A+

[waferdog]

Forst off, apologies if this topic could have been placed in a better forum. I was going for maximum visibility.

I will be taking the new A+ exam on Wednesday afternoon. I have been studying solidly for about a month now and have been in the business for about three years. With that said, does anyone have any experiences with the new test and what to expect? I realize that there was a thread in the General Topic forum that was basically looking for the same info, but the thread sort of died.

Specifically, I'm looking for ideas on what to expect on the test and what to watch out for. I do not need braindump sites, as I've already checked out a lot of them. Do I need to study items like I/O addresses in depth? Do I need to memorize every last one of them? I feel very confident in my skills but am worried about taking a test that might have a different emphasis than my study. Any and all help is appreciated.

Waferdog

[justy]

Sorry buddy can't help you with your studies,

But will bump the thread to make sure someone can.

All the best, Justy.

[madfish]

up up and away ^^

[golfcart]

I took it before it was revised but there wasnt a whole lot of questions about I/O adresses. It may ask you the for the adress of com1 or com2 but thats about it. I did have a few questions on the OSI model, they were easy to figure out though. Watch yer step on the multiple answer questions, those are very hard for me, especially when they dont tell you how many correct answers there are. On the regular multiple choice, there is usually 2 that you can eliminate immediately, then you just have to use your better judgement between the remaining 2.
If you have read a lot of brain dumps, you are probably ready. In my opinion, it is very easy to pass, but somewhat difficult to do extremely well. Best of luck to you.

[justy]

Remember in multiple guess questions its always "C".

^bump^

Justy.

[dafremen]

Hey check with Str8J4cket. I hear he's got a line on some REALLY good cheat sheets for technical exams. I'm sure he could probably hook you up! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

8) Daffy

[struggles]

I took the exams back in December. Wasn't the revised edition but I'm sure they didn't change too much, as nothing in os has changed too much.

The core test is basically a joke. I studied till I was blue in the face.Spent many nights at brain dumps,etc.I finished the test in about 5 minutes and proceeded to tell the instructer how disappointed I was.For 128 bucks and all the studying I did, I thought it was a ripoff.Very easy. I memorized all irq's,all i/o's, and memory adresses and I think I got one question. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif

Now on the other hand, the windows exam was a little trickier.There you get your moneys worth.This would be the area to study. Know your networking! Know your navigation through windows and dos.Many of the questions are written to confuse.i.e." If you get an INVALID SYSTEM DISK error what would cause this?" Well, a whole slew of things could cause this, but you have to pick the one their looking for.I didn't find one question that resembled anything found on the practice tests at brain dumps.(dont count on them to prepare you, also found many incorrect answers.) Good luck!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Tekkitan]

See I am also studying for my A+ cert. And on our practice tests, there are questions about specifically what each I/O address is used for, like I/O address 5 is sound card, etc. I would study those just to make sure you are fully prepared.

[Nighthawk]

I took the hardware test just a short while ago, and passed with 95%.

Some tips:
1) CompTIA loves ESD questions. If there's a troubleshooting question, ESD is a good answer.

2) Know what the parts of a motherboard are (IDE, CPU, RAM, etc.)

I have been using computers for at least 5 years and been heavily involved with them for at least the last four. I had no problems, though the extreme crappiness of the Sybex set disturbed me (I posted on this earlier, they said that a DIMM was any memory module with chips on both sides.)

[waferdog]

Thanks for the tips so far. I don't think I will have any problem on the hardware side, except for minor things like specific chip qualities. OS could give me a problem on the W2K side, since I haven't played with it all that much. We'll see how it goes.

Waferdog

[CMonster]

Don't forget to review the basics of printing, especially laserjet.

The OS part is probably the most obscure. I think some of the questions they ask are not even relative and unclear to say the least. I guess the best thing I can say is to try and determine what they are asking, focus on that which is clear, simple, and direct. It may help to picture yourself doing the operation mentioned.

If you are very lucky, your keyboard will not come unplugged and the whole thing quit working as mine did during the test. I was afraid the guy next to me might think I was cheating if I went under the desk and plugged the $%%&%! thing back in so I went and got the test proctor.... "er.. ah is this part of the test or did your equipment just malfunction?"

