A+ where to begin?

Discussion in 'A+' started by alik007, Dec 10, 2008.

  1. alik007

    alik007 New Member

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    Hi All,

    I have just received the Mike Meyers A+ All in one book today. I was wondering where to start, do I just go through each chapter first and do the review questions or is there anything else you could recommend? I was thinking to buy the James Pyles book as well - is this any good?

    Also where is the best place to get practice exams to try out what ive learnt?

    Or maybe there's a thread you can direct me to on how to begin :oops:

    Thanks for all your help.

    Ali
     
  2. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    REad the whole book, do the review questions at the end of each chapter, read up again.

    Go through PC Technician street smarts and practice as much as you can and yes it is good

    Do the free practice exams on www.proprofs.com

    get some proper exam questions from prelogic, Boson or Transcender.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  3. Kitkatninja
    Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    Can't argue with what GBL already said :D

    -Ken
     
    Certifications: MSc, PGDip, PGCert, BSc, HNC, LCGI, MBCS CITP, MCP, MCSA, MCSE, MCE, A+, N+, S+, Server+
    WIP: MSc Cyber Security
  4. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    Neither can I. :wink:
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  5. tysfoot

    tysfoot Byte Poster

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    Hi, im in the same boat as you. i have bought the AIO book and the passport book but because i have no prior knowledge of I.T im finding it hard to digest all the information.

    what im doing now is watching all these training videos and taking lots of notes

    http://www.professormesser.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43

    These videos make it easier to understand, now that im redaing the book it makes it all a lot easier to understand
     
    Certifications: A+
    WIP: MCDST, N+
  6. BosonJosh

    BosonJosh Gigabyte Poster

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    I'll echo the others and say "What GBL said."
     
  7. soundian

    soundian Gigabyte Poster

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    Here's what I've done so far, it seems to be working for me as I'm now in the position where if I had to take the exam tomorrow I feel I'd have a better than 50% chance of passing.

    First I started reading the book and did a few practice exams to get an idea of where I was at. I was scoring around 50-60% in the exams.
    I did a few more practice exams after reading the book and my average score had only risen by 5% :(
    Then I read through the book again taking notes. I didn't do the end of chapter tests while reading, I saved them all for when I finished to help me identify my weak chapters. Once I'd revised my weak spots again I tried a few more practice tests and my average score was around 77% :) , it also highlighted one area where I was weak that didn't show up in my end of chapter results. I've now revised all those chapters as well and seem to have improved in the one test I tried.
    Now I'm on my third pass, I'm taking a fresh set of notes, a good idea I think because now I have more knowledge of what to expect in the exams and writing things down seems to have really lodged the information in quickly.

    In conjunction with all this I've been messing about with computers and other hardware donated by friends. I think it's worth asking round friends and family, old PCs are hard to sell so most people either just throw them out or use them as dust collectors. Most of the money I've spent has been in upgrading my PC (putting the old hardware into my practice PC). Consider buying a KVM switch so you don't need an extra monitor, keyboard or mouse, I got one for about £18.
    I would say the practical experience is invaluable. For instance now I can confirm that a bad install of a PCI card can indeed screw your CMOS, I know the feeling of dread when the PC fails to even POST, and the joy/relief of successfully clearing the CMOS and reviving a seemingly dead computer. Amongst many other things.

    I hope some of that's helpful.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+,MCDST,MCTS(680), MCP(270, 271, 272), ITILv3F, CCENT
    WIP: Knuckling down at my new job
  8. alik007

    alik007 New Member

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    Thanks for all your responses people, I will let you know how I get on. Ive read through the first couple of chapters anyway.

    Thanks :)
     
  9. tysfoot

    tysfoot Byte Poster

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    I just wanted to ask anyone who has passed or is reading both the AIO book and the passport book.

    I'am currently half way though the AIO book and im finding it very hard to understand most things in there. i was going to read the whole book then read it again and take notes, then start practice questions on each chapter.


    I also have the passport book and ive read though a few chapters and everything seems to be digesting much easier.

    I wanted to ask if i just read the Passport book and prefer the passport book is there enough information in there to pass the exams.
    I also have Street Smarts and Exam Cram


    The AIO book is making my Comptia A+ adventure more daunting as im forgetting everything ive just read because im not getting things :x
     
    Certifications: A+
    WIP: MCDST, N+
  10. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I have the passport book, it is for revision only that is why it seems more simplistic.

    We had a member on here who wouldn't get the AIO book and said that he would pass by only using the passport book. He failed miserably. USe the the AIO book for main study then when you are near the exams use the passport book.

