A+ OS Comprehensive Tips - A+ Certified today :)
digitalfire1981
Member Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
in A+
I'm now A+ certified, aftering passing A+ OS today, and A+ Hardware last week. I found this site, as well as www.mcmse.com, and the study notes here very useful. Thank you everyone for their contribution on this board , I just want to give a little back 
Just some comments/remarks for those who are worried about taking it:
1. Do not worry, the test isn't that bad! (I found it easier then Hardware ironically) If you have worked on any of the Windows OS's, for a few months... and you've done your studying its fine!
2. Get plenty of rest before taking the test... don't stress too much.
3. Do a lot of practice questions... ironically, many of the questions on my test were very similar if not identical to the ones i've seen online... on this site and other sites including sample tests. That being said.... passing this test means nothing, if you don't actually work on those OS yourself. I don't have much NT experience, but whizzed through the stuff because a lot of the questions are based on recall and memory. The scenario Q's were more of reason Q's and eliminating waht you knew was wrong.
I was inspired by the previous poster for all the tips he/she has given. So i'm doing the same. I AM NOT GOING TO ANSWER ANY OF THE QUESTIONS BELOW, that would be cheating.... this is a mere study guide that I've devised after writting the test. Do your own research and you'll do just fine! Also remember that the test keeps changing and questions rotate.... so understand the concepts.... don't just know the list below (although I won't be surprised if you passed just knowing the list below)
Here's the STUDY GUIDE i've devised ... and its not a coincidence that some of the Q's sound like the ones fromo ther study guides and sample test Q's... cuz like I said, I got a few Q's that were so similar to ones i've already been doing. BUt maybe that was just a coincidence??? Who knows....... kinda boggles me why that is so, it should prompt CompTIA to change some of their questions right? ANyways here are my tips and things I think you should know (this is just my opinon):
1. Know the minimum requirements for ME (CPU speed/RAM) ?
2. Know minimum requirements for 2000 (CPU speed/RAM),… in fact know them all, XP, 9X, NT…. I can almost see at LEAST 1 question on this, either on CPU speed or RAM or Storage minimums.
3. Scenarios like this: A person printed a page in a print pool in another room, but it hasn’t printed, what is the most likely reason why?
4. Know boot order like: If you want to have both Windows 98SE and 2000 on the same computer, what is the proper boot order? Does it matter? (of course!, study up)
5. Know all XP/2000/9X/NT utilities good ! i.e. How do you use the defragment tool in Windows XP? (Type DEFRAG … ways to do it?)
6. How do you create a Windows 98/2000 boot disk?
7. Know the difference between mem /c mem /d mem/p, in fact know the switches for all the
DOS commands listed in the objectives, knowing just the basics isn’t enough.
Like know ipconfig –a etc.
8. NTUSER.DAT know this, and what the difference is between USER.DAT
9. Local Administrator, Power User etc. … know in 2000/XP what they have authority to do, in terms of passwords, encypting etc. changing them etc.
10. Know the difference between NTFS 4.0 and NTFS 5.0
11. Know the OS’s that support PnP, what to do when PnP installs the wrong driver!
12. Know SMTP , HTTP, FTP – what do they do
13. Know the port numbers for all of SMTP (25) , HTTP (80), FTP (21), Telnet etc. etc.
14. REGEDIT vs. REGEDT32… this can get tricky , know the difference
15. WINNT.exe is used for new installations of Windows 2000
16. WINNT32.exe is used for upgrading Windows 2000
17. Know Cvt1.exe is used for FAT16-> FAT32 conversions
18. Know Convert command is used for FAT16/32 -> NTFS (in Win NT)
19. Know general upgrade paths (i.e. Win 9X can’t be upgraded to WinNT, and Win ME can’t be upgraded to Win 2K… and the ones for XP)
20. Know the 98 registries SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT – this should be a freebie, in fact
there are a handful of questions like this….
