alt.certification.a-plus

Author

Passed Today

JesseTX

2003-11-19, 5:24 pm

I passed both A+ tests today. I scored 900 on the Core Hardware and
865 on the Operating Systems Technologies.

Here is some feedback on the tests.

Both tests were fairly easy. I feel I could have passed them with
half the study time I put in.

In my preparation for the tests, I did a lot of practice exams. On
the practice exams I was scoring better on the hardware than the
software. As you can see from my actual scores, this held true for
the real exams also. However, while I was taking the exams the
software exam seemed easier than the hardware exam. Not that the
hardware exam was difficult, there were just some questions that I
wasn't prepared for (some were probably the new 2003 objectives), and
some were worded somewhat strangely or used a term here or there that
I hadn't encountered before. But, again as you can see from my
scores, I did better on the hardware than the sfotware. Go figure!

Without revealing any specific items covered on the tests, I can say
it appears that the tests aren't standardized between people. By that
I mean some people have posted specifics that were covered on the test
in this group, and I encountered almost none of those questions. So
apparently there is a database of questions, and the computer program
randomly selects from that pool, and it will be different for each
individual testing.

One of the practice exam programs I used was the one you can download
here http://www.examdrill.com/core.html I was somewhat surprised to
find out there were a few questions that are word for word the same on
the real test. As if they were copied and pasted. Not going to say
which ones, but I would advise anyone preparing for the tests to
download that program.

Here is a list of the other study materials I used to prepare:

- Mike Meyers All-in-One A+ Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition:
This was my main study source, and really covered 95% or better of
what I needed to know for the tests. As a side note, the practice
exam program that comes with this book looks nearly identicial (layout
wise) to the real tests.

- Total Recall Study Guides: Can't really recommend them as I found a
lot of errors in the material. I only used the tests that came with
this material to practice, and only bought the material because it
came with the vouchers. But here are a few neat tips I did pick up
from this material.

-- Even numbered COM ports use odd numbered IRQ's and even numbered
I/O's. Odd numbered COM ports use even numbered IRQ's and odd
numbered I/O's. Not earth shattering news, but a way to help you
remember this information.

-- Laser Printing Process: California Cows Won't Dance The Fandango -
Clean, Condition, Write, Develop, Transfer, Fuse.

-- Order files load when booting DOS: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 - Based on the
number of letters in the file name IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS,
COMMAND.COM, AUTOEXEC.BAT

-- practice exams here
http://www.techexams.net/coexam/sta...exam=apluscore1 (that page
also has links to other free practice exams I used)

-- practice exams here http://www.freepractice.com/Aplus/aplus.htm

Drew Dawg

2003-11-19, 9:24 pm

Congrats!
---------
Drew Dawg
A+ Certified Technician
Drew_Troup@nospamforyou
.yahoo.guess

JesseTX wrote:
> I passed both A+ tests today. I scored 900 on the Core Hardware and
> 865 on the Operating Systems Technologies.
>
> Here is some feedback on the tests.
>
> Both tests were fairly easy. I feel I could have passed them with
> half the study time I put in.
>
> In my preparation for the tests, I did a lot of practice exams. On
> the practice exams I was scoring better on the hardware than the
> software. As you can see from my actual scores, this held true for
> the real exams also. However, while I was taking the exams the
> software exam seemed easier than the hardware exam. Not that the
> hardware exam was difficult, there were just some questions that I
> wasn't prepared for (some were probably the new 2003 objectives), and
> some were worded somewhat strangely or used a term here or there that
> I hadn't encountered before. But, again as you can see from my
> scores, I did better on the hardware than the sfotware. Go figure!
>
> Without revealing any specific items covered on the tests, I can say
> it appears that the tests aren't standardized between people. By that
> I mean some people have posted specifics that were covered on the test
> in this group, and I encountered almost none of those questions. So
> apparently there is a database of questions, and the computer program
> randomly selects from that pool, and it will be different for each
> individual testing.
>
> One of the practice exam programs I used was the one you can download
> here http://www.examdrill.com/core.html I was somewhat surprised to
> find out there were a few questions that are word for word the same on
> the real test. As if they were copied and pasted. Not going to say
> which ones, but I would advise anyone preparing for the tests to
> download that program.
>
> Here is a list of the other study materials I used to prepare:
>
> - Mike Meyers All-in-One A+ Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition:
> This was my main study source, and really covered 95% or better of
> what I needed to know for the tests. As a side note, the practice
> exam program that comes with this book looks nearly identicial (layout
> wise) to the real tests.
>
> - Total Recall Study Guides: Can't really recommend them as I found a
> lot of errors in the material. I only used the tests that came with
> this material to practice, and only bought the material because it
> came with the vouchers. But here are a few neat tips I did pick up
> from this material.
>
> -- Even numbered COM ports use odd numbered IRQ's and even numbered
> I/O's. Odd numbered COM ports use even numbered IRQ's and odd
> numbered I/O's. Not earth shattering news, but a way to help you
> remember this information.
>
> -- Laser Printing Process: California Cows Won't Dance The Fandango -
> Clean, Condition, Write, Develop, Transfer, Fuse.
>
> -- Order files load when booting DOS: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 - Based on the
> number of letters in the file name IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS,
> COMMAND.COM, AUTOEXEC.BAT
>
> -- practice exams here
> http://www.techexams.net/coexam/sta...exam=apluscore1 (that page
> also has links to other free practice exams I used)
>
> -- practice exams here http://www.freepractice.com/Aplus/aplus.htm

