Studying for COMPTIA A+

crabbymk

Hi All,

I am currently studying for my COMPTIA A+ but using the 801-802 book, is there much new information that has been added? I am looking at sitting the exams 901 & 902 before the end of the year so just want to be sure I am not missing anything before I do.

Also I have been doing the practise tests on here, and also via apps I downloaded onto my phone, and so far I am doing ok, just need to keep reading the information.

If anyone has any tips or advice please let me know. Cheers

thehappyone

Dude, put that book down! There are way too many differences to name. Get yourself the Prowse ExamCram 901-902. Don't buy the Mike Meyers book, it's information overload.

If I was you this is what I would do to pass with just FOUR weeks of studying.

Book two weeks off from work. Take the ExamCram book and study just one 901 chapter each day and watch the Prof Messer videos that relate to that chapter. This should take you 8 hours each day.

These are the 901 chapters in ExamCram: Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16.

That is 11 chapters, so 11 days of studying, then use 1 day to do practice exams.

When studying, make notes of each chapter, make flash cards of any table you come accross in the book. i.e. RAM speeds, CPU names, etc. Memorise all the flash cards very well on day 13. On the 14th day you will bloody well take the exam and pass.

Rinse and repeat for 902.

Good Luck.

AndersonSmith

You absolutely need to use study materials that align with the objectives of the current exam. CompTIA had a flow-chart a few months back showing the differences between the 800 series and 900 series exams.

jquiz

I just passed the 902 yesterday...I took the 901 a few weeks ago and passed that too. Best advice I can give you and many people will probably not like what I'm about to tell you but it worked for me. I started off on the gtslearning site, at first i was going through each topic and learning as I went, but when it came time to take the test all that reading books went out the window. I'm seeing the main issue with these COMPTIA test is they don't care about your BOOK knowledge, they want to know your REAL-WORLD APPLICATION. Translation...you need to study to pass THE TEST. i.e practice exam simulators. Do the gtslearning practice exam over and over until you score 80%+ on it...then if you can get access to testout.com and use their practice test simulator ( which is a lil bit harder) then do that and score at least an 80%+ on that one. Once you can score 80 to 90% on both practice exam simulators you will be skilled enough to pass the real exam. Reading the book will fill your head with so much and then when you take the test it won't be on anything you studied LOL. Trust me I failed my Sec+ that way. Sorry for the long rant, I'm sure you guys get the point. Do as many practice exams each day as possible until you are confident you're ready for the real exam, I passed both the 901 & 902 using that method.

Good luck!

jquiz

If I might add to what I previously posted on the A+ exams...when you sit down to take the real exam Comptia has designed it so that you will have to apply what you read or studied to REAL LIFE LIKE problems and SCENARIO's...in other words all of the questions are designed as if you walked into a room or a building and there are IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS for you to solve. They are not gonna give you questions like what is a MBSA or what is bitlocker or what does VSS stand for... The MAJORITY of your questions will be scenario and problem/issues based questions...if you go into it with that mentality and take practice exams that are structured like that then you will have no problem passing the real exams.

pacree

I looked at the Mike Meyers book at Books a Million this morning. I don't think I would have enough time to study it before I take my re-cert test. I've been searching for the Prowse Exam Cram but it is out of stock everywhere I have found so far. I'm hoping to find some place with practice questions. Any suggestions?