Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide the

Managing and Troubleshooting PCs.

Fifth Edition (Exams 220-901 & 220-902)
Mike Meyers
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 Mike Meyers’

CompTIA A+® Guide

to Managing and
Troubleshooting PCs

Fifth Edition
(Exams 220 -901 & 220 -902)
■■ About the Authors
Michael Meyers is the industry’s leading authority on CompTIA A+ and
Network+ certification. He is the president and founder of Total Seminars,
LLC, a major provider of PC and network repair seminars for thousands of
organizations throughout the world, and a member of CompTIA.
Mike has written numerous popular textbooks, including the best-
selling CompTIA A+® Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, the CompTIA
Network+® Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, and the Mike Meyers’ CompTIA
Security+® Certification Guide.

About the Contributor

Scott Jernigan wields a mighty red pen as Editor in Chief for Total Seminars.
With a Master of Arts degree in Medieval History, Scott feels as much at
home in the musty archives of London as he does in the crisp IPS glow of
Total Seminars’ Houston HQ. After fleeing a purely academic life, he dove
headfirst into IT, working as an instructor, editor, and writer.
Scott has written, edited, and contributed to dozens of books on com-
puter literacy, hardware, operating systems, networking, and certification,
including Computer Literacy—Your Ticket to IC3 Certification, and co-authoring
with Mike Meyers the All-in-One CompTIA Strata® IT Fundamentals Exam
Guide.
Scott has taught computer classes all over the United States, including
stints at the United Nations in New York and the FBI Academy in Quantico.
Practicing what he preaches, Scott is a CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Net-
work+ certified technician, a Microsoft Certified Professional, a Microsoft
Office User Specialist, and Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certified.

About the Technical Editor

Chris Crayton (CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCSE) is an author,
editor, technical consultant, and trainer. Chris has worked as a computer
technology and networking instructor, information security director,
network administrator, network engineer, and PC specialist. Chris has
authored several print and online books on PC Repair, CompTIA A+,
CompTIA Security+, and Microsoft Windows. Chris has served as technical
editor on numerous professional technical titles for leading publishing
companies, including the CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide, the CompTIA
A+ Certification Study Guide, and the Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Certification
Passport.
 Mike Meyers’

CompTIA A+® Guide

to Managing and
Troubleshooting PCs

Fifth Edition
(Exams 220 -901 & 220 -902)

Mike Meyers

New York Chicago San Francisco

Athens London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi Singapore Sydney Toronto
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■■ Acknowledgments
I’d like to acknowledge the many people who contributed their talents to
make this book possible:
To my in-house Editor in Chief, Scott Jernigan: I couldn’t have done it
without you, amigo. Truthfully, has there ever been a better combo than a
wizard and a paladin?
To Christopher Crayton, technical editor: Another great project with
you, Chris. Thanks for keeping my toes to the fire and your relentless push
to update, update, update! This is a much better product than it could have
been without your help.
To Bobby Rogers, mobile devices expert: Thank you for the outstanding
contributions to this book!
To Bill McManus, copy editor: Astonishingly good work in a fast-paced
timeframe. You rock!
To Michael Smyer, Total Seminars’ resident tech guru and photographer:
Your contributions continue to shine, from superb photographs to excellent
illustrations and, in this edition, some nicely styled writing. Well done!
To Dave Rush, crack technologist and ridiculously talented person:
How can I list the many contributions you’ve made to make this book—and
all the crazy products that go with it—so awesome? Researching, writing,
arguing, filming, arguing, researching some more...and the final product.
All fun!
To Travis Everett, Internet guru and writer: Such a wonderful addition
to the team this go-round, not just as a top-notch editor, but as a contributor
as well. Your understanding of the Internet and the cloud added excellent
additions to the book. Looking forward to the next one to see what other
talents you bring to the table!
To Ford Pierson, graphics maven and editor: I know you have a new
prime directive with little Oliver, but thanks for pinch-hitting on some
graphics and editing for the book. Much appreciated. And I’m really glad
we do everything electronically nowadays. Diapers, yikes!
To Sam Huntley and Maggie Jernigan: Thank you for the 11th-hour
assist with proofing. We promise you’ll have more time next time.
To Dudley Lehmer, my partner at Total Seminars: As always, thanks
for keeping the ship afloat while I got to play on this book!
To Amy Stonebraker, acquisitions coordinator at McGraw-Hill:
Thanks for keeping track of everything and (gently) smacking Scott when
he forgot things.
To Claire Yee, acquisitions coordinator at McGraw-Hill: Yay! You arrived
late in the game, but clearly came to play. Thanks for keeping Scott in line
and making the chapters flow. Looking forward to many more with you.
To Richard Camp, proofreader: Thank you, Richard, for catching those
silly typos. Your eagle eyes made the book much better!
To Howie Severson and Jody McKenzie, project editors: It was a joy to
work with you both again. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. In fact,
I asked for the best team and got exactly what I wanted!
ABOUT THIS BOOK
■■ Important Technology Skills

Information technology (IT) offers many career paths, need certain basic computer skills. Mike Meyers’
leading to occupations in such fields as PC repair, CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting
network administration, telecommunications, Web PCs builds a foundation for success in the IT field by
development, graphic design, and desktop support. introducing you to fundamental technology concepts
To become competent in any IT field, however, you and giving you essential computer skills.

BaseTech//Mike
BaseTech MikeMeyers’
Meyers’CompTIA
CompTIAA+A+Guide
GuidetotoManaging
Managing and
and Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting PCsPCs / Meyers
/ Meyers / 954-4
/ 954-4 / Ch
/ Ch 7 7 BaseTech // Mike
MikeMeyers’
Meyers’CompTIA
CompTIAA+
A+Guide
GuidetotoManaging
Managingand
andTroubleshooting PCs/ /Meyers
TroubleshootingPCs Meyers/ /954-4
954-4/ /ChCh5 5
BaseTech

daughter boards.
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individualDDR
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interchangeably.Table Table5.1 5.1
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discrete
discrete after all!)
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thesearearecommonly
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integrated
integrated circuit
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chips thatthat support
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try adopted DDR SDRAM as the standard system RAM. the summer
Chipset
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Intel relented
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controllersthat thatrequired
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information from and
and
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motherboard.
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be
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technologies: any any good
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thatcan can
referred to as DDR, DDR RAM, be copied
copied will will bebe copied.
copied. One One ofof Rambus’Rambus’ best best concepts
concepts was was the the
experienced IT chapters, RAM,
chapters, the the chips
chips in inaaPC’s
PC’schipset
chipsetserve
of processorasthe
serve aselectronic
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electronic and the
the weird
weird hybrid, dual-channel
dual-channelarchitecture—using
architecture—usingtwo twosticks
sticksofofRDRAM
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increase
motherboardthrough
interfaces accepts, which
the typethe andCPU,
capacity of RAM,
RAM, and and hybrid, DDRAM.
DDRAM.
interfaces
and the sortthrough
of internal which the CPU,devicesRAM,that andinput/
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Northbridge throughput.
throughput. Manufacturers
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releasedmotherboards
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MCCsthat that
interact.and external

professionals.
output devices Chipsets vary in features, per-
output devices supports.
the motherboard interact.As Chipsets
you learnedvaryininearlier
features, per- support
support dual-channel
dual-channelarchitecture
architectureusing usingDDR DDRSDRAM.
SDRAM.Dual-channel
Dual-channelDDR DDR
formance, and stability, so they factor hugely in the
formance,
chapters, the and
chips stability, so they
in a PC’s chipset servefactor hugely in the
as electronic motherboards
motherboards use use regular
regular DDRDDRsticks,sticks,although
althoughmanufacturers
manufacturersoften oftensell sell
purchase
interfaces or recommendation
through which the CPU, of a particular
RAM, and input/ mother-
purchase or recommendation of a particular mother- Northbridge
RAM
RAM in in matched
matchedpairs,pairs,branding
brandingthem themas asdual-channel
dual-channelRAM. RAM.
board. Good interact.
output devices techs know Chipsetstheir chipsets!
vary in features, per-
board. Good techs know their chipsets! Dual-channel
Dual-channel DDR DDR requires
requires two two identical
identicalsticks
sticksofofDDR DDRand andthey they
Key Terms, identified
formance,
Because and stability,
the chipset so theyfacilitates
factor hugely in the
communication
Because
purchase or the chipsetof facilitates communication Southbridge must
must snap
snap into
into two
two paired
paired slots.
slots. Many
Many motherboards
motherboards offer
offer four
fourslots
slots (see
(see
between therecommendation
CPU and other adevices
particular in mother-
the system, its Southbridge I’ve got a great Chapter
I’ve got a great Chapter
between
board. Good thetechs
CPU knowandtheirother devices in the system, its
chipsets! Figure
Figure 5.14).
component chips are relatively centrally located on the 55 Challenge!
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sim on
on calculating
calculating 5.14).
in red, point out component
Because the
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between the CPU
motherboard
chips
(see
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are relatively
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andFigure
facilitates centrally
7.12). inAs
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Figure 7.12). As theyou’ll
located Southbridge
communication
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at http://totalsem.
com/90x. Check
com/90x.
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it out
out right
right now!
now!
Chapter 6,chips
“BIOS,” chipsets centrally
were originally composed of
important vocabulary
component are relatively located on the
Chapter 6, “BIOS,” chipsets were originally composed of
two primary(see
motherboard chips: the Northbridge
Figure 7.12). As you’ll and the Southbridge.
recall from
two primary
Chapter chips:
The6,Northbridge
“BIOS,” the Northbridge
chipsets were originally
chip
and the Southbridge.
handledcomposedRAM, while of the Table
Table5.1
5.1 DDR
DDRSpeeds
Speeds
and definitions that The Northbridge
two primary
Southbridge
Southbridge
The
chip handled
chips: the Northbridge
handled some expansion
handled
Northbridge chip some expansion
handled RAM,
devices and mass • •Figure
RAM, while the
and the Southbridge.
devices
while the and mass
7.12 Northbridge and Southbridge
Figure 7.12 Northbridge and Southbridge
Clock
ClockSpeed
100
Speed DDR
DDRSpeed
SpeedRating
Rating PCPCSpeed
SpeedRating
Rating
storage drives, such as hard drives. Some motherboard
and mass • Figure 7.12 Northbridge and Southbridge 100 MHz
MHz DDR-200
DDR-200 PC-1600
PC-1600
you need to know.
Southbridge
storage handled
drives, some
such expansion
as(orhard devices
manufacturers added stilldrives.
add) aSome
third motherboard
chip called the Super I/O chip to 133
storage drives, such as hard drives. Some motherboard
manufacturers added (or still add) a third chip called the Super I/O chip to 133 MHz
MHz DDR-266
DDR-266 PC-2100
PC-2100
manufacturers added (or still add) a third chip called the Super I/O chip to 166
166 MHz
MHz DDR-333
DDR-333 PC-2700
PC-2700
200 MHz DDR-400 PC-3200
Cross Check 200 MHz DDR-400 PC-3200
CrossCheck
Cross Check 217 MHz
217 MHz
DDR-433
DDR-433
PC-3500
PC-3500
Cross Check Although
Current
Current State
State ofNorthbridge
of the the Northbridge and Southbridge
and Southbridge
Current State of the Northbridge and Southbridge
AlthoughCompTIA
CompTIA continues
continues to discuss
to discuss the Northbridge
the Northbridge and South-and South-
233 MHz
233 MHz
250 MHz
DDR-466
DDR-466
DDR-500
PC-3700
PC-3700
PC-4000

questions develop Although CompTIA continues to Chapter

discuss 250 MHz DDR-500 PC-4000
bridge
bridge asas discrete
discrete chips,
chips, you you know
know from 6 the
that Northbridge
from Chapter 6 that
their theirand
functions South-
functions 275 MHz DDR-550 PC-4400
bridge
have
have asabsorbed
been
been discrete
absorbed chips,
into otheryou
into know
devices.
other So,from
cross
devices. Chapter
check
So, crossyour6 that their memory
memory
check your functions 275 MHz DDR-550 PC-4400
300 MHz DDR-600 PC-4800
reasoning skills: haveWhere
now.
now.
the
now.
beenisabsorbed
Where
discrete
Where
the memory
is the into
memory
Southbridge?
is the memoryHow do
other
controller devices.
now?
controller What
now?
its functions
controller
So,
do What
appear
now?
the discrete Southbridge? How do its functions appear now?
cross
Intel
now?
What
docheck
and AMD your
Intel call
and memory
AMD call
do Intel and AMD call
300 MHz DDR-600 PC-4800

ask, compare, contrast, the discrete Southbridge? How do its functions appear now?
197

and explain.
Chapter 7: Motherboards
197 130
Chapter 7: Motherboards
197 130 Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
Chapter 7: Motherboards Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs

07-ch07.indd 197 14/01/16 6:02 pm

07-ch07.indd 197 14/01/16 6:02 pm

05-ch05.indd 130 13/01/16 5:57 pm
07-ch07.indd 197 14/01/16 6:02 pm 05-ch05.indd 130 13/01/16 5:57 pm

Engaging and Motivational— Makes Learning Fun!—

Using a conversational style and Rich colorful text, and enhanced
proven instructional approach, illustrations bring technical subjects
the author explains technical concepts to life.
in a clear, interesting way using
real-world examples.

