A+ Certification Guide

[Drew]

I am looking into taking the A+ certification test and I need to find a good training manual. I would like one to have a CD-ROM with lots of sample questions on it. I have done some searching and there are hundreds of different books to choose from, so I was looking for some advice on which ones might be good if anyone has used them before or to identify the bad books to steer clear of. Any help would be great.

 

[Greg King]

It's funny you should bring that up. Ciento and myself are actually looking for the same type of information so whatever I find, I will gladly share it with you.

 

[Rob Williams]

Too bad mine is now pretty useless. It's from 1998 :/

No, I don't have an A+, because I already know I'm a D-.

 

[Jakal]

lol I've been looking at getting my A+ as well! From what I've read it looks rather easy. There was a sample online test that I took and found it to be simple, common knowledge. Lemme see if I can dig that up real quick.. (queue Jeopardy theme song) What is <a href ="http://www.freepractice.com/Aplus/aplus.htm">CompTIA A+</a>?

 

[Tech-Daddy]

A+ is reliatively easy, I am A+ certified, MCP on 2K and XP, and will be getting Exchange 2003 certified next month. HAve taken the classes on Server 2003, but did not take the tests... (dippy move on my behalf).

There are CompTIA authorized texts, the book that I remembered getting was a fairly thin book, blue/white color scheme with black text on the cover... I'll see if I can locate it for you.

 

[Blumen]

I helped a friend out in California study for her A+, and may sound pompous, but most of it seems ridiculously easy. Maybe it was just the subject matter that she was having trouble with just happened to be stuff that i know well, but i dunno.

This Windows XP stuff though.... yuck. DS is letting me borrow a book to study for it, and man, i either don't care about most of the stuff, or just can't understand what they're saying. Software stuff ties my brain in knots.

 

[maddmaxx]

Me too also. I'd like to get A+ myself. So I'll be keeping a close eye on this thread. Like the rest of you guys I need a good resource for a study guide.

 

[Buck-O]

Just so you guys have a heads up. Im in the interviewing process of a job at the moment that requires certification. They asked about A+, if i had one...and when i said "no" their comment was "Oh, thats fine, the A+ really isnt that critical anymore anyway, anyone with moderate experience can pass it, so we dont consider it a requirement".

However, i HAVE heard two seperate places now both request N+ certification. And aparently alot of the N+ cert questions are similar to alot of the older A+ cert questions, and go a little more in depth to knowledge, and unique situational questions.

So if you guys get an A+, it certaintly wouldent hurt to have it. But dont expect it to open up many doors that would otherwise be closed. And if you can afford it, look at getting an N+ certification as well. That seems to be the minimum standard for most places now days.

Just wanted to offer you all a little heads up.

 

[Drew]

Found One

Hey guys

Just to let you know I did find a good study guide at a decent price too. It is called "A+ Complete Study Guide" by Sybex Publishing. It goes through everything step-by-step and has review questions at the end of each chapter. The CD included contains 4 test exams (just as long as the real ones), hundreds of test questions, flash cards for practice, and even the whole book in PDF format for studying on the road.

Hopefully this will work out for me and I hope it can help anyone else who wants to take the test. I got my book at Chapters.ca for about $63.00 Canadian.

Thanks Buck-o for the information about the N+ cert. i will definetly look into that.

 

[maddmaxx]

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out.

 

[spiffyp]

I have both the A+ & N+. The A+ was stoopid simple. Absolutely nothing to it.
The N+ was a bit more work, but if you know much about networks (not just talking RJ45/IP-based here, though) it should be a snap.
A lot of it is just basic topology & good-practice junk.

 

[spiffyp]

Oh! And the "Exam Guide" and "Exam Cram" books are great for both tests.