[wyvrn]

I took the new exam a couple of months ago. Some Win2k stuff, mostly Win9x. Some Win 3.1 and almost no DOS. For core, had a lot of diagrams wanting you to pick out stuff, like pci slots. Know your bus's, memory address, printing process, and IRQ's especially. Overall an easy test, you should have plenty of time to finish it. Good luck http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[robin801]

i would like to take the A+ test. could someone give me some links to site i can use to learn what i need to know and some study sites. any books i need also. i just built a computer so i have a little bit of hardware knowledge (not much http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif)
thanks robin

[This message has been edited by robin801 (edited 05-22-2001).]

[Goldwingnut]

Robin: If I used only one book, it would be A+ Exam Prep by Coriolis Publishing. 2 books: Add A+ Exam Cram by the same crew.

Not quite free website: www.karbosguide.com (http://www.karbosguide.com)

Free website: www.informit.com (http://www.informit.com)

[robin801]

thank you for the book and site information.
robin

[struggles]

Hey Robin,

try here (http://www.examnotes.com)

[waferdog]

Well, been studying like a madman. In fact, I'm starting to think that I've overstudied. We'll find out later today. Either way, I'll be glad when it is over. Thanks for the help and wish me luck.

Waferdog

[robin801]

hey struggles i tried page 1 of lesson 1` and i like. it really gives your the information in plain english and pics. thanks alot for the site. do you remember how much it costs? and again thanks alot
robin

[waferdog]

Well, I passed the test with flying colors. 815 on the OS and 868 on the hardware. All of the studying was worth it, and thank god they updated the test. No DOS or 3.1 questions. If anyone else is planning on taking it, I would be glad to answer any questions you might have.

Waferdog

[Wombat]

I passed mine in December ( before changes )
I found that they asked many questions that were not in my study class or in the books.
I encountered alot about networking in dos and also printers specifically which part of the printer will burn you.
A friend of mine passed the following week and had totally different questions, so what ever people tell you about there experiences, each exam can bewell in the oposite direction as to what they had..

Good Luck

[robin801]

waferdog could you give me a study outline. i am just getting started with my studing. i have bookmarked the sites that i got and i am going to get the book that was recommended to me. anything you can add i would appreciate. any thought on how to study for this test i can use. would getting a cheap computer that i can take apart be helpful?
robin

[This message has been edited by robin801 (edited 05-24-2001).]

[waferdog]

Robin,

If you are starting from scratch, then you definitely want to get a computer you can take apart and play with. I would also recommend building a PC from scratch. Get the Michael Myers All in One A+ book. Very in depth but also easy to read. Finally, visit the COmpTia.org website and find the objectives for the A+ exam. It will tell you everything you need to know.

[robin801]

waferdog thanks for the site. it was very informative. it let me know how litttttttttle i knew. i am going to start reading and studying right away. i am in no hurry to take the test just to become more knowledgeable in computer repair and building. i just built an amd duron 800 asus a7v 133 system. i really enjoyed putting it together. but in the process i also realized i need to learn a lot more.
robin http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[robin801]

waferdog i got the a+ book today. i have a question i hope you or someone can answer. i want to get the componets for a computer that i can learn with but not spend to much money (in case i mess something up http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif ) but later upgrade when i get better. any suggestions?

[Goldwingnut]

Robin801:

If it's new components you want:
www.jazztechnology.com (http://www.jazztechnology.com) ( Use IE. Not Netscape friendly )
www.shentec.com (http://www.shentec.com)

These two places have the best new gear prices.

Used computers: you can find used computers in the classifieds. The method I use to gauge whether they are a bargain is cost/Mhz. For example, the local used computer shop asks about $500 for a used 250 Mhz. $2/Mhz? No thanks. Used computers go for about $.90/Mhz around here, so a used 250 should sell for <$225 to be a bargain.

Why you don't want to putz with used computers: I bought a BP6 motherboard a year ago. Got into other projects, never got around to it. When I tried to order part for it a couple months back I could only find two sources for 500 Celerons, everybody else was out of stock and not about to order more. 33 Mhz hard drives are history, I have to waste an ATA 66 or 100 in an ATA33 machine.

[robin801]

thank you for the links. i checked out the links you gave me. i could not connect to shentec. i will try again later.
robin

[Goldwingnut]

www.shentech.com (http://www.shentech.com)

I always forget the second H

[CMonster]

CONGRATULATIONS! -I'm minna brink another deer in your honor! hic'

[robin801]

goldwingnut=what a difference a letter makes. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
robin

[1MoInput]

Man...if you have taken it before end of March, I have study guide (or exact questions http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif)that let you pass for SURE.