Proven Learning Method Keeps You on Track

Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs is structured to give you
comprehensive knowledge of computer skills and technologies. The textbook’s active learning methodology
guides you beyond mere recall and, through thought-provoking activities, labs, and sidebars, helps you
develop critical-thinking, diagnostic, and communication skills.
■■ Effective Learning Tools

This pedagogically rich book is designed to make troubleshoot problems. Mike Meyers’ proven ability
learning easy and enjoyable and to help you develop to explain concepts in a clear, direct, even humorous
the skills and critical-thinking abilities that will way makes this book interesting, motivational,
enable you to adapt to different job situations and and fun.

BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers / 954-4 / Ch 12
BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers / 954-4 / Ch 12
BaseTech / Mike
BaseTech Meyers’
/ Mike CompTIA
Meyers’ A+A+
CompTIA Guide to toManaging
Guide Managingand
andTroubleshooting
Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers
PCs / Meyers//954-4
954-4//Ch
Ch7 7
BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers / 954-4 / Ch 7

Notes, Tips, and

Warnings create a
Veryold oldmotherboards
motherboards
■ Key Terms
■ road map for success
Very
Very old motherboards
usedto
used torequire
requiretechs techstoto setset audio editing
audio editing workstation
workstation (398)
(398) patch
patch(423)
(423)
used to require techs to set
jumpers todetermine
jumpers
jumpersto
determinethe
to determine
thebus
the bus
bus audio interface
audio interface (398) Preboot
PrebootExecution
Execution Environment
Environment(PXE) (420)
(PXE) (420)
speed forthe
speed the motherboard. This
speedfor for themotherboard.
motherboard. This
This boot method
boot method (407)
(407) recovery
recoverypartition
partition(408)
(408)
Chapter Review
enabled
enabled these motherboards
enabledthese thesemotherboards
motherboards remote
to accommodate
to accommodate CPUs that
toneeded
accommodate
CPUs
CPUs
that
that
clean installation (408)
clean installation (408) remotenetwork
network installation (409)
installation (409)
needed a a100-MHz
100-MHzbus, bus,for for End User
User License
License Agreement
Agreement (EULA)
(EULA)(410) service pack (423)
needed
example,
example,
example,
a 100-MHz
and
neededa a66-MHz
needed
andother
and
66-MHz
otherCPUs
other
bus,
bus.
bus.
CPUs
CPUs
The
forthat
that
The that
End
gaming PC (406)
gaming PC (406)
(410) service pack (423)
thick client (396)
thick client (396) sections provide
graphics workstation (397) thin client (396)
concept summaries, key
needed
CompTIA aA+ 66-MHz
A+exams
exams bus.mightThe
CompTIA
CompTIA A+ kinds
exams
might
might
graphics workstation (397) thin client (396)
refertotothese
refer these kindsofof manual
manual hardware abstraction layer (HAL) (422) unattended installation (409)
refer to these
adjustments
adjustments kinds for
needed
needed of
formanual hardware abstraction layer (HAL) (422) unattended installation (409)
terms lists, and lots of
home server PC (399) Upgrade Assistant (408)
adjustments
installation. needed for
installation. home server PC (399) Upgrade Assistant (408)
installation.
Settingthese
Setting thesejumpers
jumpers HTPC (403) upgrade installation (408)
HTPC
image(403)
upgrade installation (408)
incorrectly
Settingresulted
incorrectly
behavior.First,
behavior.
incorrectly
busspeed
bus speedFirst,
resulted
these
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to handle only very basic applications with an
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absolute minimum amount of hardware required
6. A(n) __________________ is a fix for a
__________________.
single problem with the OS, while a(n)
6. A(n) __________________ is a fix for a
key PC components.
connections
board to
board toand
verify
verifytestthat
it. the
that A POST
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system is can beIfIfhelpful
is booting.
booting. you
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card, test
start
startthe
the CMOS setup utility. to handle only very basic applications with an __________________ is a combination of fixes.
by the operating system. single problem with the OS, while a(n)
because you won’t
system,
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and haveto
watch totosee
add
see if thePOST
if the
the speaker,
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before the POST stops. If you don’t have a POST card, installPOSTa POST
card,card, install
start the 2. A(n) __________________ is a box that you __________________ is a combination of fixes.
by the operating system. the applications and configuration of the
system,a keyboard, speaker,
and watchspeaker, video
to see ifvideothe POSTcard, and
card,takes monitor.
place—you Boot
Bootshouldthe system and
see a and see
numberseeifif hook up to your PC with inputs that enable
a keyboard, and monitor. the system If you system,
7. current wish to you
haveshould
only one OS and
choose to dokeep
a(n)
thecodes
BIOS information
information shows up 2. A(n)
you to__________________
connect professionalismicrophones
a box that you
and
of POSTthe BIOS before the POST shows up on
stops. onIf the
the screen.
you screen. IfIf itit does,
don’t have a POST
does, you’re
card,
you’re probably
install
probably the applications and
__________________ ofconfiguration
the new OS. of the
hook up to your PC with inputs that enable
instruments.
Sims mirror the style
okay. If
okay.
a keyboard, Ifspeaker,
it doesn’t,
it doesn’t,videoit’s
it’s time
time
card,to refer
to and to
to the
the motherboard
refermonitor. motherboard
Boot the system book
bookto to see
andseewhere
where
see if current system, you should choose to do a(n)
3. you to connect professional microphones and
you made
made aa mistake.
mistake. 8. During the Windows installation, you will
you
the BIOS information shows up on the screen. If it does, you’re probably __________________ cases are used to make your __________________
If you
you get get no instruments. need to agree to a legalof the new called
document OS. the
no power at all,
all, check to make
make suresure you plugged in all
allthe
of performance-based
okay. If itIfdoesn’t, it’s power
time toatrefer check
to thetomotherboard you plugged
book to seeinwhere the Check
Checkout outthe
theChapter
Chapter computer blend in with the rest of your home
necessary power power connectors. If you get power to fans but get nothing on 77Challenge!
Challenge!sim,
sim,“Label theater equipment. cases are used to make your 8. __________________.
During the Windows installation, you will
necessary
you made a mistake. connectors. If you get power to fans but get nothing on “Label 3. __________________
the screen,
screen, you you could have several problems. The CPU, RAM, or video Motherboard,
Motherboard, ” ”over
overatathttp://
http:// need to agree
9. Windows tracksto a legal
the document
installation called
progress the
with
If the
questions you’ll see on
you might
get nonot powercould havecheck
at all, severalto problems.
make sureThe youCPU, pluggedRAM, in orallvideo
the 4. computer blend
If you want in with
to share filesthe
andrest of your
printers home
over
totalsem.com/90x.
Check out the It’ll
It’llhelp
helpyou
Chapter
card might
card not be
be connected
connected to
to the
the motherboard properly. The only
onlyway to totalsem.com/90x. you a __________________.
set of text files called __________________.
necessary powerthe
determine connectors. If you getmotherboard
power to properly.
fans but get Thenothing way onto remember
7remember all
Challenge! the
allsim, motherboard
“Label
the motherboard
theater equipment.
your home network, you can set up a(n)
determine the problems
problems is is to
to test.
test. Check
Check the the easy
easy connections
connectionsfirst first(RAM
(RAM Windows
9. Windows tracks
the the installation progress
tool with
the CompTIA A+ exam
the screen, you before
could have several problems. The CPU, RAM, or video components
Motherboard, in”case
components in over you http://
case at
get a
you get a __________________.
4. If you want to share files and printers over 10. uses __________________ for
and video)
and video) before removing
removing and and reseating
reseating the theCPU.
CPU.Also, Also,seeseeChapter
Chapter88for for performance-based challenge on
card might notpowerbe connected to the motherboard properly. The only way to totalsem.com/90x. It’ll
performance-based challenge help you on a set of text
migrating userfiles
filescalled __________________.
and settings.
more on on your home network, you can set up a(n)
more power issues.
issues. the CompTIA A+ 901 exam.
remember
the CompTIAall A+
the901motherboard
exam.
determine the problems is to test. Check the easy connections first (RAM
and video) before removing and reseating the CPU. Also, see Chapter 8 for
components in case you get a
performance-based challenge on
__________________. 10. Windows uses the __________________ tool for
migrating user files and settings. so you’ll be ready
■ Multiple-Choice Quiz
more on power issues.
Troubleshooting Motherboards
■■■ Troubleshooting
■ Motherboards
the CompTIA A+ 901 exam.
to do stuff, not just
1. What is a thin client? C. A system designed to handle only very basic
Motherboards fail. Not often, but motherboards and motherboard compo-
Motherboards fail. Not often, but motherboards and motherboard compo- ■ Multiple-Choice Quiz address bus
A. A computer with a 32-bit-wide applications with the minimum hardware know stuff.
■■ Troubleshooting
facturing defects made worse byMotherboards
nents can die from many causes: time, dust, cat hair, or simply slight manu- required by the operating system
nents can die from many causes: time, dust, cat hair, or simply slight manu- B. A is
portable computer
the millions of amps of current sluicing 1. What a thin client? C. A system designed to handle only very basic
facturing defects made worse by the millions of amps of current sluicing D. A computer in a narrow, small form-factor case
through the motherboard traces. Installing cards, electrostatic discharge, A. A computer with a 32-bit-wide address bus applications with the minimum hardware
Motherboards
through the fail.motherboard
Not often, but motherboards
traces. and motherboard
Installing cards, compo-
electrostatic discharge,
flexing the motherboard one time too many when swapping out RAM or required by the operating system
nents flexing
can diethefrommotherboard onetime,
many causes: time dust,
too many when
cat hair, or swapping out manu-
simply slight RAM or B. A portable computer
facturing defects made worse by the millions of amps of current sluicing D. A computer in a narrow, small form-factor case
through the motherboard traces. Installing cards, electrostatic discharge, 219 432
Chapter 7: Motherboards Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
flexing the motherboard 219
Chapter 7: Motherboards one time too many when swapping out RAM or

432
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
219
Chapter 7: Motherboards
07-ch07.indd 219 19/02/16 2:46 pm 12-ch12.indd 432 21/01/16 2:21 pm
07-ch07.indd 219 19/02/16 2:46 pm

Offers Practical Experience— Robust Learning Tools—

12-ch12.indd 432 21/01/16 2:21 pm
07-ch07.indd 219 19/02/16 2:46 pm

Tutorials and lab assignments develop Summaries, key terms lists, quizzes,
essential hands-on skills and put essay questions, and lab projects
concepts in real-world contexts. help you practice skills and measure
progress.

Each chapter includes

■■ Learning objectives that set measurable goals for chapter-by-chapter ■■ Plenty of full-color photographs and illustrations that provide clear,
progress up-close pictures of the technology, making difficult concepts easy to
■■ Try This!, Cross Check, and Tech Tip sidebars that encourage you visualize and understand
to practice and apply concepts in real-world settings ■■ Highlighted Key Terms, Key Terms lists, and Chapter Summaries
■■ Notes, Tips, and Warnings that guide you through difficult areas that provide you with an easy way to review important concepts and
■■ Sims mirror the style of performance-based questions you’ll see on the vocabulary
CompTIA A+ exams so you’ll be ready to do stuff, not just know stuff. ■■ Challenging End-of-Chapter Quizzes that include vocabulary-
■■ Exam-driven organization that divides chapters into Historical/ building exercises, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and
Conceptual, Exam 901, Exam 902, and Beyond A+ sections, making it on-the-job lab projects
easy to focus study
 CompTIA APPROVED QUALITY CONTENT

■■ Becoming a CompTIA Certified IT

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rewards.

Why Get CompTIA Certified?

Growing Demand
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viii
CompTIA Approved Quality Content
Universal Skills
CompTIA certifications are vendor neutral—which means that certified
professionals can proficiently work with an extensive variety of hardware
and software found in most organizations.

Learn more about what Purchase a voucher at a Congratulations on your

the exam covers by
reviewing the following:
• Exam objectives for
key study points.
• Sample questions for a general
overview of what to expect
on the exam and examples
of question format.
• Visit online forums, like LinkedIn, to
see what other IT professionals say
about CompTIA exams.
Pearson VUE testing center CompTIA certification!
or at CompTIAstore.com. • Make sure to add your
• Register for your exam at a certification to your resume.
Pearson VUE testing center.
• Check out the CompTIA
• Visit pearsonvue.com/CompTIA to Certification Roadmap to plan
find the closest testing center to you. your next career move.
• Schedule the exam online. You will
be required to enter your voucher
number or provide payment
information at registration.
• Take your certification exam.

