McDst: Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician [With CDROM]

by Bill Ferguson and Brad Causey

Book Overview

If you're seeking MCDST certification, here's the book you need to prepare for Exam 70-271, Supporting Users and Troubleshooting a Microsoft XP Operating System , and Exam 70-272, Supporting Users and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471789291
• ISBN13: 9780471789291
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Sybex
• Length: 587 Pages
• Weight: 2.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 7.5" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book. Impressed by Sybex once again.

Great book for anyone trying to learn how to Support Microsoft Windows XP. Also, a great tool to have on hand while working in the field.

Pretty OK

I used only this book and plenty of hands on experience to pass the test (271:880, 272:918). The 271 coverage is iffy. As other reviews have said the book covers a lot about the boot sequence which wasn't on the test for me at all. It is missing coverage of security templates .inf s completely but that is probably a page's worth of material, you can google it. The 272 coverage is complete and very much what the test questions covered. I gave it 4 stars because it is concise, a feature that many other MCDST books lack. The practice exams on the CD are slightly easier or about the same than the actual test albeit is worded very differently. If you already have some experience in the field, and don't want to spend too much time then this book is great. Otherwise look for something more detailed.

Very Helpful Book

This book the MCDST Study Guide "DELUXE EDITION" which is the second edition of MCDST Study Guide, is really helpful and updated in order of studying it and taking the exams, it contains a cd with test / exams and flashcards wich are really helpfull= for revising the chapters. If you are willing to take the exams i recommend you to buy the deluxe edition because its an updated version, dont buy the previous edition. Some of the questions included on the CD are pretty similar with questions in the exams. I did pass the exams studying this book and thats why i recommend it! Dont forget that taking the exams requires also a bit of experience:)

Great review book, but know it thorougly

I just passed the 271 with an 899 and the 272 with a 916. This book was my only study resource, but I have been working with the XP OS on-the-job for four years. The difficulty of the test comes from Microsoft's method of testing. Even though I did very well, I only had "warm fuzzies" with half of the questions as I was taking the test, because they really run your brain through the wringer. So, you must understand why all of the other choices are clearly wrong and only one is right, and this entails knowing the material thoroughly. The only problems I had with the book are is the horrible amount of typos and strange program behavior with the practice tests, and the lack of anything other than multiple-choice questions. Other than that, get hands-on training, read this book over and over, and be careful with the wording of questions on the actual exams.

Good, for the price

The MCDST Study Guide is a good value for the money. I would like to see more questions at the end of the chapters and for them to show more print screens of the topics instead of just telling you that you will need to know this for the exam. But to get two study guides, in one book, that tells you what you really do need to know for the exams, is worth the price and is a bargain.