Question about the A+ exam.....

[Semidevil]

ok, before I even start, I bet most of you were already ready to tell me that experience is always better than a piece of paper. Ok, I agree, but then again, That piece of paper might help me get soem experience. 😀

ok, now for my question.

I was at BN today looking around and decided to try to take teh A+ exam. I was looking at that 4th edition Mike Meyers book(59.00 USD), which I think EVERYONE reccommends. in the introduction it says something about you needing to know how to "install" hardware or seomthing. So does the A+ exam contain hands on test, or is it just a normal computerized test?? They won't make me install an OS or anything will they? will they make me put in some RAM or something?

also, how do I find my Nearest EXam center??

oh, and if you do, share some stories about the exam if you want 😀

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
ok, before I even start, I bet most of you were already ready to tell me that experience is always better than a piece of paper. Ok, I agree, but then again, That piece of paper might help me get soem experience. 😀

ok, now for my question.

I was at BN today looking around and decided to try to take teh A+ exam. I was looking at that 4th edition Mike Meyers book(59.00 USD), which I think EVERYONE reccommends. in the introduction it says something about you needing to know how to "install" hardware or seomthing. So does the A+ exam contain hands on test, or is it just a normal computerized test?? They won't make me install an OS or anything will they? will they make me put in some RAM or something?

also, how do I find my Nearest EXam center??

oh, and if you do, share some stories about the exam if you want 😀

It's a computerized test, but if you aren't familiar with the hardware the knowledge you'll be able to puke through a keyboard and mouse won't do you much good when you actually open a case & try to do something.

Basically he's saying you need to have a general knowledge of PC hardware before tackling the book. If you're afraid of being asked to install memory or an OS, you have a long ways to go.

As for the testing center, go here.

Viper GTS

 

[Semidevil]

oh............ok.

but yea, Im not afraid...

anyways, that Mike Meyers book, seriously, it's 1500 pages long. I"m just a college student, I wont have the time to read that much. Even if I did, I"ll probably take me months to finish and by that time, I'd probably forget stuff from the beginning.

As good as this book is, do you guys reccommend any other books? maybe shorter? And as much as I like to learn, I"d really like one that is more test oriented.........focuses on the A+ exam.

 

[J3anyus]

I took my A+ (both sections) in late May and passed without any trouble. The test is an adaptive test, which means that it watches for what types of questions you mess up on, and it asks you more questions similar to that. For example, my hardware test gave me a SCSI-2 question that I had no idea on, so I guessed. The next question was also a SCSI-2 question, which means that I probably got the first question wrong.

The tests tend to focus on older hardware and software (lots of DOS). Know your DOS scandisk switches, know your IRQs, know your I/O addresses, and you'll be more ready than most people are for the exam.

 

[Danman]

Originally posted by: J3anyus
The tests tend to focus on older hardware and software (lots of DOS). Know your DOS scandisk switches, know your IRQs, know your I/O addresses, and you'll be more ready than most people are for the exam.

Ewwwww........old hardware. That's why I am not taking the test yet, I am not really sure on my IRQ addresses.

 

[J3anyus]

IRQs:

1 - Keyboard
2 - Cascades IRQs 8-15
3 - Uhhh...
4 - Doh...

Just memorize them before you walk into the testing center, and forget them an hour later 🙂 Everything's PnP these days, so you're not going to be using them too much.