Paisleyskye

2003-11-20, 2:24 pm

Congrats on the pass!
--
Paisleyskye
http://www.icertify.net

"JesseTX" <jestxm@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news

mlnrv8479roiv56v90qvhu6d
bkj7gbq65@4ax.com...
> I passed both A+ tests today. I scored 900 on the Core Hardware and
> 865 on the Operating Systems Technologies.
>
> Here is some feedback on the tests.
>
> Both tests were fairly easy. I feel I could have passed them with
> half the study time I put in.
>
> In my preparation for the tests, I did a lot of practice exams. On
> the practice exams I was scoring better on the hardware than the
> software. As you can see from my actual scores, this held true for
> the real exams also. However, while I was taking the exams the
> software exam seemed easier than the hardware exam. Not that the
> hardware exam was difficult, there were just some questions that I
> wasn't prepared for (some were probably the new 2003 objectives), and
> some were worded somewhat strangely or used a term here or there that
> I hadn't encountered before. But, again as you can see from my
> scores, I did better on the hardware than the sfotware. Go figure!
>
> Without revealing any specific items covered on the tests, I can say
> it appears that the tests aren't standardized between people. By that
> I mean some people have posted specifics that were covered on the test
> in this group, and I encountered almost none of those questions. So
> apparently there is a database of questions, and the computer program
> randomly selects from that pool, and it will be different for each
> individual testing.
>
> One of the practice exam programs I used was the one you can download
> here http://www.examdrill.com/core.html I was somewhat surprised to
> find out there were a few questions that are word for word the same on
> the real test. As if they were copied and pasted. Not going to say
> which ones, but I would advise anyone preparing for the tests to
> download that program.
>
> Here is a list of the other study materials I used to prepare:
>
> - Mike Meyers All-in-One A+ Exam Certification Guide, Fourth Edition:
> This was my main study source, and really covered 95% or better of
> what I needed to know for the tests. As a side note, the practice
> exam program that comes with this book looks nearly identicial (layout
> wise) to the real tests.
>
> - Total Recall Study Guides: Can't really recommend them as I found a
> lot of errors in the material. I only used the tests that came with
> this material to practice, and only bought the material because it
> came with the vouchers. But here are a few neat tips I did pick up
> from this material.
>
> -- Even numbered COM ports use odd numbered IRQ's and even numbered
> I/O's. Odd numbered COM ports use even numbered IRQ's and odd
> numbered I/O's. Not earth shattering news, but a way to help you
> remember this information.
>
> -- Laser Printing Process: California Cows Won't Dance The Fandango -
> Clean, Condition, Write, Develop, Transfer, Fuse.
>
> -- Order files load when booting DOS: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 - Based on the
> number of letters in the file name IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS,
> COMMAND.COM, AUTOEXEC.BAT
>
> -- practice exams here
> http://www.techexams.net/coexam/sta...exam=apluscore1 (that page
> also has links to other free practice exams I used)
>
> -- practice exams here http://www.freepractice.com/Aplus/aplus.htm

Cindy Clayton

2003-11-21, 1:23 pm

On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 21:24:07 GMT, JesseTX <jestxm@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I passed both A+ tests today. I scored 900 on the Core Hardware and
>865 on the Operating Systems Technologies.

(SNIP!)

>-- Laser Printing Process: California Cows Won't Dance The Fandango -
>Clean, Condition, Write, Develop, Transfer, Fuse.

Hah! There should have been a Spew Warning on this one! Did you make
that up, or find it in a study resource somewhere? If that's an
original, I heartily applaud your creativity.

At any rate, congrats on becoming A+ Certified!

Cheers,

Cindy Clayton
Total Seminars, LLC
www.examvouchers.com

Dan

2003-11-21, 7:23 pm

I earned my A+ cert today. I scored 940 on the Core Hardware
(adaptive)and
900 on the Operating Systems Technologies (linear). I did notice on
the OS test I got a few of the same questions 3 or 4 times.

Thanks for all the informative posts.

Sponsored Links