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Hi,

A+ Operating Systems Technologies - 757
A+ Core Hardware - 804

I have just passed both A+ Exams and thought I would pass on my experience.

I have been repairing friends and friends of friends computers for about
eighteen months, as well as setting up my own small three computer network
at home with a router to share the DSL connection. I used Mike Meyers' -
All-in-One A+ Certification Exam Guide (5th Edition), as my study tool. I
found that I had learned a lot of A+ from my practical experience and the
book filled in any details or gaps (SCSI drives and any hardware pre-2000).
I found the practice exams on the CD good but recommend also using these
sites...

http://certification.about.com/gi/dy...2Fcomptia.html

http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/exams/

http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/prepare.aspx

Both exams are 90mins in duration with 80 questions. My time management
plan was as follows...
1st 30mins - Questions 1-40 (Marking any answers I was unsure about for
review)
2nd 30mins - Questions 41-80 (Marking any answers I was unsure about for
review)
3rd 30mins - Going through the answers marked for review

The pre test conditions state something along the lines that; not all
questions will be counted towards your score as they are testing questions
for future exams.

At the end of the exam your score is given instantly, but unfortunately
there is no chance to review the questions with all correct answers given.
This is a pity.

I can remember two questions (I will remember them as best I can) that I had
trouble with, and am still not sure what the answers are...

A+ Operating Systems Technologies
--------------------
Q. What is the minimum service pack required on a Windows NT workstation to
upgrade to Windows 2000?

A - SP3
B - SP4
C - SP5
D - SP6


A+ Core Hardware
--------------------
Q. You are upgrading a motherboard that supports two CPU's but only has one
currently installed. What are two considerations that must be taken into
account when adding a 2nd CPU? (Select TWO)

A - The 2nd CPU must be faster than the 1st
B - The 2nd CPU must be the same speed as the 1st
C - The 2nd CPU must be slower than the 1st
D - CPU's must have identical stepping
E - CPU's must have identical L1 cache


I hope I have answered any questions that any potential test takers have,
and if anyone knows the answers to the above two questions or can provide a
relevant URL that would be great.

Lardy

thanks muchly.  i found the information useful.  congratulations and good luck!

Hi


> C - SP5 (I think)

And I think for a dual CPU system both must be the same speed and the
same amount of L1 cache...as far as I understand stepping is like the
revision of the CPU and hence shouldnt make a difference.

Lardy wrote:
> Hi,
>
> A+ Operating Systems Technologies - 757
> A+ Core Hardware - 804
>
> I have just passed both A+ Exams and thought I would pass on my experience.
>
> I have been repairing friends and friends of friends computers for about
> eighteen months, as well as setting up my own small three computer network
> at home with a router to share the DSL connection. I used Mike Meyers' -
> All-in-One A+ Certification Exam Guide (5th Edition), as my study tool. I
> found that I had learned a lot of A+ from my practical experience and the
> book filled in any details or gaps (SCSI drives and any hardware pre-2000).
> I found the practice exams on the CD good but recommend also using these
> sites...
>
> http://certification.about.com/gi/dy...2Fcomptia.html
>
> http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/exams/
>
> http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/prepare.aspx
>
> Both exams are 90mins in duration with 80 questions. My time management
> plan was as follows...
> 1st 30mins - Questions 1-40 (Marking any answers I was unsure about for
> review)
> 2nd 30mins - Questions 41-80 (Marking any answers I was unsure about for
> review)
> 3rd 30mins - Going through the answers marked for review
>
> The pre test conditions state something along the lines that; not all
> questions will be counted towards your score as they are testing questions
> for future exams.
>
> At the end of the exam your score is given instantly, but unfortunately
> there is no chance to review the questions with all correct answers given.
> This is a pity.
>
> I can remember two questions (I will remember them as best I can) that I had
> trouble with, and am still not sure what the answers are...
>
> A+ Operating Systems Technologies
> --------------------
> Q. What is the minimum service pack required on a Windows NT workstation to
> upgrade to Windows 2000?
>
> A - SP3
> B - SP4
> C - SP5
> D - SP6
>
>
> A+ Core Hardware
> --------------------
> Q. You are upgrading a motherboard that supports two CPU's but only has one
> currently installed. What are two considerations that must be taken into
> account when adding a 2nd CPU? (Select TWO)
>
> A - The 2nd CPU must be faster than the 1st
> B - The 2nd CPU must be the same speed as the 1st
> C - The 2nd CPU must be slower than the 1st
> D - CPU's must have identical stepping
> E - CPU's must have identical L1 cache
>
>
> I hope I have answered any questions that any potential test takers have,
> and if anyone knows the answers to the above two questions or can provide a
> relevant URL that would be great.
>
> Lardy
>
>

Lardy,

I am coming up to doing mu A+ cert, I think I'll wing it just about
DOS command is a good tip to revise I have heard that a few places.

The answers for the questions I am not too sure. The first one I would
have thought would be NT 4.0 service pack 6. This was the last
revision of NT (I am sure there was a 6a). So with complete guess
work I would say that Pack 6 has the was the closest match and the
obvioous upgarde path?

The dual proc question is one a I do know the answer to. They must be
the sam speed and the both must be the same stepping. The this is
definately the case with Inel CPU's. I think the stepping categorise
voltages and how the CPU works threading etc. Intel does not advise
mised steppings although some families are tested and are compatible.
There are tables to show supported steppings.

I have a mixed stepping that isn't supported in my NT 4.0 SP6 Box and
it hasn't melted, YET!!!

Just though you may like to know the answer to one of the Q's at
least.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Just passed the O/S part so now I'm A+.

Thanks to all you guys for your help in this.

Some post testing thoughts:
1. Not too much on DOS commands. Just know the commands from Recovery
Console (p762 in Meyers v5) and also
XCOPY. Also with XCOPY, know /S and /E params.

2. As for NT 4.0, SP6 is latest, but SP4 is important too. It's the minimum
you need to upgrade to Win2K. I believe that's because it ups the file
system to NTFS 5, since NTFS 4 won't work w Win2K or XP.

I wish you the best of luck,

Dave

"rymercho" <> wrote in message
news:beb51$4280e545$455da0d2$28219@allthenewsgroup s.com...
> Lardy,
>
> I am coming up to doing mu A+ cert, I think I'll wing it just about
> DOS command is a good tip to revise I have heard that a few places.
>
> The answers for the questions I am not too sure. The first one I would
> have thought would be NT 4.0 service pack 6. This was the last
> revision of NT (I am sure there was a 6a). So with complete guess
> work I would say that Pack 6 has the was the closest match and the
> obvioous upgarde path?
>
> The dual proc question is one a I do know the answer to. They must be
> the sam speed and the both must be the same stepping. The this is
> definately the case with Inel CPU's. I think the stepping categorise
> voltages and how the CPU works threading etc. Intel does not advise
> mised steppings although some families are tested and are compatible.
> There are tables to show supported steppings.
>
> I have a mixed stepping that isn't supported in my NT 4.0 SP6 Box and
> it hasn't melted, YET!!!
>
> Just though you may like to know the answer to one of the Q's at
> least.
>
> Chris
>