Relating the Techexams practice exams to the real thing...

blackmage439

So, I just scored an 88% on the Core practice exam on this website. That's the highest I've ever scored before. I didn't look up a single answer, and I'm pretty sure I didn't remember a single thing from the previous times I've tried it. The Display quiz is a breeze. However, the DMA/IRQ quiz is a beast. I usually get about or less than half of the questions correct... I know I have some things to brush up on. Mainly memorizing IRQ, DMA, and I/O relations.

What do you think would be my current chances of passing the Core exam for real?[/i]

Webmaster

Our A+ practice exam only covers a subset of the exam objectives. Although scoring 88% surely indicates you know a lot of relevant stuff, but you shouldn't use our exams as your 'only' indicator.

What other study material are you using?

blackmage439

Mainly, I have the two textbooks that were used in the two classes I took at my college. The courses were geared specifically for preparing you to take the Core and OS exams. The books are:

A+ Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting, Third Edition Enhanced

and

A+ Guide to Software: Managing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting, Third Edition Enhanced

both written by Jean Andrews.

The books came with CDs as well, supposedly containing hundreds of sample questions. I've taken the sample tests on the CD a couple of times, and I recieve a score between 75% and 80%, normaly. The books are not bad... I expect some are way better than those two, but I feel they cover a good deal of material. My only beef so far in the Hardware book is the lack of coverage in DMA channels.

Plantwiz

Have you downloaded a copy of the Objectives from CompTIA? If not, get those downloaded and review them.

Also, what sort of experience do you have?

blackmage439

No, I have not yet downloaded the objectives from CompTIA... I shall do that immediately!

My experience stretches back to high school, where I took all of the computer classes offered. In the last one, we kind of touched on the whole A+ idea by doing a presentation on building a PC from scratch. Since then, I've been working as a computer lab Aide since December of '03 at my college. We're expected to be able to perform general troubleshooting on the PCs and Macs there, including the printers and projector units. I consider myself to be the most skilled lab aide there when it comes to the technical knowledge (then again, most of them don't know a printer from their rear-end :P ). I've also done some work on a coworker's laptop by helping him troubleshoot, and ultimately replace, the hard drive.

As I've said before, I've taken my school's A+ preparation courses. Those courses involved hands-on lab activities covering many things from partitioning a HDD to troubleshooting a failed boot.

That's basically the limit to my experience, unfortunately...

And I want to say, thanks for the advice! I'm looking to take the hardware exam next week.

Webmaster

blackmage439 wrote:

No, I have not yet downloaded the objectives from CompTIA... I shall do that immediately!

That PDF should be your main guide for preparing for the exam. I usually print a copy and mark off anything I think I covered completely.

I'm looking to take the hardware exam next week

Good luck!

Plantwiz

Well sounds like you've got a little experience to at least help you out when you study

Good luck on the next exam!