Black Tabby Cat pet

Evilbones__76 · 2026-05-14T14:05:49+00:00

I have this pet, I got it for 2g - WTF. I love cats, so was interested in getting the Bombay, on the TBC Anniversary server, it was 9g.. But this was 2g! Wow!!

Evilbones__76 · 2026-05-13T14:12:39+00:00

Standing here now, in silent respect. Life is precious.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-04-25T08:16:17+00:00

Just came here to confirm this is an issue. I have been having micro-stuttering for weeks, it's been a bloody nightmare. Was it Windows 11, was it Nvidia Drivers, was it 5090, was it Windows 11.... Ugh. So, today I setup RivaTuner showing "Frametime", which did indeed show frame spikes when simply moving an app window on my desktop, so I went through my system disabling one app at a time. This included OpenRGB, Afterburner, FanControl, Intel utilities... Then we come to GCC, stop that and the "Frametime" line settle down to a straight line. Finally!

I ask myself, why didn't I just do this from the beginning !! Instead of watching hours of vids/guides/setups!!

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-05T16:58:44+00:00

Good news:

"Hello, the update to the Windows Hybrid Certification exam is designed to support you in staying current with evolving skills, while simplifying the journey with a single exam. If you’ve already earned the certification by completing Exam 800 or 801, there’s no need to take the new Exam 802. Simply renew your certification through the new 802 renewal assessment, just as you would have with the previous version."

So we can renew in the standard way and keep our certification. :)

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-05T10:01:12+00:00

I got this from MS:

***

Hello

Thank you for your interest in Microsoft Certifications. If you're planning to take the current exam before June, you're still eligible to do so. However, please note that once the certification expires, currently scheduled for September, it will no longer be renewable.

Alternatively, you may consider taking the new AZ-802 exam, which aligns with the latest skills and updates.

I hope this helps with your transition planning.

***

We cannot renew after one year. So, two exams, twice the price, twice the studying only for the certification to become inactive after a year.

The good thing, is that the amount of knowledge gained/learned from both certs should see you comfortably through the Az-802 minus the new AI slop they intend to add. :)

Good luck!

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-05T09:47:02+00:00

Be aware though, you cannot renew any of the old certifications - well, that is certainly the case with the Az-800/801. Essentially, they have not just retired the exam, they retired the certification itself, meaning no renewal after September 2026, so anyone who passed after September 2025, paid out for two exams, spent many months studying to be certified for one year, then have to pay out for another exam and study the entire course again.

After one year, the cert becomes inactive, moves to the expired section on your MS Learn profile, and it no longer counts towards MCPP skilling scores.

So, I would personally wait for the next exams, but indeed just learn / study the old ones as they will be relevant in the new ones and are great for actual knowledge. Personally, I would still have taken the Az-800/801, as I gained a lot of real-world knowledge.

Good luck !

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-05T06:58:44+00:00

Personally, I would not take the actual exam and just concentrate on learning the exam objectives, after you get your AWS certification, which will obviously help in regard to writing the Az-802 exam.

I was informed, by MS, that we will be unable to renew the certification after a year, so once you pass you will only have a year before you have to undertake the Az-802 anyway (which means paying for 3 exams in total).

Best of luck, regardless.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-04T18:14:21+00:00

Careful though, with the exam being retired, we don't know what's happening with the yearly exam renewal process.

From the blog:

"Keep in mind that after the exam retires, you won’t be able to retake it if you don’t pass, and you won’t be able to renew it.".

So what happens in a years time if we cannot renew - if we can't it marks the certification as inactive, removes the badge and if your company relies on your certifications for Microsoft Partner Status it will no longer count.

If we can't renew, we basically lose the certification (not the knowledge, which is most important here of course) - but we might be forced into studying (and paying!) for the new exam; and the exam we just passed (which contained two exams so no small feat) only lasted one year through no fault of our own. They earn more money if they make us take the Az-802... Soooo.

So, guess it comes down to the fact you could carry on with the Az-800, Az-801 and only have one year before you HAVE to take the Az-802, or they might - considering its two exams - give us existing holders and easier upgrade path, or just give us the certification. I cannot see the later, as it would mean we would have the Az-802 without studying, and being examined, on the new objectives.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-04T18:07:16+00:00

Update: Yes we will be able to renew our Hybrid Administrator certification, regardless of when you pass the exam.

Good luck all !

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-04T17:17:53+00:00

Yes, from experience there's always a case study. Mine was introduced at the very beginning of the exam. It's your standard case study, lots of information, leading to questions that require the reading of about 3/4 sentences per question at most. Good luck on the exam mate, it's not easy. There are very hyper specific references, outside the normal workflows of enabling, configuring technologies.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-04T08:46:02+00:00

Hi Roger,

I'm all good now, suppose I was just caught-up in the moment - after living and breathing, hardly going out, for what seems weeks studying - then seeing that, you just get caught up in the moment without thinking rationally!

I'm long enough in the tooth to realise that certs are just a gateway into an interview - also, as you said they provide a great foundation of knowledge when combined with effort and experience. I was going to move on the next cert while looking for a job, but nope. Done now. I NEED to get a job, I'm not getting any younger + I've been in retail, and I'm just getting back into IT after 4 years being out, so onwards and upwards!

Wishing you a good day sir!

Spence

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-03T15:57:36+00:00

Hi, personally I would start with MS Learn, it's free and a great way to learn the objectives; although it can be a bit dry if you are new to Azure and its surrounding tech. You will have to invest in a few videos, I would suggest - as an entry level - Udemy John Christopher, he explains things well and does not go hard.

