losing hope..

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Hi Guys,

As the topic title states, I am losing hope in ever being ready to take my A+Exam . I have not had enough practice in pulling PC's apart and also experimenting with the various OS's. Family life takes its toll.... Is there anyone in the Suffolk region that is willing to teach or assisst me in training for the A+ Exam??

I am in desperate need of help and motivation.


I hope there is someone out there that can help.

Thanks

 

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Hi,

dont lose hope, theres no reason to. Lots of people on here will help, me included. There are far more knowledgable people than me here, but hey, just ask. Maybe try what i did and volunteer when starting out, it does help. And you'll find yourself facing problems not in any A+ books... Best way to learn.

Kat

 

Why don't you use some materials included Sim and Video? I think it very good. Noone can't buy all devices and practices with them (except you've already had a shop ). Keep on moving ^^

 

Hi - dont give up . I am like you in that i dont have much experience in pulling pc's apart and i dont have access to all the o/s's .

How long have you been studying , i have been doin A+ since march 06 - regular study almost everynight - at times i thought ive got no chance of ever understanding this stuff , but it is only now , after goin over the hardware and o/s sections at least twice that it is all starting to sink in and make sense .

A really big help was getting an old pc with win98 on it , this helps me play with win98 o/s , and hopefully this month i will be getting a couple more old pc's with 2000 and NT on .

dave

 

Hi,

Hang on in there. I, too, have a family and a disabled person to help - time really is at a premium, but I've learnt over the years just to battle on and you do truly reach your destination eventually, if you persist.

I've been studying now since April '06 from scratch and it's all starting to come together. Like you, I haven't had the chance to take a computer apart, but I have been using a LabSim (www.course.com) which has been of some help. I've also had to replace my power supply unit recently and it really gave me the confidence to jump in with both feet. I agree there's nothing like the real thing. There's always someone out there glad to get rid of an old computer. Have a good hunt around.

Don't lose heart - you'll get there.

Best of luck,

Rosie

 

Hi RIchie,

I am the first to say that it is difficult so don't think you are on your own.

You are learning something completely new (I assume!), you have your current job and of course, your family to consider.

Try and make a schedule for studying. Is there a time when the rest of the family to do something without you? Can you get up an hour early in the morning, or stay on an hour at night?

The bottom line is working in IT is a constant learning cycle. Personally, I enjoy learning new things, reading, asking questions and solving problems.
The battle you feel you are up against at the moment will ease when you are in an IT position - you will be gaining on the job, but the learning must continue for you to stay *on top* of your role.

Best of luck.

Si

 

All of the above are sound ideas and encouragement. I have a family too and the only time I really have to study is in the morning before everyone wakes up. This works if you are a morning person. Others tend to stay up after the family has gone to bed and study in the wee hours. Also, don't be so hard on yourself. If it takes a little longer to get your A+ then it takes longer. It's not like your goals will expire if you don't achieve them right away.

Jobs come and go and so do certifications, but the family is forever. I've learned hard lessons about setting priorities and making the family first. It's not easy when you need to pursue an education and career but remember what you're doing it all for in the first place.

 

Yep... my study time/writing time is after the wife and kids go to bed. Which is fine by me... that's when I do my best thinking. We've all got challenges to overcome. Just know that many of us are in the same boat as you... and like us, you can succeed too!

Get the A+ All-in-One Exam Guide by Mike Meyers (the new 6th edition will be out VERY soon), and the PC Technician Street Smarts book by James Pyles. Those books will put you on the right path.

Best of luck!

 

I agree with what everybody else has said in this thread. It is difficult to make time for study and I find that one of the hardest things with having a young family is managing to keep up a regular pattern of studying. Only you know your circumstances and so only you can work out the best solution. Just be sure that if you have questions then this is one of the best places to ask them and poeple are willing to help.

I passed A+ without so much as opening a PC or using anything other than Windows XP so it can be done.

I can understand that it can be daunting starting to learn a completely new subject from scratch and I find the best way to deal with this is to break things down in to smaller peices. Take each chapter of whatever study book you are using and just try to take the fundamentals from it before you learn it inside out. Use practice tests to gauge how much you know, if you're getting in excess of 70% I would say you have a good understanding of the subject matter. After you have done that with all of the chapters go back and read them again, I guarantee that you will take more in 2nd time around, you will be more relaxed and confident in your understanding of the topics.

Remember that a lot of the books go much more in to the subject matter than you need to know to pass an exam or to do a job, bear in mind that once you are in a job you will learn what you need to know while on the job and not by doing a cert.

Good luck

 

Good advice there from Fire Guy, Rep left

 

Same here. Just don't think you're alone in this. Maybe it might help to talk to your wife. I know mine cut me a bit of slack when I needed to cram my A+ and Network+ in before I did my training courses. At that time I was studying 3-4 hours a night and more on weekends.

Also you might try opening your pc at home. Then you can see and familiarise yourself with the insides of a pc, even if you don't pull it apart.

As for the OS side of things, vm server might be the best way to go for this. Download it from vmware.com and try getting hold of some older OS's.

 

Mine's cut me a TON of slack while I've been writing. I stumble to bed at 4am some nights. Fortunately for her, she's already been called into the kids bedrooms and fallen asleep in there by that time.

 

Thanks everyone for your comments, i now have renewed hope. I will buy you all a beer when I pass the exams ok

 

Hey m8, never give up hope!

i felt like that while doing my N+ but got on here got some tips and advice and i passed (if only just!)

BTW there a VUE test center in Bury St Edmunds. I took my N+ there. Cant remeber what they called but they are listed on the Vue website.

And if possible try to get a 2nd hand pc to take apart and learn that way. All it takes is a hour a night, a few posts on here and you can pass.

Its just a pity your in Stowmarket, its a bit too far to go for a nights teaching lol.... But if you have a day free on a weekend PM me and maybe i can help?

 

You're in the right place to get all the help,information and advice you need to get you through your A+.Shake yourself down,take a step back and look at your long term goals and how you are going to achieve them,more importantly you aregoing to achieve them.

You may be surprised at the amount of members in CF that are in a very similar situation,with familly and work commitments that seem to make your goal an insurmountable one,but as long as you have the support and the determination to proceed you will succeed.

Now,about that pint you said you'd buy us all...

 

I agree with Sparky on this buy an old PC for £50 and practice pulling it apart and rebuilding it. Then practice installing the OS 4-5 times to go through the various options and choices until you get confident with it. Practice things like driver rollbacks, booting into safe mode and using things like task manger etc. As pointed out Virtual PC or my preference VMWare will be a massive help to you and the best thing is the basic version is free.

To be honest there isn't a quick fix to learning IT as it takes years or trial and error, hands on experience and learning off others to get up to a good standard but the A+ exam is a good starting place. I've been in IT for years and around PC's for about 13 years and I still come across easy/stupid things that I don't know or haven't come across before but crack the basics and take it from there.

 

Ive personally decided not to sit the exams myself but Im still studying. I got an old PC off a mate and in the process of building a new one out of it for practice. (Unfortunately only the case and CD drive are salvageable).
It will do for a couple of Linux distros.

 

Well Said, that's excellent advice

 

Hi, its not always easy to do something new and compleaty different, I know cos I'm also doind my A+ with some restrictions placed on me. Another very good book to get is compTIA A+ complete study guide which covers all 4 A+ exams, it is full with exercises that you can do and very detailed, good luck in your studies and I hope you will find the time cos it will help in the long term