@sternone I understand your frustration, I got to know of OSCP back in the days when it was PWB (2008). During those days I was busy on my Cisco certification track of which currently I hold the following CCNA,CCDA,CCNP,CCDP and CCIE-Written not forgetting my MCSE+sec. I was and still am a Cisco and Microsoft guru until my company got hacked I was so embarrassed and frustrated that I quit the job (reasons being I didn't know what,who and where to starts troubleshooting from cos my anti-virus, firewall and all security measures failed me). In 2010 I decided to embark on OSCP but realizing I have a weakness in programming i started studying C, Assembly, Linux,Bash and now Python just to get a solid foundation before starting the OSCP. Do you know the number of books I've bought? forums I join etc. just because of OSCP, which i'll be taking next year even after taking the eCPPT. I always ask myself what will I do with my CCIE certification thus if I pass the lab and still the companies I work for gets hacked? Even Pentagon, RSA, Microsoft, Amazon etc do get hacked.

I think OSCP is not your usual Microsoft and Cisco exams that you study 1 book or CBT and the question you get in the final exams is about what you learnt from the book. No with OSCP it is what you get in real world, just a Little advice join forums underground sites IRC etc. they help.

After all your effort if it still doesn't pay off I bet you, with the same amount of time and effort you put in OSCP you can pass any CCIE exams on the 1st try.

Don't give up give it a second short. Money is hard to come by do don't let it go.

Don't get me wrong, I am not yet a CCIE I only passed the written exams. All i'm saying is with CCIE R&S you only have to study about 13 books visit forums practice, practice and practice I know many CCIE's who passed the exams on first try and with one year of preparation. CCIE deals with OSI layers 1-7 starting with the Cisco hardware itself, but with OSCP and real world hacking you deal with different OS's BSD,Windows,MAC's,Firewalls, Cisco Router etc. All i say is hacking is more packed than CCIE so with the effort you put in a year to pass OSCP with that same effort you can pass CCIE.

But what happened to you, you created this thread with enthusiasm and even posted snapshots of rooted lab rats. I jealous you so why are you giving up. Note. there wouldn't be fun all fruits were hanging low......... in short hope you can guess what am about to write next."T** *a***r".

Blimey this thread has got big..

First off sternone, well done on your progress so far you should be proud of what you have achieved..

I'm about 50 days into my lab time, so far I've watched about 20% of the videos for the course and only used the PDF as reference material.

I think I've rooted just over 30 boxes now. This isn't to brag, I'm not a pentester or security expert this is the first time I've EVER tried something like this. My biggest ally (and worse enemy) is Google, and I've lost count of the number of hours I've spent looking for something to gain access, even when its been staring me in the face I've still struggled (man have I struggled).

My point? the course material is good, but limited (like it's supposed to be) I've learnt more from trial and error or working it out myself than from anywhere else and for me it's the best way to learn.

I've spoken to people that have rooted most of the boxes in the labs, it doesn't bother me, I'm happy with my progress and what I've learnt and if I don't get them all then I don't get them all, it's not a race against others on the course it's a personal challenge.

If I'm honest, I expect to fail the exam the first time around, and I won't mind if I do (don't get me wrong I hope I pass), but this course isn't easy, nothing I read ahead of starting made it sound easy, but by god it's fun.

Anyway that's my speech over.. my only advice sternone would be regardless of how annoying/frustrating or annoying you find the course, enjoy the experience, learn what you can and when in doubt... Try Harder (sorry couldn't resist).

The only reason I haven't read all the material is due to a burning desire to play in the labs, and I learn best by doing instead of reading.

I had done some of the basics before (nmap scanning that sort of thing) so as soon as I had access I was in the labs scanning and enumerating away.

I agree things would have been a bit easier if I read the material but we each do things differently and I've still enjoyed doing things the hard way..

I did use it, in days past.  Now, for Win32 debugging, I've pretty much settled on Immunity's debugger.