Certification Books

This book is clear and authoritive. I selected it based upon reviews from other readers, some college level instructors.

To be truthful I expected alot of technical language that I would need a dictionary to under stand. I'm new at computer but learning fast. This book is great. Well written. I will recommend
it to me friends.

Dear Professor Cheryl A. Schmidt
You are the BEST! "The Complete Computer Repair Textbook" is GREAT!
Dante Radice, Ph.D.

Speaking of the A+ cert text: I actually purchased it for my own use as I was cramming for the A+ cert myself and I only have one thing to say: wow! If you need any blurbs for this text, just say the word and I will say wonderful things about it to anyone who'll listen- Any prospective A+ student should certainly have a solid foundation in the various hardware/software principles in addition to this text, but for the brute memorization and getting acclimated to the testing atmosphere, this is THE text- I just finished passing both halves of the certification and this text was a large part of it; sooooo since the college has asked me to teach certification in the spring, I'll be using the Schmidt tome in addition to the usual "overview" type text.

Lynne Y. Williams, University of New Mexico, Los Alamos (United States)



One of the BEST A+ books around hands down
I have spent several months of hard studying and in-home lab exercises in preparation for taking the A+ exam and this book is one I use every day. One of the best things about it is that it is peppered with actual lab exercises. This makes sense since this book is actually meant to be a textbook for college classes (I just wish it were also available in hardcover). At the end of each chapter are pages and pages of exercises to do to actually practice what you've learned. For those who don't have the money or space to set up an old guinea pig computer there are paper exercises that will get your brain matter really working. Don't dismiss the paper exercises even if you do have a guinea pig computer. A lot of them are not easy and duplicate some of the problems a repair tech will encounter on the job.
Which brings me to yet another aspect of this book I really liked. It has added emphasis on troubleshooting. I have a lot of A+ books-all the standard ones most people find in bookstores and none of them focus on troubleshooting to the degree this one does. Again it makes sense since this book is supposed to be a textbook for courses that help people get a job as a PC repair tech. People bring in their computers because something isn't working correctly, right? So troubleshooting becomes an essential skill. I recognized a lot of the troubleshooting techniques I use on my job and several new ones I didn't.
Hardware and Operating Systems are given in-depth coverage. Probably far more than you would ever be tested on. For the OS portion of the test everything from DOS/Win 3.1, Win95, Win98/ME, NT, 2000/XP is examined. Even things that A+ doesn't really focus on anymore are given good coverage. Mainly, because on the job you'll likely face situations where it's good to know for troubleshooting older systems.
In a market full of A+ books studying any one of them thoroughly will be enough to pass. But if you want something that will help you on a job too-well, you can't go wrong with this one.
Reviewer: hamsterdance (TX)


Thank you for the teacher's material on the Complete Computer Repair 2nd ed. Textbook. This material has made teaching this material from your book the most helpful of any material I have ever used. I have been teaching for 20 years, and this is the most complete and user friendly information I have used. Again thank you and keep up the good work. If you have a catalog of other books, please send it.
Loren Niemeyer Sauk Valley Community College

I am very impressed
We have already adopted Schmidt's 2nd edition for use with my class at Springfield Technical Community College in Springfield, MA, and I am very impressed with it. I like the updated information and the addition of some review questions in Chp 6 on Troubleshooting. The end of the chapter exercises make preparing classroom activities much easier.


What a joy to have found this book.
I own every book, it seems, on computer repair. At last, I have found a book that is well ritten and easy to understand. Ms. Schmidt's explanations are straightforward and well illustrated. What a joy to have found this book.

