Product Description

This book covers every skill measured by the latest A+ Exams including:

• Understanding all essential PC terminology, concepts, internal components, and peripherals
• Installing, upgrading, configuring, and optimizing PC components
• Troubleshooting hardware and performing essential preventive maintenance
• Mastering today’s best practices for professionalism and client communications
• Managing storage, printers, and scanners
• Maintaining laptops and other portable devices
• Performing advanced component installation, upgrade, and troubleshooting
• Installing, upgrading, repairing, and optimizing all Windows operating systems covered on the A+ exams
• Securing PCs and safeguarding their contents against data loss
• Setting up networks and troubleshooting network connectivity issues
• Understanding and managing computer-related safety and environmental issues

 

WRITTEN BY A LEADING A+ EXPERT

Charles J. Brooks is currently co-owner and vice president of Educational Technologies Group Inc., as well as co-owner of eITPrep LLP, an online training company. He is in charge of research and product development at both organizations. A former electronics instructor and technical writer with the National Education Corporation, Charles taught and wrote on post-secondary EET curriculum, including introductory electronics, transistor theory, linear integrated circuits, basic digital theory, industrial electronics, microprocessors, and computer peripherals. Charles has authored several books, including the first five editions of A+ Certification Training Guide, The Complete Introductory Computer Course, and IBM PC Peripheral Troubleshooting and Repair. He also writes about networking, residential technology integration, and convergence.

 

 

CD Features MeasureUp Practice Questions!

 

The CD features innovative testing software powered by MeasureUp, with an extensive collection of additional practice questions. This state-of-the-art study system can help you get completely ready for any current A+ exams: A+ Essentials, 220-602, 220-603, or 220-604!

• Multiple test modes, so you can study in the way that’s most comfortable for you
• Detailed explanations of correct and incorrect answers help you thoroughly understand every A+ topic
• Helps you quickly identify your strengths–and fix your weaknesses

 

www.examcram.com

ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-3565-2

ISBN-10: 0-7897-3565-2 

 

U.S. $59.99

CAN. $65.99

U.K. £42.99 (inc. of VAT)

 

 

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70053 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 1464 pages

About the Author

Charles J. Brooks is currently co-owner and vice president of Educational Technologies Group, Inc., as well as co-owner of eITPrep, LLP, an online training company. He is in charge of research and product development at both organizations. A former electronics instructor and technical writer with the National Education Corporation, Charles taught and wrote on postsecondary EET curriculum, including introductory electronics, transistor theory, linear integrated circuits, basic digital theory, industrial electronics, microprocessors, and computer peripherals. Charles is the author of several books, including the first five editions of A+ Certification Training Guide, The Complete Introductory Computer Course, and IBM PC Peripheral Troubleshooting & Repair. He currently writes about networking, residential technology integration, and convergence.

 

David L. Prowse is currently a network security engineer and is the creator of Guru Computer Training, Inc., a web-based training company. In his spare time over the past decade, he has managed to train more than 2,000 A+ students with great success. A former coder, David enjoys bringing the “hyper technical” to the table, while keeping the reading experience enjoyable. He is the author of the Exam Cram Network+ Lab Manual, which has been showered with excellent reviews. David has also worked as the technical editor on half a dozen Exam Cram projects.

 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

CompTIA^® A+ Exam Prep is designed for those with the goal of certification as an A+ certified technician.

The 2006 version of CompTIA's A+ Certification exams represents the most extensive changes to the certification since its inception. The traditional two-test model featured one exam for Hardware (Core) and a separate exam for Operating System Technologies. That's been changed to a two-test requirement featuring one required exam followed by three options for Advanced exams to complete the certification.

The introductory level exam is called the A+ Essentials exam (220-601). The three options for the Advanced exam are designed to address the three main professional tracks commonly associated with A+ certification—Depot Technician (220-604), Remote Support Technician (220603), and the all-around IT Technician (220-602).

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Note - For a complete listing of the latest exam objectives, go to http://certification.comptia.org/a/.

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Many of the objectives given for each exam overlap with objectives in the other exams. The main difference between the Essentials exam that everyone must take and any of the Advanced exams is supposed to be the level of knowledge required. CompTIA gives a recommendation of 500 hours of experience for the Essentials exam taker and 1,000 hours for any of the Advanced exams.

