A+ Certified people, Im about to take the test, need some info please

Typical Gamer

Limp Gawd
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Nov 18, 2003
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Im eventually going to try my wits against this test. Ill ace the shit out of the Core portion, but the Dos/Windows worried me enough to go sign out an MS A+ Training book just to brush up, cause messing round with windows 95/98 and command prompts was a little before more time of learning and experimentation.

ANYWHO, Im looking for some insider tips if your willing to share, the site CompTIA is so vague and I have a few questions.

1.)I heard both parts are multiple choice, is this true, if so how many Q's each part, and how were they set up?

2.)Are there a lot of trick questions or is it straight forward?

3.)Any things to look out for, This book I have doesnt go into ME/XP but Im familiar enough to go through it, anything I should know before I go in, like things they dont tell you about?

4.) How long did they take you?



Thanks to anyone who can answers these or give me some general help!
 
No DOS anymore on the OS section, but it IS on the hardware portion. I got my Core done before they made the switch and added XP. All multiple choice (or guess I suppose =P) Some trick questions. I think its 80 questions, 70 count and 10 are like testing test questions. It didnt take me the full 90 minutes, I'd say probably 30 on the core
 
There are no "trick" questions per se, but you have to make sure you are very careful at reading the wording.

I don't remember how many questions. something inside me wants to say there are 70 questions per test.


Hardware took me 9 minutes
OS took me 12

A+ total : 1350 [this being when I was specifically told by mike meyers books that the score range was 100-900... guess that's not true!]
 
Originally posted by Typical Gamer
...messing round with windows 95/98 and command prompts was a little before more time of learning and experimentation.

I feel old.

That aside, it took me about 20 minutes to do both of them, 10 minutes each. Good luck!
 
holy shit you guys finished 70-80 questions in 10-20 mins? thats astonishing.

the A+ is comprised of 2 tests, that 100-900 is per test, max score of 1800 I beleive, minimum to pass is a 1020 I think. Which explains your 1350

Thanks for the info though this helps me out a lot

Im definatly gonna choose the XP test, I think you have a choice till a certain month this year on which you want to take.

Adding in XP questions means they have to eliminate questions, hopefully ones about all the old shit which is basically preventing me from getting an awersome score.

anyone else?
 
30 minutes? geez i musta been lucky, i took it about 2 years ago, the hardware portion took me about 5 minutes and software about 10. I aced both.
 
i took it when it was an adaptive test. i had like 20 questions each (the more questions you had, the worst you did :p ) they took me about 10 mins each. they weren't any big deal to me.
 
Yeah it used to be you'd stop the test once you passed, but now you have to do all 80. I wasn't in there long, like i said, maybe 30minutes at the most. And now you HAVE to take the XP test. They changed the entire system. Core has the DOS on it, the OS has XP. And like he said, there isn't any "trick" questions per say, you just have to be very careful reading the wording
 
i'm about to take the test sometime this summer.

Wondering on where to go for the cheapest price to take the test?
 
its like a max of 30 questions i belive


the core i only got like 20 questions

the software i got about 25 questions


the core was easy. software wasnt hard per say just not stuff that youd realy think of off the top of your head normally.
 
Originally posted by kapkorn
its like a max of 30 questions i belive


the core i only got like 20 questions

the software i got about 25 questions


the core was easy. software wasnt hard per say just not stuff that youd realy think of off the top of your head normally.

Not anymore. Its not adaptive. Its just straight up 80 questions.
 
Anyone want to recommend an A+ book I can take that has some transcenders and what not??
 
Is there any reason to even take this test though? I mean all I've heard is that it's easy to get and employers look for real experience and don't actually care about these tests.
 
Originally posted by NleahciM
Is there any reason to even take this test though?


Lets answer your question with a question.

Is there any reason why not? Many companys still require an A+ certification and its not alot of money or time.
 
It's not something most people can pass, even most computer type people still need to study for it.
 
I dont realy know why people worry about the A+, I passed (with good marks) both the core and os parts in 10 minutes.

