MCITP Self-Paced Training Kit (Exam 70-685): Windows 7, Enterprise Desktop Support Technician (Pro - Certification)

when I bought this book and realize it was the wrong book, (and the return date expire) I glance over some chapters that's went it hit me this big ass mistake is one of the best I had made in years the title say it all. I never got a book like this, the Self-paced traning do its job if you want to spend over a grant and do a boot camp is on you. At end of the day you'll use this book why spend all that money when you could do it yourself. I'll would of give it 5 stars, but it was an error on my part in getting this book.

Ok, the book itself was well written for the most part. But I'm guessing people are going to buy this book for the certification, and that is something that this book ALONE will not allow you to pass.I took the certification 8 months ago and failed. It focused largely on Windows Server technology; Remote Access, Active Directory, OUs, and Group Policy. So I bought certification books for Windows Server and read them, just enough to get it without being professional with servers. Then I re-read this book and I passed the test today, by 40 points mind you.Microsoft constantly puts "Quality Control" on their tests, so the topics covered change from time to time. Maybe this book was great when the test was first released, but based on the table of contents of newer course-ware and the test I took, it's just not enough by itself anymore.Personally, I don't recommend Microsoft certifications to people after taking so many of their tests. Passing the exams certainly shows that a person knows their stuff, but failing seems to be a problem of study material more than how hard one studies as other reviews seem to show. I like Cisco exams better, if you fail, it's because you don't know what you're doing.But hey, if you want that MCITP title, and you have the money and patients, go learn some active directory and give it another shot.

I studied this book after working with most of the technologies for several months in an enterprise. The test is incredibly tricky and I don't believe that I would have passed without also taking a Global Knowledge boot camp. My experience, this book and the boot camp were all necessary and no one part of that preparation would have passed this test for me.I definitely recommend this book if you are studying; while there are a few typos here and there, the low reviews most people give the book are not warranted. If you want to get a pro level Microsoft certification, you need more than just one method of studying.

I used this book 5and some online question banks to prepare for the 70-685 exam. The book did cover the material for the test adequately. Unfortunately, it has a lengthy appendix with several chapters. There are only one or two which are critical for the exam but the reader has to figure out from sample questions which parts of the appendix they need to read.

Bear in mind, I have several certifications:I studied this book, forwards, backwards and sideways.I understand the content, and tested repeatedly high with the enclosed test prep materials.There is not one concept or item in this book that I do not understand.None the less, this book did not prepare me for this exam.The authors did a good job of covering Windows 7 in the enterprise.There's just one problem, THIS EXAM WHICH I JUST FAILED is weighted heavily in knowledge of Windows Server 2008 R2.The case scenarios all have at least 25 variables each, and most, if not all of those variables center around the server O.S.Microsoft should split this exam into 2 parts. 1 part for Windows 7, and one part for Windows server.I've never felt so cheated in my life.--Update--I went through this book cover to cover a second time, did all the exercises and case scenarios.Just failed the test a second time.I wonder if there are any stats on the pass rate for this 70-685?Between the two failed exams and the cost of this book, I'm out about $275.00After 17 years, I'm finished with Microsoft Press material of any kind.The 70-680 Microsoft press book was a disaster with the sheer volume of errors. (18 full pages of errata)This book has no bearing whatever in the actual exam that MS publishes for the 70-685.I'll stick with Cisco, Novell and CompTIA from now on.

As a reference book, there were a lot of useful things I learned reading this book cover to cover. Most of the book wasn't dry, but the format they used to list relevant GPOs and steps to complete a task were a little difficult to get through at times. They seemed jumbled and not logically typed out.I also didn't like that there were 9 chapters in the book and then 6 appendices at the end on everything from Windows Firewall to a more in-depth coverage of topics in the first part of the book. I would have liked to have seen like topics grouped together better.As for the test...I read this book cover to cover and I barely passed my test (this was my first MS test; I've only taken CompTIA in the past). There were many technologies covered on the test which this book hadn't even mentioned. I understand that you can't be perfectly prepared from just reading a book, but I thought the tests I'd taken in the past had much better study books. I thought since this was a Microsoft book, the least it could do was make sure I was well prepared for the material the test would cover.In short, it wouldn't be a bad book, as long as it was only a part of the study materials used. Which for an expensive MS book, I was disappointed.

I read the book more than twice and passed the exam on my second shot. The book covers a lot of material, yet, it doesn't cover everything I needed for the exam. I seen questions on the exam that I don't recall seeing on the book. Half of the book is appendixes (~200 pages) and I find it a bit useless; at the same time, it repeats itself from the chapters. Overall, the book should be able to get you to pass the exam, but you'll need some outside sources as well. Good Luck on your certifications.

I love the break down of sections in each chapter. This makes the info very easy to digest and retain. Of course it is information about Windows so don't expect an exciting read.

Not very pleased, doesn't state on the site that you need server equipment and 2 computers running Windows 7, also no cd for practice tests so it's hardly a 2 in 1 kit, overpriced for the fact it's almost practically useless, I probably have as much chance of learning the required knowledge to pass the the exam from the back of a packet of corn flakes .... Waste of money.

This book may well of been on the money when it was published but the exam has no doubt been revised and moved on since then. So I have to agree with the other reviews to some extent, the practise questions on the cd-rom are dated and will not prepare you for the style of the exam questioning (no case studies for a start)!!.The references on the practise questions do not match up with the chapters in the actual book??.... Lacking in depth information and practise exercises on command line commands and syntax, I found that two areas of the syllabus were lacking (support for mobile users and managing & maintaining win 7 systems).I would recommend this book but make sure you use other resources and materials before you sit the exam. I recently sat the exam and scored in the 600's pass mark 700... ( Past 12 months I have recently passed A+, N+, 4 MTA's, 70-680 & CCNA all first time so I trust that my own study methods are working but I feel let down by this book, simply put it does not cover everything on the exam)Could it just be a sales strategy by the author so students buy their other books??!!

Since my employer isn't much these days for paying for my training, this is a cheap way to do it, though I suspect that you really need to have some prior experience (I've done various MCP exams in Windows 2000 and Windows XP, for example) if you want to go down this route. No guarantees but it could be one way of getting your Windows 7 credentials. I'll know more at the end!

A Bargain, and fast delivery,

Contains some really useful information.