12/31/09

Jumping back in

It's time to resume studying. :-) So, I'll be keeping notes for myself on this blog (starting today) & perhaps they'll be of use to other people as well.

My laptop's HD crashed a while back (bad sectors - most data was recovered OK) and I lost my Parallels installation. So today I logged into my account on their site, purchased a link to re-download version 2.2 (the Intel Processor Identification Utility says my Pentium M @ 1.8GHz doesn't support hardware virtualization for Parallels 4.0), and am now ready for virtual servers.

I've been reviewing the different ways to prepare for tests. Two test-only providers are SelfTestSoftware.com (which is running a 35% off sale today) and Transcender.com.

To prep for 70-649 (exam #1 of 3 to upgrade an MCSE to MCITP), I've ordered a book with practice questions and a trial of Server 2008. To prep for the other two MCITP exams - and the CCNA - I just spent over $500 for access to training material by TestOut. They did an excellent job of teaching what I needed for the MCSE, so Lord-willing it it'll be another success story with the MCITP.

I just typed in "SQL" on dice.com - 429 results! "MCSE" yields 29 results, "CCNA" yields 16, "A+" yields 6. Pearson Vue handles CCNA testing, Prometric handles all Microsoft exams.