Great book! This book will enable me to better instruct my students because the labs/exercises will save me many hours fine tuning labs that I have prepared. Other instructors in the same boat know how very difficult and time-consuming it is to prepare and test lab exercises, and, be successful in ensuring that labs provide a positive learning experience. The chapter reviews and tests are reinforcement and well written and cover all important topics. I feel overwhelmed knowing that, finally, I will have such an excellent instructional computer book for my students. Please share my thoughts and thanks to Cheryl A. Schmidt.
Jody Campbell Pima Community College


"I like this book. Explanations are easy to understand."
This is the only book my teacher assigned and I think it is very good. It's easy to understand and the lab exercises are good, too
Areader from Virginia


The Best Technician's Handbook
There is not too much to say because the text explains it all. For those of you who have taken a class that requires this book, you know what I'm talking about. Not only have I had the pleasure of owning this valuable textbook, I have also had the privilege of being a former student of Cheryl Schmidt's here at FCCJ in Jacksonville, FL.
Ms. Schmidt is one of the finest instructors I've ever had the honor of learning from. The one theme that runs throughout her textbook as well as her classes is, DOCUMENTATION, DOCUMENTATION, ......ALWAYS READ THE DOCUMENTATION.
Thank you Cheryl!
Maureen Murphy Ponte Vedra, FL USA

this book will enable me to better instruct my students because the labs/exercises will save me many hours fine tuning labs that I have prepared. Other instructors in the same boat know how very difficult and time consuming it is to prepare and test lab exercises, and, be successful in ensuring that labs provide a positive learning experience. The chapter reviews and tests are reinforcement and well written and cover all important topics. I feel overwhelmed knowing that, finally, I will have such an excellent instructional computer book for my students. Please share my thoughts and thanks to Cheryl A. Schmidt. Jody Campbell Pima Community College

This is an ideal book for a knowledgeable and self-motivated IPv4 network engineer to pick up and learn a great deal about IPv6 - especially about IPv6 as it is being deployed today in enterprise and ISP networks. The book is certainly not for beginners to networking - the book moves quickly to emphasize the differences between IPv4 and IPv6, assuming you are a pretty advanced IPv4 engineer to begin. But, this conciseness is one of the books great strengths. It assumes you can pickup the basics quickly (the first few chapters provide an excellent but accelerated recap of the basics) or from one of the many references the book provides, and instead focused on information you don't see in IPv6 books as much - deployment issues, innovative solutions, and throughout - real-world insight. The book is absolutely up-to-date. It is my "go to" book on advanced IPv6 deployment strategies, and should be on every budding IPv6 engineer's bookshelf. Right in the front.

This is a great book if you have a lot of previous networking knowledge. I do not recommend this book for someone new to the industry, or someone that is learning about IPv6 for the first time.

The book does a good job and describing what is necessary for a service provider to do in order to roll out an IPv6 implementation, and does a great job describing Ipv4 and IPv6.

This book is a must have for a Cisco library, but once again, I do not recommend it for a first timer.

This book is targeted toward network service provider engineers. It is "cutting edge" in that some parts of it deal with technology that is not only not deployed in production yet, but is only in draft form in the standards community. Also ambitious enterprise network administrators may want to stretch their understanding of the next generation global transport protocol. Deploying IPv6 Networks is both an exhaustive analogy of the many uses of IPv6 and also a how-to manual with many configuration examples.

Chapters 12 through 15 are dedicated to deployment Case studies for both ISPs and company networks. The book became most interesting to me in Chapter 8, Advanced Services - Ipv6 Mobility. This chapter covers the challenges of keeping a globally unique address while roaming to different parts of the planet. There is a thorough explanation of the roles that Cisco routers can play in relaying traffic to the ever changing location of mobile users. Chapter 2 is a good refresher of the basics of IPv6 as described in the RFCs. The author gives good reference throughout the book for further research on each topic, such as RFCs and other books that specialize on topics like VPNs and Security. The diagrams, that are spaced every few pages, give clarity to the subject. Finally, the book is balanced and realistic in its philosophy of the technology. That is the writers are not naïve about the problems with implementing IPv6 and they address this in every chapter.
Technology usually changes so rapidly we spend all our time just trying to catch up. The slow start of IPv6 gives us no excuse for being unprepared when the next killer application or device demands its implementation in our network. Reading Deploying IPv6 Networks is sure to pay off.

