[racer86]

:teaching:A+ Certification guides and Helpfull links:teaching:

Exam Cost: $168 each.
Time Allocated: 90 minutes per exam
Total marks: 900
Minimum Pass Marks: 675 for CompTIA A+ Essentials, 700 for CompTIA A+ Practical Application on a scale of 100-900
Number Of Questions: 100 questions per exam.

Helpfull sites

Professor Messer. - http://www.professormesser.com/free-network-plus-training/common-networking-protocols/

This guy has gone through and made up a complete video series on the A+ Networking+ Security+ and Microsoft 70-680 exams. His videos are very in depth and cover basically everything you will need to know for these exams. There broken down into smaller videos to help as well. I found them very useful in filling in gaps and as a quick refresher before the test.

Proprofs.com- http://www.proprofs.com/certification/comptia/a-plus/index.shtml

A great site with lots of resources guides and practice tests

Techexams.net- http://www.techexams.net/technotes/modems.shtml

a great site with alot of information. However the site can be a little hard to navigate without knowing exactly what u want

Passitnow.com- http://www.passitnow.com/studysection.html

great little site with a fair bit of information.

MCMCSE.com http://www.mcmcse.com/comptia/aplus/notes/aplus_essentials.shtml\

good site with lots of resources and information on many other tests and some practice tests as well

Practice Tests / Quizzes

http://www.proprofs.com/certification/comptia/a-plus/exams/index.shtml

http://www.professormesser.com/category/free-a-plus-training/a-plus-pop-quizzes/ basic pop quizzes

http://certification.about.com/od/certifications/l/bl_aplusos1.htm Base OS test

http://certification.about.com/od/apracticeexams/l/bl_apluscore1.htm Core component test

http://www.passitnow.com/aplustests.html great set of tests for both OS and core components

Study Guides/Books

CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Seventh-220-701-220-702/dp/0071701338/]Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702) (9780071701334): Michael Meyers: Books[/URL]

A very in depth and detailed book

Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Certification Passport
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-Passport-220-701-220-702/dp/0071702989/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302754735&sr=1-3]Amazon.com: Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Certification Passport, Fourth Edition (Exams 220-701 & 220-702) (9780071702980): Michael Meyers: Books[/URL]

A very easy to read and cumulative book that covers the whole exam (my personal favorite)

CompTIA A+ Certification All-In-One For Dummies
http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certification-All---One-Dummies/dp/0470487380/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302754900&sr=1-1]Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ Certification All-In-One For Dummies (9780470487389): Glen E. Clarke, Edward Tetz: Books[/URL]

A very good guide with ALOT of info however its quite a long read pushing over 1000pages

Quick Tips

-A quick note to anyone considering taking this exam make sure you know your legacy components as they are on the exam and tested a fair bit. This seems to be one thing people forget to look at

If anyone has anything to add feel free to let me know i will be updating this constantly as i find new things or get more ideas. If people like this ive got one started for the Networking+ exam as well. Also if anyone has any ideas about the layout of the guide let me know this is my first one.

 

[Radical_ED]

Nice man thanks for the Info theres alota people looking for this suff

 

[rocker22dallas]

getting my A+ cert next semester! my school will teach me and pay for the test. they are also a certified testing facility.

 

[FannBlade]

Nice layout on the OP. Should be helpful.

 

[racer86]

Thanks guys hopefully it helps a some people out If anyone has any sites or tips or tricks that helped them feel free to throw them up and ill add them

 

[Radical_ED]

maby we can get a mod to sticky this??

 

[losttsol]

http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/

The above link has free practice tests for many certs. I was surprised how many questions on the actual A+ exam (when I took it) were in their A+ practice test. It was the best free test I found on the internet.

 

[racer86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by losttsol;13117466
http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/

The above link has free practice tests for many certs. I was surprised how many questions on the actual A+ exam (when I took it) were in their A+ practice test. It was the best free test I found on the internet.

added thanks:thumb:

*edit* also thinking about adding a recommended books section what do u guys think?

 

[racer86]

ok guys decided to go ahead and add a books section so feel free to make some recommendations

 

[N3kko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer86 My personal favorite

Have you actually used that one? Just curious.

I know someone who used this book:

Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Exam Cram (5th Edition) (9780789747921): David L. Prowse: Books

Seems to be the most updated too. Anyone used it?

 

[racer86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by N3kko Have you actually used that one? Just curious. I know someone who used this book: Amazon.com: CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Exam Cram (5th Edition) (9780789747921): David L. Prowse: Books Seems to be the most updated too. Anyone used it?

I havent you mentioned but yes I have used the Mike meyer book it was what i used to study for my test. He does a good job of explaining things in depth with out confusing the crap outa you. Plus he throws in random humor that I enjoyed and made the book easier to read. It reads more like a book and not a Technical Manual.

 

[N3kko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer86;13373103
I havent you mentioned but yes I have used the Mike meyer book it was what i used to study for my test. He does a good job of explaining things in depth with out confusing the crap outa you. Plus he throws in random humor that I enjoyed and made the book easier to read. It reads more like a book and not a Technical Manual.

Awesome! Just haven't 'known' anyone who read that one. Thanks.

 

[racer86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by N3kko;13377017
Awesome! Just haven't 'known' anyone who read that one. Thanks.

No problem hopefully you found the guide usefull

 

[N3kko]

What do you mean by legacy components? Specifics.

 

[downlinx]

wish these certs were worth a crap in the real world, but i am sure alot of people will love this.

 

[N3kko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by downlinx wish these certs were worth a crap in the real world, but i am sure alot of people will love this.

How are they not?

I know a friend who got a job paying 43k with just one semester of college and a A+ cert. and Server+ cert.

 

[downlinx]

server+ cert is what got him the job and his knowledge. Coptia A+ does not carry any weight to it anymore. The A+ is as basic of a cert as you can get and probably the first cert you get.

 

[pelplouffe]

A+ is usefull for any computer store like best buy, futur shop, MDG and stuff like that.... If you can skip right over it and just get your Network+ or linux + (both pretty easy) or even Security + will even going to be better for you...

Anyway CompTia Cert or probably the easiest one to get, compare to all the crappy microsoft one and the worst are the blackberry cert.

 

[racer86]

Quote:

Originally Posted by N3kko What do you mean by legacy components? Specifics.

When I say legacy components I mean older or obsolete tech that is still in use. For a quick example, you will find that there are computers that still make use of serial and parallel ports and SCSI drives. These systems are usually not upgraded due to them needing to have 100% availability or the cost being to high to replace them.

You will definetly need to know these for the test as there are alot of legacy stystems still out there. The first time I ever ran into a computer using a vampire connection I was like ***

lol

This should help

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_system

Quote:

Originally Posted by downlinx wish these certs were worth a crap in the real world, but i am sure alot of people will love this.

This cert is still usefull just not as much so as people seem to think. If this is all you have you will be looking at very entry level tech work. However alot of people use this cert as a stepping stone for other certifications or as something extra on a Resume other than your word that says you know what you are doing. I personally used it to get me on the way to my Net+

Certs will never trumph experience in the real world however when applying for a job having that cert on your resume might give you the extra bit of umph you need to get the job over the next guy.

 

[tha808evangelist]

yeah legacy being like what processors use, socket 1, socket a, and so forth. and there are questions like what is on irq 2? plus max transmission of like 10base t (cat 3) and 100 base t (cat 5)