Inked Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 I will be going for my A+ certs (701-702) in the coming months. I have acquired numerous books and study guides to help with the studying including... http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Complete-Stu...1635&sr=1-3 http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certificatio...1635&sr=1-7 http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Certificatio...8/ref=pd_cp_b_0 Aside from those study guides, can anyone who is A+ certified offer any other/better ways to prepare. Maybe even people who are certified how the exam went for them. How did you feel about it before and then how did you feel after taking the exam? Thanks in advance to all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 (edited) I used an ExamCram book when I decided to get A+ certified. I think I used the older book, but it was the one here. Just study, gets lots of rest, and eat a good breakfast before taking the best. The exam I took was mostly questions related to customer server with a few technical questions thrown in. Edited March 18, 2010 by Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inked Posted March 18, 2010 Author Share Posted March 18, 2010 customer server? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 Rofl. I guess that shows how much I've been reading the Server 2008 book. I'd say about 75% of the questions were customer service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 The books you selected should get you through the exam, just try to find some practice tests either online or even buy the Cram Exam book like suggested above. Most of the books come with a study cd to install practice tests with, but if yours do not, get a cram exam book for A+ practice tests that come with the exam cd. Its easier to do the practice tests from your PC than trying to read 100% of everything in the books, because you need to see what you retained from reading without looking in the book for answers. The practice test will also show you the questions you got right, and the ones you got wrong, so you can then write down the questions for the ones you got wrong to study those topics. Build your own machine too if you can afford it. Order the parts from NewEgg or wherever you choose and see if you can apply what you learned. Most people can already build a PC before taking an A+ course or test, but if you never had any hands on with it, tear down one of your own and rebuild it so you learn the components and how they work together, learn to install windows XP and Vista and how to repair a system if it cant boot, etc. Also, the days leading up to your exam, a trick I use for tests, set up the practice exam software like you normally would, but don't bother answering all the questions. Just hit score test, and then review the answers. They will all be wrong, but you go through them, and hit show correct answer. Study the answers like this a day or two before the exam, and then when you get to the real test and you read the question, you know the answer before looking at your options. Don't try to do this just by itself, but just as a study guide. If you do this a day before the test you will give yourself the edge of seeing all the correct answers before seeing the options to choose from in the actual test. This will also help you get through the test in like 30-45 minutes which gives you more time to review the answers, make sure none were left blank or change anything you want after reviewing them. Even if you think you know the material, you can still fail if you spend to much time reading the questions and are not able to finish before the time runs out. Most of the questions I had on the 701 and 702 were similar, they just ask them a little differently and throw in some oddballs here an there. Sometimes you get asked the same question several times on the same exam, just asked a little differently but the answer is generally always the same, just be sure you pay attention the context in which the question is phrased, because on some it might be a true answer, and on a nother a false one depending on how they phrase it. Overall, the A+ exam is fairly simple, and the books will have like 90% more info than you need to pass the exams. If you start to feel overwhelmed by the amount of stuff they have in the books, understand you wont see a lot of it on the test. You just cant cover that much info with 100 random questions, and a lot of the stuff in the book contains more historical information than actual implementation in todays tests and work environments. Like suggested by Charles, get some rest the night before and days leading up to the exam, don't fret over it and try to relax when taking the exam. Everyone gets a little nervous leading up to the test and always fear the worst, but you will surprise yourself how easy it was if you have done your homework on the material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 (edited) I also used some of the practice tests at cramsession.com, and a few other spots online. That seemed to help a bit as well. I am kinda in the same boat as Inked, except I am studying for my Server 2008, Active Directory Configuration (exam 83-640) and I've got my exam in 11 days. Yay pressure! Edited March 19, 2010 by Charles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inked Posted March 19, 2010 Author Share Posted March 19, 2010 Thanks so much for the info, Charles and digip! Especially digip for taking the time to explain and suggest so many things! Yes, I have built several PCs from the ground up without any problems. I have been skimming through most of the books and stopping in the areas that I feel I might need a refresher on. They all do come with a CD that contains practice exams and one has flash cards to study with as well. Thank you both again for the suggestions and good luck Charles on your two exams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 19, 2010 Share Posted March 19, 2010 Thanks! Good luck with your A+ as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Just took 3 certs this week. Passed all of them. Now I'm studying for my 70-290 and 291 exams, then I will have my MCSA. Still need to retake Exchange and the MCSE track of training and then on to my Cisco Voice and CCNP stuff. Been working on this for too long. Started self studying in 2007 and still not done with my certs. Mainly because of a lack of funds, but I also don't currently work in the field doing any of this yet, so I'm hoping to land a job soon. I want to get away from web design and more into some cisco networking or server admin position. Unemployment sux... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Yes, unemployment sucks, but at least you are able to get some certs under yer belt. Good luck! Sidenote: I was going to take 70-270, 70-290 and 70-291 but decided that I might as well go for Server 2K8 instead of 2K3.. but so far it seems very similar to 2K3, with some interface changes and whatnot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Yes, unemployment sucks, but at least you are able to get some certs under yer belt. Good luck! Sidenote: I was going to take 70-270, 70-290 and 70-291 but decided that I might as well go for Server 2K8 instead of 2K3.. but so far it seems very similar to 2K3, with some interface changes and whatnot. From what I was told, the XP test is actually harder than the Server 2003 test. I would skip XP and just do the Vista 70-620 exam. Vista was one of the easiest tests I ever took, and I never even had a practice test for Vista, nor did I study for it. I added it in because I wanted to see where I stood with it, and was lucky enough to pass with an 875. Almost everything on there was common sense aside from having to know some of the new names of things since moving away from XP and the new networking sharing and UAC controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 I heard the same thing about the XP exam as well, that it was harder then the 2K3 exam. That being said, I'm probably going to end up just taking the Win7 exam after I finish up Server 2K8, to see where I stand with it, if nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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