These exams measure essential competencies for a microcomputer hardware service technician with six months of on-the-job experience. You must demonstrate knowledge that would enable you to properly install, configure, upgrade, troubleshoot, and repair microcomputer hardware. This includes basic knowledge of desktop and portable systems, basic networking concepts, and printers. You also must demonstrate knowledge of safety and common preventive-maintenance procedures.

Another major change for the 2006 A+ exam is the inclusion of a soft skills domain. This is not exactly a new idea for the A+ exam. Various past versions have required a customer service element as part of the certification. However, the computer repair industry has made it clear that in most computer repair-related job roles, customer service and satisfaction skills are equally as important as technical skills.

For the 2006 version of the A+ exams, CompTIA has continued to use a fixed length, linear format test. They have also continued their practice of injecting new test items into the exam and administering them as nonscored questions. The psychometric evaluation of the questions is derived from these tests. When the new questions have been validated through this method, they will be injected into the live 2006 exams as scored questions.

After validation, the questions will be returned to the question pools as scored items, thus creating a dynamic test pool that is continually being renewed. To cope with this, Educational Technologies Group (ETG) has established our Dynamic Test Tracking system that is available to everyone who purchases this product.

ETG's Dynamic Test Tracking system is an online service that includes dynamic, interactive updates for each chapter and lab procedure in our course. These changes also include Test Tips and Curriculum Notes for any changes encountered in the A+ exams over the life of this exam version. In this way, your courseware will never be out of date or incomplete.

How This Book Helps You

This book is your one-stop answer for the A+ exams. Everything you need to know to pass the exams is in here. You do not have to take a class in addition to buying this book to pass the exam. Depending on your personal study habits or learning style, however, you might benefit from buying this book and taking a class. It can also help advanced users and administrators who are not studying for the exam but are looking for a single-volume technical reference.

Our book provides a self-guided tour of all the areas covered by all four of the A+ exams and identifies the specific skills you need to achieve your A+ certification. You also will find the features that make Que's training guides so successful: clear organization, helpful hints, tips, real-world examples, and step-by-step exercises. Specifically, this book is set up to help you in the following ways:

Organization

This book is organized according to individual exam objectives. It covers every objective that you need to know for all four A+ exams. As much as possible, the objectives are covered in the same order as they are listed by the certifying organization, CompTIA, to make it as easy as possible for you to learn the information. We also have attempted to make the information accessible in the following ways:

• The book includes a full list of exam topics and objectives.

• Each chapter begins with a list of the objectives to be covered.

• Each chapter also begins with an outline that provides an overview of the material and the page numbers indicating where you can find particular topics.

• Information on where the objectives are covered is also conveniently condensed on the tear card at the front of this book.

Instructional Features

This book is designed to provide you with multiple ways to learn and reinforce the exam material. Following are some of the helpful methods:

• Objective explanations—As mentioned previously, each chapter begins with a list of the objectives covered in the chapter. In addition, immediately following each objective is an explanation in a context that defines it more meaningfully.

• Test tips—Exam tips appear in the margin to provide specific exam-related advice. Such tips might address what material is covered (or not covered) on the exam, how it is covered, mnemonic devices, and particular quirks of that exam.

• Summaries—Each chapter ends with a summary.

• Terms you'll need to understand—A list of key terms appears at the end of each chapter. The key terms are also italicized the first time they appear in the text of the chapter.

• Notes—These paragraphs appear in the margin and contain various kinds of useful information such as tips on technology or administrative practices, historical background on terms and technologies, or side commentary on industry issues.

• Warnings—When you are using sophisticated technology improperly, the potential for mistakes or even catastrophes to occur is ever present. Warnings appear in the margin to alert you to such potential problems.

• Challenges—These instructional elements require you to analyze a situation and come up with a solution to a technical problem. They are included here in anticipation of the application questions that appear in the A+ exams. Answers appear in the "Challenge Solutions" section.

