Introduction

CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ is designed to be the gateway to help you decide which paths to follow in your information technology (IT) career. Whether you are planning to specialize in PC or mobile device hardware, operating systems, applications support, software development, database management, or security, the CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ exam measures the fundamental knowledge you need to begin your journey toward greater responsibilities and achievements in IT.

CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ is designed to be a “vendor-neutral” exam that measures your knowledge of industry-standard technology.

Although IT Fundamentals+ is an entry-level exam with a single type of question, multiple choice, our goal is to help you apply the terms and facts you learn to problem solving and reasoning tasks. We want to help you master and understand the required objectives for each exam.

To aid you in mastering and understanding the IT Fundamentals+ objectives, this book uses the following methods:

• The beginning of each chapter defines the topics to be covered in the chapter; it also lists the corresponding CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ objective numbers.

• The body of the chapter explains the topics from a hands-on and a theory-based standpoint. This includes in-depth descriptions, tables, and figures that are geared to build your knowledge so that you can pass the exam. The chapters are broken down into several topics each.

• The key topics indicate important figures, tables, and lists of information that you should know for the exam. They are interspersed throughout the chapter and are listed in table format at the end of the chapter.

• Each chapter covering an objective has a list of practice questions. The correct answers are found in Appendix A, “Answers to Practice Questions.”

• Key terms without definitions are listed at the end of each chapter. Write down the definition of each term and check your work against the complete key terms in the glossary.

• At the end of each chapter covering an objective, you will find a section called “Your Next Step (More Certs).” The certification descriptions and links in this section help you go deeper into the topics covered in that chapter.

• The U51 exam has five domains: software, hardware, security, networking, and basic IT literacy; the U61 exam has six domains: IT concepts and terminology, infrastructure, applications and software, software development, database fundamentals, and security.

• The U51 exam was basically a condensed version of the CompTIA A+ Certification exams; the U61 exam provides a broader range of coverage of IT career paths.

• The U51 exam has no information about how software is created, little about cloud computing, no information about privacy issues, and no information about database features or uses; the U61 exam provides plenty of coverage of these topics. In our book we provide many ways to experiment with software and database development and use.

For more information about how the IT Fundamentals+ certification can help you plan your career, or to download the latest official objectives, access CompTIA’s IT Fundamentals+ web page at https://certification.comptia.org/certifications/it-fundamentals.

This book is also aimed at the reader who wants to acquire additional CompTIA certifications such as A+, Network+, Security+, and so on as well as third-party certifications. The book is designed in such a way to offer easy transition to future certification studies.

Chapter 1, “Welcome to CompTIA IT Fundamentals+,” contains an overview of the exam, a list of the computers, tools, parts, and components you should use for study, and a cross-reference of these items and the chapters where they are discussed.

If you can take a hands-on approach to study, it will really help to reinforce the ideas and concepts expressed in the book. However, not everyone has access to this equipment and software, so the next best step you can take is to read through the chapters in this book, jotting notes down with key concepts on a separate notepad. Each chapter contains a quiz that you can use to test your knowledge of the chapter’s topics. It’s located near the end of the chapter.

After you have read through the book, have a look at the current exam objectives for the CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ FC0-U61 certification exam, available at https://certification.comptia.org/certifications/it-fundamentals. If there are any areas shown in the certification exam outline that you would still like to study, find those sections in the book and review them.

When you feel confident in your skills, attempt the practice exam. As you work through the practice exam, note the areas where you lack confidence and review those concepts or configurations in the book. After you have reviewed the areas, work through the practice exam a second time and rate your skills. Keep in mind that the more you work through the practice exam, the more familiar the questions will become.

After you have worked through the practice exam a second time and feel confident with your skills, buy a voucher for the real CompTIA IT Fundamentals+ FC0-U61 exam at https://store.comptia.org/product/CompTIAITFund and schedule it by visiting http://www.pearsonvue.com/comptia/. To prevent the information from evaporating out of your mind, you should typically take the exam within a week of when you consider yourself ready to take the exam.

