A+ CERTIFICATION CHEAT SHEET
From CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One For Dummies, 4th Edition
By Glen E. Clarke, Edward Tetz, Timothy Warner
WINDOWS RECOVERY TOOLS FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
One of the hardest tasks to perform when troubleshooting a system is fixing a system that will
not boot. The A+ Certification Exams expect you to be comfortable with the different recovery
tools available in Windows. This table reviews popular recovery tools and specifies where you
can find the recovery tool — be sure to know these for the A+ Exam.
Utility
Description
Access
Recovery
Console
Command line interface for
troubleshooting disk issues and
boot problems
Boot off the Windows installation CD
or using the boot menu if preinstalled
Repair Mode
Provides access to GUI and
command line recovery tools
Boot off the Vista installation CD
Restore points
A snap-shot of a system’s
configuration; used to revert to
a system’s state before a driver
or software was installed
From the Start menu, select All
Programs→Accessories→System
Tools→System Restore. Select Restore
My Computer to an Earlier Time and
click Next. Choose your desired restore
point and click Next, and then click
Next again. Windows will now boot to
that restore point. Windows 7 and
Vista allow you to boot your operating
system to a restore point which allows
you to revert back to that system
configuration — very useful if your
system has been hit with a virus. In
order to boot to a restore point, you
boot off the Windows 7/Vista
Installation CD/DVD and choose Repair
Your Computer, then System Restore
from the System Recovery dialog box.
You can also get to restore points
through Safe Mode, which could prove
useful if you have been hit with a virus
and are unable to launch System
Restore normally.
Safe Mode
Loads the operating system with An advanced startup menu option (F8)
minimal drivers
Last Known
Good
Configuration
Loads the configuration from
the last time you successfully
booted and logged on
An advanced startup menu option (F8)
Automatic
System
Recovery (ASR)
An automated installation and
restore of Windows
Press F2 during bootup
RAID TYPES FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
You will need to know types of RAID for the A+ Certification Exam. RAID (Redundant Array of
Inexpensive Disks) is a method of implementing redundancy (duplicated information) on your
hard drives — if one disk fails, the other disk(s) can provide the missing information. There are
many different levels of RAID, but the following are the only RAID levels pertinent to the A+
Exam:

RAID 0: Disk striping (striped volume). With RAID level 0, the data is split across drives
with no data redundancy. RAID level 0 improves read and write performance by writing
to multiple drives at the same time. You need a minimum of two drives.

RAID 1: Disk mirroring/duplexing (mirrored volume). With disk mirroring, the data is
written to both drives involved in the mirror in order to provide data redundancy.
Windows 7 supports disk mirroring.

RAID 5: Disk striping with parity (RAID 5 volume). With RAID 5 volumes, the data is
written to multiple drives along with parity information that is used to help recover data
if a single drive fails. RAID 5 volumes need a minimum of three disks.

RAID 10: Mirrored disk striping. RAID level 10 is also known as RAID 1+0 because it is a
disk striping while mirroring the data written in the stripe.
BUS ARCHITECTURES FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
You will see bus architectures on the A+ Certification Exam. Another term for the expansion
slots on a computer’s motherboard is bus slots. A number of different bus architectures have
been developed over time. For the A+ Exam, you need to be able to identify the differences
between each of these bus architectures and know which ones are more popular today.
Architecture
Bus Width (In Bits)
Speed
PCI
32/64
33 MHz
AGP
32
66 MHz (1x), 133 MHz (2x), 266 MHz (4x),
533 MHz (8x)
PCMCIA (laptops)
16
33 MHz
PCI-X
32/64
66/133/266/533 MHz
PCIe
Serial
Uses multiple lanes with each lane carrying
250 MBps. As an example, a PCIe x1 slot
can carry data at 250 MBps, while a PCIe x4
slot can carry data at 1 GBps. PCIe version
2 doubles those transfer rates.
miniPCI
32
33 MHz
USB AND FIREWIRE STANDARDS FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION
EXAMS
You will need to know USB and FireWire standards for the A+ Certification Exam. The most
popular ports used today on the system are the USB and FireWire ports — which allow you to
connect devices such as flash drives, digital cameras, and digital video cameras. This table
compares features of USB and FireWire, including the transfer rate and number of devices
supported.
Standard
Transfer Rate
Device Support
USB 1.0
12 Mbps
127 devices
USB 2.0
480 Mbps
127 devices
USB 3.0
5 Gbps
127 devices
USB 3.1
10 Gbps
127 devices
IEEE 1394
400 Mbps; also known as FireWire
63 devices
IEEE 1394b
800 Mbps; also known as FireWire 800
63 devices
FireWire S1600
1.6 Gbps
63 devices
FireWire S3200
3.2 Gbps
63 devices
COMPTIA TROUBLESHOOTING PROCESS FOR THE A+
CERTIFICATION EXAMS
CompTIA publishes a six-step process related to the troubleshooting process. You will need to
understand what they are on your A+ Exam. The six steps are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Identify the problem.
Establish a theory of probable cause.
Test the theory to determine cause.
Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution.
Verify full system functionality and if applicable implement preventative measures.
Document findings, actions, and outcomes.
WINDOWS BOOT FILES FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
Windows utilizes four boot files, and you will need an understanding of all four of them for the
A+ Exam. The four boot files for Windows are:

