Upon successful completion of readings, exercises, labs, and assignments, the student will be able to:
Explain the importance of CompTIA A+ Certification, describe the structure and contents of the CompTIA A+ Certification exams, and plan a strategy to pass the exams
Describe how a PC works, identify the essential tools of the trade, avoid electrostatic discharge, identify the major internal and external components of a PC, and identify the different connectors on a typical PC system unit
Identify core components of a CPU, describe the relationship of CPUs and RAM, explain the varieties of modern CPUs, identify specialty CPUs, and install and upgrade CPUs
Identify the different types of RAM packaging, explain the varieties of DRAM, install RAM properly, and perform basic RAM troubleshooting
Distinguish among various CMOS setup utility options, describe BIOS and device drivers, and troubleshoot the Power-On Self Test (POST)
Identify the structure and function of the expansion bus, explain classic system resources, identify modern expansion bus slots, install expansion cards properly, and troubleshoot expansion card problems
Explain how motherboards work, identify the types of motherboards, explain chipset varieties, upgrade and install motherboards, and troubleshoot motherboard problems
Explain the basics of electricity, describe the details about powering a PC, and install, maintain, and troubleshoot power supplies
Explain how hard drives work, identify and explain the ATA hard drive interfaces, identify and explain the SCSI hard drive interfaces, describe how to protect data with RAID, explain how to install drives, and configure BIOS and install drivers
Explain the partitions available in Windows, discuss the formatting options, partition and format hard drives, maintain and troubleshoot a hard drive
Explain and install floppy disk drives, demonstrate the variations among flash drives and other tiny drives, and identify and install optical-media technology
Identify and explain the basic functions and features of an operating system (OS), install and upgrade Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and troubleshoot installation problems
Explain the Windows interface, identify the features and characteristics of Windows Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and describe the current versions of Windows
Explain the operation of the command-line interface, execute fundamental commands from the command line, and manipulate files and folders from the command line
Maintain Windows 2000/XP, optimize Windows 2000/XP, and troubleshoot Windows 2000/XP
Explain how to support common input/output ports, identify certain common input/output devices on a PC, and describe how certain specialty input/output devices work on a PC
Explain how video displays work, select the proper video card, and install and configure video software
Describe how sound works in a PC, select the appropriate sound card for a given scenario, install a sound card in a Windows system, and troubleshoot problems that might arise with sound cards and speakers
Describe the many types of portable computing devices available, enhance and upgrade portable computers, manage and maintain portable computers, and troubleshoot portable computers
Describe current printer technologies, explain the laser printing process, install a printer on a Windows PC, and recognize and fix basic printer problems
Explain network technologies, explain network operating systems, understand how to install and configure wired networks, and understand how to install and configure wireless networks
Explain how the Internet works, connect to the Internet, and use Internet software tools
Explain the threats to computers and data, describe how to control the local computing environment, and explain how to protect computers from network threats
Describe how computers work, explain the nuances of dealing with customers, and implement a troubleshooting methodology