Learn More: Certification.CompTIA.org/aplus

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CONTENTS AT A GLANCE

Chapter 1 ■ The Path of the PC Tech 2

Chapter 2 ■ Operational Procedures 18

Chapter 3 ■ The Visible Computer 42

Chapter 4 ■ Microprocessors 80

Chapter 5 ■ RAM 122

Chapter 6 ■ BIOS 154

Chapter 7 ■ Motherboards 190

Chapter 8 ■ Power Supplies 230

Chapter 9 ■ Hard Drive Technologies 262

Chapter 10 ■ Implementing Hard Drives 288

Chapter 11 ■ Essential Peripherals 344

Chapter 12 ■ Building a PC 394

Chapter 13 ■ Windows Under the Hood 436

Chapter 14 ■ Users, Groups, and Permissions 470

Chapter 15 ■ Maintaining and Optimizing Operating Systems 514

x
Contents At A Glance
 Chapter 16 ■ Working with the Command-Line Interface 550

Chapter 17 ■ Troubleshooting Operating Systems 598

Chapter 18 ■ Virtualization 648

Chapter 19 ■ Display Technologies 682

Chapter 20 ■ Essentials of Networking 730

Chapter 21 ■ Local Area Networking 756

Chapter 22 ■ Wireless Networking 796

Chapter 23 ■ The Internet 830

Chapter 24 ■ Portable Computing 882

Chapter 25 ■ Understanding Mobile Devices 930

Chapter 26 ■ Care and Feeding of Mobile Devices 966

Chapter 27 ■ Printers and Multifunction Devices 1004

Chapter 28 ■ Securing Computers 1054

Appendix A ■ Mapping to the CompTIA A+ Objectives 1110

Appendix B ■ About the CD-ROM 1154

■ Glossary 1158

■ Index 1218

xi
Contents At A Glance
 CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx
Instructor Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Chapter 1
■ The Path of the PC Tech 2 Stages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   46
CompTIA A+ Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Who Is CompTIA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
The Path to Other Certifications . . . . . . . . . 3
CompTIA A+ Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Windows-Centric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Windows 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Exam 220–901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Exam 220-902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Path to Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Finding a Testing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Exam Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
How to Pass the CompTIA A+ Exams . . . . .   9
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   11
Chapter 2
■ Operational Procedures 18
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   19
The Professional Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   19
Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   19
The Traits of a Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   19
Effective Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . .   23
Assertive Communication . . . . . . . . . . .   23
Respectful Communication . . . . . . . . . . .   24
Eliciting Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   25
Expectations and Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . .   26
Tools of the Trade and Personal Safety . . . . . .   27
Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) . . . . . . . . .   27
Antistatic Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   28
Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) . . . . . .   29
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) . . . . . .   30
Personal Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   30
Physical Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   31
Software Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   32
Troubleshooting Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . .   32
xii
Chapter 3
■ The Visible Computer 42
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   43
The Computing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   43
The Computing Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   44
Why the Process Matters to Techs . . . . . . .   47
Breaking It Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   47
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   48
Computing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   48
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   51
Computing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   51
Common Operating System Functions . . . .   52
User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   52
File Structures and Paths . . . . . . . . . . . .   62
The Tech Launch Points . . . . . . . . . . . .   66
Chapter 4
■ Microprocessors 80
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   81
CPU Core Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   81
The Man in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   81
Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   85
Back to the External Data Bus . . . . . . . . .   88
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   89
Memory and RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   89
Address Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   91
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   94
Modern CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   94
Developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   94
Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   97
Selecting and Installing CPUs . . . . . . . . . . 107
Selecting a CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Troubleshooting CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Symptoms of Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Catastrophic Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Intel Core M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Contents
Chapter 5 Chapter 7
■ RAM 122 ■ Motherboards 190
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Understanding DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 How Motherboards Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Organizing DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Form Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Practical DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
DRAM Sticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Chipset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Consumer RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Motherboard Components . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Types of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 Structure and Function of
RDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 the Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
DDR SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 AGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
DDR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 PCI-X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
DDR3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Mini-PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
DDR3L/DDR3U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 PCI Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
DDR4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Installing Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . 206
RAM Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 Troubleshooting Expansion Cards . . . . . . 213
Working with RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136 Upgrading and Installing Motherboards . . . . 214
Do You Need More RAM? . . . . . . . . . . 136 Choosing the Motherboard and Case . . . . . 215
Getting the Right RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Installing the Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . 217
Installing DIMMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Troubleshooting Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . 219
Installing SO-DIMMs in Laptops . . . . . . 144 Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Troubleshooting RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Testing RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Chapter 6 Chapter 8
■ BIOS 154 ■ Power Supplies 230
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
We Need to Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Understanding Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Talking to the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . 156 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 Powering the PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Supplying AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Modify CMOS: The Setup Program . . . . . 162 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Typical CMOS Setup Programs . . . . . . . 166 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Option ROM and Device Drivers . . . . . . . . 174
Supplying DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Option ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Installing and Maintaining Power Supplies . . . 247
Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Installing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
BIOS, BIOS, Everywhere! . . . . . . . . . . 176
Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . 251
Before and During the Video Test:
No Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
The Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Text Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
When Power Supplies Die Slowly . . . . . . 252
POST Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Fuses and Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
The Boot Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Care and Feeding of BIOS and CMOS . . . . . . 179
Default/Optimized Settings . . . . . . . . . . 179 It Glows! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Clearing CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Modular Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Losing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 Temperature and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . 254
Flashing the ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

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 Chapter 9 Maintaining and Troubleshooting
■ Hard Drive Technologies 262 Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
How Hard Drives Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Troubleshooting Hard Drive
Magnetic Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264 Third-Party Partition Tools . . . . . . . . . . 334
Hybrid Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Parallel and Serial ATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
PATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
SATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Chapter 11
Protecting Data with RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . 270 ■ Essential Peripherals 344
RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Implementing RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273 Supporting Common Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Software Versus Hardware . . . . . . . . . . 273 USB Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Installing Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 FireWire Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Choosing Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Thunderbolt Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Jumpers and Cabling on PATA Drives . . . . 276 General Port Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Cabling SATA Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Common Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Connecting Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . 278 Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
BIOS Support: Configuring CMOS Pointing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
and Installing Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . 278 Biometric Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Troubleshooting Hard Drive Installation . . . 281 Smart Card Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
Bar Code Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Touch Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Chapter 10 Motion Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
■ Implementing Hard Drives 288 KVM Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Gamepads and Joysticks . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Digitizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Hard Drive Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Multimedia Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 Video Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Master Boot Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 TV Tuners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Dynamic Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292 Smart TV and Set-Top Boxes . . . . . . . . . 375
GUID Partition Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Storage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Other Partition Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Flash Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
When to Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294 Optical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Partition Naming Problems . . . . . . . . . . 295
Hard Drive Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
File Systems in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Chapter 12
FAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
FAT32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301 ■ Building a PC 394
NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
FAT64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 Specialized Custom PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
File Systems in Mac OS X . . . . . . . . . . 305 Evaluating Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
File Systems in Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Workstation PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
The Partitioning, Formatting, Specialized Consumer PCs . . . . . . . . . . 399
and Pooling Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
Bootable Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305 Installing and Upgrading Windows . . . . . . . 407
Partitioning and Formatting with Media Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
the Installation Media . . . . . . . . . . . 306 Types of Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Disk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 The Installation and Upgrade Process . . . . 410
Formatting a Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Troubleshooting Installation Problems . . . . 421
Storage Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Post-Installation Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
Patches, Service Packs, and Updates . . . . . 423
Upgrading Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

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 Restoring User Data Files (If Applicable) . . . 423 Chapter 15
Migrating and Retiring Systems . . . . . . . 424 ■ Maintaining and Optimizing
No Installation Is Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Operating Systems 514
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Installing Windows 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Maintaining Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . 515
Windows Patch Management . . . . . . . . . 515
Patch Management in Mac OS X
Chapter 13 and Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
■ Windows Under the Hood 436 Managing Temporary Files in Windows . . . 518
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Registry Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Disk Maintenance Utilities . . . . . . . . . . 520
Accessing the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Scheduling Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 521
Registry Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 Controlling Autostarting Software . . . . . . 523
Talkin’ Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438 System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525
Manual Registry Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . 440 Microsoft Management Console . . . . . . . 526
Command-Line Registry Editing Tools . . . . 440 Optimizing Operating Systems . . . . . . . . . . 528
The Boot Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 Installing and Removing Software . . . . . . 528
Processes, Services, and Threads . . . . . . . . . 442 Installing/Optimizing a Device . . . . . . . . 532
Task Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442 Performance Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534
Performance Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 Preparing for Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535
Tools for Programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462 Backing Up Personal Data . . . . . . . . . . 536
Component Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462 System Restore in Windows . . . . . . . . . . 542
Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Chapter 16
Chapter 14 ■ Working with the Command-Line
■ Users, Groups, and Permissions 470 Interface 550
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
Authentication with Users and Groups . . . . . 471 Deciphering the Command-Line Interface . . . 551
User Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471 Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 471 Accessing the Command-Line
Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 Interface in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Configuring Users and Groups . . . . . . . . 474 Accessing the Command-Line Interface
Local Users and Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . 481 in Mac OS X and Linux . . . . . . . . . . 553
Authorization Through NTFS . . . . . . . . . . 484 The Command Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
NTFS Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484 Closing the Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487 Filenames and File Formats . . . . . . . . . . 555
Permission Propagation . . . . . . . . . . . 488 Drives and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
Techs and Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489 Mastering Fundamental Commands . . . . . . 557
Permissions in Linux and Mac OS X . . . . . 489 Structure: Syntax and Switches . . . . . . . . 558
Sharing Resources Securely . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Viewing Directory Contents: dir and ls . . . . 558
Sharing a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492 Changing Directory Focus: The cd
Add/Edit Users and/or Groups . . . . . . . . 493 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Administrative Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494 Moving Between Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Protecting Data with Encryption . . . . . . . 495 Making Directories: The md/mkdir
Beyond Sharing Users and Groups . . . . . . . 498 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 563
Security Policies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498 Removing Directories: The rd/rmdir
User Account Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499 Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
How UAC Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 502 Running a Program in Windows . . . . . . . 565
How to Turn Off UAC . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 Running a Program in Mac OS X
UAC in Modern Windows . . . . . . . . . . 505 and Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
Working with Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
Using Wildcards to Locate Files . . . . . . . . 569
Deleting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 570

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 Copying and Moving Files . . . . . . . . . . 571 Chapter 18
Pruning and Grafting Folder Trees . . . . . . 573 ■ Virtualization 648
Assorted Windows Commands . . . . . . . . . 575
chkdsk (/f /r) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575 Benefits of Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
hostname . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 Power Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
gpupdate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576 Hardware Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . . 650
gpresult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 System Management and Security . . . . . . 650
sfc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 Implementing Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Using Special Keys in Windows . . . . . . . 578 Meet the Hypervisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 Emulation Versus Virtualization . . . . . . . 654
The compact and cipher Commands . . . . . . 579 Client-Side Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . 655
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 Server-Side Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . 666
To the Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 668
PowerShell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
The Service-Layer Cake . . . . . . . . . . . . 670
Assorted Mac OS X and Linux Commands . . . 583
Ownership and Access . . . . . . . . . . . . 673
ifconfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
Why We Cloud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
iwconfig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
ps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
grep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
apt-get . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587 Chapter 19
vi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588 ■ Display Technologies 682
dd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589 Video Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
shutdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
passwd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590 CRT Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 683
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 685
LCD Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 686
Chapter 17 Projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693
■ Troubleshooting Operating Systems 598 Plasma Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 694
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 Common Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
Failure to Boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 Display Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697
Failure to Boot: Hardware or Configuration . . . 600 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697
Failure to Boot: Windows XP Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 697
(A CompTIA Retro Moment) . . . . . . . 601 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
Failure to Boot: Modern Windows . . . . . . 605 Motherboard Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
Failure to Boot: Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621 Graphics Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Failure to Start Normally . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621 Video Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 702
Device Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622 Integrated GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703
Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623 Connector Types and Associated Cables . . . 703
Advanced Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . 624 Installing and Configuring Video . . . . . . . . 706
Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707
More Control Panel Tools . . . . . . . . . . . 632 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 708
Application Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636 Working with Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Application Installation Problems . . . . . . 636 3-D Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715
Problems with Uninstalling . . . . . . . . . . 637 Troubleshooting Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 720
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 637 Troubleshooting Video Cards/Drivers . . . . . 720
Missing File or Incorrect File Version . . . . 640 Troubleshooting Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . 721
Crashing Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640 Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
Volume Shadow Copy Service and Changing Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723
System Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

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Chapter 20 Installing and Configuring
■ Essentials of Networking 730 Wireless Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810
Wi-Fi Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731 Bluetooth Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . 816
Roles Hosts Play in Networks . . . . . . . . . . 731 Cellular Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 818
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733 Troubleshooting Wi-Fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Networking Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733 Hardware Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . 820
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734 Software Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Frames and NICs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734 Connectivity Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . 821
Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736 Configuration Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . 821
Ethernet with Twisted Pair . . . . . . . . . . 739
Ethernet with Alternative Connections . . . . 740
Implementing Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742 Chapter 23
The Typical LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742 ■ The Internet 830
Structured Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743
Going Wide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
How the Internet Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
Internet Tiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
TCP/IP—The Common Language
Chapter 21
of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832
■ Local Area Networking 756 Internet Service Providers . . . . . . . . . . . 833
901/902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757 Connection Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
TCP/IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 757 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Network Addressing with IPv4 . . . . . . . . 757 Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Network Addressing with IPv6 . . . . . . . . 767 Dial-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
Installing and Configuring a Wired Network . . . 771 DSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 838
Installing a NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772 Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839
Configuring a Network Client . . . . . . . . 774 Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839
Sharing and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774 Wi-Fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
Network Shares . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Cellular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
Network Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
Troubleshooting Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 785 Connection to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . 842
Repairing Physical Cabling . . . . . . . . . . 785 Internet Application Protocols . . . . . . . . . . 846
Fixing Common Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 788 902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848
The World Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . 848
E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
Chapter 22 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) . . . . . . . . . 859
■ Wireless Networking 796 Telnet and SSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 859
SFTP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 797
Voice over IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 860
Wireless Networking Components . . . . . . . 797 Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 861
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 798 Virtual Private Networks . . . . . . . . . . . 864
Wireless Networking Software . . . . . . . . 799 Support Applications (Internet Utilities) . . . 867
Wireless Network Modes . . . . . . . . . . . 800 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801 Internet Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 868
Wireless Networking Security . . . . . . . . 801 No Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 869
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 804 Limited Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870
Speed and Range Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . 804 Local Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 870
Wireless Networking Standards . . . . . . . . . 805 Slow Transfer Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 871
IEEE 802.11-Based Wireless Networking . . . 805 Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872
Other Wireless Standards . . . . . . . . . . . 808 Online Gaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 872
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810 Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 873
File Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 874

