Well I didn't know if this is the right area to ask this, but I couldn't think of any better place. I am currently trying to get my A+ Certification and I was wondering what is the best book to read for this. I have Micheal Meyers A+ Certification All-In-One (Third Edition) and I was wondering if I should buy the new sixth edition. I am also looking for any other good books for networking and programming. Thanks for the help!

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Get "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan & Ritchie. Read the data specifications for the Intel Core 2 Duo microprocessors which you can get on Intel's web site.

Knowing the Michael Meyers A+ books I think you should get the 6th edition. The reason is the technology changes so fast that the 3rd edition is probably obsolete.

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Is a A+ certification a certifiacate showing you can work with the hardware ,repairing or replacing harware as needed and then configuring it to work properly. Once I purchased my first PC in 2000 ,I became obesssed with learning something I could do working in computers and making a living at it .My neighbor who is a engineer and a C++ programmer for a major hardware manufacturer ,he actually heads up a team of other programmers and writes the code for wireless systems for new hardware devices ,he also makes a very good income at this works from home 80% of th time and pulls in about 90K a year ! He told me learning programming was easy and they hire you mostly if you have exprience and go by what you know ! I purchased a complier ,a 1/2 dozen books on learing C++ programming ,well after about 2 plus months of spending all the extra time I had after work from my job which I hated, I found myself banging my head against the wall ,it was to me all very confusing ,I learned some of the basic things,DOS commands ,some programming syntex, however I was miles away from being a programmer and unless I could afford to actually go to a colledge, I did not see how teaching myself from home as working and that I would ever have any possibility to actually get a job doing this .During this process what I did find out is that I actually enjoyed working with was the hardware much more then the headace programming gave me .However I was told PC Technicians do not really make a very good income ,in fack you ever see those young kids who drive the beetle/bug or copper cars that say geek squad on them ,they are PC Tech's and probably have A+ certs and probably make $13 a hour if that much. The thing is most of the young kids who want to make computers their career, take computer science in colledge ! What comes rather easily to them is a task for a fifty year old man like me trying to get into something he truely has a love for working with, computers .In my first PC ,I installed more RAM ,added a PCI sound card ,a AGP Graphics card put in a additionial fan for extra cooling ,installed a internial CD-RW drive .I performed alot of tweaking to he O/S to get the PC running at optimal performance .I know exactly want all of you are saying BIG DEAL ,and I agree anyone that can follow directions can perform any of these task ,even building your own system does not take a rocket sciencetist ! So to end my rant can anyone avise me on what I can really do to make $ working with computers ,I've been told neetworking was the way to go then told shortly after that networking was overloaded with available people in the know ! So whats a guy who lost a job he had worke at for twenty years when the owner died and the bis closed up ,cnat find any work in same bis (been looking for almost 5 years)
any ideas ,wgen you get to my age or perhaps at any age you start to reralize since I will probably not become rich at what I do I might as well enjoy what Iam doing ,I find working with these wonderful machines both interesting and relaxing at the same time !
Thank to all ,Nick

this is for Nick (though i know i should be helping boogyman) only because i too am a 50 year old guy looking to start over. i received my CompTIA A+ certification in july 2006 and have had no luck finding a job either. i am currently studying to make an attempt at Network+ certification, hoping that will help if i can get the certification. but i'm really doubting it. the overriding problem, i think, is the fact that no one is going to hire 50 somethings like us to work for them. especially in this so called 'my kid took to that computer' age we live in. too many old age problems. 10 year career time max, eh? company healthcare burden? sheesh! oh, there are always exceptions to this doctrine, jobs here or there opening up, but seemingly never any in our life area. and yeah, we can put on the firedog clown suits and make that $13 an hour but would that work out to any financial advancements 5 years down the road? the way things are going in those brick and mortar shacks, not likely. i guess Nick my friend, we are going to have to get up and move! and good luck to you boogyman. see this: http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom...

Well see the reason I am trying to get my A+ Certification is because I am planning on opening my own business and I want to show people I know what im doing. I got my first PC when I was 9 and I have been working on them since (I am now 21). I am getting a degree in Industrial Technology and getting certified in a few other things, and if I decide I want to get Computer Science degree I might go back to college. I guess I am wondering what the best book to study for the A+ Cerfitication test is the best. I also found out that computer technicians do not make that much money, but thats why I don't want to work for someone elses money. Being old isn't the worst thing Nick. You could use it to your advantage that you are more experienced.

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Nick and Abstract, maybe you can try one of those temp agencies that cater to the information technology field? That might get your foot in the door.

I never studied for the A+. My old tech job paid for the voucher and I passed both the hardware and software exams. Been A+ cert since 2003. It is the easiest test known to man!

I will tell you, study ALL you want! It wont matter at all. The guys at COMP TIA have their own answers for the problems, it does not matter if it is the correct answer to a real life problem or not. So study all you want, The answer to the A+ exams are retarded!

An example

"You are connecting two buildings together with an "INFRARED" network, what could be some possible issues?"

the option for "your a retard for using IR and should be shot was a valid answer" The correct answer was sunlight.

Thats just an example of how freaking retarded the questions were, and yes, thats a real question on the test.

"was not a valid answer" I meant

The biggest problem I ran up against, after being layed off, in the computer service field, was that of being 'over qualified.' In other words, too damn old. No matter that I was certified, had 15+ years experience, excellent references and knew what I was doing. None of that counted for anything. They were afraid I would ask for a really high salary and leave soon after being hired if I found a better offer. That's right, folks, it's just a matter of age and economics. They would rather hire a young entry-level guy (or gal) who doesn't know to ask for a decent salary, and probably doesn't know much else, either. I was willing to work for a lesser salary than I had lost, because I still had kids at home to raise. Some kind of income is better than none. I ended up changing careers completely, going instead into accounting. Luckily, those years of good paying jobs in computers and aerospace have paid off for me. I now draw the maximum Social Security. (Whoopee)

There are quite a number of good books to study for the A+ certification. I would go for the latest edition, as some one mentioned, because the technology changes daily, and so do the tests.

Good luck.

Bob

A positive attitude won't solve all your problems, but it will annoy just enough people to be worth the effort.