Archive for 'Microsoft'

A “Career Campaign” voucher that is good for only one exam is subject to slightly different rules. Instead of a percentage off for booking the exam, you actually pay 15% more on the initial payment, however that 15% extra allows you to have a second shot should you fail the exam. If you pass it on the first try, yes, that means you paid an extra 15% for a single exam – but at least you had peace of mind knowing you can retake for much cheaper. If that’s any consolation.

Let me give you three examples:

1) Jessica is a SysAdmin who wants to get an MCITP in Enterprise Messaging for Exchange 2007. That particular MCITP requires three exams: 70-632, 70-633 and 70-634. She selects a 3-exam Career Campaign pack voucher. She uses that voucher when signing up at Prometric.com for each of her three exams. She receives a 15% discount when she pays for each exam and also gets a free second shot with each exam should she fail it.

2) Wesley is a SysAdmin who needs just one more exam to finish his MCITP:Enterprise Administrator (that would be me, by the way). He uses a single exam voucher to book his exam. He pays 15% more (a total of $143.75 USD) but has the added protection of a free second shot should he fail his first attempt (which wouldn’t be the first time that has happened).

3) Finally, Tara is an IT noob who wants to go certification crazy. She uses a 5-exam pack to book each of her 5 exams. She pays 20% less for each booking and also receives a free second shot for each exam. Tara is happy. Microsoft is happy. The trees are happy because certifications from Microsoft are sent via PDF and no longer printer on paper. Rejoice!

Some other bits of useful information convcerning this promotion:

• FULL DISCLOSURE ALERT: For every voucher code that is successfully used, I receive 10 points in my Learning Rewards account. I can convert those points into “Rewards”. Currently there is only one reward available: a three month XBox Live Gold card, which is utterly useless to me since I don’t own an Xbox.
• If you fail an exam, you must request a retake voucher using this Prometric form. You must wait 72 hours after failing an exam to request a retake voucher.
• Only commercial exams (070) are eligible for this offer.
• You have to obtain the voucher and sit for the exam by June 30, 2011
• If you have questions you can contact Microsoft at [email protected]
• You can only register one exam at a time and you cannot register for a second exam until you have taken the previous one.

Without further rambling, here are some USA Career Campaign vouchers free for the taking. If you use a code, post which one you used in the comments so I can remove it from the list. If you need more, want codes for a different country or want to make a “bulk order”, let me know. I can create as many as necessary in any country on the planet.

Career Campaign – 5 Exam Pack (USA)

• 5V007DU6A5
• 5V007DVL6M
• 5V007DWQ68
• 5V007DXHCC
• 5V007DYNS9
• 5V007DZK8E
• 5V007E022F
• 5V007E1UWX
• 5V007E25V2
• 5V007—– [used]

Career Campaign – 4 Exam Pack (USA)

• 4E0076VGKQ
• 4E0076WF0K
• 4E0076XUEB
• 4E0076Y36Y
• 4E0076ZVGL
• 4E00770UA0
• 4E00771PAT
• 4E00772NAR
• 4E00773V9V
• 4E00774NPJ

Career Campaign – 3 Exam Pack (USA)

• 3W0074KZSZ
• 3W0074LA9G
• 3W0074MJG5
• 3W0074NMDD
• 3W0074PGHY
• 3W0074QXFG
• 3W0074R10R
• 3W0074SZ0U
• 3W0074TWRH
• 3W0074U1B9

Career Campaign – 2 Exam Pack (USA)

• IV007BTLQ5
• IV007BUY6V
• IV007BVCNY
• IV007BWPXY
• IV007BXGLP
• IV007BYP0G
• IV007BZ35Z
• IV007C0LTJ
• IV007C12LG
• IV007C2H3V

Career Campaign – 1 Exam Pack (USA)

• 0S007D2YYK
• 0S007D3AV4
• 0S007D42A0
• 0S007D5BZP
• 0S007D6MYW
• 0S007D7FR2
• 0S007D89FD
• 0S007D9EHX
• 0S007DA3JF
• 0S007DBU2J

If you choose to use one of these codes, please say so in the comments and I’ll cross off the codes that have already been taken. I can create unlimited numbers, so take as many as you want. Let me know if you want to place a large “order”.