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 Chapter 24 Chapter 26
■ Portable Computing 882 ■ Care and Feeding of Mobile Devices 966
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883 901/902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967
Portable Computing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . 883 Troubleshooting Mobile Device Issues . . . . . 967
Taxonomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 883 Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 967
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887 Touchscreen and Display Issues . . . . . . . . 970
Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887 App Not Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972
Display Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 889 Overheating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
Extending Portable Computers . . . . . . . . . . 890 Slow Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
Single-Function Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 890 Battery Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 974
Networking Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 892 Swollen Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976
Portable-Specific Expansion Slots . . . . . . . 893 Frozen System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977
Storage Card Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894 Cannot Broadcast to an External Monitor . . 977
General-Purpose Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . 894 No Sound from Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Managing and Maintaining Portable Connectivity and Data Usage Issues . . . . . 978
Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895 GPS and Location Services Problems . . . . . 979
Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896 System Lockout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980
Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896 Encryption Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902 Securing Mobile Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904 BYOD versus Corporate-Owned Devices . . . 981
Protecting the Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 Profile Security Requirements . . . . . . . . 982
Upgrading and Repairing Laptop Preventing Physical Damage . . . . . . . . . 983
Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 Combating Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
Disassembly Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907 Dealing with Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984
Standard Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909 Recovering from Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . 985
Hardware Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . 912 Securing Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 986
Troubleshooting Portable Computers . . . . . . 916 Mobile OS and Application Security Issues . . . 989
Power and Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . 916 Troubleshooting Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 918 Risks, Symptoms, and Clues . . . . . . . . . 991

Chapter 25 Chapter 27
■ Understanding Mobile Devices 930 ■ Printers and Multifunction Devices 1004
901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 901 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
Mobile Computing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 Printer and Multifunction Device
Device Variants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 Components and Technologies . . . . . . . . 1005
Mobile Hardware Features . . . . . . . . . . 935 Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938 Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1016
Meet the Big Three Mobile OSs . . . . . . . . . . 938 Copy and Fax Components . . . . . . . . . . 1020
Development Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938 Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
Apple iOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940 The Laser Printing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . 1021
Google Android . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940 Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1022
Microsoft Windows Phone . . . . . . . . . . 941 Charging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Mobile OS Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 Exposing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Configuring a Mobile Device . . . . . . . . . . . 947 Developing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Enhancing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . 947 Transferring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
Adding Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949 Fusing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1024
Network Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 951 Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1024
Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 952 Installing a Multifunction Device . . . . . . . . 1025
E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953 Setting Up Printers in Windows . . . . . . . 1025
Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955 Configuring Print Settings . . . . . . . . . . 1030
Mobile Device Communication and Ports . . 957 Optimizing Print Performance . . . . . . . . 1031
Managing Shared/Public/Networked
Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032

xviii
Contents
Troubleshooting Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1033
Troubleshooting General Issues . . . . . . . . 1033
Troubleshooting Impact Printers . . . . . . . 1036
Troubleshooting Thermal Printers . . . . . . 1037
Troubleshooting Inkjet Printers . . . . . . . 1038
Troubleshooting Laser Printers . . . . . . . . 1040
Chapter 28
■ Securing Computers 1054
902 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
Analyzing Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
Unauthorized Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
Social Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1056
Data Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1057
Administrative Access . . . . . . . . . . . . 1058
System Crash/Hardware Failure . . . . . . . 1058
Physical Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1058
Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Environmental Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Security Concepts and Technologies . . . . . . 1061
Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1061
Data Classification and Compliance . . . . . 1068
Licensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069
Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1070
Network Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073
Malicious Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073
Malware Signs and Symptoms . . . . . . . . 1080
Malware Prevention and Recovery . . . . . . 1081
Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1088
Contents
Internet Appliances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096
Authentication and Encryption . . . . . . . . 1096
Wireless Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100
Appendix A
■ Mapping to the CompTIA A+
Objectives 1110
220–901 Exam Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
220–902 Exam Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Appendix B
■ About the CD-ROM 1154
Playing the Mike Meyers Introduction Video . . . 1154
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1154
Total Tester Exam Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155
Pre-assessment Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155
TotalSims for CompTIA A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155
Mike’s Video Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1155
Mike’s Cool Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156
PDF Copy of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156
Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156
Total Seminars Technical Support . . . . . . . 1156
McGraw-Hill Education Content Support . . . 1157
■ Glossary 1158
■ Index 1218
xix
 PREFACE

I started writing computer books for the simple reason that no one wrote the
kind of books I wanted to read. The books were either too simple (Chapter 1,
“Using Your Mouse”) or too complex (Chapter 1, “TTL Logic and Transistors”),
and none of them provided a motivation for me to learn the information.
I believed that there were geeky readers just like me who wanted to know
why they needed to know the information in a computer book.
Good books motivate readers to learn what they are reading. For ex-
ample, if a book discusses binary arithmetic but doesn’t explain why I need
to learn it, that’s not a good book. Tell me that understanding binary makes
it easier to understand how a CPU works or why a megabyte is different
from a million bytes—then I get excited, no matter how geeky the topic. If
I don’t have a good motivation to do something, then I’m simply not going
to do it (which explains why I haven’t jumped out of an airplane!).
In this book, I teach you why you need to understand the technology
that runs almost every modern business. You’ll learn to build and fix com-
puters, exploring every nook and cranny, and master the art of the PC tech.
In the process, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to pass the CompTIA
A+ certification exams.
Enjoy, my fellow geek.

xx
Preface
 INSTRUCTOR WEB SITE

For instructor resources, please visit:

www.MHAplusOLC5e.com
From this site, teachers can access the support materials outlined below.

■■ Additional Resources for Teachers

McGraw-Hill Education connects instructors with their support materials.
The Instructor Web Site provides resources for teachers in a format that
follows the organization of the textbook.
This site includes the following:
■■ Answer keys to the end-of-chapter activities in the textbook
■■ Answer keys to the activities in Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to
Managing and Troubleshooting PCs Lab Manual (available separately)
■■ Engaging PowerPoint slides on the lecture topics that include full-
color artwork from the book
■■ Instructor’s Manual that contains learning objectives, classroom
preparation notes, instructor tips, a pre-test, lecture outline, and
assessment quiz for each chapter
■■ Access to test bank files that allow you to generate a wide array of
paper- or network-based tests, and that feature automatic grading.
The test bank includes:
■■ Hundreds of practice questions and a wide variety of question
types categorized by exam objective, enabling you to customize
each test to maximize student progress
■■ Test bank files available as downloads from the Instructor Web
Site in these formats: Blackboard, &;
5FTU, Word
Please contact your McGraw-Hill Education sales representative for details.

xxi
Instructor Web Site
 BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers / 954-4 / Ch 1
p
cha ter
1 The Path of the PC Tech
“Never trust a computer you can’t
throw out a window.”
—Steve Wozniak
In this chapter, you will learn
how to
■■ Explain the importance of
CompTIA A+ certification
■■ Detail the CompTIA A+
certification objectives
■■ Describe how to become
CompTIA A+ certified
01-ch01.indd 2
T he field of computing has changed dramatically over the decades since the
introduction of the IBM Personal Computer (PC) in 1981, and so has
the job of the people who build, maintain, and troubleshoot computers.
A PC tech for many years serviced IBM-compatible desktop systems running
a Microsoft operating system (OS), such as DOS or, later, Windows. Figure 1.1
shows a typical system from the early days, running Microsoft Windows 3.1.
All a tech needed to service such a machine was a Phillips-head screwdriver
and knowledge of the hardware and OS.
The personal computing landscape today includes a zillion devices in all
shapes, sizes, and purposes. How many computing devices do you interact
with every day? Seriously, count them.
Here’s my typical contact in a day. My smartphone alarm clock awakens
me in the morning. I use either a Windows or Mac OS X desktop to check the
morning news and my e-mail by connecting to other computers over the
Internet. Or, if the family is on both systems, I’ll retreat to the study with
a laptop running Ubuntu Linux to do the same tasks. At the gym, my smart
watch keeps track of my exercises and my heart rate. The computer in my car
handles navigation and traffic reports for my daily commute. At the office
03/03/16 11:08 am
 BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Meyers / 954-4 / Ch 1

•• Figure 1.1 An IBM-compatible PC, circa 1989

I’m literally surrounded by dozens of computing devices, because everyone

has a desktop or laptop computer, a tablet, a smartphone, plus any number of
wearable devices. See Figure 1.2.
Someone needs to set up, manage, maintain, and troubleshoot all of
This book uses the term
these devices. Because you’re reading this book, I’m guessing that you are
“personal computer” and the
that someone. You’re going to need a lot of knowledge about many systems initials “PC” generically to
refer to any kind of personal
to be a modern personal computer technician. A modern PC tech, therefore, computing device. PCs here
works with many devices running many different systems. Almost everything mean things that techs interact
with, can set up, and repair.
interconnects as well, and a PC tech makes that connection happen.

•• Figure 1.2 We’re all PCs!

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This book teaches you everything you need to know to become a great
tech. It might seem like a lot of information at first, but I’ll show you how
each system functions and interacts, so you learn the patterns they all follow.
At some point in the process of reading this book and working on computers,
it will all click into place. You’ve got this!
Along the way, you’ll pick up credentials that prove your skill to employers
and clients. The rest of this chapter explains those credentials and the steps
you need to take to gain them.

■■ CompTIA A+ Certification
Nearly every profession has some criteria that you must meet to show your
competence and ability to perform at a certain level. Although the way
this works varies widely from one profession to another, all of them will at
some point make you take an exam or series of exams. Passing these exams
proves that you have the necessary skills to work at a certain level in your
profession, whether you’re an aspiring plumber, teacher, barber, or lawyer.
If you successfully pass these exams, the organization that administers
them grants you certification. You receive some piece of paper or pin or
membership card that you can show to potential clients or employers. This
certification gives those potential clients or employers a level of confidence
that you can do what you say you can do. Without this certification, either
you will not find suitable work in that profession or no one will trust you
to do the work.
Modern PC techs attain the CompTIA A+ certification, the essential cre-
dential that shows competence in the modern field of information technology
(IT), a fancy way of saying computing technology plus all the other stuff needed
to connect and support computers. CompTIA A+ is an industry-wide, vendor-
neutral certification program developed and sponsored by the Computing
Technology Industry Association (CompTIA). You achieve this certification by
taking two computer-based exams consisting of multiple-choice and per-
formance-based questions. The tests cover what technicians should know
after 12 months of hands-on work on personal computing devices, either
from a job or as a student in the lab. CompTIA A+ certification enjoys wide
recognition throughout the computer industry. To date, more than 1,000,000
technicians have become CompTIA A+ certified, making it the most popu-
lar of all IT certifications.

Who Is CompTIA?
CompTIA is a nonprofit industry trade association based in Oakbrook Ter-
race, Illinois. It consists of over 20,000 members in 102 countries. You’ll find
CompTIA offices in such diverse locales as Amsterdam, Dubai, Johannes-
burg, Tokyo, and São Paulo.
CompTIA provides a forum for people in these industries to network
(as in meeting people), represents the interests of its members to the gov-
ernment, and provides certifications for many aspects of the computer

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industry. CompTIA sponsors CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, Comp-

TIA Security+, and other certifications. CompTIA works hard to watch the
IT industry and constantly looks to provide new certifications to meet the
ongoing demand from its membership. Check out the CompTIA Web site at
www.comptia.org for details on the other certifications you can obtain from
CompTIA.
Virtually every company of consequence in the IT industry is a member
of CompTIA. Here are a few of the biggies:

AT&T AMD Best Buy Brother International

Canon Cisco Systems Epson Fujitsu
Gateway Hewlett-Packard IBM Intel
Kyocera McAfee Microsoft NCR
Novell Panasonic Sharp Electronics Siemens
Symantec Toshiba Total Seminars, LLC Plus many thousands
(that’s my company) more

CompTIA began offering CompTIA A+ certification back in 1993. When

it debuted, the IT industry largely ignored CompTIA A+ certification. Since
that initial stutter, however, the CompTIA A+ certification has grown to
become the de facto requirement for entrance into the PC industry. Many
companies require CompTIA A+ certification for all of their PC support
technicians, and the CompTIA A+ certification is widely recognized both in
the United States and internationally.

The Path to Other Certifications CompTIA A+ is the entry

Most IT companies—big and small—see CompTIA A+ certification as the point to IT, though definitely
not the only route for learning
entry point to IT. From CompTIA A+, you have a number of certification
about computers and having
options, depending on whether you want to focus more on hardware and certifications to prove that
operating systems or move into network administration (although these knowledge. Several certifications
aren’t mutually exclusive goals). The following three certifications are cover computer literacy or
worth serious consideration: digital literacy, the phrase that
means “what every person
■■ CompTIA Network+ certification needs to know about computers
to survive in the 21st century.”
■■ Microsoft technical certifications
The most popular computer
■■ Cisco certifications literacy certification is Certiport’s
IC3 certification that tests on
CompTIA Network+ Certification general computer knowledge;
office productivity applications,
Building, maintaining, and fixing networks—groups of computers that such as Microsoft Word and
enable people to share resources—represent a logical set of skills for com- PowerPoint; and Internet
puter technicians. Networks are so integral to modern life that you have to applications such as Web
learn a lot about them just to get CompTIA A+ certified. browsers and e-mail clients.
CompTIA has a pre–
So, if you haven’t already achieved CompTIA Network+ certification, CompTIA A+ certification called
make it your next certification goal after CompTIA A+ certification. Just CompTIA IT Fundamentals
as CompTIA A+ certification shows that you have solid competency as a that’s geared a bit more to a
PC technician, CompTIA Network+ certification demonstrates your skills as a user preparing to become a
network technician, including your understanding of network hardware, tech. It’s designed to check basic
knowledge levels for people
installation, and troubleshooting. CompTIA’s Network+ certification is a
getting into IT.
natural step for continuing toward your Microsoft or Cisco certifications.

