I'm a the beginning of A+ core & OS studies, Any suggest

Warren_nz

Being a late starter as a techie, I am just at the beginning of A+ and Network+ and MCSE. As a mature individual (50s) and more into practical stuff as apposed to the theory, has anyone got any useful ideas on remembering what is needed?

This old Bio-Computer never was much into this sort of thing but in a moment of weakness, I made a commitment. Any exam info that would be useful I will be happy to receive (in fact all donations will be greatfully accepted).

Hear from you, thanks for the help

Warren_nz

RussS

Hey Warren

Well, I was 40 something when I decided to ditch my job and change careers to where I can play with my toys all day long ... lol

I recommend Mike Meyers A+ All In One book - currently 4th edition, but a 5th should be out soon covering the new Comptia exam objectives.
Talking about objectives - the best way to study for this (or any exam for that matter) is to hit the site and see what they are going to test you on.

http://www.comptia.org/certification/A/objectives.asp

It is good if you have a W98 and a W2K machine to familiarise yourself with the various screens - regedit / regedt32 - configsys / msconfig etc.

bellboy

i agree with russ. get yourself a couple of computers if you can. your book(s) will tell you the minimum spec required for each operating system, so try to get 2nd user gear at that spec (if not a bit higher), swap cards about, network them together.

evaluation versions of several versions of windows are about, so there is not always the need to buy.

the technotes here are excellent, too

JIT

Hello Warren, It is nice to see you in the board. I am in early forty and have decided to change my career to IT. I have done with A + and now working on Net +. As everybody has told, Mike, AIO is the best book for A+. When you finish with A+, try to catch hold of a passport type book such as A+ Adaptive test. You will do fine on the test. Another thing, try to read/learn one test at a time, Core may be first. If you have any doubt, please post here. Many will help you.

Good Luck!

Warren_nz

Thank you guys for your responses. I do have A+ and Network+ books by Micheal Myers as well as the same titles for "Dummies". But It is good to get your feedback on learning procedures as one can get a bit carried away on what to do first. The process I am taking is A+ first and I'm about a week away from the exam, then there will be MCSE followed by Network+.

Any sticky bits I should look out for? I see most have problems with the OS area, that normal?

Hear from you and thanks again

Warren

bellboy

it would be best to do network+ before mcse, as network+ will teach you fundementals of tcp/ip and networking that you will need in the microsoft exams. microsoft exams will go into networking in much greater depth than network+.

the operating systems seems to be the harder to grasp for most. spending time with as many of the operating systems in question will improve your confidence.

RussS

100% agreeance with bellboy. Network+ is someting that aids with higher level certification. Plus if you are short on study time or funds A+ and Net+ can be used as an elective for MCSA - 210/215/218 + A+ & Net+ equals MCSA. Add Security+ and one other Microsoft security exam and you have MCSA + Sec