[stryker23]

I am preparing to take the Comptia A+ exam. I have taken a two semester prep course through Aries, but I have put off taking the test until now, so I wanted to hopefully ask some people who have taken it recently what would be the best thing to review. I was thinking that I/O addresses might be worthwhile. I figure there will be some questions about them on there. I don't know. Any suggestion would be helpful. Thanks!

[rogan]

I have just taken the hardware and passed and then the software and failed. Revise everything in the software, its hard. Should be some test on the comptia site

[knight_47]

What kind of questions do they ask you?

[Yankee Rose]

Hi stryker23:

Take a look at this thread in Announcements:

http://forums.techguy.org:80/announc...certifications

You might find some useful information in preparing for the A+.

My best advice is to study, study, study, and then take as many prep tests as possible. It's been some time since I earned my cert, so I'm not up-to-date on the latest "must know" information, particularly OS-related.

GOOD LUCK!

[helensmith]

Dude just follw this link and you will get some relevant info regarding yr exam
http://www.ucertify.com/exams/CompTIA/220-301.html

[pehbond]

i have recently done the hardware and failed... i have the os in a few weeks. so any guides out there as i dont what to remember all the rubish that i dont need to know

[ryliecomputing]

I just passed my A+ Hardware Exam and will be taking the OS Exam today. I found the Hardware portion to be pretty easy. I got like a 786 out of 900. I was a little dissapointed when finishing the hardware portion because they didn't include anything I thought they might such as IRQ assignments and such or binary translation from decimal. The test is probably different for everyone so maybe I just got lucky.

Anyway, I will post when I have passed the OS portion later today and tell how easy or hard it was. Oh, and if anyone is going to take the exam I recommend getting a program called certblaster. The questions from certblaster are like the questions you will be asked on the exam. It even has practice drills you can use to improve your knowledge of a particular subject.

Bye for now,
Sean

[knight_47]

Can you give me an example of what kind of hardware questions they ask?

Is it something like "What is a motherboard?", or "What does PCI stand for?", also is there an age limit on when you can take it, do you have to be 18?

[ryliecomputing]

Originally Posted by knight_47

Can you give me an example of what kind of hardware questions they ask?

Is it something like "What is a motherboard?", or "What does PCI stand for?", also is there an age limit on when you can take it, do you have to be 18?

I'm guessing that every test is different but on my test I took there was very little on PCI. There was some questions about IRQ assignment but nowhere what I expected. The test didn't ask "What is a motherboard". My opinion on that is if a person doesn't know what a motherboard is then he or she should be taking the A+ Exam. They had questions such as what does a POST 201 error code mean or a POST 601 error code mean. There was a total of 80 questions. There were questions about sockets and what cpu goes with which socket. There were some network questions such as what address is hard coded into a NIC. I can't remember what else was there and most likely anyone taking the test will have questions that weren't on mine.

The best advice I can give anyone is to take an A+ class. Through my college I was able to get a discount. Also, the program certblaster contains questions similar to what is on the exam. Very nice program and study aid.

I do not know how old you have to be to take it. I am 32 and the testing center required two forms of ID such as drivers license, school ID, etc.

Oh, by the way, early today I passed the OS portion of the exam so I am now A+ certified. Now I just have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to get my certificate.

- Sean

[knight_47]

Originally Posted by ryliecomputing

I'm guessing that every test is different but on my test I took there was very little on PCI. There was some questions about IRQ assignment but nowhere what I expected. The test didn't ask "What is a motherboard". My opinion on that is if a person doesn't know what a motherboard is then he or she should be taking the A+ Exam. They had questions such as what does a POST 201 error code mean or a POST 601 error code mean. There was a total of 80 questions. There were questions about sockets and what cpu goes with which socket. There were some network questions such as what address is hard coded into a NIC. I can't remember what else was there and most likely anyone taking the test will have questions that weren't on mine.

The best advice I can give anyone is to take an A+ class. Through my college I was able to get a discount. Also, the program certblaster contains questions similar to what is on the exam. Very nice program and study aid.

I do not know how old you have to be to take it. I am 32 and the testing center required two forms of ID such as drivers license, school ID, etc.

Oh, by the way, early today I passed the OS portion of the exam so I am now A+ certified. Now I just have to wait 4 to 6 weeks to get my certificate.

- Sean

Thanks for the info. I thought it would be much easier, I don't really know much about sockets, NIC, etc... Just basic hardware, programing, software etc..

I'm only 17, and don't need it right now, but thought it would be a good thing to have under your belt.

[ryliecomputing]

Originally Posted by knight_47

Thanks for the info. I thought it would be much easier, I don't really know much about sockets, NIC, etc... Just basic hardware, programing, software etc..

I'm only 17, and don't need it right now, but thought it would be a good thing to have under your belt.

No problem.

Having the A+ cert is a good thing to have under your belt. Most if not all companies require that you be A+ certified.

A good book to have when studing for the A+ exam is: A+ guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC. This is the book I used and covers the latest CompTIA's A+ certification exams. The book also comes with certblaster.

Hope this helps,
Sean

[stryker23]

Which edition of the book did you use? It is interesting that you mentioned that because I just noticed that book was at my school today. It is the fourth edition though. I wanted to try out that certblast program so hopefully the fourth edition has it. I have passed the Aries preparation course, but it has been about six months, and I just want to be as prepared as possible with the things you don't use everyday. I figure a test program will be the quickest way to review. Thanks for the input.

[peterwilson]

I wud suggest that go through all the exam objectives and then practice accordingly to the objectives. It will surely help to face the real exam at ease.

[ryliecomputing]

Originally Posted by stryker23

Which edition of the book did you use? It is interesting that you mentioned that because I just noticed that book was at my school today. It is the fourth edition though. I wanted to try out that certblast program so hopefully the fourth edition has it. I have passed the Aries preparation course, but it has been about six months, and I just want to be as prepared as possible with the things you don't use everyday. I figure a test program will be the quickest way to review. Thanks for the input.

@ stryker23

I have the fifth addition which I believe is the latest version available. It is a really good book and is an authorized CompTIA A+ book.

P.S. I guess CompTIA is coming out with a new 2006 objectives so I am not sure exactly what will be included on that. I took the 2003 objective and according to CompTIA the 2003 objective will I think be available until the end of December or Janurary (not sure which one).

Sean

[pinntech]

Hi,

I was an instructor for the CompTIA series testing at my old job. I found that my students benefited from the Self Test Software for the A+ Certifications and other certifications to boot.

I also instructed most of the Microsoft certifications too. I used the Self Test Software for a lot of things and for testing to see how the students were coming along.

Our company had a 97% first time pass rating with our students. I even managed to get three blind guys CompTIA certified; one guy continued and is an MCP with Certifications in MCDST & MCSA.

I have not used their software for over a year now, but they were really good! Here is a link to their site….

http://www.selftestsoftware.com

Hope this helps!

Shane