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Microsoft Technical Certifications

Microsoft operating systems control a huge portion of all installed networks,
and those networks need qualified support people to make them run. Pur-
suing Microsoft’s series of certifications for networking professionals is a
natural next step after completing the CompTIA certifications. They offer a
whole slew of tracks and exams, ranging from specializations in Windows 8
to numerous Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certifications and
beyond. You can find more details on the Microsoft Learning Web site:

www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/default.aspx

Cisco Certification
Cisco routers pretty much run the Internet and most intranets in the world.
A router is a networking device that controls and directs the flow of infor-
mation over networks, such as e-mail messages, Web browsing, and so on.
Cisco provides multiple levels of IT certification for folks who want to show
their skills at handling Cisco products, such as the Cisco Certified Network
Associate (CCNA), plus numerous specialty certifications. See the Cisco IT
Certification Web site here for more details:

www.cisco.com/web/learning/certifications/index.html

■■ CompTIA A+ Objectives
CompTIA splits A+ certification into two exams: CompTIA A+ 220-901 and
CompTIA A+ 220-902. It’s common to refer to these two exams as the “2015”
exams to differentiate them from older CompTIA exams.
Although you may take either of the two exams first, I recommend tak-
ing 220-901 followed by 220-902. The 220-901 exam concentrates on under-
standing terminology and technology, how to do fundamental tasks such as
upgrading RAM, and basic network and mobile device support. The 220-902
exam builds on the first exam, concentrating on operating system support,
advanced configuration, and troubleshooting scenarios.
Both of the exams are extremely practical, with little or no interest in
theory, aside from troubleshooting. All questions are multiple-choice, simu-
lation, or “click on the right part of the picture” questions. The following is
an example of the type of questions you will see on the exams:

Your laser printer is printing blank pages. Which item should you check
first?
A. Printer drivers
B. Toner cartridge
C. Printer settings
D. Paper feed

The correct answer is B, the toner cartridge. You can make an argument
for any of the others, but common sense (and skill as a PC technician) tells
you to check the simplest possibility first.
The 2015 exams use a regular test format in which you answer a set
number of questions and are scored based on how many correct answers

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you give. CompTIA makes changes and tweaks over time, so always check
the CompTIA Web site before final preparation for the exams. These exams
have no more than 90–100 questions each.
Be aware that CompTIA may add new questions to the exams at any time
to keep the content fresh. The subject matter covered by the exams won’t
change, but new questions may be added periodically at random intervals.
This policy puts strong emphasis on understanding concepts and having solid
PC-tech knowledge rather than on trying to memorize specific questions and
answers that may have been on the tests in the past. No book or Web resource
will have all the “right answers” because those answers change constantly.
Luckily for you, however, this book not only teaches you what steps to follow
in a particular case, but also explains how to be a knowledgeable tech who
understands why you’re doing those steps. That way, when you encounter a
new problem (or test question), you can work out the answer. This will help
you pass the exams and function as a master tech.
To keep up to date, we monitor the CompTIA A+ exams for new content
and update the special Tech Files section of the Total Seminars Web site
(www.totalsem.com) with new articles covering subjects we believe may
appear on future versions of the exams.

Windows-Centric
The CompTIA A+ exams cover five different operating systems and many
versions within each OS. When you review the objectives a little later in
this section, though, you’ll see that the majority of content focuses on the
Microsoft Windows operating systems you would expect to find on a PC at
a workstation or in a home. The exams cover a specific and limited scope of
questions on Linux, Mac OS X, iOS, and Android.
Objectives in the exams cover the following operating systems:
■■ Windows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows
Vista Business, Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Enterprise
■■ Windows 7 Starter, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7
Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise
■■ Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, Windows 8 Enterprise
■■ Windows 8.1, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 8.1 Enterprise
■■ Linux
■■ Mac OS X
■■ iOS
■■ Android

Windows 10
CompTIA has the darnedest luck when it comes to the timing of new
CompTIA A+ exams compared to releases of new Windows versions. In
2006, CompTIA released an update to the CompTIA A+ exams about four
months before Microsoft released Windows Vista. In 2009, CompTIA missed
Windows 7 by about one month (though CompTIA released a Windows 7
update to the exams in late 2009). The 2012 objectives similarly missed the
rollout of Windows 8.

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It seems that CompTIA will

Try This! once again run into what I’m going
Recommending an OS to call the “CompTIA Windows
Imagine this scenario. One of your first clients wants to upgrade her Curse.” Microsoft released Win-
computing gear and doesn’t know which way to go. It’s up to you to dows 10 after CompTIA announced
make a recommendation. This is a great way to assess your knowledge the objectives for the 220-901 and
at the start of your journey into CompTIA A+ certification, so try this! 220-902 exams, but before the
Open a Web browser on a computer or smartphone and browse to my exams went live in December 2015.
favorite tech store, Newegg (www.newegg.com). Scan through their com- Assuming CompTIA stays true to
puter systems. What operating systems seem to be most common? What form, there’s a very good chance
can you get from reading reviews of, say, Chrome OS vs. Windows 10? that you’ll see a Windows 10 update
Do they sell any Apple products? on the exams within a year or two
Don’t get too wrapped up in this exercise. It’s just a way to ease you of the Windows 10 rollout. Be sure
into the standard research we techs do all the time to stay current. We’ll to check the CompTIA Web site or
revisit this exercise in later chapters so you can gauge your comfort and contact me directly at michaelm@
knowledge level over time. totalsem.com to see if any Windows
10 updates have taken place.

Exam 220–901
The questions on the CompTIA A+ 220-901 exam fit into one of four
domains. The number of questions for each domain is based on the per-
centages shown in Table 1.1.
The 220-901 exam tests your knowledge of computer components,
expecting you to be able to identify just about every common device on
PCs, including variations within device types. Here’s a list:

■■ Hard drives ■■ Network and modem cards

■■ Optical drives ■■ Cables and connectors
■■ Solid state drives (SSDs) ■■ Heat sinks, fans, and liquid
■■ Motherboards cooling systems

■■ Power supplies ■■ Laptops and mobile devices

■■ CPUs ■■ Printers and multifunction

devices
■■ RAM
■■ Scanners
■■ Monitors
■■ Network switches, cabling,
■■ Input devices, such as and wireless adapters
keyboards, mice, and
touchscreens ■■ Biometric devices

■■ Video and multimedia cards

Table 1.1 Exam 220-901 Domains and Percentages

Domain Percentage
1.0 Hardware 34%
2.0 Networking 21%
3.0 Mobile Devices 17%
4.0 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting 28%

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The 220-901 exam tests your ability to install, configure, and maintain
all the hardware technology involved in a personal computer. You need to
be able to install and set up a hard drive, for example, and configure devices
in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. You have to
understand device drivers.
The 220-901 exam tests you on mobile devices. While the smartphone
and tablet market covers an impossibly wide array of hardware and soft-
ware, the 220-901 exam focuses on Apple iOS and Google Android devices.
You’ll need to know how to interact with the hardware and software.
The 220-901 exam tests extensively on networking. You need to know
how to set up a typical local area network (LAN), for example, understand-
ing cabling standards, network protocols, and Windows configuration.
The 220-901 exam requires you to know a lot about hardware and net-
work troubleshooting. You’ll get questions, for example, on how to fix a
network failure.

Exam 220-902
The CompTIA A+ 220-902 exam covers five domains. Table 1.2 lists the
domains and the percentage of questions dedicated to each domain.
The 220-902 exam covers the configuration, repair, and troubleshoot-
ing of the Windows operating system. You have to know your way around
Windows and understand the tasks involved in updating, upgrading, and
installing Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. You
need to know the standard diagnostic tools available in Windows so that
you can fix problems and work with higher-level techs. Make sure you
know Windows; 29% of the 220-902 questions are going to challenge you
on this.
You need to know your way around the Linux and Mac OS X interfaces.
Plus, the 220-902 exam tests you on accessing and properly using various
tech tools for running maintenance, backup, and so forth. The exam goes
into lots of detail on iOS and Android configuration, such as setting up
e-mail and securing the devices. But it’s not just mobile devices . . .
In general, security is a big topic on the 220-902 exam. You need to know
quite a bit about computer security, from physical security (door locks to
retinal scanners), to knowledge of security threats (malware and viruses),
to the ways in which to secure an individual computer. This also includes
coverage of how to recycle and dispose of computer gear properly.
You’ll also be tested on methods for securing networks. You’ll need to
know how to access a small office/home office (SOHO) router or wireless
access point and configure that device to protect your network.

Table 1.2 Exam 220-902 Domains and Percentages

Domain Percentage
1.0 Windows Operating Systems 29%
2.0 Other Operating Systems & Technologies 12%
3.0 Security 22%
4.0 Software Troubleshooting 24%
5.0 Operational Procedures 13%

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Additionally, this exam puts a lot of emphasis on operational proce-

dures, such as safety and environmental issues, communication, and pro-
fessionalism. You need to understand how to avoid hazardous situations.
The exam tests your ability to communicate effectively with customers and
coworkers. You need to understand professional behavior and demonstrate
that you have tact, discretion, and respect for others and their property.

■■ The Path to Certification

You become CompTIA A+ certified, in the simplest sense, by taking and
passing two computer-based exams. There are no prerequisites for taking
the CompTIA A+ certification exams (although there’s an assumption of
computer literacy, whether or not you have one of the computer literacy
certifications). There is no required training course and no training mate-
rials to buy. You do have to pay a testing fee for each of the two exams.
You pay your testing fees, go to a local testing center, and take the tests.
You immediately know whether you have passed or failed. By passing both
exams, you become CompTIA A+ certified.
To stay certified, every three years you’ll need to either retake the exam
or perform sufficient continuing education as specified by CompTIA.
Retaking the exams isn’t that hard to understand, but the continuing
education requirement is a bit more complex. Instead of trying to explain it
all here, please review CompTIA’s documentation:

https://certification.comptia.org/stayCertified.aspx

Most importantly, if you pursue the continuing education path, you’ll

need to earn 20 continuing education units (CEUs) each three-year period
to renew your CompTIA A+ certification. How do you earn these CEUs?
You can participate in industry events and seminars, complete a presenta-
tion, participate in IT training, teach a course, or earn another higher-level
certification. The number of CEUs that you earn by completing each of
these requirements varies, and each requires that you submit documenta-
tion to CompTIA for review.

Finding a Testing Center

Pearson VUE administers the CompTIA A+ testing at over 5000 testing centers
in 165 countries. You may take the exams at any testing center. You can select
the closest training center and schedule your exams right from the comfort
of your favorite Web browser by going to the Pearson VUE Web site:

www.vue.com

Alternatively, in the United States and Canada, call Pearson VUE at 877-
551-PLUS (7587) to schedule the exams and to locate the nearest testing
center. International customers can find a list of Pearson VUE international
contact numbers for various regions of the world on their Web site here:

www.pearsonvue.com/comptia/contact/

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You must pay for the exam when you call to schedule. Be prepared to sit on
hold for a while. Have your Social Security number (or international equiva-
lent) and a credit card ready when you call. Pearson VUE will be glad to invoice
you, but you won’t be able to take the exam until they receive full payment.
Pearson VUE will accommodate any special needs, although this may
limit your selection of testing locations.

Exam Costs
The cost of the exam depends on whether you work for a CompTIA mem-
ber or not. At this writing, the cost for non-CompTIA members is $194 (U.S.)
for each exam. International prices vary, but you can check the CompTIA
Web site for international pricing. Of course, the prices are subject to change
without notice, so always check the CompTIA Web site for current pricing.
Very few people pay full price for the exam. Virtually every organiza-
tion that provides CompTIA A+ training and testing also offers discount
vouchers. You buy a discount voucher and then use the voucher number
instead of a credit card when you schedule the exam. Vouchers are sold per
exam, so you’ll need two vouchers to take the two CompTIA A+ exams.
Total Seminars is one place to get discount vouchers. You can call Total Semi-
nars at 800-446-6004 or 281-922-4166, or get vouchers via the Web site: www.
totalsem.com. No one should ever pay full price for CompTIA A+ exams.

How to Pass the CompTIA A+ Exams

CompTIA designed the A+ exams to test the knowledge of a technician with Those of you who just want
only 12 months of experience, so keep it simple! The exams aren’t interested more knowledge in managing
in your ability to overclock DDR4 CAS latency in CMOS or whether you and troubleshooting PCs can
can explain the differences between the Intel X99 and the AMD 990FX chip- follow the same strategy as
sets. Think in terms of practical knowledge and standards. Read this book, certification-seekers. Think in
practical terms and work with
do whatever works for you to memorize the key concepts and procedures, the PC as you go through
take the practice exams on the media accompanying this book, review any each chapter.
topics you miss, and you should pass with no problem.
Some of you may be in or just out of school, so studying for exams is
nothing novel. But if you haven’t had to study for and take an exam in a
while, or if you think maybe you could use some tips, you may find the next
section valuable. It lays out a proven strategy for preparing to take and pass
the CompTIA A+ exams. Try it. It works.

