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A+ certification

N

netsider

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 12, 2004
Messages
466
I've currently been studying for the CompTIA A+ exam for almost a year now. I KNOW thats a long time, but there's been a lot of things in my life this past year that have been keeping me from taking the actual exam. I have the books for 2009.... all 9 books and "A+ certification for dummies" just to top that off. My main question is... does anybody have any firsthand knowledge of how the material might've changed since 2009 until now? Such as: stuff no longer needed to know, new questions that might be on the test, etc. The only info i've been able to find about changes to the exam has been that it now includes content and questions about Windows 7 starting this year 2011 back in January.

And if anybody from past experience knows:

1. Do you really need to know all of the different display modes, as well as their resolutions and number of colors? UWXGA, Super UWXGA, WXGA+, etc. These for some reason are REALLY hard for me to commit to memory.

2. io ports and irq addresses... i know its important to know all of these.. but does the exam specifically ask what addresses might be assigned to what? the dummies book has a bunch of practice questions so im assuming i need to know this pretty well...

3. Cable & connector types. Do I really need to know all of these? Like IBM's centronics cable, or do I only need to know the main ones? A lot of them seem so similar especially when it comes to serial/display/modem/printers. For example, the 15 pin blue vga cable seems to have been very similar (maybe just a different gender or a diff amount of pins, anyway) to old modem and serial cables. Do I really need to know all of this for the exam or can I just get more familiar with all of them as I come across them in the field?

4. ANYTHING else that they might require you to know that some people might doubt is on the exam, or that caught someone offguard? :eek:
 
1. There are a LOT of questions like this. So in general yes. But this doesn't mean that you will see this exact question.

2. Read answer above.

3. Read answer above.

4. Read answer above.

The A+ is BS. 99% of the crap piled in the test is garbage that you will never look back upon. The A+ is a stepping stone in the right direction, but most employers don't give a rats about it nor know it even exists. So going solely for the A+ is a waste unless you can motivate yourself to complete some real certifications.

I found out that the A+ was actually required by one of my employers during the first interview. I signed up for a test the next day and was able to pass on the first try, certified by the time I was hired.
 
Also... it doesnt say it in any of the books, so I figured id add this question. It says all category 1 through 7 cabling is unshielded twisted pair, UTP. Where does a person even encounter shielded twisted pair at all? In other types of cables? or do Cat 1-7 also come in shielded twisted pair? I've been fairly hardware oriented my whole life and never seen a cable marked sheilded twisted pair... am i missing something?
 
You usually only see UTP because it's in offices and homes. STP is more used in industrial type places where you need to worry about interference.
 
I'm hearing a lot of that.. but i just dont feel comfortable going (and paying) for a test when I'm not 100% sure i can pass it. I mean, most of the stuff in all 9 books ive been dealing with my whole life. I started messing with hardware around age 11 or so... but a LOT of this is before my time.. like when I was a toddler. Just kinda wanted to know if I needed to know some of the stuff ill prolly never encounter.. like tokenring networks, etc. I guess my question is... is there anything I *shouldnt* pay TOO much attention too, thinking it might be on the exam? thanks for trying to reassure me though...
 
IRQs weren't heavily tested on mine. To be honest, you can always narrow it down to two answers, if not one very easily and with basic common sense.
 
/usr/home said:
You usually only see UTP because it's in offices and homes. STP is more used in industrial type places where you need to worry about interference.
Click to expand...

oh okay... thats kinda what I thought. So it is used in the categories of network cabling tho? like.... you can buy Cat5 STP? i guess i coulda looked this one up myself....
 
I have only seen STP on CAT5 and CAT6. I'm sure you can on other CAT's, I just only work with 5 and 6.
 
/usr/home said:
IRQs weren't heavily tested on mine. To be honest, you can always narrow it down to two answers, if not one very easily and with basic common sense.
Click to expand...

I'm not too worried about the irq's..but in the dummies book i just found the answer to my question.. which i always do after i ask/post, but can never find beforehand.

"The A+ exam used to test heavily on the different IO addresses, but you no longer need to know them for the exam"

So the IRQ's.. I got. IO's are out. And DMA's.. well thats pretty easy to know.
 
TBH I took the test in 2008 and again in 2010 first time I got a lot of networkings questions and around 6 display mode questions. On the second attempt I took and passed the test after taking a course at college with a much, much better hands on instructor. Passed the test and had a few display modes, but a lot of questions about what if something and other happened. Best thing is to be hands on and study more into weak areas. My networking has gone up cause of studying and doing it.
I am lucky the tech center sold vouchers or else I would have lost 175 instead of 75.

Use the OS your exam is for wihich should be windows 7 and vista. IIRC
 
bigdaveberg said:
Use the OS your exam is for wihich should be windows 7 and vista. IIRC
Click to expand...

Are there different exams to choose from for different OS's or something? Or does A+ cover the most popular OS's? bc in the book... it even covers linux, and it said the 2011 exam does have Win7 questions..

I got my Cisco CCNA in networking in 2002... so im pretty strong when it comes to networking questions. Can anybody get *a* job *at all* with just their CCNA? I got it through my vocational school program in HS... but just never thought it would amount to a job or anything... especially since at the time wireless networking wasnt even really mainstream. Everything was cable.

At least the OSI model doesnt change over the years :p
 
Not different exams with the A+, but what my college insturctor told me was that they were dropping the 2006 standard "Windows xp focus" for new OS which would be IMHO windows 7.
So expect to see more windows 7 questions
 
Really tho... 6 questions just on display modes?? And most other ones were just troubleshooting/scenario questions? How many questions is there total?
 
I was considering going for an A+ degree just to at least be able to say I have one to employers. The new "renew every 3 years" rule that started this year (or was it last year?) really killed it for me.
 
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