Certificate in Basic CompTIA A+ Certification Prep Online Course

The Art of the Tech
In Lesson 1, I'll introduce you to the course and to the CompTIA A+ certification, and then move right into essential information for every tech. You'll get the scoop on how the many components of the personal computer work together. We'll discuss how professional techs behave and interact with clients. And we'll finish with a tried-and-true troubleshooting methodology that will apply to all tech situations.

The Visible PC
In Lesson 2, we'll take a tour of the PC, starting with the exterior connectors. We'll go into details of the interior devices as well. Our goal is to begin teaching proper tech terminology and familiarize you with standard PC components.

Maintenance and Safety Precautions
Today, we dive into the important safety techniques that every good tech absolutely needs to know. These range from how to clean the PC to methods to avoid tech-induced damage to how to dispose of old parts safely.

Central Processing Units
In this lesson, I'll deliver the goods on central processing units, the core processing component in every PC. I'll explain variations in technology and then give practical information and advice on installing and troubleshooting CPUs.

RAM
In Lesson 5, we'll dig into the details of one of the foundations of the PC: RAM. With RAM, the CPU can make magic happen. Without it? Literally nothing can happen. You'll learn about the different varieties of RAM and proper techniques for installing it. Then, we'll wrap up the lesson with troubleshooting RAM and memory problems.

BIOS and CMOS
In this lesson, I'll teach you about the essential programming that makes computers function, what's called the BIOS. Plus, you'll learn about the special tools we use for storing configuration options for BIOS, called the CMOS. It's awesome stuff!

Motherboards and Cases
In Lesson 7, I'll teach you all about motherboards, the bedrock of every PC. You'll learn form factors, types of expansion slots, and installation steps for expansion cards. In this lesson, we'll also cover upgrading, installing, and troubleshooting motherboards.

Powering the PC
Today, I'll introduce you to power supplies and the basics of powering a PC. You'll learn about how electricity gets from your wall outlet into your PC, along with how to test that electricity. I'll teach you about the many power supply standards and how to install one inside your PC. Finally, we'll discuss how to troubleshoot a power supply with problems.

Input Devices
In this lesson, you'll learn about devices that enable you to input data into your computer. I'll discuss standard input devices (like keyboards and mice) and multimedia devices (like digital cameras and webcams). I'll also teach you about connecting those devices to your computers using connectors like USB and FireWire.

Hard Drive Technologies
Today, we'll dig into hard drive technologies, including traditional hard disk drives and modern solid-state drives. You'll also learn how to install hard drives. I'll explain the fundamentals of protecting data with RAID technology and give you some tips and tricks for troubleshooting bad drives.

Implementing Hard Drives
In Lesson 11, you'll learn how to prepare a hard drive for use by an operating system. I'll teach you about partitioning and formatting a hard drive. We'll also cover maintaining your data using several included Windows utilities.

Removable Media
As we wrap up the course, you'll learn about the various forms of removable media. I'll teach you about older formats like floppy disks and tape drives. We'll discuss flash media like USB thumb drives and memory cards. Finally, you'll learn about optical media like DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as external drives.