bootmgr: Operating system loader code; similar to ntldr in previous versions of
Windows.

Boot Configuration Database (BCD): Builds the operating system selection menu and
data resides in the BCD store. You can edit the boot configuration data with the bcdedit
utility.

winload.exe: Loads the Windows operating system if selected from the operating
system selection menu provided by BCD.

winresume.exe: Resumes the Windows operating system if the system is started from a
hibernate state.
POWER-ON SELF-TEST (POST) ERROR CODES CATEGORIES FOR
THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
Each hardware manufacturer has its own diagnostic codes that identify specific POST errors
and you will need to know these for the A+ Certification Exam. You need to consult the
manufacturer documentation for the diagnostic codes for your hardware, but the general
breakdown of the code categories is as follows:

100–199: Motherboard error

200–299: Memory error

300–399: Keyboard error

600–699: Floppy drive error

1400–1499: Printer error

1700–1799: Hard drive error
WINDOWS TROUBLESHOOTING UTILITIES FOR THE A+
CERTIFICATION EXAMS
As an A+ Certified Professional you will troubleshoot a number of different problems on the
system — this information outlines some of the popular utilities you will use to support or
troubleshoot a system. Be sure to know these before taking the A+ Exam!
Filename
Name
Description
chkdsk.exe
Check Disk
Check your hard drive for problems with the file
system and for bad sectors.
regedit.exe
Registry Editor Make changes to Registry values; can be used to
make selective backups. Prior to Windows XP, there
were two editors: regedit.exe and regedt32.exe.
defrag.exe
Disk
Defragmenter
Used from the command line, or graphically through
the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) and
dfrg.msc.
sfc.exe
System File
Checker
Verifies that system files have not been modified;
or, if they have, replaces them with the original. It
works with the hidden
C:\windows\system32\dllcache directory and the
original operating system CD.
taskmgr.exe
Task Manager
See running programs and services, terminate
problems, and view rudimentary performance
information about the system.
perfmon.exe
Performance
Console
View detailed performance information
msconfig.exe
System
Configuration
Tool
Reconfigure the boot process for troubleshooting
and diagnosing the boot process.
msinfo32.exe
System
Information
View hardware and configuration information for
your computer.
tasklist.exe
Task List
Display a list of running applications or services on a
computer.
taskkill.exe
Task Kill
Terminate a running application or service on a
computer.
gpupdate.exe
Group Policy
Update
Re-process Active Directory (AD) Group Policy
Objects (GPO) on the computer.
gpresult.exe
Group Policy
Results
Evaluate the resultant policy results and list all GPOs
which apply to the current computer or user.
eventvwr.msc
Event Viewer
Logging component of the operating system; the
central location for all logging activity.
WINDOWS NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING UTILITIES FOR THE A+
CERTIFICATION EXAMS
You will need to know certain troubleshooting utilities for the A+ Certification Exam. When
problems arise on a Windows network, you can use the following utilities to do your
troubleshooting. Having a clear understanding of all of them will help you on the A+ Exam.

