Could you pass A+ again?

For those of you who already have an A+ certification, and have had it for awhile, could you just go take it again and pass it if you needed to? Like without studying? Or would you have to do some kind of refresher? For those that have moved on to bigger and better things, do you retain the original knowledge?

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TheShadow

Mike-Mike wrote: »

For those of you who already have an A+ certification, and have had it for awhile, could you just go take it again and pass it if you needed to? Like without studying? Or would you have to do some kind of refresher? For those that have moved on to bigger and better things, do you retain the original knowledge?

I took both tests the same day the first time with no study. I suppose I could do it again if I wanted to be bored to death. However, I have designed a couple of motherboards for embedded systems before so I am not a good example.

rogue2shadow

I recently took it but a big part of my work experience thus far was PC repair and maintenance so I think I could do it again without any major studying. The only thing I'd be afraid of is IRQs/DMAs.

erpadmin

Mike-Mike wrote: »

For those of you who already have an A+ certification, and have had it for awhile, could you just go take it again and pass it if you needed to? Like without studying? Or would you have to do some kind of refresher? For those that have moved on to bigger and better things, do you retain the original knowledge?

I took the A+ ten years after I needed to and that was 5 years ago. I think the A+ came out in 1999 though, but I was already 8 years into "A+ knowledge" at that point between working and my years as a hobbyist.

I can build a PC drunk and in my sleep (and this is a newer one, with SATA instead of IDE with jumpering master/slave configs). This was also for the 30X (301 and 302 exams). Could I take the A+ today and pass? Yes. Would I need a refresher? Maybe/Maybe not. I would probably use a Passport book to deal with it if I had to. But I'm pretty sure I could pass A+ and Network+ with little study if I had to. (And I pretty much don't at this present time.

Psoasman

I think so. I would probably review the newer objectives, though.

Forsaken_GA

I seriously doubt I could. I took both exams one after the other back in the day. I can still build my own boxen, whether it be desktop or server, but I doubt I could just walk in and knock it out of the park.

The Net+, otoh, I'm sure I could pass. No clue what's on the exam these days, but if I couldn't walk in and pass that one without any study, I might as well give up my CCIE aspirations

Zartanasaurus

Yes, but I wouldn't want to.

I've had a similar question going in my mind the last few years. If I sat for the SATs cold right now, would do I better or worse than I did in HS?

subl1m1nal

Could I? Yes. Would I need a little refresher? Probably. Will I take it again? Probably not. I'm A+ certified for life. If I upgraded, I'd be on the 3 year upgrade plan. I don't think the A+ is worth upgrading every 3 years.

PC hardware might change, but you only require the knowledge once. The buses and connectors might change, but thats about it.

earweed

Could I pass the test right now? Maybe.
Would I require some review first? Definitely
I work on PCs regularly and have even built 3 but the knowledge isn't really all that fresh regarding some of the details and minutae. My A+ was 2 years ago but I could probably eek out a pass.

chmorin

Mike-Mike wrote: »

For those of you who already have an A+ certification, and have had it for awhile, could you just go take it again and pass it if you needed to? Like without studying? Or would you have to do some kind of refresher? For those that have moved on to bigger and better things, do you retain the original knowledge?

I took the tests about a year ago. There is alot of information that I do not use frequently AT ALL but i feel like I could PASS it again, maybe not with flying colors unless I studied for a week or two like I did last time.

Devilsbane

I think I would have some trouble passing again. For 1, it is a different version now. And 2, over the past year some of that info has slipped away.

I'd like to think I still could, but it would probably be rough (without any study that is)

apena7

Without studying? Probably not.
I would need to review the objectives for a week or two and then I'd be able to pass it again.

fieldmonkey

rogue2shadow wrote: »

The only thing I'd be afraid of is IRQs/DMAs.

I recently took both of the exams, and there were no questions regarding DMA's and IRQ's. I can't recall, but I don't even think they are mentioned in the objectives any longer.

Chris:/*

Yes, blind!

Bl8ckr0uter

I could but I wouldn't go through the trouble. Honestly I don't think it has done much for my career. At the time though, it did get me into thinking like a tech though so It helped. If I was going to do another "+" exam (besides LPIC-1/L+) it would be server/storage+ simply because those are two very weak areas of mine. In fact if a storage + beta comes out I will probably go for it because I need a reason to study up on storage.

matt79

Mike-Mike wrote: »

For those of you who already have an A+ certification, and have had it for awhile, could you just go take it again and pass it if you needed to? Like without studying? Or would you have to do some kind of refresher? For those that have moved on to bigger and better things, do you retain the original knowledge?

Well I can not really say for sure since I only have half of my A+. But I can say that I did not study for the first half either, so I am assuming that in the future, that if needed, I could retake it without studying.

ajmatson

Well I just did, I took it in 2005 and haven't opened and A+ book since. I had WGU remove them from my passed classes so I could take it and update it before the switch to non-lifetime certs today and passed with an 880 on the first one and 835 on the second with no studying

brewd

Without a refresher I'd probably fail it (I can build a PC blindfolded but not following the CompTIA specs). Like others have pointed out the IRQ/DMA stuff would be an issue for me as well. I originally passed both the exams on the same day back in 1998 when DOS/Windows 3.1 were the objectives. Crazy to think it was THAT long ago.

I've often thought of re-upping my A+ just to compare today's objectives but haven't wanted to waste the $'s nor the time to bother.