A+ certification (1 Viewer)

[DavidAM]

I have a friend that just finished taking a class for this and being pretty computer illeritate, he's sweating just thinking of taking the test. Does anyone know of one of those braindump sites with the test questions and answers for the newest set of 2002 questions? All I could find on the net for him was the questions from 2000.

 

[Greg Haynes]

I just received my A+ Cert 3 months ago and after taking and passing the exam my advice would be, "Don't Sweat It" I studied so hard on all the SCSI configurations, Laser printers, & modems and was never asked a single question. But thats the thing, you never know what their going to ask you so you have to study everything. There was alot of questions concerning what files are needed to boot to windows, how to get around win98 & win2k, how to pick out a agp slot on a diagram, and so on.

I took both exams at the same time and I scored a 810 on OS and a 790 on hardware. I went 20 questions on hardware and 25 questions on OS.

The only thing I did to study was read Michael Meyers All In One A+ Certification. This book was fantastic! This man knows his stuff. The book is very big I believe 1300+ pages, but I finished it in less than 2 weeks. It was a quick read and it was easy to soak in. He had very good analogies.

I am schedule to take my Network+ at the end of the month and again all I did was study Michael Meyers All In One Network+ Certification.

Tell you friend to schedule his exam through wwww.prometric.com and it he'll pass with no problem.

 

[DavidAM]

Thanks for the quick response. I just emailed him your reply If anyone else knows of good info or braindumps....basically ways to cheat to get through cause he will never use this stuff, just let me know! Thanks.

 

[Cam S]

The A+ wasn't bad for me either, I also used the Michael Meyers All In One A+ Certification book as desrcibed above. I hated the OS part of it, but passed so that's all I care about. I can't remember my scores off hand but I got 900+ on hardware, and 870+ on OS.

 

[Robert_eb]

Is there a market for this certification? I was thinking of taking this exam but was wondering what the job prospects are for this certification.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

In this area the A+ is becoming the minimum requirement for PC Tech jobs. Most companies won't even interview someone who doesn't have that piece of paper, even if they have years of experience. When I got into the industry, it didn't exist. I've been doing PC support and later network administration since the days of the first IBM PC and the earlierst PC LANs. But when the recession hit and the netadmin jobs dried up, I went looking for anything - help desk, phone support, you name it. I discovered without an A+ I couldn't even get in the door. (Which was pretty ironic since I'd done a brief stint as a substitute teacher at a local computer school teaching the A+ course.) I bought the Microsoft press book, read the whole OS section in one night, and took the exam the following morning. Took me 10 minutes to complete it. When I came out to get my grade the person at the desk thought that the test computer had broken or something. When I got home I started on the hardware section and took that exam the following morning - in less time than I'd spent on the OS test.

I have a friend that just finished taking a class for this and being pretty computer illeritate, he's sweating just thinking of taking the test.

I have to worry a bit if your friend has finished the course and still considers himself computer illiterate. After doing the formal class work and lab stuff, he should be pretty confident. A lot will depend on the luck of the draw as far as questions go, but if you have a good grounding in the concepts of PC and OS operations, you should have a better than even chance of picking out the correct answer from a list. (Although I should mention that I missed passing an MCSE exam by one question - where I picked the wrong answer out of two 120+ character string commands that were identical except for a "/" in one and and "" in the other. I passed the exam on my next try - but that question didn't come up again.)
Regards,
Joe

 

[Kolya]

I took the tests cold, on a whim, after I was laid off in January. They were pretty easy, I think that if you have any hands-on experience, they are very passable.

IMO, the best way to get hands-on experience is to do time as a bench tech at a mom & pop shop. In my year at one, I worked on everything from 286's to bleeding edge (at the time) all-scsi P3's. I worked with DOS 5 & 6, Windows 3.x --> 2000, and Novell regularly. Technician pay isn't great, but the money isn't the point; the experience is.

 

[Mark Larson]

So how much does it cost to take this test and where can you give it (list of locations)?

 

[Brad_V]

There was alot of questions concerning what files are needed to boot to windows, how to get around win98 & win2k, how to pick out a agp slot on a diagram, and so on.

Picking out an AGP slot on a diagram? Hard to believe that's actually on a test that employers care about.

 

[John Thomas]

So how much does it cost to take this test and where can you give it (list of locations)?

Check out New Horizons. That's where I took my tests (around $50 each/2 tests=$100, which very well may be higher now) about 3-4 years ago.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Since New Horizons isn't everywhere, go direct to CompTIA for pricing and testing centers in your area.
Regards,
Joe

 

[ikiru]

I studied light for the A+ and found it really easy. In fact, it was so easy, I was almost unsure of my answers. If you have any experience at all dealing with computers, then you are in good shape for the exam. Just find out HOW they are going to ask the questions (braindumps and exam crams are good for that) and study the fundamentals.

While you are at it, you might as well take the first test of the MCSE course. You will get your MCP for doing so. I found it just a notch harder, but still no sweat.

Good luck!

-ikiru