A+ Cert

**Kodiak** · July 8th, 2005, 09:56 PM

I'm studying for A+ certification and, not knowing what might be on the test, I'm having a hard time with binary and hexidecimal numbers. How to convert them. Is it on the test that I should worry about figuring it all out or just to know the difference is enough. I'm learning some real good stuff to say the least and glad I'm studying for it. I have seen a lot of comments that it was a joke to take the test and then I hear from some it is real hard. What is your opinions?

**Mayet** · July 9th, 2005, 01:09 AM

I've noticed how much the info varies in online tutorials.

Some including about.com have ancient stuff and not much newer stuff and then others like practisexam.com have more what i expected including customer questions and voltages and capacitors...

will be interesting to hear from someone who has sat the test recetnyl on exactly what is looked for

**confus-ed** · July 9th, 2005, 06:20 AM

They've changed A+ quite a bit over the moons, to be a+ certified now ( think this means I am no longer 'officially' - maybe I'll retake these to see what they are like now !

), you need two lots of exams behind you, there's the CompTIA A+ Core Hardware examination & then A+ Operating System Technologies examination.

When I did it it was just one exam, & they did ask stuff about hex conversions, cable pin outs & some very weird things in general !

But now I believed the first exam to cover

PC Fundamentals, Power Supplies and Cases, The Motherboard, The CPU, Memory, Buses and Cards, System Resources, Interfaces, Data Input, Data Storage, Displays, Printers, Portable Computing, Introduction to Networking, Network Implementations, General Troubleshooting and Customer Service

Least that's what I have, here in some notes I've got for some interviews, I have to conduct .. & I don't think I was gonna ask anybody about hex conversion, you needed that last as a 'skill' in about 1985 !

.. but I can still do it in my head, lol ! .. try reading this - here's a bit of it..

3 5
| |
| |___ One's Place
|
|______ Ten's Place

What if 35 is a decimal number? Then:

Decimal Value = One's Place + Ten's Place
= (3 * 10 ^ 1) + (5 * 10 ^ 0)
= (3 * 10) + (5 * 1)
= 30 + 5
= 35

What if 35 is a hex number? Then: [more on this later]
= One's Place + Ten's Place
= (3 * 16 ^ 1) + (5 * 10 ^ 0)
= (3 * 16) + (3 * 1)
= 48 + 5
= 53

35 HEX is 53 decimal.

That's how I always did it manually .. mutiplying out the digits & then adding 'em up !

(Knowing your 16x table helps too !

)

**Kodiak** · July 9th, 2005, 12:03 PM

Well I'm just studying anything I can get my hands on at the moment and find a lot of it very interesting and some very hard to get a grasp of, (being 50 years old the ole brains not working the way it use to) and in the pc repair end there would be no need for it. If you were a programer then yes. No matter what I would like to get this under my belt and to have that little title so i can hold the chin high and say "I'M A+ CERTIFIED" and to have the cert. displayed for all my potential customers to see. If I do go out in the market place for a job in this field, which I would go into this field, I would more then likely atleast need the A+. Several people I know have all the materials from there schooling and such so I have been going over what they have. I hope this isn't considered pirateing and if it is please let me know. It's all interesting anyway. I'm looking for schooling in my area now. Are online courses as effective?

Edit: I see there is also some free schooling out there also. Also a (get certified in two weeks). I could emagine how that would go for this old mans brain. Cram all that info in to the few remaining brain cells.

Edit: Free was a scam as I figured. It gives you a little bit and wants you to pay for the rest.

**Mayet** · July 9th, 2005, 04:43 PM

http://www.passitnow.com/comptia.html

These are the ones I been playing with...

I'm going great on the OS side of it and lagging a bit on the interrupts and stuff on the core...
oh well

**Kodiak** · July 9th, 2005, 05:49 PM

I did well on the hardware side and passed all the practice tests I have taken but software is a little more difficult. I just keep pluggen away at it though and I will get it and as always you look back, once you got it, and think how stupid you must of been and sounded to others that know it already. I always figure though to learn anything you must ask no matter how stupid you may sound.

**confus-ed** · July 10th, 2005, 05:32 AM

Originally Posted by Kodiak

.. If I do go out in the market place for a job in this field, which I would go into this field, I would more then likely atleast need the A+..

I know lots of places who ask for this for anyone who even gets to touch a pc, personally I think its undervalued as a qualification, as many folks 'sneer' at it & go for M$ qualifications instead, but none of them teach you about basic hardware.