This book is a great technical book on current IPv6 technology state and direction. It covers many of the newer topics in IPv6 and provides good examples of how Cisco has implemented these. The diagrams, tables, and organization are all top-notch. The configuration examples, show command output and the debug output are very helpful. It is easy to read despite the very technical subject matter. The heavy use of diagrams/tables/config examples help technical people understand the material because they are more visually-oriented. The case studies at the end are very helpful for service providers and enterprises.

It's not 'if' IPv6 will build in national and international importance, but 'when' we will use IPv6 as freely as we use IPv4.

Thank you to Popovici, CCIE #4499, for sharing a wealth of IPv6 development knowledge including network designs, network-management architectures and case studies.

"Deploying IPv6 Networks" has helped me better understand the IPv4-to-IPv6 transition techniques including dual stack technology, VPN's, tunnel brokers, security, best practices and much more.

Well written, easy to read.

I used this book (ISA 2004) as the primary material to study for the Isa 2006 70-351 Exam.

It more than covers the foundations of ISA Server and with some time spent on MS.com researching ISA 2006 enhancements is all that was required.

I am becoming a huge fan of the MS Press books and this one is no exception.

Perhaps a little more focus on Enterprise rather than the single chapter would be good as there are a few Enterprise questions in the exam, but still that takes nothing away from this text.

5 Stars!

Mark Grogan

The writing style is somewhat dry.

The enclosed software (ISA server 120 day evaluation) and the computerized test questions make the book worth the money.

This book does not base itself in only Microsoft scenario, it covers networks and security in a wide context.
Well written, gives you the ability to deploy and understand the ISA SERVER, which by itself is an excelent software, and the environments which your are deploy in.
You don't need to be an expert in IT to comprehend this book, but need to know a little about protocols and TCP/IP.
Who buys it can enjoy a good travel through the network boundaries world.
I didn't rate it 5 for 2 reasons. First, the book says, sometimes, you have got an enterprise isa cd, but you have got the standard one.
The author, sometimes, endeavours so much in assuring your understandable of the subject that spend a few pages more than needed. Another drawback is the excess of "plan, analyse, get information" advices. It becomes repetitive through the pages.
Well, that is it, a good book and enough to pass the certification exam by yourself.

Very nice book , I recommended it for all specialist in Microsoft networking, and systems.

Very helpful for exam 70-350 and daily tasks as IT Network security administrator.

Thoughtfully laid out with pretty good coverage of the NT exam topics. Because the technology changes so rapidly, I cannot fault them for being out of date, as this is something which every book of this type must face. But after I passed the exams, I kept these books on hand for reference in my job as Technical Support engineer.

I reviewed this book some weeks ago. The review appeared for a while then disappeared. What happened?

This pack of two has the Networking Essentials as one book and the NT4 as another.

While the Networking Essential book is equally as good as the Sybex, MS Press or the Exam Cram, the NT4 book has no equal.

Unlike the Sybex Core, which is split into 3 NT books and repeats itself, this book is highly focused and informative. It will not only help you pass the exams the first time, you will find yourself referring to it well after certification.

Although, the NT4 book looks big, it might actually be the fastest way to passing the NT4 exams. You can sit down with the book, read it once, do the practise exercises and sit for the 3 NT exams. If you feel like some supplementary text, you might want to take a look at the Exam Cram or (&) the Nutshells. Both excellent books as well.

If I needed to buy just one book for the MCSE, I will get this one! It's a good idea to do a lot of practise exams too!

I reviewed many of the other book sets for MCSE and this one is the best. The others including the top seller have a book for each test, which requires to reread a lot of information. IDG Books put all of the NT software information in one book so you don't repeat information that you already know. To be best prepare for the exams read the dummy books or red cram books before taking the test.

Use this book for your Workstation and Server exams.