• [Used]
• [Used]
• [Used]
• H1006WADGU
• H1006WB8VC
• H1006WC0G0
• H1006WDUG5
• H1006WETQB
• H1006WFBML
• H1006WGPB7
• H1006WH3DX
• H1006WJ8BW
• H1006WKRN7
• H1006WLNMW
• H1006WMCKZ
• [Used]
• H1006WP1DY
• H1006WQFWJ
• [Used]

Once again, here’s the link to redeem the code for a discounted MeasureUp exam: http://www.measureup.com/mylearningrewards

Recently while trying to connect to a remote PC using the Remote Desktop manager called “mRemote”, I received a rather unhelpful error message:

RDP Disconnected! Error Code: 2825 Error Description:

However, if using Windows built in Remote Desktop Connection software (mstsc.exe) I was able to connect.

The answer was so simple, I almost did a facepalm. The remote machine had remote desktop enabled, but required Network Level Authentication (NLA). As soon as I enabled the option “Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)” I was able to connect via mRemote.

My only guess as to why mRemote couldn’t connect is that I’m using the portable version of mRemote which requires you to manually register the various components used to connect to remote clients. The version of “AxInterop.MSTSCLib.dll” that came with mRemote and is registered for remote desktop usage must not support NLA. I couldn’t find an updated version of that file.

Maybe someday I’ll spring for VisionApp Remote Desktop, which is the product that the mRemote creator merged all further updates of mRemote into. You can also read my review of mRemote over here. </shameless plug>.

Because I’ve taken at least three Microsoft exams in the last five years (probably around a dozen or more), I was recently invited to participate in the Microsoft Learning Rewards program. The program encourages the distribution of discount exam vouchers amongst the IT Professional community. I just signed up for it and generated 20 Microsoft Second Shot exam vouchers that are good in the United States and 20 that are eligible in the United Kingdom. Both sets of vouchers expire by June 30th, 2010. That means you must schedule and take both your first and second exam by June 30th, 2010.

Do you live elsewhere and would still like some Second Shot vouchers? I can generate vouchers for virtually any country on earth. Drop a comment and tell me what country you’d like codes for. Australia, anyone?

Note that these are not vouchers for free exams. You must pay the full price for a Microsoft exam, however, if you input this code in the “Voucher:” field in the Prometric sign-up process (just before you click the link to pay for the exam), you will be allowed to retake the exam one more time for free if you fail (as long as the retake is taken before June 30th, 2010).

But wait, there’s more! (I didn’t really say that, did I?) You can also use the Second Shot voucher code to get 40% off of any MeasureUp 60 Day Online Practice Test for a Microsoft product. The MeasureUp offer also expires June 30th, 2010.

Full Disclosure: I receive a “kickback” of sorts from this program. For every voucher that is redeemed, I receive 10 “points” that can then be converted into an item from the Microsoft Learning Rewards product catalog. At the moment, there are only two things available. The most valuable to me being a free exam voucher when I reach 60 points. It’s kind of a win-win situation for everyone.

Send this list to your friends, and if you want me to generate codes for more countries, just let me know! When you use one, post a comment including the code that you’ve used and I’ll cross that code off the list. Same goes for if you find a code that doesn’t work (probably because someone used it and didn’t notify me).

United States Second Shot Voucher Codes:

• 9205DWV43G
• 9205DWW1RC
• 9205DWX5PF
• 9205DWYTJL
• 9205DWZNWG
• 9205DX0UYD
• 9205DX1BKD
• 9205DX2GH8
• 9205DX3M24
• 9205DX4SS4
• 9205DX5MBQ
• 9205DX6421
• 9205DX7SRF
• 9205DX8TWD
• 9205DX95JD
• 9205DXA8UN
• 9205DXB3J0
• 9205DXCLBP
• 9205DXD7WA
• 9205DXE8SU

United Kingdom Second Shot Voucher Codes:

• 9205DXHX7M
• 9205DXJ2A4
• 9205DXKPPC
• 9205DXLJZF
• 9205DXM5XV
• 9205DXNCQN
• 9205DXP8AN
• 9205DXQK5R
• 9205DXRD2K
• 9205DXS9WZ
• 9205DXTPYU
• 9205DXUC1D
• 9205DXV870
• 9205DXWNPG
• 9205DXX5M5
• 9205DXY25X
• 9205DXZZAQ
• 9205DY01GE
• 9205DY13MZ
• 9205DY2KEU