Advice for how to study for A+

corey1980

I just purchased "A+ 2006 In Depth" by Jean Andrews which is 1200+ pages in length. The set up of the book is great because she took the CompTIA objectives and goes in order from top to bottom covering everything. The only problem I'm having is there is SO much information and I am not sure what to focus on. I can't determine what will be a big deal on the exam itself. I don't want to skip over important information but I feel like there is no possible way I can retain all of the information from the book. Any suggestions?

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Slowhand

Read everything you need for the exams you're doing, there's nothing you can really skip that won't be on the tests. Cover each section step-by-step, test yourself with end-of-chapter reviews (if there are any). Focus on one test at a time, so cover only the information you need for that exam. If there are any case-studies or labs to do, do them until you understand how it all works. Also, don't skimp on the hands-on training. Play with the hardware, get practice installing Windows, using the commands they talk about, doing things both in the GUI and the command-line prompt. A good way to practice is to get yourself some parts, build a whole computer from scratch, install Windows on it, and then tear it down again to do it all over.

Plantwiz

corey1980 wrote:

I just purchased "A+ 2006 In Depth" by Jean Andrews which is 1200+ pages in length. The set up of the book is great because she took the CompTIA objectives and goes in order from top to bottom covering everything. The only problem I'm having is there is SO much information and I am not sure what to focus on. I can't determine what will be a big deal on the exam itself. I don't want to skip over important information but I feel like there is no possible way I can retain all of the information from the book. Any suggestions?

Start with a copy of the objectives. Depending on your study habits/preference, either review the objectives and highlight the areas you need to invest more time. Or work through the objectives from point one through the end.

I would recommend you limit your study time to 1 - 2 hours per day and no more. It may seem like a lot all at once, but really the objectives could easily be a course syllabus from a college course...make yourself a schedule, stick to it. You have a text to read as well so, you're off to a good start. I would recommend Mike Meyers book. Meyer's books are very well recognized, they have been used by thousands and his material is tested, over and over so there is a lot of information regarding what people think about his books and the pros/cons....a whole lot more pros.

If you still ahve questions, post them in the forums.

corey1980

Thank you for both responses. I guess I was feeling a bit overwhelmed when I first started. I am just going to break everything up into managable chunks and go from there. The book is just so in depth that I didn't know if I was supposed to know exactly how a HD works down to the actuators, read/write heads, how it's broken into sectors, how data is stored in those sectors, how much data is stored in each sector, etc. I don't remember my Network+ being that indepth. Maybe it's just the style of the different authors.

Plantwiz

Well, the more you know the better, however with CompTIA exams....'generally' the rule is that they are vendor netural so having an overview understanding is usually what they are looking for.

You'll want to know IRQs, DMA's, Print Process etc. In the case of the Print Process...this doesn't mean you must know EVERY Print Device on the market, but be familar wiith the categories of Print devices and how they function overall. In a nutshell, there is a bit to become familar with, but you don't have to become a specialist on all the information.

Follow the objectives. If you happen to know more...that's good

MR_BENN

There's some good advice by Slowhand & Plantwiz

Know the Syllabus, although there is one included in the book make sure you have an upto date one from Comptia Website:-

http://certification.comptia.org/resources/objectives.aspx

Also Mike Meyers has written a concise book on A+ 2006. This contains over 200 questions on A+ and has training videos/software enclosed on CD.

you can buy it from Amazon

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mike-Meyers-Certification-Passport-Certficiation/dp/0072263083/ref=sr_1_10/026-5897169-7642038?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180120499&sr=8-10

or Study Notes, which is an excellent site for concise study notes on A+

http://www.studynotes.net/Essentials-Study-Guide

Good Luck with your Studies

techgeek07

Corey,
I bought the same book myself, and, there's no good way to just read through it. The best thing to do is if you work as a tech at all, use it to brush up on the stuff you don't use everyday (irq's and the like..) other then that flip through it as often as possible and find the factoids you didn't know about the stuff you'd already been working with and obviously enjoyed for a while (or why else would you want to get into it?). They really stuff too much info in those books, but, they make great reference later down the road. Also, just as a heads up on the exam, most of the customer relations questions are common sense

Disclaimer: All that is being said is IMHO only