Introduction
The A+ Certified Professional certification is a well-recognized certification, and having this certification will serve as a basic foundation for a number of other certifications that you might pursue. The exams test your knowledge of hardware and software used in today’s computer world, and the certification is one of the most popular certifications that IT professionals attain to prove their hardware and software knowledge.
About This Book
A+ Certification All-In-One For Dummies, 3rd Edition is designed to be a hands-on, practical guide to help you pass the A+ certification exams. This book is written in a way that helps you understand complex technical content and prepares you to apply that knowledge to real-world scenarios.
I understand the value of a book that covers the points needed to pass the exams, but I also understand the value of ensuring that the information helps you perform IT-related tasks when you are on the job. That is what this book offers you — key points to pass the exams combined with practical information to help you in the real world, which means that this book can be used in more than one way:
An exam preparation tool: Because my goal is to help you pass the A+ exams, this book is packed with exam-specific information. You should understand everything that is in this book before taking the exams, but to help identify key points that you must know, look for icons named For the Exam to help you prep for the A+ exams.
A reference: Rely on my extensive experience in the IT industry not only to study for (and pass) the exams but also to help you perform common computer-related tasks on the job. I hope you find this book a useful tool that you can refer to time and time again in your career.
Conventions Used in This Book
Each chapter in this book has different elements that help you prepare to pass your A+ exams. Each chapter holds the following features:
Labs: Lab exercises offer the opportunity to get your hands dirty with a particular topic with real-world experience performing specific tasks. The labs for the chapters are located on the companion website for this book at www.dummies.com/go/aplusaio.
Icons: Look for the icons used in each chapter to draw your attention to information needed for the exams or in the real world. For more details on the icons I use, check out the later section, “Icons Used in This Book.”
Getting an A+: Found at the end of each chapter, the “Getting an A+” summary covers key points you should remember for the exams.
Prep Test: Following each chapter’s “Getting an A+” section, you can find example questions to help review the chapter content and prepare you for the A+ exam. Be sure to do the review questions with each chapter! Then, after you complete the book, check out the practice exams on the companion CD-ROM, which is designed to function like the real exams, with the same level of difficulty.
Foolish Assumptions
I make a few assumptions about you as a reader and have written this book with these assumptions in mind:
You are interested in obtaining the A+ Certification. After all, the focus of this book is helping you pass the exams.
You have a computer to work on. To perform the labs on the companion CD-ROM, you need a computer that you can take apart and install a copy of Windows on. I recommend downloading a copy of Microsoft Virtual PC to do the installation of the different operating systems.
You will study hard and do as much hands-on work as possible. There is a lot of content on the A+ exams, and you will most likely need to read over the information a few times to ensure that you understand the content. You should also experiment as much as possible after you read a particular topic. For example, after you read about how to add a hard drive on a computer, you should get a second hard drive and add it to your computer. Or if you are reading about Windows utilities, try each one to be sure you are comfortable with what the utility looks like and what it can do.
How This Book Is Organized
Like all All-In-One For Dummies books, chapters are organized into minibooks. The chapters in each minibook are related by a specific theme or topic. For example, Book IX — “Securing Systems” — contains all security-related content needed to pass the A+ exams.
The following sections outline what you can find in each minibook.
Book I: Setting the A+ Groundwork
In this minibook, you discover what A+ certification is all about and what you will be tested on when taking the exam. You also find out some basic safety guidelines and general “soft skills,” such as how to communicate with customers.
Book II: Inside the Box
In Book II, you find out about the inside of a computer and what makes it tick. You venture into the innards of your computer, such as motherboards, memory, and processors; and also see how to install and upgrade these components.
Book III: Outside the Box
Book III discusses topics related to what goes on outside the computer. You find out about the different ports on the back of the computer; how to install devices, such as video cards, sound cards, and network cards that give you output (think sound and video).
Book IV: Maintenance and Troubleshooting
The maintenance and troubleshooting minibook discusses how you care for the computer to prevent problems or hardware failure. This minibook also discusses how to troubleshoot different hardware components and how to diagnose the problem.
Book V: Operating System Basics
Book V is a special minibook because it makes the transition from hardware topics to operating system topics. In this minibook, you find out the purpose of an operating system and which major files an OS needs in order to run. You also discover how to install and upgrade Windows.
Book VI: Managing the Operating System
In this minibook, we discuss and demonstrate in a hands-on way how to manage aspects of the Windows operating systems. You find out how to load drivers and how to install and support applications and start using a number of troubleshooting tools available within Windows.
Book VII: Recovering Systems
In this minibook, you discover which core files are needed to start up a Windows computer and how to fix computers that fail to boot up. You also find topics related to system recovery, such as how to back up the system and perform a restore operation.
Book VIII: Networking
The A+ exams test your knowledge of basic networking concepts and ensure that you know how to network two computers. This minibook gives you the networking background you need to pass the A+ exams. You discover the basics of networking technologies and figure out how to troubleshoot systems on a TCP/IP network.
Book IX: Securing Systems
This final minibook covers topics related to securing your environment. In this minibook, I cover fundamental terms related to network security and also how to perform such tasks as creating user accounts, setting permissions, performing virus scans, and updating Windows.
Appendix
The Appendix is an exam objective mapping table that lets you know where in the book each of the exam objectives can be found. This is very useful when you are preparing for the exam to make sure you know each point in the objectives.
Bonus Chapter
Scripting isn’t part of the exam, but it’s an important tool for the efficient technician. We’ve included a chapter about scripting on the web site at www.dummies.com/go/aplusaio.
Icons Used in This Book
I use a number of icons in this book to draw your attention to pieces of useful information.
This icon gives you a heads-up on information you should absolutely know for the certification exams.
Information that would be helpful to you in the real world is indicated with a Tip icon. Expect to find shortcuts and timesavers here.
This icon is used to flag information that may be useful to remember on the job.
Information that could cause problems to you or to the computer is indicated with a Warning icon. If you see a Warning icon, make sure you read it. The computer you save may be your own.
Detailed information that is not needed for the exams or that is a step above the knowledge you absolutely need to know for the exams is indicated with a Technical Stuff icon.
This icon lets you know when you can find accompanying information or supporting documents on the companion website for this book at www.dummies.com/go/aplusaio. For example, there are a number of lab exercises written for the book — when a topic has a related lab, it is indicated with this icon.
Where to Go from Here
The A+ Certification is the most popular certification for individuals new to the IT industry and the certification world. After you pass the A+ exams, you might want to continue your certification path by studying for the following certifications from CompTIA:
Network+: A vendor-neutral certification that ensures the candidate understands networking technologies.
Security+: After passing the Network+ certification, you may want to continue on the network topic with a certification that proves your network security knowledge.
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