Michael the PC Surgeon Blog

MCSE Certificate

2009-02-09T12:11:00.003Z

After passing eight Microsoft exams I have finally achieved Microsoft recognition and become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). Allot of hard work and many hours of revising will hopefully be worth it, at least I can prove, thought a certificate, I can do what I say I can do.

Passed exam 70-297 Design Server 2003 Active Directory and Network Infrastructure

2009-01-26T13:50:00.006Z

I passed the Microsoft 70-297 exam last Wed (21-Jan), Design Server 2003 Active Directory and Network Infrastructure. The pass mark is 700, I had 945/1000! I am now a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE)!

I thought I had completed all the exams, for my MCSE, when I did my last one, but I missed the design exam, which I now have done. Microsoft have emailed me and confirmed I am a MCSE and I have ordered my certificate, hence the delay in this post, I wanted tom make sure this time before posting!

I'm thinking of what to do next, my job is funded until 31-March, so I have started to look for new jobs (unfortunately, as I like my current job), quite a few jobs are asking for SQL experience. I have installed SQL 2000 Server, but not used the reporting side, so I think I will get some books out of the library and have a look at that next.

Passed exam 70-294 Planning Active Directory

2008-11-26T15:40:00.003Z

I passed the Microsoft 70-294 exam today (Planning a Server 2003 Active Directory). The pass mark is 700, I had 1000/1000! I am now a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE)!

I think I'm going to take a break from exams and learning over Christmas, then choose what to do next, I'm must be a gluten for punishment.

Passed exam 70-293 Planning Network

2008-10-31T16:48:00.001Z

I passed the Microsoft 70-293 exam Wednesday (Planning a Server 2003 Network). The pass mark is 700, I had 904! A weekend of solid revising paid off! I need one more exam (70-294) to be a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE)! I've been learning for exam 293 for over a month, exam 294 is booked for the end of November, so I have to keep going for another month.

Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA)

2008-04-25T11:58:00.003Z

I have been learning for Microsoft Server 2003 exams 290 and 291 since before Christmas. I have been revising solid for the last month, all weekend and most nights until midnight! My eyes even went red! Anyway I passed both exams this month! I can now call myself a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA). The first exam I passed with 942/1000 the second I passed with 952/1000 the pass mark is 700. I'm having a break from learning now, I'm going to take a month off from learning, then I will start to think about the exams I need for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). My wife has been very supportive, I haven't taken her shopping for weeks. I have to take her shopping on Saturday!

Passed 291 Exam

2008-04-24T10:02:00.002Z

I passed the Microsoft 70-291 exam yesterday (Server 2003 Networking). The pass mark is 700, I had 952! Many late nights have paid off! I am now a Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA). I've been learning for exams 290 & 291 since before Christmas, so I'm going to have a learning break for a month and then decide what to learn next.

Passed Microsoft 290 Exam

2008-04-10T09:06:00.002Z

I passed the Microsoft 70-290 exam yesterday (Server 2003 Maintenance). The pass mark is 700, I had 944! Hours of hard work made worth while. I have to pass exam 70-291 Server 2003 networking, to get Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) certification. I'll have to revise hard for another two weeks for that exam. It feels like its never ending!

Communities @ One Converence

2008-03-17T10:21:00.005Z

Leighton Andrews AM, Deputy Minister for Regeneration, Welsh Assembly Government gave a speech at the Communities @ One conference in Cardiff last Friday, there was no news on extending our project, but money will got to communities @ One brokers to continue their work, lets hope we will get funding too.

My Certificates Have Arrived

2008-01-30T09:54:00.001Z

I worked very hard to pass three Microsoft Exams last November and December, the certificates have arrived! Bill Gates even signed them, OK maybe not personally, but I have two certificates (electronically) signed by the richest man in the world! Only 36,360 other people world wide have a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) Windows XP certificate. I'm learning to become Microsoft Certified System Administrator (MCSA) certified next......

