Anyone else realy new at this

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Hi

I'm doing my CompTIA A+ (obviously) and I gt to say I find it really hard going. I just gave up on the OS chapter s it was doing my head in. Apprently its meant to take 2 hours but it took me over ten.

Am I just think or what? Anyone else have trouble?

 

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Best way is to get hold of a second-hand computer (so you don't run the risk of damaging your main one) and try out things as they are presented in the book. That helps the learning process!

Which book(s) are you using?

Harry.

 

The compTIA study manual, thouhg I'm trying to get some websites looked at for it

 

Uh...which CompTIA study manual? Can you post the exact title?

 

When I first started to do the A+ I hadn't opened a PC in years and certainly hadn't messed about with a system for even longer. I got myself the Meyers All-in-one and just read it from cover to cover without taking any notes or trying to understand each point as you go, just read.

then make your way through it, taking your time on each chapter so you understand the concept and take the tests at the end.

download the objectives and tick off the ones your happy with and then go back to the chapters you aren't so hot on.

Get some test prep software to back up the free test CD you get with the book and see how you do on that. Then go back to the book and make copious notes on all the test specific stuff and ignore the historical/conceptual stuff and the beyond A+ stuff.

When your getting decent test result then take those exams. I'd say anyone with a interest in PC's could do it all within say 8-10 months without a problem and earlier if you put your all into every day....

 

8 to 10 months ?!

they said 60 hours 10 hours a week to get through the manual.

The study manual is the one Advent sends you in the post. Thanks fot the tips lads.

 

Ah - you hadn't mentioned you were with Advent!

We recomend the Mike Meyers All-in-one book (6th edition) mostly round here. Might be worth picking it up to suplement your manual.

Harry.

 

OK mate thanks. Advents good then is it?

 

Advent is mentioned fairly often here. Have a search on the forum for them.

I didn't use a training provider, so can't personaly comment on them.

Harry.

 

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...or those figures either. No one can tell you exactly how long it will take you to learn a certain skill set. It depends on how familiar you are with the material to begin with, what sort of aptitude you have in that area of learning and how you best learn new material. The nature of what you're trying to learn figures into it as well (you can't learn to fly a 747 just by reading the manual, for example).

In other words, you learn it when you learn it.

 

Well I wouldn't say pay no attention to my "figures" but it is true that who long you take is down to how much you put into it. I couldn't put 10 hours a day into my studies as I had too much other stuff to deal with so it took me 8 months at a leisurely pace from a similar background to Jag.

However if your free to study all day and night then you'll get through it much faster. I can't comment on training providers because I opted to self-study which meant I was under my own time frame. Advent may push you harder with your time but that kind of teaching wouldn't suit me as I like to learn what I want when i want!

I just tried to say how long it took me not that everyone takes that long!

 

Free to learn all day lol oh I wish

I have a full time job and I train in martial arts 8 hours a week on top of trying to write a book hours are scarce I have to study in starbucks sometimes with a lap top when I'm waiting for a lesson to start

Oh well I'll get there, just I was hoping to have been nearly finished by now and I'm like half way through and have forgotten most of what I read lol

 

Sorry. It wasn't your figures I was referring to. I meant those you can sometimes find in study guides that say it should take you "such-and-such" long to learn these concepts. Those figures are estimates. Your mileage may vary.

 

oops, thought you meant me! I agree with what Trippy said then!

 

Yeah don't go with the timetable that Advent provide, I had an adviser at my door yesterday and was told that it would take me 10 months to complete CompTIA A+, MCDST, MCSA and MCSE.


Good luck with it anyway mate.

Does people find that there is a big step up from A+ to MCDST?

 

Thanks lads. Its still going pretty slowly but ho hum.,

Looks like I'll not be trying for another job until September anyway cos I'm holding out for redundancy now

The OS is still doing my head in. I've left the chapter with a very basic knowlege

 

Don't worry Jagunco, you're not alone. I'm also new to A+ and I'm quite daunted by the whole thing, despite having several years experience using PCs. I'm learning everything in my own time from the 6th edition Michael Meyers books and it can be a little off-putting because it makes you realise just how complex computers really are; there are so many variables.

Just keep plugging-away and go at your own speed. If you don't understand something then go back over it again and again until you do.

Best of luck mate! A glittering IT career awaits us both...

 

Yeah I know how you feel mate as I'm just starting out myself. Don't worry though, you'll get there in the end.

Although it's good to know, are you required to know things like the difference between each CPU chip and what speed / socket ect is used when sitting the A+ exam?

 

You should at *least* know the sockets, and know which processor groups fit which one.

Knowing *all* the speed/cache variations is, IMHO, impossible; but you should have a overall feel for what belongs where.

I had a question in the exam where one of the possible answers was "A 1GHz Socket 7 Pentium". Knowing something about the different sockets/processors allowed to to work out whether that was a likely answer or not!

Harry.

 

dont worry too much mate, just take as longs as you need it isnt a race. People learn at different speeds, some people get to grips with some things quicker than other people.

Take me for example. I was put into care when I was 16 months old (have been with my foster family since 18months, i consider them my family) my family were told that they should not expect me to do well at school which I did ok, they were told not expect me to go to college which I did but not untill I was 17 they where also told that I would never get to university which I did at 19. Although I went a year later than people I knew I still did it.

So what I am saying is if it takes you 30 months to do the a+ instead of what it says in the manual ten it takes you 30 months, it doesnt make you thick its just your pace of learning.