ipconfig: Display basic TCP/IP configuration, such as IP address, subnet mask, and
default gateway.

ipconfig /all: Display TCP/IP settings, including your Media Access Control (MAC)
address, domain name system (DNS) server, and lease information.

ipconfig /release: Release your IP address.

ipconfig /renew: Renew your IP address.

ping <IP address> or ping <host name>: Send four test messages to the IP address or
host name you specify; verify whether the other system is up and running.

netstat: Display TCP/IP protocol statistics and connection information. Can be used to
see who is connected to your system; what ports are open; and if you use an -o switch,
what the process ID is of the program that opened the port.

nbtstat: Troubleshoot NetBIOS over TCP/IP. For example, you can view a remote
NetBIOS name table using nbtstat -a <IP address>.

nslookup: Troubleshoot DNS problems. For example, you can get a listing of all the
records in DNS using nslookup.

arp: Troubleshoot ARP. For example, you can use arp -a to view your Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP) cache.

Tasklist: View a list of running processes.

Taskkill /PID <pid> /F: Terminates a process when you supply the process id.
WINDOWS SECURITY BEST PRACTICES FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION
EXAMS
One of the most important skills to have as an A+ Certified Professional is the capability of
securing Windows systems and networks. And even if you are not working in a networked
environment, you can apply these same skills to your customers with home Internet machines.

Harden the operating system: Uninstall any software you are not using and stop any
services not being used. The more software that is running, the more potential security
holes in the system.

Patch the systems: Keep the operating systems and devices up to date with Service
Packs and security patches.

Use a firewall: Ensure that there is a firewall between your system and the Internet. A
firewall prevents hackers from connecting to your system

Use strong passwords: Ensure that all user accounts use a strong password (at least
eight characters, and uses a mix of uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers, and
symbols).

Enable auditing: Log any suspicious activity on the system so you are aware of it.

Secure your wireless routers: If you have no need for wireless, disable this functionality
on your wireless router. If you are using wireless, secure it by changing the SSID,
disabling SSID broadcasting, and encrypting traffic with WEP, WPA, or WPA2 (best
option). You should also secure the wireless router by setting a strong password for the
admin account and disable DHCP on the router. You will then need to configure all your
clients with static IP addresses.

Use antivirus software: Install antivirus software on all servers and client machines to
help protect your systems from a virus. Make sure that your virus definition database is
frequently updated.
THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN FOR THE A+
CERTIFICATION EXAMS
With the massive amount of information you’re required to know for the A+ Exam, there are
bound to be a few things that might slip past you. Here’s a quick list of some things you’ll need
to know for the A+ Exam that you might have easily forgotten or overlooked:

Contrast ratio: A value measuring the brightness of different colors such as white versus
black. The larger the ratio, the better the picture quality on the display.

Component/RGB: Most analog video signals are composed of Red, Green, and Blue
signals which are typically delivered over either VGA or S-Video connectors. However,
some older high end monitors may include three separate RCA connectors to deliver
each signal over a unique or separate wire.

Native Resolution: The actual resolution of a monitor as opposed to the display
resolution that may be set lower which scales the image to the display area of the
monitor.

Creation of files: You can create a file in any folder on your hard drive by right-clicking in
an empty area and choosing a document type from the New menu. Files can also be
created from applications by choosing the application’s save feature.

Dxdiag: A troubleshooting utility for Windows that allows you to troubleshoot DirectX
components on the system, such as driver version and settings.

Grayware: A term used to describe software that performs unwanted actions. Grayware
encompasses malicious software such as adware and spyware. Be sure to have malware
protection software loaded on your system to protect against forms of grayware.

Spam: An unsolicited email message. Today’s email servers are being hit with a wealth
of unsolicited email messages a day from companies that are trying to sell services or
products. Be sure to configure spam filters on your email servers and email clients.

Media readers: Popular add-on devices that allow you to read different types of
memory cards and flash cards. Most systems today have media readers located on the
front panel of the computer in place of a floppy drive.

KVM switch: A device that allows you to share a keyboard, video device (monitor), and
mouse between several computers while being able to quickly switch between them.

Front panel connectors: The front of the PC has a number of connectors on the front
panel. These connectors include USB connectors, microphone, headset, and possibly a
FireWire connector.