Obligate Yourself
The very first step you should take is to schedule yourself for the exams.
Have you ever heard the old adage, “Heat and pressure make diamonds?”
Well, if you don’t give yourself a little “heat,” you’ll end up procrastinating
and delay taking the exams, possibly forever. Do yourself a favor. Using the
following information, determine how much time you’ll need to study for
the exams, and then call Pearson VUE or visit their Web site and schedule
the exams accordingly. Knowing the exams are coming up makes it much
easier to put down the game controller and crack open the book. You can
schedule an exam as little as a few weeks in advance, but if you schedule an
exam and can’t take it at the scheduled time, you must reschedule at least a
day in advance or you’ll lose your money.

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Set Aside the Right Amount of Study Time

After helping thousands of techs get their CompTIA A+ certification, we at
Total Seminars have developed a pretty good feel for the amount of study
time needed to pass the CompTIA A+ certification exams. The following
table provides an estimate to help you plan how much study time you must
commit to the CompTIA A+ certification exams. Keep in mind that these
are averages. If you’re not a great student or if you’re a little on the nervous
side, add 10%; if you’re a fast learner or have a good bit of computer experi-
ence, you may want to reduce the figures.
To use Table 1.3, just circle the values that are most accurate for you and
add them up to get your estimated total hours of study time.
To that value, add hours based on the number of months of direct, pro-
fessional experience you have had supporting PCs, as shown in Table 1.4.
A total neophyte often needs roughly 240 hours of study time. An expe-
rienced tech shouldn’t need more than 60 hours.
Total hours for you to study: _____________.

Table 1.3 Analyzing Skill Levels

Amount of Experience
Tech Task None Once or Twice Every Now and Then Quite a Bit
Installing an adapter card 6 4 2 1
Installing and configuring hard drives and SSDs 12 10 8 2
Connecting a computer to the Internet 8 6 4 2
Installing printers and multifunction devices 16 8 4 2
Installing RAM 8 6 4 2
Installing CPUs 8 7 5 3
Repairing printers 6 5 4 3
Repairing boot problems 8 7 7 5
Repairing portable computers 8 6 4 2
Configuring mobile devices 4 3 2 1
Building complete systems 12 10 8 6
Using the command line 8 8 6 4
Installing and optimizing Windows 10 8 6 4
Using Windows Vista 6 6 4 2
Using Windows 7 8 6 4 2
Using Windows 8/8.1 8 6 4 2
Using Linux 8 6 6 3
Using Mac OS X 8 4 4 2
Configuring NTFS, Users, and Groups 6 4 3 2
Configuring a wireless network 6 5 3 2
Configuring a software firewall 6 4 2 1
Configuring sound 2 2 1 0
Removing malware 4 3 2 0
Using OS diagnostic tools 8 8 6 4
Using a multimeter 4 3 2 1

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Table 1.4 Adding Up Your Study Time

Months of Direct, Professional Experience Hours to Add to Your Study Time
0 50
Up to 6 30
6 to 12 10
Over 12 0

A Strategy for Study

Now that you have a feel for how long it’s going to take to prepare for the
exams, you’re ready to develop a study strategy. I suggest a strategy that
has worked for others who’ve come before you, whether they were experi-
enced techs or total newbies.
This book accommodates the different study agendas of these two
groups of students. The first group is experienced techs who already have
strong PC experience but need to be sure they’re ready to be tested on the
specific subjects covered by the CompTIA A+ exams. The second group is
those with little or no background in the computer field. These techs can
benefit from a more detailed understanding of the history and concepts that
underlie modern PC technology, to help them remember the specific subject
matter information they must know for the exams. I’ll use the shorthand
terms Old Techs and New Techs for these two groups. If you’re not sure
which group you fall into, pick a few chapters and go through some end-of-
chapter questions. If you score less than 70%, go the New Tech route.
I have broken most of the chapters into four distinct parts:
■■ Historical/Conceptual Topics that are not on the CompTIA A+
exams but will help you understand more clearly what is on the
CompTIA A+ exams
■■ 901 Topics that clearly fit under the CompTIA A+ 220-901 exam
domains
■■ 902 Topics that clearly fit under the CompTIA A+ 220-902 exam
domains
■■ Beyond A+ More advanced issues that probably will not be on the
CompTIA A+ exams—yet
The beginning of each of these parts is clearly marked with a large ban-
ner that looks like this:

Historical/Conceptual
Those of you who fall into the Old Tech group may want to skip everything
except the 901 and 902 parts in each chapter. After reading the sections in
those parts, jump immediately to the questions at the end of the chapter. The
end-of-chapter questions concentrate on information in the 901 and 902 sec-
tions. If you run into problems, review the Historical/Conceptual sections in
that chapter. Note that you may need to skip back to previous chapters to get
the Historical/Conceptual information you need for later chapters.

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After going through every chapter as described, Old Techs can move
directly to testing their knowledge by using the free practice exams on
the media that accompanies the book. Once you start scoring above 90%,
you’re ready to take the exams. If you’re a New Tech—or if you’re an Old
Tech who wants the full learning experience this book can offer—start by
reading the book, the whole book, as though you were reading a novel, from
page one to the end without skipping around. Because so many computer
terms and concepts build on each other, skipping around greatly increases
the odds that you will become confused and end up closing the book and
firing up your favorite game. Not that I have anything against games, but
unfortunately that skill is not useful for the CompTIA A+ exams!
Your goal on this first read is to understand concepts, the whys behind
the hows. Having a PC nearby as you read is helpful so you can stop and
inspect the PC to see a piece of hardware or how a particular concept mani-
fests in the real world. As you read about hard drives, for example, inspect
the cables. Do they look like the ones in the book? Is there a variation? Why?
It is imperative that you understand why you are doing something, not just
how to do it on one particular system under one specific set of conditions.
Neither the exams nor real life as a PC tech will work that way.
If you’re reading this book as part of a managing and troubleshooting
PCs class rather than a certification-prep course, I highly recommend going
the New Tech route, even if you have a decent amount of experience. The
book contains a lot of details that can trip you up if you focus only on the
test-specific sections of the chapters. Plus, your program might stress his-
torical and conceptual knowledge as well as practical, hands-on skills.
The CompTIA A+ certification exams assume that you have basic user
skills. The exams really try to trick you with questions on processes that you
may do every day and not think much about. Here’s a classic: “To move
a file from the C:\DATA folder to the D:\ drive using File Explorer, what
key must you hold down while dragging the file?” If you can answer that
without going to your keyboard and trying a few likely keys, you’re better
than most techs! In the real world, you can try a few wrong answers before
you hit on the right one, but for the exams, you have to know it. Whether
Old Tech or New Tech, make sure you are proficient at user-level Windows
skills, including the following:
■■ Recognizing all the components of the standard Windows desktop
(Start menu, notification area, etc.)
■■ Manipulating windows—resizing, moving, and so on
■■ Creating, deleting, renaming, moving, and copying files and folders
within Windows
■■ Understanding file extensions and their relationship with program
associations
■■ Using common keyboard shortcuts/hotkeys
■■ Installing, running, and closing a Windows application
When you do your initial read-through, you may be tempted to skip
the Historical/Conceptual sections—don’t! Understanding the history and
technological developments behind today’s personal computing devices
helps you understand why they work—or don’t work—the way they do.

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Basically, I’m passing on to you the kind of knowledge you might get by
apprenticing yourself to an older, experienced PC tech.
After you’ve completed the first read-through, go through the book
again, this time in textbook mode. If you’re an Old Tech, start your studying
here. Try to cover one chapter at a sitting. Concentrate on the 901 and 902
sections. Get a highlighter and mark the phrases and sentences that bring
out major points. Be sure you understand how the pictures and illustrations
relate to the concepts being discussed.
Once you feel you have a good grasp of the material in the book, you
can check your knowledge by using the practice exams included on the
media accompanying this book. You can take these in Practice mode or
Final mode. In Practice mode, you can use the Assistance window to get a
helpful hint for the current questions, use the Reference feature to find the
chapter that covers the question, check your answer for the question, and
see an explanation of the correct answer. In Final mode, you answer all the
questions and receive an exam score at the end, just like the real thing. You
can also adjust the number of questions on a Practice or Final mode exam
with the Customize option.
Both modes show you an overall grade, expressed as a percentage,
as well as a breakdown of how well you did on each exam domain. The
Review Questions feature lets you see which questions you missed and
what the correct answers are. Use these results to guide further studying.
Continue reviewing the topics you miss and taking additional exams until
you are consistently scoring in the 90% range. When you get there, you are
ready to pass the CompTIA A+ certification exams.

Study Tactics
Perhaps it’s been a while since you had to study for a test. Or perhaps it
hasn’t, but you’ve done your best since then to block the whole experience
from your mind. Either way, savvy test-takers know that certain techniques
make studying for tests more efficient and effective.
Here’s a trick used by students in law and medical schools who have
to memorize reams of information: write it down. The act of writing some-
thing down (not typing, writing) in and of itself helps you to remember it,
even if you never look at what you wrote again. Try taking separate notes
on the material and re-creating diagrams by hand to help solidify the infor-
mation in your mind.
Another oldie but goodie: Make yourself flash cards with questions and
answers on topics you find difficult. A third trick: Take your notes to bed
and read them just before you go to sleep. Many people find they really do
learn while they sleep!

Contact
If you have any problems, any questions, or if you just want to argue about
something, feel free to send an e-mail to the author—michaelm@totalsem
.com—or to the editorscottj@totalsem.com.
For any other information you might need, contact CompTIA directly at
their Web site: www.comptia.org.

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Chapter 1 Review
■■ Chapter Summary
After reading this chapter and completing the exercises,
you should understand the following about the path of
the PC tech.
Explain the importance of CompTIA A+ certification
■■ Certifications prove to employers that you have
the necessary skills to perform the job. To become
certified, you take and successfully pass exams.
Then the organization that developed those exams
grants you certification. Gaining certification is
particularly important for IT workers.
■■ CompTIA A+ certification is an industry-wide,
vendor-neutral certification program that shows
you have a basic competence in supporting
IT. You achieve this certification by taking two
computer-based exams consisting of multiple-
choice and performance-based questions. The
tests cover what technicians should know after
12 months of hands-on work on personal computing
devices, either from a job or as a student in the lab.
CompTIA A+ certification enjoys wide recognition
throughout the computer industry.
■■ CompTIA is a nonprofit, industry trade
association based in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. It
consists of over 20,000 members in 102 countries.
CompTIA provides a forum for people in these
industries to network, represents the interests
of its members to the government, and provides
certifications for many aspects of the computer
industry. CompTIA sponsors CompTIA A+,
CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, and
other certifications.
■■ The CompTIA A+ certification is the de facto
entry point to IT. From CompTIA A+, you have
a number of certification options, depending on
whether you want to focus more on hardware
and operating systems or move into network
administration. You can get CompTIA Network+
certification, for example, or go on to get
Microsoft or Cisco certified. CompTIA Network+
certification is the most obvious certification to get
after becoming CompTIA A+ certified.
14
01-ch01.indd 14
Detail the CompTIA A+ certification objectives
■■ CompTIA splits A+ certification into two exams:
CompTIA A+ 220-901 and CompTIA A+ 220-902.
It’s common to refer to these two exams as the 2015
exams to differentiate them from older CompTIA
exams. Although you may take either of the
two exams first, I recommend taking the 220-901
followed by the 220-902.
■■ Both of the exams are extremely practical, with little
or no interest in theory aside from troubleshooting.
All questions are multiple-choice, simulation, or
“click on the right part of the picture” questions.
CompTIA may add new questions to the exams at
any time to keep the content fresh, although the
subject matter covered by the exams won’t change.
■■ Although the exam objectives list five operating
systems and many varieties within those OS
families, the percentage of questions on how to
accomplish something in Windows far outweighs
those about other OSs. You’ll need to know a
lot about four editions of Windows: Windows
Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1. You don’t need to know about
Windows 10 for the exams.
■■ The 220-901 exam tests your ability to install,
configure, and maintain all the hardware
technology involved in a personal computer.
The 220-901 exam tests you on mobile devices.
Network hardware and installation is tested, as is
hardware and network troubleshooting.
■■ The 220-902 exam dives into installing,
configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting
Windows in a big way. You’ll also get a pinch of
Linux and Mac OS X, and a bigger dose of iOS
and Android. The exam looks at security, such as
avoiding and recovering from malware.
Describe how to become CompTIA A+ certified
■■ You become CompTIA A+ certified by taking
and passing two computer-based exams consisting
of multiple-choice and performance-based
questions. There are no prerequisites for taking the
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CompTIA A+ certification exams. There is
no required training course and no training
materials to buy. You do have to pay a testing fee
for each of the two exams. To stay current, you
need to retest every three years or gain continuing
education credits.
■■ The Pearson VUE company administers the
CompTIA A+ exams. You can schedule the exam
times and location via the Pearson VUE Web
site at www.vue.com. Check their Web site for
international links.
■■ To achieve success with the CompTIA A+
certification exams, think in terms of practical
knowledge. Read the book. Work through the
problems. Work with computers. Take the practice
■■ Key Terms
certification (2)
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) (4)
CompTIA A+ 220-901 (4)
CompTIA A+ 220-902 (4)
CompTIA A+ certification (2)
CompTIA Network+ certification (3)
Computing Technology Industry
Association (CompTIA) (2)
■■ Key Term Quiz
Use the Key Terms list to complete the sentences that
follow. Not all terms will be used.
1. You become CompTIA A+ certified by passing
the __________________ and CompTIA A+
220-902 exams.
2. A(n) __________________ gives clients and
employers a level of confidence that you can do
what you say you can do.
3. A term for a person who builds and maintains
computers is __________________.
4. The __________________ company administers
the CompTIA A+ certification exams.
5. You can use a(n) __________________ when you
schedule your exam to save some money.
Chapter 1: The Path of the PC Tech
01-ch01.indd 15
exams. You should obligate yourself by scheduling
your exams. This keeps you focused on study.
■■ Read the book all the way through once.
Experienced techs (“Old Techs”) should then
concentrate on the test-specific sections to prepare
for the exams. Less experienced techs (“New
Techs”) should read the book all the way through
again until everything makes sense.
■■ If you’re reading this book as part of a managing
and troubleshooting PCs class rather than a
certification-prep course, I highly recommend
going the New Tech route, even if you have a
decent amount of experience. The book contains a
lot of details that can trip you up if you focus only
on the test-specific sections of the chapters.
information technology (IT) (2)
Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) (4)
network (3)
PC tech (1)
Pearson VUE (8)
voucher (9)
www.comptia.org (3)
6. Persons desiring to work in Windows-based
networking should pursue __________________
certification after completing their CompTIA
certifications.
7. You can find the latest information about
the CompTIA A+ certification exams here:
__________________.
8. Typically, techs who attain CompTIA A+
certification then pursue __________________ to
add to their computer credentials.
9. A grouping of computers that enables
people to share resources is called a(n)
__________________.
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■■ Multiple-Choice Quiz
1. Which of the following certifications is the de facto 6. How much practical IT experience do you need
requirement for entrance into the PC industry? to become CompTIA A+ certified?
A. Certified Cisco Network Associate A. Six months
B. CompTIA A+ B. One year
C. CompTIA Network+ C. Two years
D. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert D. None