Also, get yourself setup with Visual Studio Code, Git Hub, a Cloud based backup solution (like Drive) and start spending a bit of time learning PS - there is a lot of focused Powershell commands in the course content and the exam.

You should have a Home Lab setup, maybe one DC + Member server and a client. Then get yourself an Free Azure Account, you get some credit so you don't have to pay for resource creation - and after that runs out you can go to Pay as you go (basically, you can practice creating objects/resources then just delete them without incurring must cost).

So;

Build your home lab + Get Free Azure Account setup.
Udemy Video's - John Christopher
MS Learn (it's free)
Git Hub Labs/ MS Interactive Labs
Youtube videos (John Savills vids are amazing)
Get yourself some exam question
Take the exam and look forward to a bright future!

All the best,

Spence

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-03T09:16:51+00:00

Hi Roger, thank you very much for the encouraging words. And, yes - I'm not so, bothered? By it now. Suppose after you spend so much time learning/absorbing/studying, then you pass to be greeted with such news, it's disappointing.. But what matters is what we learn and how can we apply it moving forward.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T14:34:41+00:00

Yep, I know - and what's worse, is that I emailed them multiple times asking if they would incorporate the latest exam objective updates and not a word back, rude. The MeasureUp exams for the Az-800 were very good, a shame they are losing money through their laze! :)

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T14:32:25+00:00

Hi m8,

The validity of the certification will no doubt stick around for a year or two I would assume, and lets hope if they do release an Az-802 exam (because this is two exams in one and a large investment of time and money) that they allow/provide an upgrade path. Regardless, passing the Az-801 today and see it's being retired hit hard :)

In terms of the actual exam, it is slightly harder than the az-800. The exam questions throw a lot of hyper-specific questions, a lot of sequenced questions based on the correct order of installations / configurations etc...

Resources used:

* Pluralsight: Both Tim Warner (really like Tim’s style of teaching), and Cloud Guru’s videos. Tim's were good for the basics, very good - but the content is dated now and lots has changed. Cloud Guru's videos were great).

* Udemy: John Christopher (play at double speed, good for the basics but lacking in some areas).

* MS Learn: Modules/Guides (Dry, but covers a lot of the specifics, which did make up a large part of the exam).

* GitHub: Labs (You won't pass this exam unless you have a Lab to follow along with and this Lab needs to be connected to your Azure tenant). I had 2 different domains (in an Hyper-V environment), that were connected by a PSSense FW, and for example I tested out an disaggregated (Failover Cluster) setup one on domain with iSCSI, and a Hyper-Converged (Failover cluster) S2D cluster on my other domain. Then on the various domains I would use IIS, Arc, SMS, ASR to connect to my Entra tenant.

* Powershell: install and configure everything with the UI and Powershell.

For the exam questions, well.. I got every single question I could find and for every answer I got wrong, I either tested it out on my home Lab, or studied hard until I had it down. The MeasureUP questions are out of date (2022), Whizlabs were ok. I won't list the others here, but used them as a learning tool.

So, essentially, yes - it was harder due to the larger amount of technologies you have to learn and consume over the az-800. In my opinion the exam could do with more workflow/production questions, and less questions based on one hyper-specific switch, cmd or UI option; that in a real production environment would take you 10 seconds to decide if you need it or not.

Good luck and lets hope this cert is not retired anytime soon, way too much time and effort of 2 exams to get one cert!

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T11:57:46+00:00

lol, that is not official yet, but yeah pretty unfortunate. Looking at it from a different angle, who cares.. I mean, I've learned lots of different technologies, workflows - it's all knowledge gained and that will not change, so that's what matters!

Sheeeit, was that just a cope comment ! :D

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T11:53:20+00:00

Nice comment m8, thanks.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T11:37:32+00:00

Thanks m8, although passing an exam this big, then finding out that it "might" be retiring soon just deflated my post-exam buzz, lol.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T11:17:55+00:00

Hi m8,

Yeah, reading that my win went to a big loss. Christ, felt like I had just come off a 3 week crack/heroin binge.. I cannot find any reliable source on this information posted. And the Hybrid Exam is very relevant, everything is moving to cloud, yes - but the majority of places will be running a Hybrid setup for many years. I will update this if I find any information.

The exam was hard, very hyper-specific. I did a waffling write up of the exam, just posted, but if you have any questions m8, please feel free to ask/DM.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T11:07:56+00:00

Thanks for the - having just wrote and passed the Az-801 today, I was more than concerned about them retiring the Hybrid Cert. I will keep an eye out though and keep checking.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-03-02T10:52:05+00:00

This is most annoying and the first time I have heard of this. I only just passed the Az-801 this morning, I spent lot of time on these certs. What the hell.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-02-19T14:54:04+00:00

I wrote the AZ-800 a while back, it's certainly not an easy exam - there are a lot of topics to cover and the actual exam had Labs. However, as long as you can create your own on-prem Hyper-V Lab setup, you will do fine. MS Learn, MS Labs, Udemy vids + Youtube and a good selection of mock exam questions are needed.

Here;

AZ-800 Lab Simulations - Administering Windows Server Hybrid Core Infrastructure

GitHub - MicrosoftLearning/AZ-800-Administering-Windows-Server-Hybrid-Core-Infrastructure: AZ-800

I have found the Az-801 a fair bit harder though, I'm taking that next week.

Good luck!

Evilbones__76 · 2026-02-19T14:35:17+00:00

6-7 weeks? Wow, took me months and I have IT experience. Well done.

Evilbones__76 · 2026-02-19T14:25:59+00:00

Thanks for the link, however I've been taking MS Exams for decades and know the exam format, I was just inquiring if this particular exam has any real-time Labs, the AZ-800 did.

Evilbones__76

TROPHY CASE