Kitkatninja

I have to disagree, advanced subnetting (including super-netting) can be complex, especially in a multi-site/multi-domain environment... But that's just my opinion. -Ken

You can always do what I (and alot of other people did and continue to do), work full-time and then do your degree part-time in the evenings. It does take longer, a standard degree (BA/BSc) will take about 4 years, while a Hons degree will take 5. But you get the qualification and the much needed experience, and imo 5 years proper work experience is alot better than 1 year work placement. Plus if you do get/go for the Apprenticeship (depending on what level you go for) you can get up to a NVQ level 3 or 4, plus the LCGI from City & Guilds, which are both vocational to compliment the academic qualification (the degree) and any professional (MS/Comptia, etc) certs that you may also achieve within that time frame. -Ken

I would have tried to do a system restore to a date prior to you trying to install CS4 the first time round. Then do all updates, remove all previous Adobe products and make sure that you meet the minimum requirements (if you haven't do that already). You may also want to download/re-download another copy of CS4 (the trial version will do) and then add your key to that (just incase it's the media). -ken

You can only sit the exams at PearsonVue or Prometric testing centres. If you do a course, they may be a testing centre or you may have to go elsewhere. The cost was £50-£70 as you were part of an approved educational course, you were eligible for the educational price of the exam (normally those exams start with "JK", however if they were bought in bulk the organisation that bought them can charge whatever they liked). There are three ways of paying for your Comptia exam: 1. Integrated with your training course (if you do one, the organisation will either give you the voucher or book the exam on your behalf) 2. Directly to PearsonVue or Prometric with a debit/credit card or 3. Purchase a voucher from the training company, a testing centre (some do , some won't) or from an online supplier like Gracetech Solutions, etc... (just make sure that the voucher is for the UK and not for the US, they are not interchangable). Hope this helps -Ken

You can see my website for a list of my qualifications. The only other thing that I'm working towards that isn't on my site is FITS level 4 & 5. For a primary school tech, imo, the following would be applicable as a starting point: Comptia A+ Comptia Network+ Comptia Server+ (poss) MCDST whatever the vendor cert is of your network (eg RM Certified Tech) and FITS -ken

For the Comptia exams, I just self-studied them and then sat the exams at Prometric and PearsonVue testing centres. I'm not saying that self-study is the only way to go, I'm saying that self-study is an option you may want to consider, especially if you already have experience and want to save some cash For the first cert, the A+... I would say if you go down the self-study route, use the Mike Meyer's AiO (but you may want to wait until the 7th edition is out in Feb '10) and the PC Technician Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA A+ Skills book. Then something like Preplogic, Measure-Up or Transcender practice questions -Ken

On the technical side I would say the following: Comptia A+ Comptia Network+ Either the Comptia Security+ or Server+ Then depending what technology you work with either: The MCSA and/or the MCITP: Server Admin On the non-technical side I would say the following: ITIL v3 Foundation and FITS Some sort of Project Management cert like the Comptia Project+ and/or Prince2 I'm not saying or recommending doing all of those within a year, far from it... But over the next couple to few years, it's a direction I would say to do or at least look into. Apart from that, I would also recommend (depending on your level of work) either the ICTTech mark from the ECUK via the IET or the CITP status from the BCS. -Ken

Doesn't look bad: See here. -Ken

Cisco & Linksys are technically the same company, but I wouldn't mix and match them in my environment, but I know what you mean Lifetime warranties aren't black and white, there are always conditions... HP's lifetime warranties are alot better than Cisco's though, lol -Ken

Personally, I would say HP. However if the rest of your infrastructure is 3Com, it makes sense to stick with that. Network optimization. Features would include: VLAN's, Bandwidth Rate Limiting, Quality of Service (QoS), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Port Mirroring, Trunking redundancy, etc... You can mix managed & unmanaged switches, however once it leaves a managed switch, it just goes back to what it was before. No not really, there is a warranty that "guarantees" the life of the switch. This would normally be between 5-10 years depending on the make and model (the more expensive ones, eg Cisco is about 10 years, I believe - but don't quote me). I would say invest in managed switches and start making the move over to layer 3. However it does come at a cost: managed switches are more expensive than unmanaged switches, layer 3 switches are more expensive than layer 2 and gigabit switches are more expensive than 100mb ones. If you're going to start using wireless access points and IP phones, then POE switches would be a good choice, but then again, POE switches are more expensive than standard switches. It's about a balance between price and functionality for your organisation. -Ken