2. John loves the Internet and wants a career working 7. How many questions should you expect on the
on the machines that make the Internet work. He 220-901 exam?
has completed both CompTIA A+ and CompTIA A. 25
Network+ certifications. Which of the following
B. 50
certifications would make a good next step?
C. 90
A. Cisco Certified Network Associate
D. The number of questions varies because the
B. Certified Cisco Network Professional
exams are adaptive.
C. CompTIA Security+
D. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert 8. The CompTIA A+ certification covers which of
the following operating systems? (Select three.)
3. Which of the following exams focuses on A. Linux
installing, configuring, and maintaining all the
B. Mac OS X
standard hardware technology involved in a
personal computer? C. Windows XP Media Center
A. Certified Cisco Network Associate D. Windows 7
B. CompTIA A+ 220-901
9. What percentage of questions should you expect on
C. CompTIA A+ 220-902 Windows operating systems in the 220-902 exam?
D. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert A. 12%
B. 22%
4. At which of the following Web sites can you
register to take the CompTIA A+ certification C. 24%
exams? D. 29%
A. www.comptia.org
10. What percentage of questions should you expect
B. www.microsoft.com
on networking in the 220-901 exam?
C. www.totalsem.com
A. 34%
D. www.vue.com
B. 17%
5. How many exams must you pass to become C. 28%
CompTIA A+ certified? D. 21%
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four

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11. How much does it cost to take each exam (at the 13. The 220-901 exam will not test you on which of
time of this book’s publication)? the following computer components?
A. $100 each A. Biometric devices
B. $138 each B. Keyboards
C. $194 each C. Printers
D. $150 each D. Zip drives

12. What percentage of questions should you expect 14. If you skip the continuing education path to
on Windows 10 in the 220-902 exam? recertify, how often do you need to take the
A. 10% CompTIA A+ exams to retain your status as a
CompTIA A+ certified technician?
B. 13%
A. Every year
C. 20%
B. Every three years
D. 0%
C. Every ten years
D. Never

■■ Essay Quiz
1. Write a short essay on the benefits of certification
in the field of computers. Include discussion on
how the CompTIA certifications function within
the broader category of computer certification.
Why do you suppose people get certifications
rather than (or in addition to) two- and four-year
college degrees in IT?

Lab Project
•• Lab Project 1.1
If you have access to the Internet, do some interest you. Which certifications would be useful
searching on computer certifications. Make a if you want to be a graphics designer, for example?
personal certification tree or pathway that maps What if you want to create computer games?
out a series of certifications to pursue that might

17
Chapter 1: The Path of the PC Tech

01-ch01.indd 17 17/02/16 12:26 pm

 p
cha ter

12 Operational
Procedures
“The real problem is not whether
machines think but whether men do.”
—B. F. Skinner

In this chapter, you will learn

how to
■■ Present yourself with a proper
appearance and professional manner
■■ Talk to customers in a
professional, productive manner
■■ Discuss the tools of the trade
I am a “nerd” and I consider the term a compliment. Nerds are smart and
like to work with technology—these are the good aspects of nerd-dom. On
the other hand, many people think of the term nerd as an insult. Nerds are
rarely portrayed in a positive manner in the media, and I think I know why.
Nerds generally suffer from some pretty serious social weaknesses. These
weaknesses are classics: bad clothing, shyness, and poor communication
skills. If you’ve ever seen an episode of the TV show The Big Bang Theory, you
know what I’m talking about.
This chapter covers some basic life skills to enable you to enjoy your
nerdiness and yet function out in the real world. You’ll learn how to act as a
professional and how to communicate effectively. After you’re well on your
way to the beginnings of social graces, we’ll discuss some of the hazards
(such as static electricity) you may run into in your job and the tools you
can use to prevent problems. After all, nerds who cannot stay organized—or
who break equipment or themselves—need to learn some tricks to keep
everything organized and safe. The chapter finishes with a discussion about
troubleshooting. You’ll learn the CompTIA A+ troubleshooting theory, an
excellent tool that will serve you well in your studies and career as a tech.

18
902

■■ The Professional Tech

A professional tech displays professionalism, which might seem a little trite
if it weren’t absolutely true. The tech presents a professional appearance
and follows a proper ethical code. I call the latter the Traits of a Tech. Let’s
take a look at these two areas in more detail.

Appearance
Americans live in a casual society. The problem with casual is that perhaps
our society is becoming too casual. Customers often equate casual clothing
with a casual attitude. You might think you’re just fixing somebody’s
computer, but you’re doing much more than that. You are saving precious
family photos. You are keeping a small business in operation. This is serious •• Figure 2.1 Casual Ford
stuff, and nobody wants an unclean, slovenly person doing these important
jobs. Take a look at Figure 2.1. This is our resident illustrator (among other
job descriptions), Ford Pierson, casually dressed to hang with his buddies.
I have a question for you. If you ran a small business and your primary
file server died, leaving 15 employees with nothing to do, how would you
feel about Ford as a tech coming into your office looking like this? I hope
your answer would be “not too confident.” Every company has some form
of dress code for techs. Figure 2.2 shows Ford dressed in a fairly typical
example, with a company polo shirt, khaki pants, and dark shoes (trust me
on that score). Please also note that both his shirt and his pants are wrinkle-
free. All techs either know how to iron or know the location of the nearest
cleaners.
While we are looking at this model of a man, do you appreciate that
his hair is combed and his face is cleanly shaven? It’s too bad I can’t use
scratch-and-sniffs, but if I could, you’d also notice that Professional Ford
took a shower, used some deodorant, and brushed his teeth.
I hope that most of the people who read this smile quietly to themselves
and say, “Well, of course.” The sad truth tells me otherwise. Next time
you look at a tech, ask yourself how many of these simple appearance
and hygiene issues were missed. Then make a point not to be one of the
unkempt techs.

The Traits of a Tech

When I was a Boy Scout in the United States, we learned something called
the Boy Scout Law, a list of traits that define the ethics of a Boy Scout. Even
though I haven’t been active in Boy Scouts for a long time, I still have the
Scout Law memorized: “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.”
My goal here isn’t a sales pitch for scouting in any form, but rather to
give you an idea of what we are trying to achieve: a list of ethics that will
help you be a better technician. The list you are about to see is my own •• Figure 2.2 Professional Ford

19
Chapter 2: Operational Procedures

Techno-babble is the use
of (often nonsensical) jargon
and technical terms to intimidate
and silence a challenge to a
technical issue.
20
creation, but it does a great job of covering the CompTIA A+ objectives.
Let’s dive into the traits of a tech: honesty/integrity, dependability/
responsibility, adaptability/versatility, and sensitivity.
Honesty/Integrity
Honesty and integrity are not the same thing, but for a tech, they are so
closely related that it is best to think of them as one big ethic. Honesty means
to tell the truth, and integrity means doing the right thing.
It’s simple to say you have to be honest, but be warned that our industry
often makes it difficult. IT technicians get a lot of leeway compared to most
starting jobs, making dishonesty tempting. One of the biggest temptations
is lying to your boss. A new tech driving around in a van all day may find
it convenient to stretch the truth on how long he took for lunch or how far
along he is on the next job. Being up front and honest with your boss is
pretty obvious and easy to understand.
Being honest with your customers is a lot harder. Don’t sell people
goods and services they don’t need, even if you get a cut of what you
sell. Don’t lie to your customers about a problem. If you can’t explain the
problem to them in plain English, don’t create techno-babble (see note) and
don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” Too many techs seem to think that
not knowing exactly what a problem might be is a reflection of their skill.
A skilled tech can say, “I don’t know, but I know how to figure it out, and I
will get you the right answer.”
A computer tech must bring integrity to the job, just like any other service
professional. You should treat anything said to you and anything you see
as a personal confidence, not to be repeated to customers, coworkers, or
bosses. Here’s Mike’s Rule of Confidentiality: “Unless it’s a felony or an
imminent physical danger, you didn’t see nothin’.” You’ll learn more about
dealing with prohibited content in Chapter 28.
There is an exception to this rule. Sometimes you need to separate paying
customers from in-house users. A paying customer is someone who doesn’t
work for your company and is paying for your services. An in-house user is
someone who works for the same company you work for and is not directly
paying for your services. It’s often your job (but not always) to police
in-house IT policies. Here’s a great example. If you are at a customer’s site
and you see a Post-it note with a password on a user’s monitor, you say
nothing. If you are in-house and you see the same thing, you probably need
to speak to the user about the dangers of exposing passwords.
You have a lot of power when you sit in front of someone’s computer. You
can readily read private e-mail, discover Web sites surfed, and more. With a
click of the Start button, you can know the last five programs the user ran,
including Word and Solitaire, and the last few documents the user worked
on. Don’t do this; you really don’t want to know. Plus, if you are caught
violating a customer’s privacy, you not only will lose credibility and respect,
but you could also lose your job. You need to deal appropriately with customers’
confidential and private materials. This includes files on the computer, items on
a physical desktop, and even pages sitting in a printer tray.
Every user’s password represents a potential danger spot for techs. We
have to reboot computers and access shares and other jobs that require
passwords. The rule here is to avoid learning other folks’ passwords at all
costs (see Figure 2.3). If you know a password to access a mission-critical
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
machine and that machine ends up compromised or
with data missing, who might be blamed? You, that’s
who, so avoid learning passwords! If you only need
a password once, let the user type it in for you. If
you anticipate accessing something multiple times
(the more usual situation), ask the user to change the
password temporarily.
It’s funny, but people assume ownership of things
they use at work. John in accounting doesn’t call the
computer he uses anything but “my PC.” The phone
on Susie’s desk isn’t the company phone, it’s “Susie’s
phone.” Regardless of the logic or illogic involved
with this sense of ownership, a tech needs to respect
that feeling. You’ll never go wrong if you follow the
Ethic of Reciprocity, also known as the Golden Rule: “Do •• Figure 2.3 Don’t do this!
unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In a
tech’s life, this can translate as “treat people’s things as you would have other
people treat yours.” Don’t use or touch anything—keyboard, printer, laptop,
monitor, mouse, phone, pen, paper, or cube toy—without first asking permis-
sion. Follow this rule at all times, even when the customer isn’t looking.

Dependability/Responsibility
Dependability and responsibility are another pair of traits that, while they
don’t mean the same thing, often go together. A dependable person per-
forms agreed-upon actions. A responsible person is answerable for her
actions. Again, the freedom of the typical IT person’s job makes depend-
ability and responsibility utterly critical.
Dependable techs show up for job appointments and show up on
time. Failure to show up for an appointment not only inconveniences the
customer, but also can cost your customer a lot of money in lost time and
productivity. So, be on time.
If you or your company makes an appointment for you, show up. Be
there. Don’t let simple problems (such as bad traffic) prevent you from show-
ing up on time. Take some time to prepare. Figure out traffic times. Figure out
if preceding appointments will cause a problem, and check for traffic. There is
a popular old saying in the United States, “Five minutes early is on time, and
on time is late.” Sometimes events take place that prevent you from being on
time. If late, contact the customer immediately and give him or her your best esti-
mate of when you will arrive. A simple apology wouldn’t hurt, either.
Responsibility is a tricky subject for IT folks. Certainly you should be
responsible for your actions, but the stakes are high when critical data and
expensive equipment are at risk. Before you work on a computer, always
ask the customer if there are up-to-date backups of the data. If there aren’t,
offer to make backups for the customer, even if this incurs an extra charge
for the customer. If the customer chooses not to make a backup, make sure
he or she understands, very clearly, the risk to the data on the system you
are about to repair.