Extensive Practice Test Options

This book provides numerous opportunities for you to assess your knowledge and to practice for the exam. The practice options include the following:

• Review questions—These questions appear in the "Exam Prep Questions" section. They reflect the kinds of multiple-choice questions that appear on the A+ exams. Use them to practice for the exam and to help you determine what you know and what you need to review or study further. Answers and explanations for them are provided.

• Practice exam—A practice exam is included in the "Final Review" section for each exam (as discussed later).

• MeasureUp—The MeasureUp software included on the CD that accompanies this book provides even more practice questions. You also can purchase more questions at http://www.measureup.com.

Final Review

This part of the book provides the following three valuable tools that can help you prepare for the exam:

• Practice Exam—A full practice test for each of the exams is included. Questions are written in the styles used on the actual exams. Use it to assess your readiness for the real thing.

• This book includes the Glossary and Appendix A, "What's on the CD-ROM."

These and all the other book features mentioned previously will enable you to thoroughly prepare for the exam.

Registering for the Exam

To register for the A+ exam, contact Marcraft at 800-441-6006. Special discounts are available for Que customers.

For more information about the exam or the certification process, contact Educational Technologies Group (ETG) or the CompTIA organization:

CompTIA Headquarters

Attn: A+ Certification
1815 S. Meyers Road, Suite 300
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181-5228
Phone: 630.678.8300
Fax: 630.268.1384

info@comptia.org

http://www.comptia.org

Educational Technologies Group
100 N. Morain St.
Kennewick, WA 99336
Tel: 800-441-6006
Fax: 509-374-1951

info@marcraft.com

http://www.marcraft.com

Hardware and Software You Will Need

As a self-paced study guide, this book was designed with the expectation that you will use your computer as you follow along through the exercises. You also should use the MeasureUp software on the accompanying CD. Your computer should meet the following criteria:

• 32-bit operating system (Windows 9x/2000/XP or NT 4.0)

• 10MB hard-drive space

• 16MB RAM

• IE 4.01 or later

• 640_480 video resolution with 256 colo...

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Customer Reviews

Maybe not the best but...
I have been putting off taking the A+ certification exams for a the better part of a year now and finally decided to get down to business and get studying. I purchased this book from a local bookshop and although it may not be the best around (I really don't know, I just used this book alone to study), it helped me pass my essentials and it tech exams (743 and 819). It does contain a few errors but you'll find most technical books do today; and yes it's a long (and let's face it sometimes boring) read but apart from this book the only real world experience (which is usually the best teacher) I have is building a few custom gaming computers for myself and friends. After looking at the abysmal reviews on amazon I thought I may not be adequately prepared but that was not the case. I would say if possible get this and another source to study from but know I encountered several questions on the actual exam that were nearly word for word with the questions in this book (and cd) and it helped me pass :) .

Save your Money
This book has been extremely disappointing and I hope you will stay away for the following reasons:

1. The writing is far from succinct, and hard to follow. The technical difficulty varies wildly, at times making sense to the novice, and at other times requiring prior background knowledge that wasn't introduced prior in the textbook. The book teeters between attempting to prepare users for the test, and giving them superfluous and unhelpful information.

2. The book is filled with errors, as the other reviewers have noted. I can't stand the diagram errors where microATX and nanoATX are mixed up, and where MB/S is written as MHz, confusing the reader.

3. The graphics used in this book are either poorly rendered, outdated (think really thick laptops that could have had PII processors in them), or half CG half low resolution photographs that were clearly the work of an amateur photographer.

After reading through half of this book, I didn't have confidence I will do well on the test, and switched to Meyers, and I'm rebuilding my knowledge on a more trusted source.

It is incredibly disappointing that Mr. Brooks is asking readers to pony up so much money for an outdated book that, despite the fact it has gone through so many editions, still remains hard to read, error filled, and utilizes old and poor quality diagrams and photographs.

The author and publisher have both failed to thoroughly edit this book, and with these errors, in my view they have undermined their credibility and have lost my confidence.

If it wasn't for my highlights in the book, I would have returned it for a full refund. Save yourself the grief and money, this book is not the way to go.

Not good enough
This book is written very poorly. Some of the practice questions aren't worded clearly and some of the practice questions haven't even been gone over in the material. The technical editor did a poor job of editing and proofing the book. The book is also very inconsistent. Get Meyers.