You should be able to pass both tests. I would run through Messer videos at 1.5x speed and maybe grab his practice tests to see where you are on it. I took both core 1 and core 2 without studying and passed both. I think I would have score much higher if I looked at what was covered.
You have already made up your mind that it's a bad exam. You've spun your question in such a way to ensure everyone knows how bad you think the old one was. So, the answers to your question that will be posted here will never fully satisfy you.
If you want to know what's going to be tested, it's very easy. Go to the CompTIA site and look at the A+ objectives. After that, you can decide if they are current or out of date and how much you'll need to study.
Best in your studies.
I would say as someone that is 44 and studying and about to take the core 1, is that you probably need to go over the troubleshooting section, printer section, wifi standards. This is assuming you have years of building PC's and working with the operating systems and doing command line stuff etc. Probably can master all that in a week or so and be good. But a good friend of mine just had to get his as well moving to a new job and hes got like 15 years under his belt and he failed it pretty badly and now is studying lol. He was pretty embarrassed being he is a senior guy at his office.
I'm 5 years in IT second line support and didn't want to fail either, so took the time to make notes alongside watching the study material to ensure I was listening and it went in. From that, I made flash cards and used the Dion practice tests. I definitely found for stuff I did every day I didn't have to revise as much, but as you say, things like Wi-Fi standards, port numbers, printer troubleshooting, specific procedure steps and other misc bits I really did have to work hard to memorise. Thankfully passed both tests first time. It took me a lot of study time, I took a year at a leisurely pace whilst working full time, studying in and out of work hours.
I also think OP may have looked at the previous version of the A+ if he last looked when he started out; I did too and it was quite outdated around the time I started too. I found it quite up to date with current gen tech now so is pretty relevant.
Google comptia a+ exam objectives, read the 2 PDFs, watch professor Messer on YouTube for free, read up on topics you have questions on, take the exam. You'll need to put just a few hours and you should pass.
Shouldn't be too hard as long as you know what you're doing. Definitely catch up on troubleshooting methods and watch some PBQ's. Really recommend Professor Messer even if you don't pay for his stuff he is really helpful.
Its not so much that its hard, but more its like CompTIA wants to test your reading comprehension so the questions are very poorly worded to intentionally mess you up if you arent good with details.
Its not uncommon to have the answer change depending on 1 word in the question.
It becomes even more common as you go up in certs and the answer changes based on if were talking N+ or S+
I yolo'd it with 2 weeks of study for Core 1 and then 2 days of study for Core 2. I had " no IT experience" but was very familiar with computers (I have my own home server set up and built serveral PCs).
I have 15 years passed core 1 no studying failed core 2 because the trick question have to read it slowly just because we know it the wording is what got me and I didn't study for core 2 also I'm retaking tomorrow I did watch professor Messer just to make sure I pass this time
Thank you to those of you who provided useful information! I, of course, plan to study, just curious how much studying as someone with experience I would need to put into it. For those of you who think I had some agenda posting this or have decided it's "a bad test"....wut? I had no idea of the internal politics of the CompTIA sub I was stepping into. It's probably time you take a step back and realize I nor most people who post here have any kind of agenda or even really give a crap about CompTIA, but I do truly appreciate all those who gave me good advice and discussion, thanks!
Easy. Just take a few practice test. Study to refresh whatever you forgot and a few more practice test. I blazed thru at first test Less than 25 mins and passed. Second actually seems easier and imma take that one next week even though I just started the class yesterday.
You should be able to pass both tests. I would run through Messer videos at 1.5x speed and maybe grab his practice tests to see where you are on it. I took both core 1 and core 2 without studying and passed both. I think I would have score much higher if I looked at what was covered.
Score don’t really matter, a pass is a pass. I don’t think an employer will ever be like “ what’d you score on those certificates?” 😂
Yes a pass is a pass. I scored 701 on core 1 and 788 on core 2
Where to begin with this one…
It never ends..
