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Hi , I'm Mark, and this site is dedicated to the A+ exam presented by Comptia.
I took the test on 1 November 1999 (core and dos - back-to-back)
And passed core with 68/70 (96%) and DOS with 56/70 (79%)
About the A+
The A+ came about from the industries need for a benchmark qualification in hardware and software installation as well as support.
The exam is presented by a company by the name of Sylvanprometric.
Exam questions are randomly chosen from a myriad of possible questions submitted by A+ certified technicians world wide and are all in a multiple choice format.
One of the main gripes of people that have written the exam is that aswers aren't really checked for accuracy and one has to 'decypher' the question to find out just what is required.
There are two exams required for the A+ qualification, one being the 'core' or hardware section and the other 'dos and windows' which deals with operating systems.
The core module deals with hardware support. This includes component identification, IRQ's, I/O addresses, CPU's, types of motherboards, error codes, and a whole lot of 'environmental issues'. This section is, in my opinion, the easier of the two. If you have been around computers most of this section will be a breeze. Only the I/O's, IRQ's, CPU's and display resolutions are a pain-where-you-need-it-least !!!
The 'dos 3.x and Windows' module is as the name suggests, about the various operating systems around - so far no mention of Win-98,NT4 or even less NT5(Win 2000) - Thank God !
This section goes in depth with commands in all O/S. This is a good thing ! I have always been thankful for my knowledge of DOS - when Win95 crashes and the system has to be re-incarnated from DOS people usually are in awe - even those with BIG courses behind their name.
My advice.........
OK, lets face it, the exams are not cheap ......
If you haven't been around computers in any great length/depth you are going to battle, really, I'm not being a pessimist, a lot of the questions ask for insight into the workings of items.
There are many sites on the 'web' that make their bread-and-butter from running 'practice exams' for prospective examinees. What they actually do is get in touch with people that have just written the exam and ask what questions were asked ............. My advice is get in touch with them Click here for a list of the 'better' sites.
Brain-dumps
Test Exams
Check inside here for the CORE and O/S test - some are working, but the "with a difference" isn't as yet.
WATCH THIS SPACE
Possible changes to the A+ DOS/Win module
OK, Comptia is being pretty secritive about this, but if the grape-vine is to be believed, the Win 3.x section is to be scratched. This is a good thing. The only use for Win 3.x, in my opinion, is for computer history lessons in museums ! There is talk of Win95/98 taking over the slack.I have been in touch with Cramsession.com for info but they are also guessing !
Myths of computer support technicians
The myth about computer hardware support technicians is that they have thick horn-rimmed glasses, have a pencil case in their top pocket and laugh funny - if that's what you think, well, you are wrong..... Try sitting in an office for any length of time with bottles of (denatured) alcohol and see what happens.... Most of the older croud are either alcoholics or druggies - must be this hAxEr revolution.
Anyway......
Ok, so what comes after A+ ?????
The next logical step is the MCSE, or N+ if you need to brush up on networking - apparently 'network essentials' is an absolute bitch if you haven't had prior experience in the field. You get thrown in the deep end !!!
