Exams A+ Core Hardware (#220-201), A+ Operating System Technologies (#220-202) Certifications, Vendor A+, CompTIA Status Live Reviewer's Rating "Questions are fair, interface a little quirky." Test Information 70 questions per exam, 90 minute time limit, $132 per exam for non-members (U.S.). Who Should Take This Exam? Entry-level hardware technicians. Also seen as a good foundation for network admins. Test Objectives URL Click here

Exam Structure
As you probably know, the CompTIA A+ certification is made up of two exams -- one focusing on hardware, the other on operating systems and related technology. There are 70 questions per exam. The Core Hardware exam claims to have 71 questions, but the 71st question is just an agreement to abide by the non-disclosure rule. (I am trying hard to comply with it in this article, which is why I'm intentionally vague about specific questions.)

The possible scoring ranges from 100 (all wrong) to 900 (all right). A passing score on the Core Hardware exam is 683; a passing score on the OS Technologies exam is 614. These scores were determined as a result of beta testing in late 2000 that helped determine what questions to ask, how many questions to include, and what a passing score should be, among other things.

The new exams are not adaptive in format, so you are free to skip around and come back to questions later. This is the way the old exams originally were too, but in July 2000, CompTIA made the old exams adaptive to eliminate the "dumb luck" factor by which some people appeared to be passing. If you answered a question incorrectly, the testing software would throw more similar questions at you. CompTIA will probably develop an adaptive version of the new exams as soon as enough statistical information is available. Since adaptive versions can be slightly more difficult than the non-adaptive equivalent, you might want to take the test as soon as you feel ready rather than putting it off.

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This is a multiple-choice exam for the most part. You generally have four answers to choose from, and you pick the one that seems right. (Watch the wording on these, though, because sometimes the question directs you to pick the answer that's false, rather than true.). Some questions (perhaps 10 percent) are multi-answer, in which you have a list from which you must pick the two or three correct answers. In each case, the question tells you how many items you should pick, which makes the questions easier in my opinion than if you had to weigh the merits of each possible answer individually.

Note: There used to be a rule that you must pass the second exam within 90 days of passing the first one, but this rule has been rescinded for both the old and new exams.

You can take up to 90 minutes for each exam, but I found this to be way too much time; I finished each exam in about 45 minutes. There are only 70 questions, after all, and most of them you either know the answer to or you don't -- pondering one for five minutes is not going to improve the situation.

Testing Software
The testing software runs smoothly and quickly, but there are a couple of quirks. One is that the Next button (to move to the next question) is on the left, rather than the right, and the Previous button is in the middle. This positioning is opposite of nearly every other program you've probably used, and it takes a little adjustment. Another more serious issue is that, at least on the machine I used, the Next button has a dismaying tendency to "bounce" and skip ahead two or more questions instead of one. You need to check the question number (at the top left corner of the screen) to make sure that you've moved only one question ahead each time you click Next.

There's a built-in safeguard at the end of the test to prevent you from missing questions because you accidentally skipped them. When you complete the last question, a Review screen appears with a red "I" next to any questions that are incomplete. That includes not only questions for which you have entered no answer, but also multi-answer questions for which you have not selected enough correct answers. For example, if the question said, "Pick three of the following," and you picked two, the software will alert you.

At the top-left corner of each question is a Mark checkbox. You can mark a question if you're not sure of the answer, and come back to it later. Marked questions appear with yellow highlighting on the Review screen, and you can double-click them to return to the question. There is also a Review Marked feature at the end of the test that enables you to page through all your marked questions one-by-one.

New Content for 2001
CompTIA released these new versions of its exams on January 31, 2001, and they have a somewhat different focus from their predecessors. The exams are changing because technology is changing. Both hardware and software support are different now than it was in 1998, when the current A+ exam was created. For example, back in 1998, most technicians supported a mixture of systems, including Windows 95, Windows 3.1, and MS-DOS. Today, Windows 98/Me and Windows 2000 are the standard OSes for this certification's audience. On the hardware side, networks were much less important in 1998 than they are today, and Plug-and-Play wasn't necessarily assumed on every system. The new A+ exam tests technicians on the skills that they need to perform their job duties in today's support environment. If you are still studying with old study guides, you will want to check out some practice exams based on the new objectives before you pronounce yourself ready for the new tests.

Note that this month provides unique window of opportunity for those who have invested a lot of time studying the old exam objectives. The old versions will be available as an alternative until March 30, 2001. That means you can pick the exams for which you are most prepared when you register for testing. Make sure you choose either the 1998 or 2001 version when you register. If you register by phone, make sure you tell the operator which test version you want.

Below is a breakdown of the objectives for each exam.