Well Done to PC Surgery Volunteers

2008-01-30T09:30:00.000Z

Last Friday all the DCN team and centre managers from each partner where at an important meeting about future finding, hopefully with the Lottery. While we were in out meeting Colin, Steve and Iwan ran the PC Surgery in Glynneath. Unlike last time, where I was able to support using Skype, I couldn't get Skype to work. The meeting was held at the Development Centre in Ammanford (above) it used to be a bank, and has thick brick walls, so I couldn't get Skype to work during the meeting, I spoke to them during a break, all was going well. When I arrived back in Glynneath, in the afternoon they had managed to help three clients, Iwan even had time to post! http://pcsurgery.blogspot.com/

Well done!

BTH elp N otifier.exe

2008-01-24T16:41:00.000Z

One of the good things about PC Surgery is the rapore and fun you have with volunteers. The surgery is informal and humour is important. Today in DOVE Colin and Doug were helping a client with annoying error boxes appearing every time windows starts. Colin has previously run anti-virus and anti-spyware so the "programs" were still trying to start, but as they had been deleted so Windows could not find them. Colin was reading the error message and Doug was typing in to google search, Colin: capital B-T-H, lower case e-l-p, capital N, lower case o-t-i-f-e-r-dot-e-x-e, which was fine, but tickled me. When Doug has finished the google search, the program could have been spyware, which has been deleted. The recommendation was to goto the registry and delete the program from the run registry key, I couldn't resist asking Colin to Start>Run>type in regedit press enter, then say he could type in B-T-H-e-l-p-N-o-t-i-f-e-r-.-e-x-e or BT Help Notifier . Exe without spaces, as I've know Colin for over 18 months he got the funny side!

Flat out in DOVE

2008-01-17T12:09:00.000Z

We had a busy PC surgery in DOVE today, 4 clients done in 1 hour! All satisfied clients! I even had time to encourage the volunteers to Blog, I thought I had better blog also. I even had time for a coffee, update the stats, 95 clients to date, all by 12 O'clock. Time for lunch.

Im a MCP and MCDST

2007-12-15T14:00:00.000Z

I've been doing allot of revising recently, I've taken three Microsoft exams over the last three weeks and they are very hard, to give you some idea for one exam I revised all weekend and every evening in the week; I watched 9.1/2 hours of nugget videos, I read an Exam Cram book (220 pages), I re-read a course book, I re-did some virtual machine practises and finally took some Transcender practise exams, I was up until 11 or 12 each night! Allot of revising, but its worth it :) My wife has been very supportive, I haven't taken her shopping on Saturday for three weeks! But I can now call myself a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) (after passing one exam) and a Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician (MCDST) (after two exams). The first exam I passed with 933/1000 the second I passed with 863/1000 the last one I passed with 842/1000, the pass mark is 700. I need another two exams to become a Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), I've got the books (2 x 1,000 pages and 2 x 600!), but I'm taking it easier over Xmas :)

Gly PC Surgery Volunteers can do IT

2007-11-23T16:29:00.000Z

Well done to the PC Surgery Volunteers in Glynneath today. Nicky and I were in an important meeting all day today! Instead of cancelling PC Surgery the volunteers run the Surgery, with my help via Skype (video link), they helped 4 clients! Again well done to Steve, Iwan and Colin.

Celeb @ DOVE PC Surgery

2007-11-15T16:47:00.000Z

Pic: Verden Allen, Iwan Roberts and Mervyn Jones.
PC Surgery in DOVE had a Celebrity client, Verden Allen, the keyboard player from the 70s band Mott the Hoople had free advice on internet access.

Testing the Wii

2007-11-14T10:33:00.001Z

The DCN team are running a Technology Fair in Glynneath next Monday (19th 4-7PM) so I HAD to test the equipment was working, BUT I didn't get a look in! Kay and Malcolm tested the Baseball and Bowling for me, great fun! lol.

Photo Booth on MacBook

2007-10-25T18:39:00.001Z

Colin (volunteer in DOVE and Glynneath), Steven (my brother), Steve (from Glynneath) and me have our pictures taken using the built in camera in the MacBook and distorted by the Photo Booth software :) Who said new technology can’t be fun?