Reset page count: A troubleshooting tip for printers — if you find the printer reports
low toner and you know there is more than enough toner available then it could be that
the printer is gauging the toner level by the number of pages printed. Find out how to
reset the page count on your printer to get rid of the low toner error.

Administrative shares versus Local shares: Administrative shares are default shares on
a Windows machine that allow an administrator to remotely connect to the machine
while a local share is any shared resource that the administrator has created. Examples
of administrative shares are the root of each hard drive being shared as C$ or D$ and the
Windows directory being shared as Admin$.

Permission propagation: Permission propagation is when you set permissions on a
parent folder and you want those settings to apply to all sub folders as well. To
propagate the permissions to sub folders you will choose the Advanced button when
setting NTFS permissions and choose to replace permission entries for all child objects.

Avoid trip hazards: You may create trip hazards when doing things like testing a
replacement network cable by using a network jack which is further away or laying out
tools and computer components in a walkway by a desk. Always ensure that you are not
needlessly risking the safety of yourself or others.

Heavy devices: Most computer equipment is light enough for a single person to handle
while many servers and UPSs will require two people to move or place in a server rack.
Always ensure that you have help for these and other heavy items and bend with your
knees to prevent injury.

Hot components: As equipment is used, many components will build up heat, which can
injure you. This is especially true of both computer and printer components. When
servicing equipment, ensure that you exercise proper care when hot components are
present.

Odors: When troubleshooting system components be aware of unexpected odors or
smells that may lead you to the source of the problem or signal an immediate danger.
For example, burned smells could identify overheating components or melted
connectors.

Alerts: A function found within Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc) which allows you
to monitor performance counters and perform an action when the counters are beyond
a desired threshold. The action could be logging in the Event Log, generating a network
message, starting a performance data log, or running a custom command.

Taskbar: The bar at bottom of the Windows desktop which displays the Start menu, all
open applications and documents, and contains the system tray (systray).

Systray: The systray (or system tray) is on the right side of the taskbar and displays
many running processes, known as background processes, that run in the background
but do not have a visual interface until you click on the icon in the system tray. Most of
these processes are accessed by clicking or right-clicking on the icon in the system tray
so that you can change the settings of the running program or terminate the process by
choosing quit or exit from the menu that appears. If there are too many items to
display, they can be shown by clicking on an arrow on the left of the systray.

Removal of peripherals: One of the processes in the systray is the Safely Remove
Hardware tool. When you insert devices such as a USB flash drive an icon appears in the
systray for the removable hardware. By clicking on this icon you will see a list of devices
that can be stopped and safely removed when you are ready to unplug the drive.
WIRELESS NETWORKING FOR THE A+ CERTIFICATION EXAMS
Wireless networking is a topic you are sure to be tested on when taking the A+ Exam. You are
responsible for knowing the wireless standards and the common security steps you should
take to help secure a wireless network.
WIRELESS STANDARDS
Standard
Description
802.11a
Runs at the 5 GHz frequency range and has a speed of 54 Mbps.
802.11b
Runs at the 2.4 GHz frequency range and has a speed of 11 Mbps.
802.11g
Runs at the 2.4 GHz frequency range and has a speed of 54 Mbps.
802.11n
Runs at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency range and has a practical
speed of approximately 150 Mbps.
802.11ac
Runs at the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency range and has a speed of
potentially 866 Mbps or more.
WIRELESS SECURITY
Feature
Description
MAC Filtering
You can control which clients can connect to the wireless
network by their MAC address. To do this, simply enable
MAC address filtering and then add the MAC address of
any authorized devices.
Change SSID
Change the SSID of your wireless network so that it is not
so obvious. Clients will need to know the SSID in order to
connect.
Disable SSID Broadcasting
After changing the SSID, disable SSID broadcasting, which
allows you to hide your wireless network from clients.
Enable WPA2
Enable WPA2 as the encryption protocol as it is the more
secure protocol of WPA2, WPA, and finally WEP. Ensure
that you use a complex key (mix of letters, numbers, and
case) when setting the key.
Set Admin Password
Be sure to set an administrator password for your device
so others cannot connect to it and change the settings.