Windows IT Pro is the authoritative and independent resource for windows nt, windows 2000, windows 2003, windows xp. Features a collection of resources and magazines for windows IT professionals.
  
  
  Advanced Search 


February 07, 2007

Are all testing center computers relics?

RSS
Subscribe to Windows IT Pro | See More Systems Administration Articles Here | Reprints | Or get the Monthly Online Pass—only $5.95 a month!
back to blog index

Has anyone ever gone for a certification test and used a computer that made them think “wow, I wish I had one of these at home”?

Is it just me, or does every testing centre in the world use computers that only manage to run Windows 95 because someone has crank started them every morning? The shared use computers in eastern European backpacker hostels are like HAL from 2001 compared to these things. I’m sure that if you looked hard enough, you’d still find the installation files for the Y2K patches that must have been applied to these relics! There is something distinctly surreal about doing a Windows Vista exam on a computer that wouldn’t run Windows NT 4 Workstation unless you got out and pushed!

Where do they find them? How do they keep them running so long? Is this where all those Pentium Pros went? Do the components simply not fail out of spite, drawing sustenance from the malice, loathing and contempt that test takers have had for them over the years?

Has any reader taken a certification exam on a computer with a monitor that is larger than 15 inches and a hardware configuration that wouldn’t page the hard disk to the point of disintegration if someone actually installed an operating system written sometime this century on it?

They say that in an infinite universe all things must come to pass. Perhaps that is true. Perhaps, somewhere out there exists a testing center with nice high resolution monitors, more than 256 MB of RAM and keyboards and mice that you can touch without getting that sticky tactile experience we know and love.

But I’m kinda doubting it.

End of Article



Reader Comments

You must log on before posting a comment.

If you don't have a username & password, please register now.





Search Hyperbole, Embellishment, and Sys Admins
 
Hyperbole, Embellishment, and Sys Admins
DECEMBER 2008
  1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31    
or

 Recently in Hyperbole, Embellishment, and Sys Admins
Systematic Paranoia
Make a Comment
Forums as problem solving tools
Make a Comment
Why good Windows sysadmins are easier to find than good UNIX/Linux sysadmins.

Last Comment
No, Illl stay with the UNIX admins are smarter... They have the ability to see behind the GUI and k...
(2 Comments)
Tales from the Forums: Community Choice Awards
Make a Comment
How to know if you are a Cowboy (or Cowgirl) Systems Administrator

Last Comment
:-) awesome...
(1 Comments)

More blogs about technology,
software, and Windows.

Windows IT Pro Home Register FAQ for Windows WinInfo News
Europe Edition About Us Contact Us/Customer Service Media Kit Affiliates / Licensing  
SQL Server Magazine Office & SharePoint Pro Windows Dev Pro IT Job Hound ITTV
IT Library Technology Resource Directory Connected Home Windows Excavator Windows SuperSite 
 
 Windows IT Pro is a Division of Penton Media Inc.
 Copyright © 2008 Penton Media, Inc., All rights reserved. Terms and Use | Privacy Statement | Reprints and Licensing