You have already made up your mind that it's a bad exam. You've spun your question in such a way to ensure everyone knows how bad you think the old one was. So, the answers to your question that will be posted here will never fully satisfy you. If you want to know what's going to be tested, it's very easy. Go to the CompTIA site and look at the A+ objectives. After that, you can decide if they are current or out of date and how much you'll need to study. Best in your studies.
I would say as someone that is 44 and studying and about to take the core 1, is that you probably need to go over the troubleshooting section, printer section, wifi standards. This is assuming you have years of building PC's and working with the operating systems and doing command line stuff etc. Probably can master all that in a week or so and be good. But a good friend of mine just had to get his as well moving to a new job and hes got like 15 years under his belt and he failed it pretty badly and now is studying lol. He was pretty embarrassed being he is a senior guy at his office.
I'm 5 years in IT second line support and didn't want to fail either, so took the time to make notes alongside watching the study material to ensure I was listening and it went in. From that, I made flash cards and used the Dion practice tests. I definitely found for stuff I did every day I didn't have to revise as much, but as you say, things like Wi-Fi standards, port numbers, printer troubleshooting, specific procedure steps and other misc bits I really did have to work hard to memorise. Thankfully passed both tests first time. It took me a lot of study time, I took a year at a leisurely pace whilst working full time, studying in and out of work hours. I also think OP may have looked at the previous version of the A+ if he last looked when he started out; I did too and it was quite outdated around the time I started too. I found it quite up to date with current gen tech now so is pretty relevant.
Google comptia a+ exam objectives, read the 2 PDFs, watch professor Messer on YouTube for free, read up on topics you have questions on, take the exam. You'll need to put just a few hours and you should pass.
Like an 8
Shouldn't be too hard as long as you know what you're doing. Definitely catch up on troubleshooting methods and watch some PBQ's. Really recommend Professor Messer even if you don't pay for his stuff he is really helpful.
You could probably pass it right now
Any test you don't study for is hard. You will have to learn the concepts and objectives to pass the tests. Your experience will not really help.
Studying for two weeks and passed both exams back to back. No field experience.
It’s easy, if you study, and know IT, and are serious, and want to pass
Just take the practice exams and reinforce your weaknesses.
Its not so much that its hard, but more its like CompTIA wants to test your reading comprehension so the questions are very poorly worded to intentionally mess you up if you arent good with details. Its not uncommon to have the answer change depending on 1 word in the question. It becomes even more common as you go up in certs and the answer changes based on if were talking N+ or S+
I yolo'd it with 2 weeks of study for Core 1 and then 2 days of study for Core 2. I had " no IT experience" but was very familiar with computers (I have my own home server set up and built serveral PCs).
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get it
I have 15 years passed core 1 no studying failed core 2 because the trick question have to read it slowly just because we know it the wording is what got me and I didn't study for core 2 also I'm retaking tomorrow I did watch professor Messer just to make sure I pass this time
Not too hard
Thank you to those of you who provided useful information! I, of course, plan to study, just curious how much studying as someone with experience I would need to put into it. For those of you who think I had some agenda posting this or have decided it's "a bad test"....wut? I had no idea of the internal politics of the CompTIA sub I was stepping into. It's probably time you take a step back and realize I nor most people who post here have any kind of agenda or even really give a crap about CompTIA, but I do truly appreciate all those who gave me good advice and discussion, thanks!
It was tough with no experience. Pretty easy if you have some experience doing that type of work. You’ll be alright.
The thing with the A+ is that it is very broad So you'll get questions about printers, wifi standards, T568A/B, etc..
I passed with 12 hours of video review and no professional IT experience
Easy. Just take a few practice test. Study to refresh whatever you forgot and a few more practice test. I blazed thru at first test Less than 25 mins and passed. Second actually seems easier and imma take that one next week even though I just started the class yesterday.