    What areas are you finding difficult maybe we can help.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  11. mattstevenson

    mattstevenson Byte Poster

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    When I was learning the A+, I used the Sybex Deluxe book. It's got all the information you could ever want in there. Of course, if you're struggling with the Mike Meyer's book, then the Sybex is going to be ridiculous. Still, might be worth getting for extra reading, and for the review questions. I do know that it covers all of the flavours of A+ (601-604?). You might get one for about £15 on Amazon.
     
    Certifications: Triple A+. Network+, CCENT
    WIP: MCP, ICND2, Sec+
  12. tysfoot

    tysfoot Byte Poster

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    Basically without sounding dumb, because im very basic on computers im finding alot of it advanced

    When i read the Passport book am understanding whats being wrote whereas if i read the AIO at the end of the chapter (Because the chapters are so big) im not taking everything in. i then try and answer the review questions but i cant seem t answer many of them correctly


    Do yu think its would be a wise move to read the Passport book from start to finish, try and understnd everything in that book, answer the review questions then move onto the AIO.

    maybe that might kick start my brain a bit :lolbang


    The problem with me is, i see myself as fairly intellegent but i find it very difficult to read something and remember what ive just read. (This doesnt happen with everything, only when i study and i have to take things in)

    Very hard for someone who is home studiying and has over 2000 pages worth of books to read :biggrin

    Any chance i could borrow someones brain for a week, i promise i will look after it :git :morebeer
     
    Certifications: A+
    WIP: MCDST, N+
  13. greenbrucelee
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    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    I am quite similar in I can read something then just forget what I have read, the way I get around this is: if it is something such as remembering cpu package types and the sockets is to read and re-read. In the AIO book I actually highlighted this information so when I read the chapter it stuck out.

    With things like what a hard drive and ram does and how it works and where it goes, I opened up my pc and took it all out then I put it back in and followed the cabling and using a torch followed the circuits on the motherboard so i could see where each one went.

    I had built PCs years ago and used them years ago, but untill 3 months before I found this place I hadn't owned a PC since 1996 although I had used them at work and a lot has changed since 96.

    See if you can get an old pc that you can take to pieces this should help in understanding all of the components and will aid you in studying the AIO book. I am actually selling my old PC but could be quite expensive for you (£200) if you aren't going to use it. It's a core 2 duo 2.1GHz with XP.

    If you are stuggling on anything specific let me know hopefully I can help :)

    You could read the passport book but do not skimp on the AIO as it has more details that will be needed for the exam.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  14. bluemooncity

    bluemooncity New Member

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    PC Technician street smarts??? iv got aio but is it worth me getting PC Technician street smarts??? i was thinking of just studying aio A+ only so not to get confused!
     
    WIP: compTIA A+
  15. tripwire45
    Honorary Member

    tripwire45 Zettabyte Poster

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    The two books don't compete in terms of content. The AiO is an all-encompassing tome containing everything you'll need to stuff into your memory about the A+ cert exams. The Street Smarts book is written like "a year in the life" of a support technician. It's divided into 4 "phases" or really long chapters and in each phase is a large number of labs that walk you step-by-step through specific tasks a tech would do in a typical day on the job.

    If you've got a lot of hands on experience supporting PC hardware and apps, it would probably be a waste of your time, but if you want to practice performing some of the tasks you'll probably be doing in real life, it would probably be a good idea to at least consider the book.

    Of course, I'm biased since I wrote the book. It has the benefit of being based on the actual trouble tickets I responded to when I worked for the IT department of a small/middle sized city.
     
    Certifications: A+ and Network+
  16. soundian

    soundian Gigabyte Poster

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    Personally I'd put down all the review books and concentrate on AIO. If you understand the material in Passport but not in AIO then you probably only think you understand the material in Passport.

    If you're starting from a fairly basic level of knowledge then you're not going to understand everything first time round so don't fret about it, move on. Because everything is so interlinked, it's hard to understand some things fully without some of the knowledge in later chapters so use your first read through to get a general idea of how it all works and how it all fits together and don't get bogged down in the detail.
    There's a fair bit of brute memory involved in this exam so your scores aren't really going to get any better until you understand the general concepts and are ready to start memorising facts.

    As I said earlier in this thread, my test scores barely got better after my first read through but now, with hindsight, I can see how much I benefited from it.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+,MCDST,MCTS(680), MCP(270, 271, 272), ITILv3F, CCENT
    WIP: Knuckling down at my new job

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