Core Hardware
The new Core Hardware exam is similar to the old one, but has added questions about new technologies. The breakdown of questions from various categories (which CompTIA calls "domains") remains similar in the new exams, but there are some minor shifts. For example, networking is now weighted more heavily, and operating system installation and configuration less so. The following table shows the exact breakdown for old versus new exams.

Table 1: Core Hardware Topic

Domain	Old Exams	New Exams
Installing, Configuration and Upgrading	30%	30%
Diagnosing and Troubleshooting	20%	30% (+10%)
Preventive Maintenance	10%	5% (-5%)
Motherboards/Processors/Memory	10%	15% (+5%)
Printers	10%	10%
Basic Networking	5%	10% (+5%)
Portable Systems	5%	None (-5%)
Customer Satisfaction	10%	None (-10%)

Don't let the fact that the Portable Systems section has been removed from Core Hardware lead you to believe that you don't have to know about supporting portables anymore; those objectives have simply been combined with the first two categories.

Some of the most important things to study for this exam include:

PC startup process. Make sure you know terms like BIOS, CMOS, POST, ROM, and so on.

• The latest processor types and the slots they fit into.
• The latest types of memory
• The newest hard drive technologies
• The number of pins/holes and the shapes of each type of connector·
• How a laser printer works
• How an inkjet printer works·
• How portable computers interact with PCMCIA, docking stations, and infrared devices

For a complete listing of the objectives to study for this exam, see http://www.comptia.org/certification/aplus/apluscore_hardware.pdf. (You will need a PDF reader such as Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

Operating System Technologies
The DOS/Windows exam has been renamed OS Technologies in the new exam, reflecting the fact that DOS is no longer a part of the average technician's work. The OS Technologies exam covers two main operating systems: the Windows 9x platform (Windows 95, 98) and the Windows NT platform (NT 4.0 and 2000). Windows Millennium Edition is not covered, as it came out after the exam development was underway. The Windows NT/2000 questions are split evenly between NT 4 and 2000. There are no Linux or Unix questions.

Table 2, below, shows the overall breakdown of changes to the exam. Networking is now much more important, and the Memory Management section has been eliminated entirely. The exam also minimizes initial setup (installation, configuration and so on) and places increased emphasis on troubleshooting.

Table 2: OS Technologies Topics

Some of the most important topics to study include:

• Windows NT and Windows 2000 boot processes
• Windows 95 and 98 boot processes
• System utilities under each operating system
• Ways to edit the Registry, ini files, and other startup files
• Basic command line utilities and commands
• The function of common lines found in Autoexec.bat and Config.sys
• How to troubleshoot device conflicts in each operating system
• Now to configure networking and troubleshoot network problems

For the complete objectives, see http://www.comptia.org/certification/aplus/os_exam.pdf. (Again, you need a PDF reader.)

Preparation Tools
There are tons of prep courses out there for A+, and they can help you with the memorization and theory required for some of the questions, but for the troubleshooting portion there is no substitute for experience. One of the most valuable prep courses I ever took consisted of a three-day hands-on session in which we took turns "breaking" a computer and troubleshooting/fixing it. Try this with a friend and a couple of old PCs, preferably with all kinds of quirky hardware in it like bootable SCSI drives, non-Plug and Play sound cards and modems, and old system BIOSes. You'll be amazed.

For the theory portion of the hardware exam, nothing beats "Upgrading and Repairing PCs" by Scott Mueller (Que Corporation). It's one of the most thorough and in-depth books on PC hardware on the market today.

For the OS Technologies exam, it's a little harder to find a single exam prep book or course because the exam covers four separate operating systems: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000. You can get by with a single study guide for 95 and 98, but you'll want to study NT 4 and 2000 separately in-depth because of the many differences between them from a configuration and troubleshooting point of view.

Final Tips
Overall, the questions are more clearly worded in the 2001 versions of these exams, and there were fewer questions that made me want to argue with the test authors than the last time I took this exam, back in 1998. Some of the wrong answers even coaxed a smile out of me, because they were cleverly concocted to trip someone up who was trying to guess their way through.

To make sure you get credit for your knowledge, make sure that you:

• Read each question very carefully, paying attention to words like "false" and "not."·
• Watch the question number counter, and if the testing software skips a question, use the Previous button to go back to it.
• Mark any questions that you're not sure of with the Mark checkbox, so you can review them at the end.
• Make sure that you have corrected any incomplete entries.
• If there is time, go back through each question and check your answer.

And remember, once you pass, you're A+ certified for life (no recertification required). Good luck!

More articles by Faithe Wempen:

PowerPoint 2003: Taking It Easy

Excel Core 2003: The More Things Change...

Word 2003: Who's Afraid of Simulation?

The New 2003 A+ Exams