I have applied for various IT jobs over the last few years, and not one of them knew what a A+ cert was. In the end i decided to get a MCP at least people know microsoft.

But hey, it wont do you any harm and you would be a fool not to take the test if you have studied for it.

Afterwards you will wonder why you worried about it, I am sure you will pass
 
Originally posted by kapkorn
when did they change that?


Last year I think? Not sure. I took it right before they made the update last, which was sometime in november, and it was straight up 80 questions. 70 counted towards your score, and 10 were experiment questions.
 
Originally posted by trebor28
I have applied for various IT jobs over the last few years, and not one of them knew what a A+ cert was. In the end i decided to get a MCP at least people know microsoft.

For some reason I just find that hard to believe. Anyways I bit the bullet and took the test just to have it on my resume - its considered like a standard cert. Sure you can get a job without it - but you will probably have a very hard time. Sometimes if an employer has a hard time chosing who to hire - its generally one with more certs - less money they have to spend to get you up to par with the industry standard - or whatever standard they set for you. On another note, the core was a breeze - the older OS test had me in a few spots - just cause i never messed with any of the OS core files much back in the day *shrug* GL tho!
 
Originally posted by Chroma
For some reason I just find that hard to believe. Anyways I bit the bullet and took the test just to have it on my resume - its considered like a standard cert. Sure you can get a job without it - but you will probably have a very hard time. Sometimes if an employer has a hard time chosing who to hire - its generally one with more certs - less money they have to spend to get you up to par with the industry standard - or whatever standard they set for you. On another note, the core was a breeze - the older OS test had me in a few spots - just cause i never messed with any of the OS core files much back in the day *shrug* GL tho!

exp>certs
 
Well your in luck, I just passed mine 2 weeks ago so I can provide some insight. My new employer required me to take it, and to get most hardware certs, IBM, Toshiba etc (also required by my job to do warranty work) you MUST have an A+ cert.

Hardware portion was easy for me, everything seemed straight forward, it seemed to cover alot of SCSI stuff, which I didnt expect. All the questions are objective based, meaning they will ask you about solving a problem or what action you would take, not "what sits on IRQ 15" or whatever like the old tests. Everything presents some kind of scenario.

The OS section was hard for me becasue Im not really a Windows guy. (except for gaming)

Though the test does not cover DOS it still covers alot of DOS related command line switches etc. know your command line stuff. and the differences between some of the commands as they appear in command.exe and in the windows recovery console. Also some of the questions are trickey in the fact that you must really know the difference in boot process (mostly the differences between windows 9X and NT/2K/XP and the files required to do so, not really the differences between the NT OS's

and quite a few Q's on file systems.

I failed my OS test once and the 2nd time I took it I saw 2 repeat questions, which sucked.

the format is 80 questions for both tests, 90 min max.

good luck to you.

-Aaron
 
do you need a highschool diploma to take A+?

i am still in highschool, but i would like to take this test over the summer. where could i go or who do i contact to take this test? i obviously dont know much about the test, but i figure i know enough about computers to pass it.
 
www.vue.com


Since your in HS your much younger then me and I have to study my ass off for this.

You need to know MS-DOS, its command lines and what they do, and how to troubleshoot hardware wise in everything from this to XP.

no diploma needed, just pay and take it.
 
Anyone looking for a comprehensive book to study for the new 2003 220-301 & 220-302 A+ tests should look at this one:

Sybex A+ Complete Study Guide (Third Edition).

Read it once over (and I know dick all about laser printers) and passed with a 1400'ish score.

Best of luck to all who take it (www.prometric.com for more testing centres).
 
Originally posted by weezer
exp>certs

exp+certs > exp

The A+ test is still a quite valuable certification to have. I've had several, GOOD paying jobs that the A+ helped me nail.
 
Originally posted by jamestime88
do you need a highschool diploma to take A+?

i am still in highschool, but i would like to take this test over the summer. where could i go or who do i contact to take this test? i obviously dont know much about the test, but i figure i know enough about computers to pass it.

nope i took mine in high school
 
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