However read this book for basics on Enterprise. I recommend that you buy this kit and get your hands on those dummy books. I used the Dummies series along with this book. The Dummies series is good for giving you understanding on the advance concepts, not the basics. There fore buy this book, then buy the cheap but good quality Dummies series. read this book first. Its very good and written very well. However you MUST supplement your reading, especially for the Enterprise exam with the MCSE Windows NT Server 4 in the Enterprise for Dummies. As A side note for all those doing MCSE + I, did you know that you can get MCP, MCP + I, MCSE, MCDBA if you just focused on MCSE + I and do the Administering SQL Server 7.0 and Designing using SQL server 7.0 as your electives? Now if I can only find a good book on SQL Server 7.0

If you want a really great book that covers the information needed to pass the NT Server 4.0 Exam, then this is the one (along with a good study guide and practice question book, I used Sam's MCSE NT Server 4 book along with MS Readiness Review). I scored an 833 on the test.

I thought I knew enough to pass the new adaptive exam, but bought the Exam Cram book just in case. After failing the exam, I realized I needed some decent study materials. I bought this book and brushed up on topics I was short in in less than a night and took the exam again the next day. I would not have passed had I not spent the night with this book...

This book is JUST okay as an exam prep/review book. Some subjects are glossed over quickly and some are covered in detail. The fact that this book covers the browsing service whereas the Exam Cram one doesn't gives this book an excuse for existing. Again, not too bad...

The book cost 1/5th of an exam, and I was able to pass the exam first time out just by studying this book, so I reason that makes the book worth 5 times the money.

At the same time, there are a few typos to be aware of. I contacted the author, and found an errata sheet. Without the errata sheet, its a bit frustrating. If the typos would have been corrected, there would be nothing stopping me from giving this five stars.

I have never seen so much information packed into so small a package. This book was everything it claimed to be - and it contains every salient point that can be found in book sets costing 10 times as much. What it lacks is the miscellaneous information you skip past anyway when studying for an exam - think of it as the Reader's Digest Condensed version of any large study guide.

This book is worth $10 or less and is too outdated...it was written in late 1997! The book concentrates on the NT 4.0 part of the MCSE course, and those exams are slated for retirement this year. The book is filled with fluff - It gives many locations for info found at Microsofts website. MS gives you this info for free if you just do some minor clicking around and reading on your own. Anyone who is considering MCSE should be very familiar with MS's website and this info already! If your not, you probably shouldn't be trying to get certified! You need more experience! This book does offer good info for developing study methods and habits. It offers one or two good strategies for taking the exam and does give some fair advice about the exam process from start to finish. That is it as far as valuable info goes! The majority of this book is spent telling you about the MCSE exam track, the free info at Microsoft.com, and other minro stuff. If this book was updated AND the price was lowered OR the writers drop the fluff and put in more heavy, detailed facts this would be a worthy purchase. I returned this book 7 days after I got it!

You've packed a lot of information in a small space. I found it very useful and the price quite reasonable.

I needed this book! Although it's a little slim on actual study tips (hence the 4 stars) you should still buy it because it brings it all together in a manageable form. Very good.

Found this book to be just the shot in the arm I needed! Gaining an MCSE is a daunting task and this book has helped a lot in learning how to "eat the (MCSE) elephant, one bite at a time"

As an MCT, I'm recommending this book, as I'm recommending Mr. Neals' other books, to my MCSE classes. I have just received my copy and I'm already reading and noting information to pass along to students....specifically, buy this book! Students today need a good refresher in studying. The skills touched on in this book are often overlooked in secondary education. The subjects can be so boring that it's hard to hold students' attention. As I discovered in his Windows 98 book, Patrick Neal can explain something so matter-of-factly, that it's almost enjoyable to read. Although I wish there was a little more depth and additional topics, including some broader reviews of basic study habits, Mr. Neal has delivered a good first effort.

I bought this book for a client who uses Outlook for email. I've ready quite a bit of it myself and so far, everything we've needed to figure out has been covered in the book.

