TOTAL: CompTIA A+ Certification (220-1001).

Technicians need the right tools to do their job. These tools include PC toolkits, mobile device toolkits, voltmeters and circuit testers.

The CompTIA A+ defines a very specific workflow process to troubleshoot any problem on a system. These seven steps will help you mentally breakdown the steps to diagnose and repair a computer problem.

Mike takes you on a tour of the primary PC components including the computer case, monitor, and various peripherals including the keyboard, mouse, speakers, and more.

In this episode, Mike reviews the major external connections including USB, network, power, video, and audio.

In this episode, Mike gives a guided tour around the inside one of his own desktop computers. Along the way, he points out the system's primary components, explains their purpose, and pulls many of them out to give you a closer look at how they all fit together.

Computers are everywhere if one only knows where to look! What are the parts and the functions of a computer and what do all these devices have in common?

The central processing unit is where the actual calculations of the computer take place. CPUs all read their own machine language. Internally all CPUs have pipelines that handle individual lines of machine language.

Both AMD and Intel CPUs run the same machine language. The speed that which they process machine language is their clock speed. Most clock speeds today are in the gigahertz range and are generated by a multiplier value of the motherboard speed.

CPUs are so incredibly fast today that failing to keep a steady supply of code coming into the system creates stalls that stop the CPU. To avoid stalls, all CPUs store small amounts of highspeed RAM known as cache.

Both AMD and Intel use unique CPU packages that install into their respective sockets. It’s imperative for a tech to know the most popular sockets available today and the types of CPUs that use them

Every computer needs a CPU. The steps to installing are straightforward but should be handled with care to prevent EMP damage. Additionally, some form of cooling is required.

Liquid cooling isn’t just for enthusiasts. It is quieter and much more efficient than traditional air cooling. Today’s liquid cooling solutions are easy to use and interface with any system.

Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) comes in a number of versions defined by the doubling of commands they process per clock cycle. It’s important for techs to recognize these technologies and the speed rating systems used.

Individual sticks of DRAM will have very different capacities. It’s important to understand RAM capacities and how sticks work together to provide the total memory for a system.

DRAM comes in several variable features such as single-sided or double-sided DRAM. Different motherboards may or may not be able to take advantage of these features.

Installing RAM is at first glance a simple process but there’s several devils in the details. RAM slots, pairing of RAM and speed matching must all be considered during the installation.

Basic Input/Output Services (BIOS) is code (firmware) built into every motherboard to give the CPU basic communication with the hardware attached to the motherboard. BIOS is a critical part of the PC and a good tech needs to understand its function.

The Power On Self Test takes place every time a system starts. POST checks the system but if there’s a problem this needs to be communicated to the user.

The System Setup is a small program built into your firmware to enable techs to configure low level features to the hardware on the motherboard. A good tech needs to know how to access and use system setup on any computer.

A system’s BIOS is robust and rarely causes trouble but when it does a good tech must be ready to troubleshoot. Understanding a few simple tricks can make troubleshooting easier.

Motherboards, power supplies and cases are surprisingly interchangeable due to industry standards called form factors. Techs should know common form factors and the benefits and challenges of each of them.

Every CPU has specialty chips called chipset that are designed to work with that CPU. The chipset provides the primary interface to expansion slots, peripherals and in some cases memory for the CPU. Good techs not only know their CPUs but also the chipsets associated with those CPUs.

A typical motherboard is covered with chips, slots, connectors and heatsinks. A good tech has a solid understanding what goes on a motherboard and the function of most if not all the connections.

A PC’s case is an amazing and often overlooked part of system. Understanding common features of cases makes their selection and installation much easier.

Installing a motherboard into a case is partly science and partly art. Science in that a motherboard must match the form factor and proper parts are installed and art in the subtle way installation requires a form and soft touch to ensure everything fits together properly.

A PCs power supply take AC power from the grid and transforms it into DC voltage the system needs to run.

Power supplies require careful mounting to ensure easy connections to the devices that need power. It’s also important to make sure that the power supply provides proper airflow.

Power supplies come in a dizzying array of the power ratings, sizes and efficiencies. A good tech understands these factors to make sure a system has the power it needs,

All PCs make heat. Too much heat keeps it from running so the heat must be dissipated from the system. Cooling fans, fins and liquid cooling can make a system cooler.

If a power supply fails, a system simply will not operate. There’s many tricks and tips to make the diagnosis and troubleshooting of power supplies simple and quick.

Now that power supplies are covered it’s time to circle back and cover core component troubleshooting. The motherboard, CPU, RAM and power must be considered as a team for many troubleshooting scenarios.

Mass Storage (disk drives and solid-state drives) store the operating system and applications. Despite the different technologies, there’s tremendous commonality as to how your systems talks to these many devices.

Magnetic Drives (HDDs), with their rotating disks have been the go to mass storage media for decades. A good tech understands how this venerable media works and understands magnetic media’s unique needs.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are quickly replacing HDDs for mass storage needs on almost all computers. SSDs are faster and more robust than HDDs and come with their own maintenance needs.

The Small Computer System Interface has been around in one form or another for close to 40 years. Despite its age, SCSI drives still appear in niche systems. It’s important to recognize SCSI systems and where they’re used today.

Today’s computers often use multiple mass storage devices. It’s critical that the right devices boot when needed. Boot order is handled via the system setup.

A brand-new system doesn’t have a bootable drive with an installed operating system. In this episode you will go through the process of setting up an initial drive and installing an operating system using bootable media.

The Random Array of Independent Devices (RAID) is a philosophy of using multiple drives working as a single drive – an array – to provide speed or redundancy. There’s many different RAID levels and a good tech understand these levels and the benefits they provide.

Hardware RAID uses a purpose-built RAID controller to configure and maintain RAID arrays. It’s important understand the benefits of hardware RAID and how to configure and maintain RAID arrays.

Mass storage device sometimes fail, resulting in the potential loos of critical data. A good tech knows the tools and procedures to diagnose and repair many mass storage problems.