Table I-1 provides an overview of the exam chapters and highlights some of the special features in each chapter. For complete content, see the Table of Contents. Appendix D, “Study Planner,” tracks the content and matches it to the objectives.

The book includes many features that provide different ways to study so you can be ready for the exam. If you understand a topic when you read it, but do not study it any further, you probably will not be ready to pass the exam with confidence. The features included in this book give you tools that help you determine what you know, review what you know, better learn what you don’t know, and be well prepared for the exam. These tools include the following:

• Foundation Topics: These are the core sections of each chapter. They explain the protocols, concepts, and configuration for the topics in that chapter.

• Memory Tables: You can find these on the book’s companion website within Appendixes B and C. Use them to help you memorize important information.

• Exam Preparation Tasks: The “Exam Preparation Tasks” section lists a series of study activities that should be done after reading the “Foundation Topics” section. Each chapter includes the activities that make the most sense for studying the topics in that chapter. The activities include

  • Key Topics Review: The Key Topic icon appears next to the most important items in the “Foundation Topics” section of the chapter. The “Key Topics Review” activity lists the key topics from the chapter and their page numbers. Although the contents of the entire chapter could be on the exam, you should definitely know the information listed in each key topic. Review these topics carefully.

  • Definition of Key Terms: Although certification exams might be unlikely to ask a question such as “Define this term,” the IT Fundamentals+ exam requires you to learn and know a lot of terminology. This section lists some of the most important terms from the chapter, asking you to write a short definition and compare your answer to the glossary.

  • End of Chapter Review Questions: Confirm that you understand the content you just covered.

To access this companion website, follow these steps:

1. Go to www.pearsonITcertification.com/register and log in or create a new account.

2. Enter the ISBN: 9780789760418

3. Answer the challenge question as proof of purchase.

4. Click on the “Access Bonus Content” link in the Registered Products section of your account page, to be taken to the page where your downloadable content is available.

Please note that many of our companion content files can be very large, especially image and video files.

If you are unable to locate the files for this title by following the steps, please visit www.pearsonITcertification.com/contact and select the “Site Problems/ Comments” option. Our customer service representatives will assist you.

The installation process requires two major steps: installing the software and then activating the exam. The website has a recent copy of the Pearson Test Prep practice test software. The practice exam (the database of exam questions) is not on this site.

• Windows 10, Windows 8.1, or Windows

• Microsoft .NET Framework Client

• Pentium-class 1 GHz processor (or equivalent)

• 512 MB RAM

• 650 MB disk space plus 50 MB for each downloaded practice exam

• Access to the Internet to register and download exam databases

The software installation process is routine as compared with other software installation processes. If you have already installed the Pearson Test Prep practice test software from another Pearson product, there is no need for you to reinstall the software. Simply launch the software on your desktop and proceed to activate the practice exam from this book by using the activation code included in the access code card sleeve in the back of the book.

The following steps outline the installation process:

1. Download the exam practice test engine from the companion site.

2. Respond to Windows prompts, as with any typical software installation process.

The installation process will give you the option to activate your exam with the activation code supplied on the paper in the cardboard sleeve. This process requires that you establish a Pearson website login. You need this login to activate the exam, so please do register when prompted. If you already have a Pearson website login, there is no need to register again. Just use your existing login.

1. Start the Pearson Test Prep practice test software from the Windows Start menu or from your desktop shortcut icon.

2. To activate and download the exam associated with this book, from the My Products or Tools tab, click the Activate Exam button.

3. At the next screen, enter the activation key from paper inside the cardboard sleeve in the back of the book. Once this is entered, click the Activate button.

4. The activation process will download the practice exam. Click Next and then click Finish.

When the activation process completes, the My Products tab should list your new exam. If you do not see the exam, make sure that you have selected the My Products tab on the menu. At this point, the software and practice exam are ready to use. Simply select the exam and click the Open Exam button.

To update a particular exam you have already activated and downloaded, display the Tools tab and click the Update Products button. Updating your exams will ensure that you have the latest changes and updates to the exam data.

If you want to check for updates to the Pearson Test Prep practice test software, display the Tools tab and click the Update Application button. You can then ensure that you are running the latest version of the software engine.