21. Know how to get IP address in 98 and XP .. know IPCONFIG, WINICPG etc.
22. Remember BOOT.INI is for NT/2K multiboot, and MSDOS.SYS is for 9x multiboot
23. Know what Task Manager is supposed to do, and how to access (Should be easy enough)
24. Know what Event Viewer is supposed to do, and how to acces
25. Knowing how to assign/release IP addresses ii.e. ipconfig /renew
26. Know what versions of Windows support the command winnnt32.exe /cmdcons (recovery console)
27. Know COMMAND.COM vs CMD.EXE (i.e. Win 9X uses Command.com)
28. Know the size of FAT16 (2GB) and know that FAT32(2TB) etc.
29. Know how many primary partitions can be made in Windows 2000
30. Know the difference between Differential and Incremental backups , i.e. Differential - copies only files created/changed since last full backup and doesn’t mark them as being backed up.
31. WIN.INI – know this , i.e. to support backward compatibility of 16 bit applications that can not access the windows registry.
32. Know the Last Known Good Configuration - This option is presented 2nd and if the space bar is pressed, the system will load system configuration information from the last successful boot. More so, when to use it!
33. Know when to use SCANREGW and SCANREG … there are differences and you need to know this
34. WIN386.SWP vs. Pagefile.sys
35. Know the tabs of MSCONFIG for different versions of Windows(for XP its System.INI, WIN.INI, BOOT.INI, Services)
36. Know WHICH editors (REGEDIT or NOTEPAD or SYSEDIT or EDIT) to open some of the registry files/system files etc.
37. Know the definitions and characteristics of all the boot files i.e. little things like which one has to be at least 1 KB!!!
38. Knows Windows Update – not a very difficult question, just know how, what the file is called… etc.
39. Some generic troubleshooting questions usually about networking , about what to do after pinging works, but still can’t function etc.
40. Minimal on viruses, but I had a question so know it – mine was really lame and easy.
41. I actually had a cabling type (yeah, SERIAL/PARALLEL/RS232 et) question … so don’t totally forget what you learned in the Hardware exam, about RS232 or CAT 5 cables… kind of surprised me because
I didn’t think it was very relevant, but hey I had a question about the maximum capacity of FAT32 on the Hardware exam.
42. Know the Difference between MSD.exe and wmsd.exe
43. Know the advantages of XP/NT vs 9X – in fact, this question is all over the place, it was worded exactly the same with the same responses… I saw this question on numerous prep sites….its not a hard question, it just had a lot of choices that seemed to be very generic (i.e. more stable, better security ) and you had to only choose 2.
44. Know locations of files i.e. Ntoskrnl is in System root\System32, and location of say Dr.Watson… and path and how to get there.
45. How to join domain, change network ID in Windows 2000 – should be easy enough since its on almost every prep/sample test thingy I saw.
46. Know the difference between Conventional memory, EMS, HMA, and XMS… should be easy enough since its also on the Hardware.
47. Know BOOTLOG.TXT and all the LOG files … I had one about WIN.Com /B which luckily I knew created the file, BOOTLOG.txt . So the lesson again is KNOW THE SWITCHES to the commands.. some study guides will give you a few, some will not even mention them.
48. Know what the keys F4,F5,F6,F8 do during startup in ALL of the OS’s ->they can be different in various OS’, so know them. Safe Mode (F5) for example
49. Know the system log – remember this is in Event Viewer and maintains info pertaining to services that have been stopped or started.
50. The difference between “Disk Administrator” and “Disk Management MMC” – basically Disk Administrator is in NT.
51. Tiny things that set apart one OS from another , for example , there is NO DEVICE MANAGER in NT,
so you can rule out things like that when you see that has a choice for something… or NO NTFS in Windows 98 whatsover… some of the choices were so dumb and wrong at first glance when you see them,
so you can eliminate things right away.
52. SSL and HTTPS – I remember having a very very basic question on this, know the syntax, what it stands for and what it does.