I don't personally use Outlook, however (I use Eudora). I did find it a little lacking in "security" issues, but it is a "beginner's" book, after all.

Outlook is a great, albeit complex, program. It is impossible for a book (especially a Dummies book) to be an authoritative text on the program. But Outlook for Dummies goes a long way to giving a user or even an administrator of a mid-sized operation essential information to get started and use Outlook effectively. For advanced features, I depended on MS Press Book "Running Outlook 2000". Dummies has a wide breadth of information which is simple, readable and applicable to practical use of MS Outlook in an office environment.

This is by far the best step-by-step reference book for those of us who are not College trained computer nerds. Mr. Dyszel presents the material in understandable terms.

If you are anything like me you have been using excell and word everyday for years never really delving into Outlook because it looked silly and confusing well i started using outlook 98 and it is AWESOME it does so much more than email I keep my entire company focused and task oriented using outlook. Get this great book and start using outlook today you will be suprized how much is there for you to use.

I bought this book after using Outlook98 for approximately one week. During that week, I was self tought, and purchased the book because I was looking for something that could give me more than I could teach myself. What I found was disappointing. The book is essentially a walk through of the simple features of Outlook. It provides a basic overview, but lacks the depth in any one subject that I hoped to find.

I found this kit (along with its companion, SQL Server Database Implementation Training Kit) to be great for learning how to use and administer SQL Server. Both kits are very engaging, with graphic illustrations, quizzes, assessments, and simulation exercises, which do a good job of reinforcing the learning material.

If you're simply looking to get trained on SQL Server (or acquire a job as a SQL administrator), then these kits are more than sufficient (The simulations are especially helpful in this regard). Certainly, they helped me obtain my present job as a database analyst. And the price is very reasonable when compared with other software-simulation training kits such as those offered by CBT Systems and NETg (which cost about 4X more than the MS kits, and aren't really much better).

However....if you're looking to pass the MS SQL exams, you will need more. The SQL exams are notoriously hard. The enclosed Readiness Review is somewhat helpful, but the actual questions on the exam are much harder. Read BOL (included with kit), visit cramsession and similar sites, and take a practice test first.

I used the CD training and it was better that the MS Official Curriculum class that I took from a well known Company. In fact that is all I will use in my future training. I like to be able to stop the CD and test ideas on a system what I just learned. I passed the exam and was able to use the information on a server that I was setting. Well done MS. Now can you do this with your Win2000 products?

I passed the SQL Server Admin exam on the first try, but only after supplementing the online training kit (OTK) with three other books, plus BOL, plus Transcenders, plus several months of practice on live systems.

I rate this training material only 3 stars not because it is bad material - for an OTK it's 'okay' - but because I found that an OTK is not a good way to self-train in SQL Server 7 Admin. It's just too easy to hypnotically click-thru the lessons without really absorbing anything.

There's no easy way to take notes, no way to use a hi-liter, no way to bookmark important sections. Plus, I found myself hitting the 'repeat' button over, and over, and over again to clearly comprehend what was being said (I'm not talking sound quality - that part was fine).

This OTK is 'okay' as a resource for reviewing, but not as your primary training material.

My suggestion is to use the good ol' hardcopy training manual, supplemented with BOL, Transcenders, and lots of hands-on practice.

This is the first "online" type of training I have tried from MS. I enjoyed the lecture-style format as opposed to the book-training kits. I agree that it needs to be complemented with Books On-line and Inside SQl Server. But, I definitely came away with some practical experience which I am now using on the job. Knocks on the course, for improvement:

The unit on web publishing, with the wrong quiz questions. They should gear the exercises to a higher level. If someone is using this material, MS should make the assumption that we don't need to be told "to close Microsoft Outlook (or any other application) , click the close button". All of these types of statements could have been left out, and more content added to the course.

Despite this, it is still a good way to learn the material and I look forward to continuing to the next one.

I guess a review should really be more critic rather than blessing, so that other readers can use the review to decide and judge whether this kit is suitable for them.