New MacBook

2007-10-25T18:00:00.000Z

The DCN team all received new toys last week, a MacBook each, I have been using it for a week now. One of the first things I did was download boot camp so I could dual boot to Windows (sorry geek talking). Owen gave me a demo of Mac OS X, but I am a complete novice, so I'll have to play with it when I get the time, but for now I'll stick to Windows on a Mac :)

After one week of use I have to say the MacBook is a nice machine, my old Evesham notebook screen has broken (screen will not light), so I had to return it to Evesham for repair. I am glad I have a MacBook!

Likes: Very good battery life (3 hours), highly glossy screen, powerful processor, big hard disk.

Dislikes: Mac OS X, US style keyboard (e.g. shift 2 = @), small screen (13")

Open Day in Glynneath

2007-07-11T17:23:00.000Z

Been a busy day in Glynneath today, there has been over 100 people through on the open / enrolment day.

I borrowed the display board (above) from DOVE for the computer components in a PC, it isn't quite finished, but was a talking point and something for people to see. Hopefully it will be hung on the wall for all to see :)

I signed up 2 clients for next week (this week is already full) and 1 new volunteer, so not a bad result!

Bling Hello Kitty Notebook

2007-06-11T12:36:00.000Z

When I saw this Notebook I just thought of serveral people who may want one. 199,500 Yen (£829) so get saving :)

Original post: http://www.pclaptop-review.com/2007/06/08/nec-shows-off-pink-hello-kitty-notebook/

Regards

Michael.

Faulty Card Reader

2007-06-07T14:01:00.000Z

After my last problems with Dell I thought I would try Dabs.com for my next purchase, they had a good over on, order £75+ and have £5.00 off and free delivery if I order over £100, so I made up an order, a big 500GB hard disk (I’ve filled my 250GB drive), an external enclosure for my old 250GB drive and a USB 2 multi card reader to download for my camera’s pictures and to make the order upto £100.

The order was delayed fours days for security checks! I knew I shouldn’t have asked from delivery to the ARC. Ha.Ha.

I spent the last two nights copying data from my old drive to the new one, fitting the new one in my PC and fitting the old one from my PC into the enclose, so I can keep a backup of my files.

Last night I thought I would download the pictures from my camera using the new Dabs Value 53-in-1 External USB2.0 Reader @ 480 mega bits per second (sorry I was an excided geek).

I plugged in the card reader, 4 new hard drives displayed, gr8, inserted my camera’s compact flash card into the reader, 4 drives disappeared, O know I thought, unplugged it, 4 drives displayed once more. I know I’ll try the card which came with the camera, plugged it in, off they went again! Looks like I’ve got a faulty card reader. I’ll have to pack it up and send it back.

Maybe I should buy things locally.

Regards
Michael.

Why you should complain

2007-05-23T15:03:00.000Z

Hi,
I recently bought a PC from Dell. Unfortunately their delivery firm, business post, didn't deliver the PC on the agreed day (19-April), also the PC was a Vista Premium multimedia PC, but there were no speakers, so I complained (see below). Dell apologised for the delay and sent me some speakers, worth £47 FOC!
When you complain always put in the facts.
The moral of the story is always complain!
The second moral is don't buy from Dell (at least until they sort out their courier!)
Regards
Michael.

Below is some of the e-mails to and from Dell, feel free to use these as ideas for your own complaint letters or e-mails:

Message sent to Dell for non delivery 19-April:
Hi,
I haven't received my Dell Computer today, my wife has stayed in all day to receive it from 8AM this morning, there has been no delivery or phone call.I was called 2 days ago an promised delivery today, 19-Apr between 8AM and6PM, its now 6:45PM and still no delivery. I cant see anything wrong with my address, so don't know why you have it as an ADDRESS QUERY whatever that means!
Regards
Michael Pritchard.

Reply from Dell 23-April
From: DELL
Sent: 23 April 2007 10:22
To: Michael Pritchard
Subject: Re: Case #: 20070419xxxxx - Email Customer Care -Order Status(xxxxxx)
Dear Michael Pritchard,
Thank you for contacting Dell Online Customer Care.I tried calling you on 01685 xxxxxx but could not reach you hence left message.My apologizes for the delay in your order and I can understand how annoying the delay might have been and I regret for such inconvenience.I have checked on the progress of your Dell order [order number xxxxxx]and according to our records it was safely delivered on 21/4/2007.Perhaps you could confirm to me that this is the case.If you have not received the complete order please let me know and I will look into it.Please reply to my e-mail and I assure you a speedy response.
Regards,
Rubeena
UKI Customer Support Expert.

