Newbie to COMPTIA Certs - Q's

pjrouse

Hi folks,

I'm new to COMPTIA certification and was wondering if you could answer a few of my Q's

I am hoping to do A+ and Network+ to count towards an eventual MCSA

1)On the A+ side does the actual A+ qualification consist of 2 seperate exams? ie do you have to do both hardware and OS exams before you become A+ qualified?

2)Do you have to pay 2 x exam fess or does the exam fee cover both hardware and OS exams?

3)Is there any point in buying any books and study material to start studying now if the exam is gonna change on the 26th of Nov - ie I might not be ready to take the exam until after the 26th of Nov but the materials I will be using to learn from will be covering the old syllabus

4)Does study material already exist for the new objectives being tested from the 26th of Nov - ie can anyone recommend any good books to use?

5)Is Network+ just one exam?

Thanks for any help

Paul

bellboy

a+ consists of two exams. one core and one operating systems. both have to be paid for and both have to be passed before being awarded your certificate.

network+ is one exam. the price of which is a little higher than a single a+ exam.

janmike

Wow!

OK:

1) Yes. You have to do both OS and Core exams.
2) You pay 2 exam fees. I'm not sure, but I don't think they're quite as expensive as fees for the single test certs.
3)Maybe. Certainly revised texts are coming out, but I'm not presently in the market for A+. Check with objectives on COMPtia web site and you can supplement any study guides for any additional objectives off of internet sites.
4) Don't know if there are any study guides, but there's an abundance of material on Windows XP around(believe that will be one of the biggest changes).
5)Network+ is just 1 exam.

I would not recommend that you use only one study guide for any one exam--especially A+ because it covers such a wide subject area.

Good luck!

pjrouse

janmike wrote:

Wow!

I would not recommend that you use only one study guide for any one exam--especially A+ because it covers such a wide subject area.

thanks for your help !!!

could you recommend any books at all ?

Thanks again

Paul

janmike

I enjoyed All-in-One A+ Study Guide by Michael Meyers and followed that
with his All-in-One Study Guide for Network+. Another book that I used for A+ was A+ for Dummies--the one I started with. It seems that this book is not highly recommended. My 3rd A+ book came with a course that I took at a local state college,Enhanced A+ Study Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, by Jean Andrews. All of the people in the class found this one to be comprehensive but really dry and hard to get into. Those are the books that I used.

The AIO book by Meyers was the only guide I used for Net+(that's why I don't recommend only one study guide, not that the guide had anything to do with it, but it's just that I would have gone into the exam with a lot more self assurance if I had used more study materials).

Also, you can go to Amazon and read the reviews on a particular book. They're generally pretty acurate.