A+ My plans, Book, Lab and passing the exam

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Hey everyone, I have been browsing these forums for a while and I have to say that this place seems very helpful.

Ok, well I plan on taking my A+ in the next 3months.
Now, I have minimum experience with Hardware, I've only done a few things like Install RAM and Secondary CD/DVD Drives.

I have a copy of the MM book, its the 5th Rev. edition, will this do?

Also, I am considering getting a new machine the end of this month. Would it be wise to try building my own machine? Would this help me with the A+ certification?

Are there any other things that I can do to help myself become more confident with taking the exam.

My planned certification path is:

A+, N+, S+, Linux+, MCSA, MCSE and CCNA

I started preparing for the 20-270 Windows XP Exam today, I got the sybex book and the Microsoft one.

 

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Your going to need the 6th edition for the A+ mate, as the 2003 objectives that your current book supports are retired at the end of the month.

It would definately be a good idea to build your own machine, and if you dont feel upto that, then pickup a cheap machine from somewhere to mess about with. It helps alot to get some hands on and familiarise yourself with the PC.

 

Your studying for the A+ and 270 together?

Might be an idea to start with the A+ and then go on to the XP exam.

Welcome aboard.

 

Cheers, I think I'll get that straight away and seeing as I have started reading/studying and setup VMwares for the 270 I may aswel complete that first instead of getting ahead of myself.

Unless there are good reasons that I should prepare and take the A+ exam before the 270?

 

I'll have to go with what the lads have said so far. Don't put too much on your plate at once...especially if you have limited experience in the hardware arena.

Building your own PC is extremely helpful but not absolutely necessary. Also, it can be more expensive than you might imagine, sometimes exceeding the cost of buying a cheap PC "off the shelf". Probably getting one or two older PCs to work on is the more practical approach.

Your certification path is years in the making. While the various CompTIA plus certs you could probably pull off in a year or so, the Microsoft certs...particularly the MCSE (which is comprised of seven separate exams) can take 2 to 3 years or more. Also, you'll never actually pass most of those exams without gaining actual production experience managing Microsoft domains.

The CCNA is one or two exams depending on which path you take and is considered "entry level".

As you continue your educational path and particularly as you gain practical experience in the IT field, continue to re-evaluate your goals. The path you've chosen is fairly traditional but it's not the only one out there.

 

I'd recommend the A+ first, before anything else.

 

Well you guys have "been there and done that" so I appreciate the advice and I will go for the A+ first.

Lucky for me I have a corporate network to play around on and I am highly engouraged at work to do so. My employer is a Microsoft Partner, which in turn means that they are more than happy to pay for study materials, courses and exams. Not only this but they will give me paid leave to study.

I will be taking advantage of this when doing the A+.
I don't think that a course is necessary for me, I am a very motivated person when it comes to learning (well Id like to think so).

From what I have read here and from what I have heard I think that I would learn more preparing for the A+ by myself. Playing around with computers and OS etc.

Thanks again for the help guys and if I do decide to build a machine I think that I might document (including Photos) and post it here if it would benefit anyone?

Im just waiting to get talking to the HR department next week and get the money I need for components.

 

Sounds like you've got a great situation going for you, mate.

As far as documenting the construction of a PC, that's a great idea. I should mention that it's been done. Probably the finest book I've ever seen on the subject is "Building the Perfect PC":

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=14552

 

You NEED the MM 6th ed book! Your hardware experience is not bad since its the most common things you'll be required to do. However, get experience on installing motherboards and particularly cpu chips with the heatsink/fan assembly. Also learn the safety measures and precautions on handling certain components (ESD, etc.). Get at least TWO old systems to play with. Reason being is that you could get experience on how to network the two. That helped me out BIG TIME when I was studying and it helped me to understand and remember alot of stuff that made me bored and sleepy when I read the MM book. Better yet you could install Win9x/Me on one and Win NT/2000/XP on the other, and the possibilities are endless. So have fun!

Oh, and leave the 70-270 until AFTER you pass the A+ and Network+, so that you could focus strictly on MCSA rather than doing it in pieces. That's what I also plan on doing. You're welcome to ask questions at anytime as we are here to gladly assist and advise you. Welcome!