Core was more difficult than expected

I just passed the core (with 595 so didn't exactly ace it) and found it a lot harder than I had thought it would be. There were a lot of questions I hadn't come across on any of the exams from this site, michael meyers' CD, mcmcse, or freetests. About half of the questions were troubleshooting, many of which I had to guess. Lots of the networking and peripherals questions used product specs and abbreviations I don't remember coming across. Not one IRQ / I/O question. I studied a lot (or so I thought) and still lots of stuff stumped me. Maybe if you work with this stuff, you will find it a lot easier than those of us who just use books & tests. Thanks for the tests and tips on this site. Gotta get revising for the OS now...

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Comments

janmike

Congrats on the pass!

tb0932

Thank you! It feels great to get it under my belt. Kept putting off the exam thinking I wasn't ready. At some point you just have to put the notes away and give it a try.

jjfalconer

tb0932 wrote:

Thank you! It feels great to get it under my belt. Kept putting off the exam thinking I wasn't ready. At some point you just have to put the notes away and give it a try.

I'm going to take the Core Hardware Test on Friday and this is the same way I was. I have been doing PC repair for about 7 years now and studing for the Core Hardware test has really help.

Thanks for the Infomation on the test

Thanks,

Justin

Plantwiz

Congrats on the pass!

tb0932 wrote:

Maybe if you work with this stuff, you will find it a lot easier than those of us who just use books & tests.

From the COMPTIA Objectives:

The Core Hardware examination measures essential competencies for an entry-level IT professional or PC service technician with the equivalent knowledge of at least 500 hours of hands-on experience in the lab or field.

snip

candidate has the important knowledge and skills necessary to competently install, build, configure, upgrade, troubleshoot and repair personal computer compatible hardware including troubleshooting basic network and internet connectivity, dial-up, DSL, and cable. Additionally, the A+ Core Hardware exam will cover the latest memory, bus, peripherals, and wireless technologies. The skills and knowledge measured by this examination are derived from an industry-level and worldwide critical incident analysis, which was validated through a survey of almost 2,000 A+ certified professionals.

The results of the survey are used in weighting the domains and ensuring that the weighting is representative of the relative importance of that content to the job requirements of an entry-level IT professional or PC service technician with the equivalent knowledge of at least 500 hours of hands-on experience in the lab or fieldThe intent is to certify individuals in a body of knowledge that is identified and accepted as the baseline or foundation of an entry-level IT professional or PC technician. It is not intended to measure ‘cutting edge’ technologies.

reloaded

I have been doing PC repair for about 7 years now and studing for the Core Hardware test has really help.

First, congrats on the pass. Second, yes, repairing or upgrading computers in the real world will help tremendously. I've been building/upgrading/repairing my own and others' computers since I was 14, so I knew I had to take the A+ sometime to make my skills "official." Again, congrats!

Ricka182

congrats!