Because Microsoft is retiring so many of its NT 4.0 related MCSE exams on December 31, 2000, life has gotten interesting for MCSEs who may be part of the way through the certification process. It also raises interesting questions about what electives people who are just finishing up their Windows NT 4.0 MCSEs should take, to get the best advantage of their choices when the time comes to upgrade their certification for Windows 2000. In this short article, I address the following issues:
- What’s involved in upgrading from a Windows 4.0 MCSE to a Windows 2000 MCSE.
- How to minimize the number of exams required to upgrade an MCSE from NT 4.0 to Windows 2000
- How to identify electives that are valid for a Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 MCSE, and how to choose the safest possible exams from that larger set of valid electives.
Upgrading an MCSE from Windows NT 4.0 to Windows 2000
For a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE to retain that credential beyond December 31, 2001 (at which point it expires and becomes invalid), individuals must upgrade their certifications to meet the requirements for a Windows 2000 MCSE by the same date. The requirements for a Windows 2000 MCSE are as follows:
1. Core Exams
    a. Individuals who have taken and passed Windows NT 4.0 MCSE exams 70-067 Windows NT 4.0 Server, 70-068 Windows NT 4.0 Server in the Enterprise, and 70-073 Windows NT 4.0 Workstation can apply for and obtain a voucher for a free exam , 70-240 Accelerated Windows from Microsoft. Individuals who take and pass 70-240 meet the Windows 2000 core exam requirement.
    b.Individuals who do not qualify for 70-240 must take all four of the Windows 2000 core exams: 70-210 Windows 2000 Professional, 70-215 Windows 2000 Server, 70-216 Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure, and 70-217 Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure.
Designing Exam
Individuals must pass one of the three so-called “Designing” exams to meet an additional core requirement, new to the Windows 2000 MCSE. These three exams are 70-219 Designing a Windows 2000 Directory Services Infrastructure, 70-220 Designing Security for a Windows 2000 Network, and 70-221 Designing a Windows 2000 Network Infrastructure.
2 Elective Exams
Individuals must pass two valid elective exams to complete their Windows 2000 MCSE requirements. If electives taken for other certifications, such as Windows NT 4.0 MCSE, remain valid, they can be counted toward the Windows 2000 MCSE as well. Please see this Microsoft Web site for more information on valid MCSE elective exams.
For Windows NT 4.0 MCSEs who qualify for 70-240 and whose electives remain valid for Windows 2000 MCSE requirements, they can upgrade their credentials by taking only two exams: 70-240 itself, and one of the three Designing exams. Those who fail or do not qualify for 70-240 must take all four core exams mentioned in item 1. Those for whom one or both electives do not remain valid for Windows 2000 MCSE must also replace their invalid electives with valid exams. Best case, this means that someone might have to take only 2 exams to upgrade; worst case, someone might have to take 8 exams to upgrade (if they fail 70-240 and must then take the whole core four, plus a designing exam, and two new electives).
Minimizing the Total Number of Exams to Upgrade
Keeping the number of exams to a minimum hangs on two important qualifications:
1. Qualifying for-and passing-the 70-240 exam. This replaces four exams with one exam, and is thus worth pursuing, even if you have to take one or two more Windows NT 4.0 exams to qualify for 70-240. Remember, it’s the total number of exams involved that you’re counting here; also, 70-240 is free so you have everything to gain, and nothing but your time and effort to lose, by attempting this exam. Because the objectives for 70-240 consist of the objectives for all four Windows 2000 core exams, by studying hard for those exams, you will be well-prepared for 70-240.
2. Choosing electives that remain valid for Windows 2000 MCSE. This is partly a matter of timing and luck, because if you’ve already got a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE, statistics indicate that you are most likely to have taken 70-059 TCP/IP and 70-083 IIS 4.0 as your electives. Alas, both of these electives also retire on 12/31/2000, and may not be counted toward the Windows 2000 MCSE. If your electives aren’t retiring, count your blessings; if they are retiring, consider carefully the rationale that I present in the final section of this article, where I explain how to choose “safe” electives.
The idea here is to recognize that passing seven exams is required to obtain a Windows 2000 MCSE from scratch, and in finding some way to reduce that number for yourself when qualifying for the same credential. After all, if you’ve already got an MCSE, you shouldn’t necessarily have to do the whole thing over again. But sometimes that will be your only choice!
Choosing Safe MCSE Electives
Elective exams are supposed to give you a way to pursue your own technical interests as a part of obtaining your MCSE certification. In part, this means you should pursue those topics and technologies that interest you most when you’re deciding which electives to pursue. Sometimes, however, you’ll be guided by topics or technologies that you work with on the job rather than purely by intellectual curiosity, but the electives give you a chance to pursue an interest in databases, Web technologies, messaging, and so on and so forth.
The trick to choosing safe electives in these topic areas is to take the newest test in the category. Another way to explain this strategy is to point out that if exams on two versions of software are available, it’s safest to take the one for the latest and greatest version. Thus, given a choice between IEAK 4 and IEAK 5, IEAK 5 is safer than IEAK 4. Likewise, given a choice between SQL Server 6.5 and SQL Server 7.0 or SQL Server 2000 Enterprise edition, choose SQL Server 7.0 or SQL Server 2000.
This is especially true if you’re hurrying to finish a Windows NT 4.0 MCSE right now, in the waning days of the year 2000. That hurry is justified because you must finish any and all exams that retire on 12/31/2000 before that date. But Microsoft will still let you take any outstanding exams for the MCSE (or MCDBA or MCSE+I, for that matter) that do not retire at the end of this year in 2001, yet still grant you your certification. So maybe things aren’t as rushed as you thought. As long as you make sure to choose your remaining electives wisely, you can count them toward your MCSE for Windows NT 4.0 in the near future, and then again for the Windows 2000 MCSE later on in 2001.
Good luck with your certifications!
Ed Tittel is President of LANWrights , Inc., and Vice President of Certifications at Leapit.com . Aside from teaching numerous courses for the Certified Webmaster Program at Austin Community College, Mr. Tittel has authored several titles for Course Technology, including: Guide to Microsoft Windows 2000 Core Technologies, Guide to Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional. Coming soon is his new title, Guide to Networking Essentials, Second Edition.
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