53. System Restore – ways to do this, and when this happens. (I.e. when windows crashes, it makes a system restore point I believe)
54. Know protocols .. stuff like how NWlink is related to IPX.
(Note: hat should cover everything i can recall that you should know, there maybe some typos/corrections and maybe some errors but hey, its just a guide, treat it as is)
Well good luck to everyone
When you take the exam you'll see its really NOT that hard.... you just need to study. Just in case people were wondering, I scored 658 which isn't the highest score, but i'm content. I've spent 1 week studying, I read 2 complete text books, A+ Exam Guide (By Crayton), and A+ Comoplete Guide , and the rest doing simulated exams on sites like this.
Just some comments/remarks for those who are worried about taking it:
1. Do not worry, the test isn't that bad! (I found it easier then Hardware ironically) If you have worked on any of the Windows OS's, for a few months... and you've done your studying its fine!
2. Get plenty of rest before taking the test... don't stress too much.
3. Do a lot of practice questions... ironically, many of the questions on my test were very similar if not identical to the ones i've seen online... on this site and other sites including sample tests. That being said.... passing this test means nothing, if you don't actually work on those OS yourself. I don't have much NT experience, but whizzed through the stuff because a lot of the questions are based on recall and memory. The scenario Q's were more of reason Q's and eliminating waht you knew was wrong.
I was inspired by the previous poster for all the tips he/she has given. So i'm doing the same. I AM NOT GOING TO ANSWER ANY OF THE QUESTIONS BELOW, that would be cheating.... this is a mere study guide that I've devised after writting the test. Do your own research and you'll do just fine! Also remember that the test keeps changing and questions rotate.... so understand the concepts.... don't just know the list below (although I won't be surprised if you passed just knowing the list below)
Here's the STUDY GUIDE i've devised ... and its not a coincidence that some of the Q's sound like the ones fromo ther study guides and sample test Q's... cuz like I said, I got a few Q's that were so similar to ones i've already been doing. BUt maybe that was just a coincidence??? Who knows....... kinda boggles me why that is so, it should prompt CompTIA to change some of their questions right? ANyways here are my tips and things I think you should know (this is just my opinon):
1. Know the minimum requirements for ME (CPU speed/RAM) ?
2. Know minimum requirements for 2000 (CPU speed/RAM),… in fact know them all, XP, 9X, NT…. I can almost see at LEAST 1 question on this, either on CPU speed or RAM or Storage minimums.
3. Scenarios like this: A person printed a page in a print pool in another room, but it hasn’t printed, what is the most likely reason why?
4. Know boot order like: If you want to have both Windows 98SE and 2000 on the same computer, what is the proper boot order? Does it matter? (of course!, study up)
5. Know all XP/2000/9X/NT utilities good ! i.e. How do you use the defragment tool in Windows XP? (Type DEFRAG … ways to do it?)
6. How do you create a Windows 98/2000 boot disk?
7. Know the difference between mem /c mem /d mem/p, in fact know the switches for all the
DOS commands listed in the objectives, knowing just the basics isn’t enough.
Like know ipconfig –a etc.
8. NTUSER.DAT know this, and what the difference is between USER.DAT
9. Local Administrator, Power User etc. … know in 2000/XP what they have authority to do, in terms of passwords, encypting etc. changing them etc.
10. Know the difference between NTFS 4.0 and NTFS 5.0
11. Know the OS’s that support PnP, what to do when PnP installs the wrong driver!
12. Know SMTP , HTTP, FTP – what do they do
13. Know the port numbers for all of SMTP (25) , HTTP (80), FTP (21), Telnet etc. etc.
14. REGEDIT vs. REGEDT32… this can get tricky , know the difference
15. WINNT.exe is used for new installations of Windows 2000
16. WINNT32.exe is used for upgrading Windows 2000
17. Know Cvt1.exe is used for FAT16-> FAT32 conversions
18. Know Convert command is used for FAT16/32 -> NTFS (in Win NT)
19. Know general upgrade paths (i.e. Win 9X can’t be upgraded to WinNT, and Win ME can’t be upgraded to Win 2K… and the ones for XP)
20. Know the 98 registries SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT – this should be a freebie, in fact
there are a handful of questions like this….
