CompTIA A+ Certification Exam Guide [With CDROM]

This is the only book that i used to pass the A+ certification tests. I am not a tech, i have no experience as being a tech and nor do i have want to be a tech. But being a college student and trying to break into the IT field can be daunting without experience and/or certifications. This A+ was the ice-breaker. After acheiving this certification and posting my resume, i literally received multiple calls a day for open positions and was offered a very good job in 2 days. Without experience this certification is basically your building block to breaking into the field as well as stepping stone for other certifications. I recommend reading this entire book once and then again taking detailed notes on things that are unfamiliar to you. I spent maybe a couple of weeks studying day and night. I do not guarentee that you will pass using just my method as i am a very proficient user and have extensive knowledge of hardware and software but i'm positive that with strict commitment to reading this book, the test will be a piece of cake.

Ok. There have been some negative reviews about this book and I wanted to add my 2 cents to this. It is possible to pass the A+ Certification exams using little more than this book. I should know, as I personally did it. It wasn't easy, it took a lot of studying, and my scores weren't the greatest, but I did pass using little more than the book and practice exams that came on the CD with the book. I got a 574 on the Core and a 619 on the OS. Not impressive, but I'm not saying this book will make you incredible, I'm just saying you can pass using very little besides this book. My strategy went as follows: 1) Read the book staight through for about 2 weeks, reading 150-300 pages a day while TAKING NOTES. Writing the information physically on a sheet of paper helps a lot. 2) Memorize the notes you took. Ingrain everything you think is important into your brain. And this isn't just necessarily facts. Its the concepts behind the facts. This book did a really good job with those and because of it, I was able to correctly guess a good number of the questions on the OS exam that would have otherwise stumped me. 3) Read the Objectives off CompTIA's website! This will help you catch anything that the book missed. 4) Take the practice exams with the book. I left one exam for Core and OS until I felt like I was done studying and just wanted a confidence boost. Don't underestimate this. Attitude can make a big difference. Also, don't underestimate the value of the practice exams. They are about as tough as the real thing. Some questions easier, some harder, but overall about the same difficulty. 5) Retake those practice exams until everything you missed is ingrained into your mind. There were at least 6 or 7 questions on each test I ONLY got right because I remembered getting them wrong on the practice exams. 6) Find any practice exams or questions online that you can. I opted to use some free ones, many of them only being about 10 questions or so, but they gave me other perspectives and ways to ask questions that I hadn't seen. 7) If you can, get some hands on experience. If the book is going over the Recovery Console, do it yourself. If you can picture doing things on the computer in your mind, it will help when it comes to test time. 8) Good luck! The more info you can get, the better, but with this book and your wits, you should at least be able to do better than I did. It took me about a month total of solid studying, and this is from someone who one year ago didn't even know how to build a PC, and had only made 3 before taking the test. So overall, I think this book is worth it. I can't say anything about the competition because I haven't used it, but for about 50 bucks, this book is well written and easy to read, tells you at least MOST of what you know while being a little entertaining at the same time, and will come in handy as a great reference book. I've given it 5 stars not because its the most amazing thing written, but that it did what

The author writes very well about subject matter that is inherently confusing and highly technical. He manages to guide you through how most important aspects of computer hardware / OS work. He does so in a clear and easy-to-understand method. This book is the one book I would suggest to any person who wants to know more about computers and is considering IT as a career. IT starts with A+ (lame pun intended). Forget the long winded reviews that say bad things about this book. If you can read, and you have even the slightest bit of a technical aptitude, then you will have no problem passing the test using this book. Just make sure you get the latest addition. Well done Mr. Meyers.

I highly recommend the All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition. I have been a computer teacher for approximately 10 years. I incorporated A+ Certification courses into the curriculum in June of 2000. The Mike Meyers All-In-One A+ Certification books have always been my first choice for text. I credit Mike Meyers for my own success in A+ Certification. I own every All-In-One A+ Certification book starting with the one published in 1998, some used for personal use, majority for in the classroom use. I only purchase quality. I find the All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition, to be the best book yet. Mike Meyers presents easy to understand analogies that even the most beginning student can understand and apply toward the computing. The students appreciate the easy to read format of the book and find the examples such as "the man in the box" to be very helpful (if you really want to understand CPUs and registers you really must become acquainted with "the man in the box"). The All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition clearly presents learning objectives, illustrations, notes, tips, and warnings as well as areas that are historical and conceptual, test specific, and the areas beyond A+. I have found both personally, when I was studying for A+, and for my students that this type of format is invaluable. No book is going to be the perfect book. I find the All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition to be as close as you are going to get to a perfect study guide. I do not understand those who complain about this book. A+ Certification test preparation takes effort. The All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition provides an excellent study tool. If an individual takes time to read the book and put their own effort into assimilating the material presented they should have no problem passing the test. Those who I see fail, want everything handed to them - they want to memorize questions and answers. They do not really want to actually learn the material. The computer field is very inductive/deductive and you must be able to think for yourself. The All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition book aptly covers both core hardware and operating systems A+ topics, as well as providing an excellent overall picture of the computer field, that provides the serious computer student or technician the perspective needed for success. The test questions at the end of the chapter tend to highlight important learning objectives, and the CD included with the book provides test questions that are excellent representations of A+ test questions. After incorporating the All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition text book in January 2004, many students have returned to report that they have passed both A+ tests and that they couldn't have done it without the Mike Myers All-In-One A+ Certification, Fifth Edition book. I say this success speaks for itself. I highly recommend this book, and as the rumors start to circulate about new Comptia A+ test

There's a reason why Mike Meyers' All-in-one Guides are the best-selling A+ books: quite simply, they work! I passed the OS technologies test with a 608 score (passing mark was 505), and the hardware with a 629 (passing mark was 515). Other than some online practice tests, and hands-on experience (especially with the various Operating Systems), this was the only material that I used to study.Be warned - at 1,100 pages, this is a thick book! However, it is a very easy read compared to most other certification books. Mike Meyers does an excellent job of explaining some very technical aspects of computing in a very non-technical manner, and without over-simplifying anything. I actually read through this book twice; the first time I took very thorough notes, and the 2nd time, I just skimmed through it in the days leading up to my test. As long as you do this, you should easily pass your exams! :)The only bad thing about this book is that there are some various obvious typos/mistakes. Thankfully, most of the time it's obvious what the author meant, and you can find corrections to these errors on Mikes' website - http://www.totalsem.com/support/errata/aplus5.htmIn conclusion, some people might not like all the "extra" stuff in the book, but you *must* understand the historical/basic stuff before you can understand the advanced A+ topics. Also, this book is not going to help much if you don't sit in front of a computer and "play around (in the case of the OS), or practice taking apart your computer (for the hardware test). OTOH, if you have a lot of experience with servicing/repairing PCs, then you can probably get by with the much shorter "passport" version of this book. Otherwise, you should go with this book. There's no reason to fail if you study thoroughly enough!