Glen E. Clarke

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-09-2022

This Cheat Sheet gives you quick facts to remember on test day to help you answer questions found on the A+ Certification exams. Before the A+ exams, you’ll want to review some of the major Windows concepts, including boot files, recovery tools, RAID types, and troubleshooting utilities.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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 or ping : 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 /F: Terminates a process when you supply the process id.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

As an A+ Certified Professional you will troubleshoot a number of different problems on the system — this table 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.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

Each hardware manufacturer has its own diagnostic codes that identify specific POST errors. 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

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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. exe: Loads the Windows operating system if selected from the operating system selection menu provided by BCD. exe: Resumes the Windows operating system if the system is started from a hibernate state.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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: 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.

Article / Updated 09-05-2019

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