Reply to Dell:
Hi Rubeena,
Yes the PC was delivered on Saturday.The PC was supposed to be delivered on Thursday 19-Apr, my wife waited in all day, taking a day off work, but the driver for Business Post claimed he could not find the address :( Business post made no effort to contact me.Business Post tried to redeliver it on Friday 20-Apr, this time they could find my address but with-out any prior arrangement was unsuccessful as I was in work!I called Business Post Friday PM, they refused to deliver it on Saturday,claiming it would cost an extra £20, even thought they has put a different deliver on the round on Thursday, who claimed not to be able to find my address and their Friday driver didn't seam to have any problem! I called Walsh Western, via the Dell customer support number, after some discussion between Welsh Western and Business Post they agreed to deliver it Saturday.I received it @ 9:30 on Saturday 21-Apr.Not particularly a pleasant experience, my wife wasted a days holiday and I had to send several e-mails and make several phone calls to sort it out,customer service was poor to say the least. I would think twice before buying from Dell again or recommending Dell to friends.Fortunately I have had no problem with the PC, the 22" screen in particular is very nice :)
The only gripe I have with the PC is there arn’t any speakers! When I placed the order the speakers where optional extras, I therefore assumed there were speakers built into the monitor, and optional, larger, speakers where being offered at extra cost. I don't know why Dell would sell a Vista Premium PC, with media centre capabilities without any speakers!I await your reply.
Your Faithfully,
Michael Pritchard.

Reply from Dell:
From: ***Dell*** Sent: 26 April 2007 09:48
To: Michael Pritchard
Subject: RE: Case #: 20070419xxxxxx - Email Customer Care -Order Status(xxxxx)
Dear Michael Pritchard,
Many thanks for your e-mail.I sincerely apologize on behalf of carriers for the unpleasant experience you had so far. I can imagine how frustrating the entire issue might have been and it is unfortunate that a valued customer like you has to experience this.Customer satisfaction is our primary concern and we value your time. Dell strives to provide efficient and effective resolutions to our customers. Asa result of the difficulties you have experienced I would like to offer you speakers as a good will gesture. I have also logged a complaint on your behalf against the carriers and will ensure that this type of unintentional error doesn't happen again.Please reply to my e-mail if the offer for speakers sounds satisfactory so that I can arrange the same at the earliest.You are a valued customer of ours for a long time and we appreciate your affording us the opportunity to serve you. You may rest assured that this problem will not surface again.
Regards,
Rubeena
UK/I Customer Support Expert.

The speakers were sent and are very nice, but they were also not delivered on the agreed date!

£80 laptop for children in developing countries

2007-04-30T09:26:00.000Z

I read about a project to build a $100 (£50) laptop for children in developing countries, the non profit company will start making a $175 laptop with the aim to reduce the price to $100 over time. Its current price is $175, and it will be able to run Windows [possibly a version of XP costing $3 (£1.50)] in addition to its home-grown, open-source interface [Linux].

I hope the technology being developed in these project will become available to us to :)

Full info $100 laptop:
http://www.abcmoney.co.uk/news/26200762858.htm

Official web page for $100 laptop:
http://laptop.org/

Bill Gates to offer Windows for $3
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyId=13&articleId=9017126&intsrc=hm_topic

Can we look at BBC B Micro?

2007-04-26T10:37:00.000Z

One of the best things about my job is the people you meet, in the PC Surgery this week a client asked if we could look at a BBC B Micro, unfortunately this is outside the scope of the PC Surgery, but we had long talk and a nostalgic trip to the 80's, I used a BBC Micro when I was in school, the client, now retired, was a maths and computer tutor, he even taught maths to one of our volunteers in school. It goes to show what a small world it is!

Link to the wiki for the BBC Micro:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Micro

First Post from PC Surgery

2007-04-18T13:42:00.000Z

Hi all, this is my first post from the PC Surgery @ BPP Development Trust in the ARC Swansea.