70-292: Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Environment for a MCSA or MCSE certified on Windows 2000
Are you looking to upgrade your Windows 2000 certification to Windows 2003? This exam is for you. Be prepared to demonstrate your knowledge by
performing hands-on configuration changes and by answering real-world case study questions.
By David M Davis
December 2003 – Exam 70-292 is for individuals who are already certified with a Windows 2000 MCSA or MCSE. If you are a MCSA, this is the only
exam you need to take to upgrade your certification to Windows 2003. If you are a MCSE, you need to take this exam plus exam 70-296
(click here to see that review, which I wrote). As this is an upgrade exam, it does not rehash the basics that you should already know, but
instead, it builds on them and covers news 2003 features.
Improved testing methodology
I’ve had the privilege of watching the Microsoft’s testing methods evolve from the simple multiple-choice questions on the Windows NT 4 tests to
the advanced methods on these Windows 2003 tests. What is different about these tests? Well, primarily, it is the “real world focus”.
This “real world focus” is shown with the new types of questions. They are dubbed: “hot area”, “active screen”, “drag and drop”, and
“build list and reorder”, “create a tree”, and simulations. You can review examples of these at the Microsoft Learning Innovations site.
At this site, you can even download a very good demo of the different type of exam questions. Of course the demo does not cover any topics
that are even close to actual exam topics as it is only made to demonstrate the latest testing innovations. From the simulation, here is an
example of what a hot spot question would look like:
As you can see, the screen is divided up into panes. You must configure the screen properly to complete the task requested of you. One complaint
I have with the new format is that, with some questions, the screen gets split into about 5 panes. The testing monitors I used looked like they were
17” monitors at 800x600 resolution. At this size, the panes were tiny but held large (and important) amounts of information. This meant that scrolling
up and down, left and right, was constantly necessary to answer the question. Lots of scrolling makes answering more difficult as you can never see all
of the question, answers, drag & drop, or choices all at the same time.
Be prepared for lots of reading on this test as most every test question begins with a long, complex scenario. Usually, the answer to the question
asked depends not on what you read at the end of the scenario but what you read in the middle or the beginning of the scenario.
70-292 Basics
Exam Title
70-292: Managing and Maintaining a Windows 2003 Server Environment for a MCSA or MCSE certified on Windows 2000
Status
Currently Available!
Time & Questions
120 minutes maximum
56 questions asked
Passing Score
700
All Windows 2003 exams now have a passing score of 700 with a variably high score.
Reviewer’s Rating
“This exam will take a lot of patient reading to get through it. Experience with DNS, common
administrative tasks, and new Windows 2003 features is required. Hands on experience is
critical in order to pass.” I would rate this exam as a 5 on a 1-10 difficulty scale (with 10 being the most difficult).
Who Should Take It
MCSA and MCSE certified individuals under Windows 2000
In my opinion, having to configure a Windows feature will greatly help to improve the value of the Microsoft certification to employers. If you can
prove that you can configure something in a hands-on test, then you can very likely configure it when asked to configure it in a workplace. One
complaint frequently made about the previous methods of Microsoft testing was that “just because you can memorize answers to multiple-choice test
questions,...
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