21. Know how to get IP address in 98 and XP .. know IPCONFIG, WINICPG etc.
22. Remember BOOT.INI is for NT/2K multiboot, and MSDOS.SYS is for 9x multiboot
23. Know what Task Manager is supposed to do, and how to access (Should be easy enough)
24. Know what Event Viewer is supposed to do, and how to acces
25. Knowing how to assign/release IP addresses ii.e. ipconfig /renew
26. Know what versions of Windows support the command winnnt32.exe /cmdcons (recovery console)
27. Know COMMAND.COM vs CMD.EXE (i.e. Win 9X uses Command.com)
28. Know the size of FAT16 (2GB) and know that FAT32(2TB) etc.
29. Know how many primary partitions can be made in Windows 2000
30. Know the difference between Differential and Incremental backups , i.e. Differential - copies only files created/changed since last full backup and doesn’t mark them as being backed up.
31. WIN.INI – know this , i.e. to support backward compatibility of 16 bit applications that can not access the windows registry.
32. Know the Last Known Good Configuration - This option is presented 2nd and if the space bar is pressed, the system will load system configuration information from the last successful boot. More so, when to use it!
33. Know when to use SCANREGW and SCANREG … there are differences and you need to know this
34. WIN386.SWP vs. Pagefile.sys
35. Know the tabs of MSCONFIG for different versions of Windows(for XP its System.INI, WIN.INI, BOOT.INI, Services)
36. Know WHICH editors (REGEDIT or NOTEPAD or SYSEDIT or EDIT) to open some of the registry files/system files etc.
37. Know the definitions and characteristics of all the boot files i.e. little things like which one has to be at least 1 KB!!!
38. Knows Windows Update – not a very difficult question, just know how, what the file is called… etc.
39. Some generic troubleshooting questions usually about networking , about what to do after pinging works, but still can’t function etc.
40. Minimal on viruses, but I had a question so know it – mine was really lame and easy.
41. I actually had a cabling type (yeah, SERIAL/PARALLEL/RS232 et) question … so don’t totally forget what you learned in the Hardware exam, about RS232 or CAT 5 cables… kind of surprised me because
I didn’t think it was very relevant, but hey I had a question about the maximum capacity of FAT32 on the Hardware exam.
42. Know the Difference between MSD.exe and wmsd.exe
43. Know the advantages of XP/NT vs 9X – in fact, this question is all over the place, it was worded exactly the same with the same responses… I saw this question on numerous prep sites….its not a hard question, it just had a lot of choices that seemed to be very generic (i.e. more stable, better security ) and you had to only choose 2.
44. Know locations of files i.e. Ntoskrnl is in System root\System32, and location of say Dr.Watson… and path and how to get there.
45. How to join domain, change network ID in Windows 2000 – should be easy enough since its on almost every prep/sample test thingy I saw.
46. Know the difference between Conventional memory, EMS, HMA, and XMS… should be easy enough since its also on the Hardware.
47. Know BOOTLOG.TXT and all the LOG files … I had one about WIN.Com /B which luckily I knew created the file, BOOTLOG.txt . So the lesson again is KNOW THE SWITCHES to the commands.. some study guides will give you a few, some will not even mention them.
48. Know what the keys F4,F5,F6,F8 do during startup in ALL of the OS’s ->they can be different in various OS’, so know them. Safe Mode (F5) for example
49. Know the system log – remember this is in Event Viewer and maintains info pertaining to services that have been stopped or started.
50. The difference between “Disk Administrator” and “Disk Management MMC” – basically Disk Administrator is in NT.
51. Tiny things that set apart one OS from another , for example , there is NO DEVICE MANAGER in NT,
so you can rule out things like that when you see that has a choice for something… or NO NTFS in Windows 98 whatsover… some of the choices were so dumb and wrong at first glance when you see them,
so you can eliminate things right away.
52. SSL and HTTPS – I remember having a very very basic question on this, know the syntax, what it stands for and what it does.
