - Windows    11. Operating Systems - Windows XP    12. Computers / General    13. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (37)

Helps to get the job done
This book alone covers about 85% of what you need to know to pass the test.I would recommend a cbt or transender on the topic as well.

This book just give you a background of window 2003 feature
I have this book because I purchase MCSE Training kit (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0735619530/ref=pd_rvi_gw_2/102-4874099-2083325?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155) in order to prepare to take an MCSE certificate. Currently I just finish reading this book. I didn't review an MCSE training kit because I didn't read the other three books.
not a good book, not at all
I would like to give it a zero star if it were there. I read it through but it totally disappointed me. it left so much out, totally uncovered, such as terminal server, which is listed as examinable part. Even the 70-270 book from microsoft press is a total rubbish. The parts covered are not deep enough to help you understand for the exam. For those who work on MSCE, I highly recommend sybex books in stead of Microsoft RUBBISH. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Client-Server Computing - Windows    5. Computer Books And Software    6. Computer Books: Operating Systems    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    13. Microcomputer Application Software    14. Microcomputer Operating Environments    15. Microsoft software    16. Operating Systems - Windows    17. Study guides    18. Tests    19. Computers / General    20. Home Computing   

Reviews (4)

Bloody awesome
I took my test today and came close to maxing out, 972....study hard the reviews at the end of the book. When taking the test, read the questions AND answers carefully, kind of like the old school days, an answer may "look" right but it could be one word off. Keep the books, don't resell them, I've already gone back into 70-271 and reviewed a few things. handy to have on hand when you deal with it every day.Very thorough in my opinion. Just a humble IT geek working on his certs.....

WOW Great deal and Super Helpful
I just took this certification and found out that some of test questions were the same as the back of this book.If you go through the test bank in the back of the book and go through the lessons your sure to pass.The book also comes with 180 day trials of xp pro sp2 and office 2003 professional.Not to meantion you get a voucher for 15% off the exam.I will warn you that some of the exam questions are very easy and others are super tricky.

Act Quickly
This book came with a free trial of Office 2003. (The book for the 70-271 exam has the XP Pro trial as stated in the editorial review) When I tried to install the free trial it had already expired. Apparently, the free trial begins when the book is purchased, and not when the software is installed. Therefore, if you wait to install it you will not get the full 180 days, and the 180 days includes the time it takes to ship the book to you. I really needed the free trial. I was saving it until I needed it, and I ended up buying Office Professional 2003 instead. Oh well, the book gets a 3 anyways because it needs supplemental material to prepare for the exam. (but don't they all?) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Certification    5. Computers - General Information    6. Data Processing - General    7. Desktop Publishing    8. Desktop Publishing - General    9. Electronic Data Processing    10. General    11. Operating Systems - Windows XP    12. Computers / General    13. Microsoft Windows   

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. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (2)

shipping problems
Haven't got it yet. paid over 20$ for next day delivery as was offered, and when I checked the order it said estimated delivery date was 6 days later. Called cstmr srvc and Amanda argued with me about how I was wrong about the delivery date that was offerd. When I asked about the charge she just ignored me and kept talking about how I was wrong and the item wasnt available for next day delivery. So I asked for a supervisor and instead of her saying ok, tried to argue with me some more. I had to yell at her to get a super on the phone. Anyways the super tried to tell me the same thing, but after actually looking at my order he then changed his story and assured me it would arrive on time or the shipping charges would be dropped guess we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for your great cstmr srvc AMAZON!

Excellent preparation
I purchased this book for study purposes after taking a class that was supposed to completely prepare you to pass the 70-290 exam.Thinking that this would be mostly review, I tore into the material last week when I got it and found that it is way more in depth than my class was.Excellent depth and the writing style is easy to follow.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. General    5. Operating Systems - NT    6. Computers / General    7. Computing and Information Technology    8. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (1)

Excellent Study Guide and Reference
I used 'Als Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure' for my test and scored high. It was a tough test but this guide does a great job of telling you what you need to know. Most importantly it covers the topics in a VERY clear and concise manner. The labs are also very well done and helpful. The separate lab/text is a great format I hope to see for all future exam books.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: Languages    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Data Processing - General    7. Electronic Data Processing    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microcomputer Operating Environments    12. Microsoft software    13. Operating Systems - General    14. Operating Systems - Windows    15. Study guides    16. Computer Communications & Networking    17. Microsoft Windows   

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

Reviews (16)

Very poor!!
I wouldn't waste your money. I am only on chapter 2 and the mistakes in here are stacking up. Spelling mistakes, incorrect information and questions that say to pick an answer from a to g with the correct answer being h make it far from the ideal book to build your confidence or knowledge.
Nice
I've just bought the book from amazon, and first of all what I can say about it is that it's very cheap comparing if I bought it here in portugal. the price here is around 83 dollars, so I could almost buy 3 books with that money. really, buying from abroad is much more pleasant than buying in portugal... As for the book... well, better wait for it! :D

Not so bad
I got this book with a little over 1.5 years of exchange experience and I know quite a bit but thought i could learn alot more and certify in it.Well this book did help me the 2nd time through reading it.The biggest help really was the practice exams.I took the study exams and learned more that way then with reading.I would recommend this book only to those that actually understand Windows 2003, 2000 and NT both directory structure and network structure.There is alot of networking involved such as firewalls and opening ports.Overall it is a good book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - Msce    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computers    5. Computers - Certification    6. Microcomputer Communication Software    7. Programming - Software Development    8. Tests    9. Computers / General    10. Electronic mail (email)    11. Home Computing    12. Networking packages   

