Comptia A+220-701 Essentials 220-702 Practical Application

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The A+ certification demonstrates competency as a computer technician. Officially,CompTIA A+ Practical Application

is a vendor neutral certification, that covers numerous technologies and operating systems from such vendors as Microsoft, Apple Inc., Novell and some of the

Linux variations. The A+ certification exam was developed in 1993. There have been four versions of the A+ exam, the 1993, 2003, 2006, and 2009 objectives,

which are broken down into two separate exams. The 2003 objectives contained the A+ Core Hardware Exam and the A+ Core Operating System Technologies Exam,

and were retired on June 30, 2007. The 2006 objectives require that a candidate successfully pass the A+ Essentials and one elective: IT technician, remote

support technician, or depot technician. The 2009 certification requires passing two exams: Essentials and Practical Application.

The A+ exam is intended for information technology professionals who have the equivalent of 500 hours of hands on experience. The exams are computer based

and composed of multiple ...
... choice questions, of which there may be more than one correct answer. Over 800,000 people have earned the A+ credential worldwide,

to date.

Topics of the Essentials/Core examination include IRQs, direct memory access, and practical computer repair, including the installation and repair of hard

drives, modems, network cards, CPUs, power supplies, PDAs, and printers. The focus of the exam is not theory, but practice. Sometimes graphics are used in
A+ Exams questions. Topics included in the Operating Systems Exam include memory management, configuration files,

and historical operating environments rather than newer, cutting edge technologies.

In order to receive CompTIA A+ certification a candidate must pass two exams. The first exam is CompTIA A+ Essentials, exam number 220-701. The CompTIA A+

Essentials examination measures necessary competencies for an entry-level IT professional with the equivalent knowledge of at least 500 hours of hands-on

experience in the lab or field. Successful candidates will have the knowledge required to understand the fundamentals of computer technology, networking, and

security, and will have the skills required to identify hardware, peripheral, networking, and security components. Successful candidates will understand the

basic functionality of the operating system and basic troubleshooting methodology, practice proper safety procedures, and will effectively interact with

customers and peers. CompTIA A+ is MCSE exams, as such, undergoes regular reviews and updates to the exam objectives.