53. System Restore – ways to do this, and when this happens. (I.e. when windows crashes, it makes a system restore point I believe)
54. Know protocols .. stuff like how NWlink is related to IPX.
(Note: hat should cover everything i can recall that you should know, there maybe some typos/corrections and maybe some errors but hey, its just a guide, treat it as is)
Well good luck to everyone
When you take the exam you'll see its really NOT that hard.... you just need to study. Just in case people were wondering, I scored 658 which isn't the highest score, but i'm content. I've spent 1 week studying, I read 2 complete text books, A+ Exam Guide (By Crayton), and A+ Comoplete Guide , and the rest doing simulated exams on sites like this.
Comments
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BigO1120
Member Posts: 110
Hey digitalfire1981!! Congrats on getting your A+. I'm going for the cert. in 2 weeks. I wanted to know which of the 2 exams would you recommend taking first (HW or OS)?
Feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!
A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever -
janmike
Member Posts: 3,076
Congratulations on the pass!"It doesn't matter, it's in the past!"--Rafiki
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digitalfire1981
Member Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
bigo1120 wrote:Hey digitalfire1981!! Congrats on getting your A+. I'm going for the cert. in 2 weeks. I wanted to know which of the 2 exams would you recommend taking first (HW or OS)?
Feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!
I don't think it really matters which you take first. Most people take the Hardware , then the OS. I think its because a lot of people think HW is easier then the OS. For me it was the other way around, and so if I had to choose, I would take the OS first. May cuz I have more OS experience, I found it easier.
But whatever you decide, remember that there can can be OVERLAP on both exams which I found ironic
i.e. Getting an IRQ question , cabling question on the OS exam
and getting a FAT32 question on the Hardware.... that didn't make sense to me, but it happened to me. So keep an open mind when writting either or. -
Drakonblayde
Member Posts: 542
19. Know general upgrade paths (i.e. Win 9X can’t be upgraded to WinNT, and Win ME can’t be upgraded to Win 2K… and the ones for XP)
You *can* however upgrade anything except for the WinNT and Win2k server editions to XP
= Marcus Drakonblayde
================
CCNP-O-Meter:
=[0%]==[25%]==[50%]==[75%]==[100%]
==[X]===[X]====[ ]=====[ ]====[ ]==
=CCNA==BSCI==BCMSN==BCRAN==CIT= -
BigO1120
Member Posts: 110
digitalfire1981 wrote:I don't think it really matters which you take first... So keep an open mind when writting either or.
digitalfire1981...thanks for the heads up and the hook up. Congrats again on getting you A+. Put it to some good use.A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever -
cliffjag1987
Member Posts: 206
Congratz!!
!Wow! what a long review, but thats good because its good for the upcoming people thats gonna make A+. -
mark_piza
Member Posts: 53 ■■□□□□□□□□
Thanks digitalfire for that extremely useful information. I'm taking the OS exam tomorrow, so i'll let you all know how I go...
There's just one thing I wanna know! Does Win NT 4.0 have a device manager? If so, is it called device manager or something else??
I have found that some study guides/books say it has a device manager, and some say that there isn't one??? I don't know what is correct because I have never played around with NT4!
If anyone knows and is certain about it, i'd really appreciate it if you could reply as soon as possible, as I have the exam tomorrow!!
Thanks guys!
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BigO1120
Member Posts: 110
Windows NT (the last time I checked on my job's computers) does not have a Device Manager. To install devices on Windows NT system you would need to use the various icons within the Control Panel.
I hope this helps...Kick some A$$ on the test tomorrow!!!A Thing Of Beauty Is A Joy Forever -
mark_piza
Member Posts: 53 ■■□□□□□□□□
Thanks bigo1120 for the quick reply!
I will let you know how I go... -
JGPC2001
Inactive Imported Users Posts: 10 ■□□□□□□□□□
:P CONgratssss
I think you meant http://www.mcmcse.com/
NOt www.mcmse.com
THanks a lot for tips
[/url] -
mark_piza
Member Posts: 53 ■■□□□□□□□□
I passed OS today with a score of 757!!
Thanks for all the tips and advice guys!!