Reviews (25)

Nearly perfect, and surely the best prepguidethere is available
I've used two preparation guides, this one and the one from Sybex. MSPress is definitely the best of these two books. Covers it all, the sybex version is too superficial and just does not cover it all, it actually lacks some important material.
Best Comprehensive Book Available but not without faults
I used this book as a primary study guide for the 2003 upgrade exams and although it doesn't cover all the material, it is an excellent book and in my humble opinion the single best source of prepartion.
Good book
This book covers the essentials skills to upgrade to your certification to Windows Server 2003.However, it does cover many topics that you already knew from your Windows 2000 experience, which sometimes are topics you don't want to read about because for the most part, you expected to read only about the improvements and changes from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003.In spite of this, it is a GREAT source of information for people with little experience with Windows 2000. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Certification Guides - MCSE    4. Certification Guides - Msce    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computers    7. Computers - Certification    8. Electronic data processing per    9. Electronic data processing personnel    10. Examinations    11. Microsoft Windows server    12. Microsoft software    13. Networking - General    14. Operating Systems - Windows    15. Programming - Software Development    16. Software Engineering    17. Study guides    18. Tests    19. Computers / General    20. Home Computing   

Reviews (10)

Excellent information
The more I dive into the MCSE path the more I relize there is not one book that covers everything you need to know for the exam.This book does an excellent job of explaining the topics that it covers.That said it covers about 85% of what you need to know.Nearly 50% of the test was on RRAS.

this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
this product is awesome,but ull need extra help to get cert.
Dreadful Book - Avoid
I haven't taken the exam yet, so I can't comment on the appropriatness of the book to the exam, but my biggest gripe is the ridiculous number of errors in this book. Even with the official list of errata at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830785, I've lost count of the number of additional errors. If you do the exercises and think "why isn't this working?", you've hit yet another error. My advice: demand a refund immediately.
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Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Client-Server Computing - Windows    5. Computer Books And Software    6. Computer Books: Operating Systems    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Electronic data processing per    10. Electronic data processing personnel    11. Examinations    12. Hardware - Personal Computers - General    13. Microcomputer Application Software    14. Microcomputer Operating Environments    15. Microsoft Windows server    16. Microsoft software    17. Networking - General    18. Operating Systems - Windows    19. Study guides    20. Tests    21. Computer Communications & Networking    22. Computers / General    23. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (6)

Empowering, Clear, and Consise
I have to say that this book is simply amazing.I have searched the longest to clearly understand not just about PKI, but actually how to implement it, and was always referred to tombs of mathematical theory and such.This book demystifies PKI infrastructure in clear and concise explanations (but not overkill though), and has a lot of material on how to practically implement a variety of PKI architectures that can fit small businesses to huge enterprise corporations.
Bset book I've seen on PKI and certificate management
Brian Komar tackles, what I've seen countless other authors refer to as a difficult to understand subject matter.It appearantly took a whole team at Microsoft to explain it to him, but it looks like he got it right.Of the many books I've read that address certificates and PKI this is the only one I've seen that presents a complete picture, where I didn't walk away wondering... but how does this part of it work, or why did they do that this way.
The best PKI implementation guide
This is by far the best reference out there for understanding PKI in general and implementing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 CA infrastructure. Komar's depth of knowledge and breadth of experience clearly shows. Found the description of CAPolicy.INF files and sample files and scripts in this book extremely useful - that alone saved me a lot of time. And it doesn't end there...
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computer Data Security    3. Computer security    4. Computers    5. Computers - Computer Security    6. Microcomputer Operating Environments    7. Microsoft Windows server    8. Operating Systems - Windows    9. Operating systems (Computers)    10. Security - General    11. Computers / General   

Reviews (10)

Why not ALT
I suppose this is a good book.Typical Microsoft white paper with discussion related only to MS.
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.

Horrible
Of the thousands of pages read preparing for one certification for another --- this is the worst book I have come across.Frankly I am so disapointed I may well not purchase another book from this publisher.
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Subjects:  1. Certification Guides - General    2. Certification Guides - MCSE    3. Certification Guides - Msce    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer Data Security    6. Computer networks    7. Computers    8. Computers - Certification    9. Computers - General Information    10. Microcomputer Operating Environments    11. Microsoft Windows server    12. Networking - Security    13. Operating Systems - Windows    14. Security - General    15. Security measures    16. Computers / General    17. Data security & data encryption    18. Home Computing    19. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (1)

Test Preparation, but also a lot of Basic Material
It has taken a while to get this book published. 1230 pages of material takes a lot of time to put together. Obviously the stated aim of this book is to prepare the student to take the exam. However, even if you are not planning on taking the exam, the material covered here is a complete book on Windows Server 2003 Networking. It covers everything from defining TCP/IP to troubleshooting nearly any kind of trouble.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computers    3. Computers - General Information    4. General    5. Operating Systems - NT    6. Reference - General    7. Computers / General    8. Computing and Information Technology    9. Microsoft Windows