-Please delete- -Ken

In that case, have you tried removing Norton and install another security suite like MS Security Essentials (then do a full scan). And do a full system malware/spyware scan with Malwarebytes, Ad-aware & Spybot. Just to rule out any issues cause by the above. Then download and apply the latest wireless nic drivers from the manufacturer rather than MS updates. -Ken

Can another device connect to the wireless network? If "yes", then it's a laptop issue. If no, it could be a wide varity of issues... There could be new external interference... The wireless box could have developed a fault (I've had that a few times over the years), an updated wireless NIC driver delivered from MS could also be an issue, etc, etc, etc... -Ken

Strange, I found the 292 exam easier than the 296, but yes it does depend on how prepared you are, plus the questions from the pool. The people who just passed the upgrade exam 70-296 still had to do the 292 in order to get the MCSE 2003. And that in turn gave them the MCSA 2003 upgrade. Yeah, to be honest, doing the exams individually (for the most part) was always going to be easier... -ken

It didn't cost me that much. I took the beta (which was free), then I did the free second shot. So for those 3 exams I really only paid for 1. The 2008 upgrade exams as well as standard exams are easier to understand than the 2000/2003, but more technical - so swings and roundabouts really. Without breaking the NDA: The upgrade exams are really literally 2 or 3 exams in one. The exam(s) are graded individually and the overall score of the upgrade exam is the lowest score of the individual exam, eg in exam 70-649 because it's 3 exams in one, my overall score was the lowest score of 3. Once you finish one part, you can't go back. The 70-296, the MCSE upgrade, was alot harder than the 70-292... -Ken

We're in the process, BT came in last week to splice fibre for another circuit. I believe that the line is capable of 100mb, but it will be capped at 20mb. We had our replaced a few months ago from a 1u 2900 series (I believe) to a 2u 2800 series one. -Ken

The 70-648 is actually both 70-640 (83-640) and the 70-642 in one exam. So if you get the study materials for both those exams, it'll cover the material for the 70-648. I did the 71-649/70-649 which is the 70-640 (83-640), the 70-642 & the 70-643. You can read what I used here (I took the 649 exam 3 times). -Ken

Personally I would recommend the following: Comptia A+, Comptia Network+ then the MCDST & MCSA followed by the upgrade exams to upgrade you to the MCITP: EST & MCITP: SA - Provided you work with the technology. I say this as the Comptia certs will give you a solid general base on which to build higher certs on. The MCDST and the MCSA as XP/2003 will still be used for a good couple of years to come, plus unless you've worked in a multi-domain/multi-site environment in a previous job, I don't believe that the MCSE would suit. Then the upgrades... With Windows Vista & 7 here, it makes sense with go for those certs. But I would strongly recommend the the MCITP: Server Admin over the Enterprise admin. The SA track and the EA are both the same level cert (unless the MCSA and the MCSE) and are more job role specific (you do not get the MCITP: SA automatically if you do the EA and vice versa). The SA is gear up towards the operational aspects, whereas the EA is more geared up towards the design and implementation of the system. That's my opinion anyway, some will agree, some will disagree. But I stand by my opinion -Ken

Currently part of it does, it's shared between myself and the business manager (my manager), as we're currently buying a new system. Once it's in, then I believe it will fall under my remit (with 3rd party support from the people we buy it off). -Ken

Just e-mailed for more info. -Ken

Pity about the location (as in: not in Northants or easy driving distance). -Ken

You could always check out the ACA certification track from Adobe and then use the exam prep material to learn Photoshop (then if you want you can sit the exam), after all the ACA is Adobe's entry level certification program -Ken

I'll give them a ring tomorrow -Ken

When's the closing date? I may know of a person... -Ken

You may want to see here for the ports that Spiceworks uses Hope this helps -Ken