3.5 stars on material and 4 stars for online training presentation.

1. There are mistakes in the quiz's questions and answers, such as:- 'All three drives' should be 'All four drives' instead, 'DLL' which should be 'DDL', syntax errors and etc.

2. There is also a session 'Publishing Database Data on the Web' under chapter 'Automating Administrative Tasks' with pre-asseement quiz and final quiz questions which are completely irrelevant to the session material.

3. Not enough administrative coverage. Does not covers:- Metadata, Linked Servers, Remote Servers, Full Text Search and etc.

A good overall training kit for the subject of administering SQL Server 7. However, still, this kit itself should be treated as a real-time lecture only. You will need to use other books (such as 'Inside MS SQL Server 7', 'Books Online') as technical references and allow you to do more research into the corresponding readiness review simulation questions and understand the reasons and theory behind it.

Between this and a number of other books I used to study for the 70-216 exam. I just got home from passing this exam and am now ready to continue on with finishing my MCSE certifcation for Windows 2000. I had already completed my MCSA in Windows 2000 and it had been awhile since my last exam. But I wanted to continue to work on my skills and finish my MCSE soon.

This series is one in which I would highly recommended. Just wish they had them now to cover the electives I need to finish my MCSE now.

This is a fair last second exam prep book. It contains brief introductions into various topics with sample questions after each chapter. The accompanying CD-ROM contains a decent practice exam with more challenging questions than the ones in the book.

Don't kid yourself if you've never touched the stuff, but this book makes an excellent compliment to any prep material you may have already used or own. Already having taken a basic networking class, for me this hammered down all the fundamentals including practical scenarios. The chapters on RRAS,VPN,& Certificates may prove troublesome for beginners, as it will be hard to visualize what is read without having any experience (classroom or otherwise). This book doubles as a concise reference, for those starting out. The only way you could possibly get more detail is if it came directly from Microsoft. This is good value for the price.

This book is a perfect introduction to the 70-216 test. It covers all the basics. It is a very easy read, however, it is a little light on the real nitty-gritty of DNS and WINS management. If you've been working on them for a little while, and think that your understanding may have some holes in it, this book is perfect for you. Just don't kid yourself about the 70-216 exam - one book won't make you pass.

I highly recommend this book if it is used *only* to compliment some other, more in-depth, material. Prior to this book I had taken the 2153 class and had read the entire corresponding MOC book. This book did an outstanding job of nailing down the important points and clarifying the theories of the 70-216 exam topics. It is, however, not a replacement for an all encompassing 70-216 book, such as the MOC or Microsoft Press books, or perhaps one of the other various hardbacks available. This is extremely readable though, which is a welcome change from the incredibly unreadable MOC books. I got through this in a just a few days.

I went over the questions in this book along with a free test on the web and passed with a 900/900. A major part of my current job is networking so I already knew a lot, but I needed to brush up on some of the older material that I hadn't dealt with in years. This had a lot of good information and explained why the answers were correct.

I have just taken the N10-003 exam, and I must say that the questions in this book are too general. The exam questions are far more detailed and involved than the samples within this book. I recommend looking elsewhere for a more complete study tool.

This book has a good, thorough set of questions for all four areas of the Network+ 2005 cert exam and should leave you well prepared, provided you have the right background knowledge. Conversely, this book is not enough in and of itself to prepare the novice. Besides a good understanding of topologies, troubleshooting fundamentals, protocols, and internetworking, there's a few lists that simply require rote memorization: types and characteristics of media, 802.11 substandards, and media-specific 802.3 substandards. While you can try using this book to help with that memorization process, I found that creating lists of these things and memorizing from there first was more efficient.

Assuming you have a fair understanding of the material and have done the gruntwork on memorizing, this book should get you through your test with no surprises.

Network+ 2005 Q&A is the best for novice or any network admin

Excellent content, and with one other book it helped me cram for the Net+ exam in one week!