So I've just wizzed through a load of practice tests I googled, & I must admit I'd forgotten just how HARD some of these are ! .. I didn't pass 'em all .. infact my brain hurts now !

I dunno how relevant some of them are though, when I was reading the syllabus, I thought 'this is pretty good..', but I see they still have you knowing bizzarre things - I just can't think when then the last time was I wanted to know what the correct interupt handler for the primary boot strap loader was - so what Mayet said in the first place about 'variable material' seems to hold water to me

CompTIA have an 'approved' list themselves here .

**Radical Dreamer** · July 10th, 2005, 09:22 AM

No, the conversions are not on the test, and confus-ed. The A+ is for life, so you are still certified

**Kodiak** · July 10th, 2005, 12:42 PM

Whatever the case may be I'm learning a great deal of good info here that can be used in the field out in the public, home user, or in a office type cituation. Most of my dealings have been with the general public as at this point I do not do large offices and stick to the small in home office. In the large office type job I can see a bigger need for A+ certification being a must but for the down town shop I'm not so sure it would be needed as part of the criteria to hold a position in your establishment as long as you can demonstrate some advanced, not basic, skills in computer repair and diagnostics and are trainable. Ofcourse I reserve the right to change my mind on that statement later if I so choose. hehe. Anyway, I'm having a great deal of fun learning and doing these practice test as out of all things I have done in my 50 years I find working on PC's and learning about them is something I can do for hrs and hrs and just want more time to sit down and do it more and just not get bored with it. Next best thing to "cough cough" that I can think of. Good info guys and keep those practice tests coming. Mayets was very good and I found I didn't know quite what I thought I did.

Edit: I think my head is starting to swell. At this age I seem to only be retaining about %5 of the info though so I will have to cover it many times for it to sink in. Dam old age.
A friend came buy a while ago and I showed him some of the tests from Mayets site and he did better then I and that brings up a point. He has never opened a computer and knows nothing of troubleshooting or repairing a computer. He can't even format a disk. Seems that a person can do all the studies and pass the test but not be able to repair a system and not be worth hiring but then there may be a lot of people out there who can't pass the test and still be able to repair anything thrown his way. From experience. Just some thoughts. No matter what I still want to study and take the test. I hear if you take the test and do not pass you have to pay again, is that correct?

**confus-ed** · July 11th, 2005, 01:48 AM

Originally Posted by Radical Dreamer

No, the conversions are not on the test, and confus-ed. The A+ is for life, so you are still certified

Any link on that thought Rad ?, or is that from recent experience ( be that you or someone you know, I'm gonna ask all my interviewees anyway, now to find out, as I'm jiggered if I can google this anywhere

)
& it does indeed appear as if the certification lasts for life, thanks

.

Our certifications are good for life. Once you are certified, you are certified for life. The certifications do not have an expiration date nor do you have to retake a test after an upgrade

Which is a bloody good thing !! as I think I'd probably have to do a good deal of re-studying to pass this now

**Kodiak** · July 11th, 2005, 04:21 PM

I have read conflicting articals on how many questions there are on the tests. Last I seen there was 70 each. Yes? And again do you have to pay again if you fail the test? Not that I plan on failing but I may take a little more time on it if so.

**confus-ed** · July 11th, 2005, 04:58 PM

I can answer that one anyways

..

CompTIA A+® Overview

Number of exam parts Two - A+ Core hardware and A+ OS Technological
Number of Questions Approx. 80 questions on each part
Exam format Linear format; computer-based test (CBT)
Exam Duration 90 minutes to complete each A+ 2003 exam

From here

**Kodiak** · July 13th, 2005, 04:49 PM

I plan on taking the test on 8/23, my B day. I think 5 weeks should be sufficent. Like Mayet I'm having a little difficulty with irq and addressing but the rest I'm doing fair in. Like I said I can look back and see how dumb I must of been with some of it like the binary and Hex. Simple now. Would need a cal but it's easy. Like I said I'm learning a great deal of info but I can sure see where a guy could learn all this and not know the first thing about opening a PC and reparing it. I feel you need both A+ and mostly experience.

**Kodiak** · July 14th, 2005, 12:03 PM

Try this one and see what you think. Let me know how you did. I did miserablely on this one. I think they went a little overboard on it.

http://www.4tests.com/exams/exams.asp?cid=1

**Kodiak** · July 20th, 2005, 06:08 AM

In the A+ exams is there really questions in there about setting up group policies and permisions and the boot sequences of fat and ntfs systems. A lot of fun going through the learning process though.