Need study advice for Comptia A+

DCX4705

Data mgt degree and in IT (off and on) since 1992. Programming, development, tech support, etc. Am now studying for Comptia A+ cert. I don't know how I can memorize everything expected of me. Tables of processors, memory, cable speeds/configurations. Maybe I just got old. How do you do this? I've read and am re-reading the book, taking practice tests, still, can't seem to memorize all this stuff.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TheFORCE

Why are you going for A+, what is your long term goal? Maybe A+ is not a good fit for you if you already have some experience that trumps the A+ knowledge.

AndersonSmith

I agree with TheFORCE, what are your long term goals? A+ is considered an entry level certification and you may be beyond that anyway. I see you have MCP, what exam did you take to get that? You might want to stick with Microsoft exams if you've already gotten part of a certification such as the MCSA. As far as how I went about remembering everything - just lots and lots of studying.

cdx

Watch Professor Messer A+ Free Youtube Video's and do a lot of Practice Tests in Learn Mode, Exam Cram is a great book I used and comes with hundreds of Practice Questions. Don't focus so much on memorizing everything, but understand how computers work instead, and you will pass. Print out the A+ Comptia Exam Objectives and go over those and be familiar with them.

jrisbrook

I write out tables of stuff im supposed to remember and then say it out loud to myself afew times. Then i find someone who knows 0 about IT and I start talking to them about the difference between abc etc until im blue in the face. If you can do that confidently it just sticks... lol

Jayblazer

Sorry to hijack a thread but I didn't want to start a new one to ask a similar question about studying. How important is it for me to memorize all the acronyms? There are just SO many! I have been making flash cards but I don't think I will ever get all of them. I know many of them but I think there are 4 pages of them with 2 columns per page in the objectives.

AndersonSmith

Jayblazer wrote: »

Sorry to hijack a thread but I didn't want to start a new one to ask a similar question about studying. How important is it for me to memorize all the acronyms? There are just SO many! I have been making flash cards but I don't think I will ever get all of them. I know many of them but I think there are 4 pages of them with 2 columns per page in the objectives.

I don't mean to scare you, but it's very important to memorize all the acronyms - what they stand for and what they do. Most of the exams I've ever taken will use the acronym rather than that actual term it stands for. It's tough but keep at it with your flash cards. Taking some practice exams will help a lot with that as well.

Jayblazer

Dang it.. Like I know what a PCI is do i really need to know that it stands for Peripheral Componant Interconnect? Oh well if others have done it I guess I can too. I hope that context clues will help me.

DCX4705

Thanks for the suggestion about exam cram books. I've used them before but forgot about them until your post. My long term goals? Just to get back into the IT field (preferably hardware repair or help desk). Yet it seems as though employers are mostly looking for the A+ cert. Hence, my studies.