Adaptability/Versatility
Adaptability defines how someone adjusts to changes. Versatility, at least
within the scope of an IT technician, is bringing a broad set of skills to the

21
Chapter 2: Operational Procedures

Tech Tip
Paperwork
Most computer repair companies
require a signed Authorization
of Work or Work Authorization
form to document the company
name, billing information, date,
scope of work, and that sort of
thing. Even if you do your own
repairs, these forms can save you
from angst and from litigation.
You can create your own or do an
Internet search for examples.
22
computer repair process. Every repair is to some degree a guessing game.
No one knows all the possible problems a computer can have. There is no
universal computing devices repair manual to which you can refer to tell
you how to fix computers. Good techs must be able to adapt to any situ-
ation, both technically and in the environment. For example, good techs
should be able to fix most peripherals, even if they are not experts on that
particular device. As you progress through the book, you’ll discover that
most devices fit into one family or another and that there are certain diag-
nostic/repair steps that you can at least try to enact a repair.
Adaptability isn’t required just for technical issues. Computing devices
find themselves broken in the strangest places and ways. An adaptable tech
doesn’t have a problem if a computer sits at the top of a suspension bridge
or behind a desk. An adaptable tech can work around mean dogs, broken
water lines, and noisy little kids (but there are some very important rules to
dealing with kids; see later in this chapter).
A technician has to be versatile. The best example of this is what I call
the User Advocate. User Advocates are technicians who not only take the
time to learn the processes of whatever organization they work for, but also
look to create technology solutions for problems and inefficiencies. This
also means a tech should be at least competent if not expert at working
with all the computer applications used by the organization. When you
combine your IT skills with an understanding of how the business works,
you become amazingly versatile, quickly finding yourself with more
responsibility and (hopefully) more money.
A big part of versatility is offering different repair options in certain
situations. When there is more than one way to fix things, make sure the
customer knows all the options, but also give them your recommendation.
Tell the customer why you feel your recommendation is the best course of
action, but give them knowledge necessary to make their own decision.
A tech’s versatility isn’t limited to IT skills. Woe to the tech who doesn’t
understand basic electrical wiring and building codes. Skilled techs need to
act in compliance with local government regulations on this sort of issue. I’ve
had hundreds of repair scenarios where the fix was as simple as knowing
how to turn on an electrical breaker or moving a computing device away
from an electrical motor. No, these aren’t IT skills, but a versatile tech knows
these problems exist.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity is the ability to appreciate another’s feeling and emotions. Sensi-
tivity requires observing others closely, taking time to appreciate their feel-
ings, and acting in such a way that makes them feel comfortable. I’ve rarely
felt that technicians I’ve met were good at sensitivity. The vast majority of
nerds I know, including myself, tend to be self-centered and unaware of
what’s going on around them. Let me give you a few tips I’ve learned along
the way.
Understand that the customer is paying for your time and skills. Also
understand that your presence invariably means something is wrong or bro-
ken, and few things make users more upset than broken computers. When
you are “on the clock,” you need to show possibly very upset customers
that you are giving their problem your full attention. To do this, you need
to avoid distractions. If you get a personal call, let it roll over to voicemail.
Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
If you get a work-related call, politely excuse yourself, walk away for pri-
vacy, and keep the call brief. Never talk to coworkers while interacting with
customers. Never speak badly of a customer; you never know where you’ll
run into them next.
Last, be culturally sensitive. We live in a diverse world of races, religions,
etiquettes, and traditions. If a customer’s religious holiday conflicts with
your work schedule, the customer wins. If the customer wants you to take
off your shoes, take them off. If the customer wants you to wear a hat, wear
one. Use appropriate professional titles, when applicable. If a customer’s title is
“Doctor,” for example, use the title even if you don’t recognize the field of
medicine. When in doubt, always ask the customer for guidance.

■■ Effective Communication
When you deal with users, managers, and owners who are frustrated and
upset because a computer or network is down and they can’t work, your
job requires you to take on the roles of detective and psychologist. Talk-
ing with frazzled and confused people and getting answers to questions
about how the personal computing device got into the state it’s in takes
skill. Communicating clearly and effectively is important.
This section explores techniques for effective communication. It starts
with assertive communication and then looks at issues involving respect.
We’ll examine methods for eliciting useful answers in a timely fashion. The
section finishes with a discussion about managing expectations and profes-
sional follow-up actions.

Assertive Communication
In many cases, a computer problem results from user error or neglect. As
a technician, you must show users the error of their ways without creat-
ing anger or conflict. You do this by using assertive communication.
Assertive communication isn’t pushy or bossy, but it’s also not the language
of a pushover. Assertive communication first requires you to show the other
person that you understand and appreciate the importance of his feelings.
Use statements such as “I know how frustrating it feels to lose data,” or “I
understand how infuriating it is when the network goes out and you can’t
get your job done.” Statements like these cool off the situation and let cus-
tomers know you are on their side. Avoid using the word “you,” as it can
sound accusatory.
The second part of assertive communication is making sure you state
the problem clearly without accusing the user directly: “Not keeping up
with defragmenting your hard drive slows it down,” or “Help me under-
stand how the network cable keeps getting unplugged during your lunch
hour.” Last, tell the user what you need to prevent this error in the future.
“Please call me whenever you hear that buzzing sound,” or “Please check
the company’s approved software list before installing anything.” Always
use “I” and “me,” and never make judgments. “I can’t promise the key-
board will work well if it’s always getting dirty” is much better than “Stop
eating cookies over the keyboard, you slob!”

23
Chapter 2: Operational Procedures
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
daturas, poinsettias nine or ten feet high, and many other plants and
trees one would go some way to see growing with the freedom and
luxuriance they exhibit in this bright, winterless climate, in which the
transparent sunlight is never the mere mocking garb of a withering
Liebig-extract of East wind.
 CHAPTER L.
ANIMAL LIFE IN EGYPT.—THE CAMEL.

An omne corpus habeat suum ubi?—Lemma.

In representing the natural scene animal must be associated with

vegetable life. The two, in their double relation first to each other,
and then to the peculiarities of the region that has shaped their
characters, constitute the chief features of the natural panorama. A
picture, that would exhibit this in a manner suitable to the object of
these pages, will not require either complete comprehensiveness, or
much minuteness of detail: such a method of treating the subject
would belong to science. What is here required is that those forms
only should be signalized which possess in their beauty, numbers,
utility, history, or in some way or other, what will interest everybody.
They must, in short, be regarded here rather from the human than
from the scientific point of view.
The form, then, which first attracts the eye of the traveller in Egypt,
is the camel, which, strange enough, the ancient Egyptians, either
from an antipathy to the animal, or from some other cause unknown,
excluded from their paintings and sculptures. If this antipathy
originated in religious ideas, was it because the animal appeared to
them, as we may easily suppose it might, preternaturally unclean?
Or was it because it presented itself to them as the companion, and
servant, of their hated Semitic neighbours? But whatever may have
been the reason of their repugnance to it, their descendants, who,
however, are at least equally the descendants of their Semitic
neighbours, do not participate in the feeling. No sooner are you
landed at Alexandria than you have the camel before you.
Previously, while you were yet on the way, it had occupied a place in
your anticipations of the East; and, now that it meets you at every
turn, you are never weary of looking at it.
 As it steps by you mark its wide, deliberate, noiseless stride. You
observe that the head of the tall slim Arab who walks by its side only
reaches half way up its shoulder. Its long neck is elevated and
stretched forward. It neither seeks, nor flinches from notice. In its eye
there is no wonder, or eagerness, or fear. It is carrying its head
horizontally, with its upper lip drawn down. In this drawn-down lip,
and in its whole demeanour, there is an expression of contempt—of
contempt for the modern world. You can read its thoughts, ‘I belong,’
it is saying to itself, for it cares nothing about you, still you can’t help
understanding it, ‘I belong to the old world. There was time and room
enough then for everything. What reason can there be in all this
crowding and hastening? I move at a pace which used to satisfy
kings and patriarchs. My fashion is the old-world fashion. That world
did well enough without railways and telegraphs. Before the
pyramids were thought of it had been settled what my burden was to
be, and at what pace it was to be carried. If any of these unresting
pale-faces (what business have they with me?) wish not to be
knocked over, they must get out of my way. I give no notice of my
approach; I make way for no man. What has the grand and calm old
world come to! There is nothing anywhere now but noise, and
pushing, and money-grubbing.’ And every camel that you will meet
will be going at the same measured pace, holding its head in the
same position, with the same composed look, drawing down its lip
with the same contempt, and soliloquizing in the same style.
In Alexandria this anachronism of an animal appears to be chiefly
employed in carrying goods to and from the harbour, and in bringing
forage into the city. This consists mainly of fresh-cut lucern, the
historical forage-plant of the East, and of chopped straw—always
chopped, and always carried in rope nets made of the fibres of the
palm. It is always the same, because in the East there are never two
ways of doing anything. As to this chopped straw, it is difficult to say
how it comes to pass that the small fractions of it do not fall through
the large meshes of the rope net; and that the net itself, with its
contents, always retains the same rectangular form. These rope nets
are used also on the river for forming the stacks of chopped straw
one sees floating down the stream on boats.
 On leaving Alexandria for Cairo you begin to see the camel in the
fields. In that first journey in Egypt everything is new, and strange,
and interests. Sometimes he is at plough, with a buffalo, or cow, or
ass, for a mate. Sometimes he is tethered in a piece of lucern. From
the absence of enclosures all animals are tethered in Egypt.
In Cairo you see more camels than in Alexandria. They stalk along
in Indian file, not swerving an inch from the direct line, full in the
middle of the street. In Jerusalem I counted as many as two-and-
twenty in line, all roped together, tail and head. This is necessary
there, where the streets are so narrow, that if the train of beasts were
not thus vertebrated into the form of a single reptile, it would be
impossible to keep them together. They bring into Cairo, besides
forage, all the wood, and fuel, and grain consumed in the city, and
the stone, too, that is used for building. All Cairo has in this way
been carried on camels’ backs.
As you ascend the river you are never long without seeing a
camel, or a string of camels, on the bank. As you look up at them, for
at the season when you are in Egypt the river has subsided many
feet, their long legs and long necks, seen from your boat against the
sky, appear longer than they have been really made by nature, and
you think that you are looking upon some arachnoid creatures, of the
megatherium epoch, moving along the bank. At Siout, where the
caravan road from Darfur, through the great Oasis, strikes the Nile, I
saw a whole kafileh of camels that had just arrived. They were all
down on the ground, on their bellies, a hundred or more of them, and
filled the great market place. Their owners were busy taking off and
inspecting their precious loads. It was to us a strange scene as we
threaded our way through the midst of them. Some made an angry
noise, and snapped at us with their ugly mouths. I know not what
disturbed their equanimity. They might have been, by the grace of
nature, exceptionally malcontent; or it might have been the sight of
the Frank dress, or the absence of the odour of the Arab dress, that
irritated them.
Camels, like horses, are of many colours, black, white, mouse-
colour of varying shades, and rusty red of varying shades. The coat,
indeed, of all domesticated animals, dogs, cats, horses, cattle,
donkeys, pigs, as also the feathers of our gallinaceous poultry, and
even the human hair, appear to acquire a tendency to vary into these
colours; of which, however, in the camel none are glossy and bright.
As they do not lie on their sides, their packs and saddles are often
left on all night. I have seen a long string of camels at midnight all
resting on their bellies on the ground, and all still saddled, just as
they had been during the day. The long manger, out of which they
were eating their chopped straw, was also laid on the ground; and so
was the Arab in charge of them. The fire, too, by which he was
sleeping, was fed, like his camels, with chopped straw.
The camel is one of the cheapest of all means of land carriage. Its
load is six hundredweight. In Syria you frequently see their loads
lying in the middle of the road, while the animals themselves have
been let go on the hill, or the roadside waste, to pick up a feed from
the almost sapless and often thorny bushes; this costs nothing. One
driver manages several, and his keep costs little. This, and the
original cost of the animal, are all the outgoing in the half-desert
tracts through which the caravans generally make their way. He lasts
in work eighteen or twenty years.
At Assouan, for the first time in ascending the river, you find that
you are expected yourself to mount a camel, for the ride across the
bit of desert to Philæ. For weeks you have been observing that the
Arab on his back is jerked forward at every stride, and so you say,
perhaps, to yourself, ‘Now for a ride on a camel; but I wonder
whether my vertebræ will be dislocated. I wonder whether I shall be
able to sit with my legs crossed over the creature’s neck! Perhaps I
shall be pitched off as he jerks himself up from the ground!’ All that
are for hire are down on their bellies on the bank. You jump on the
one that has the best saddle, because you argue that the man, who
can afford the best saddle, can probably afford the best beast; and
that it would be unreasonable to put a good saddle on a bad beast.
You jump on jauntily, as if you had been to the manner born. As you
are crossing your legs before the front crotch of the saddle, up goes
the beast. You are jerked forward, and get a dig in the stomach from
the front crotch. Then you are jerked backwards, and get a dig from
the hind crotch in your back. You steady yourself, and think those
digs might have been bad, but so far all right. You observe that you
are very high up in the air. The earth seems a long way off. But now
for the desert on a camel.
A slender-limbed Nubian lad, to show his zeal, and that he is up to
his work, immediately begins to beat the beast with a long stick. You
don’t like the pace, and so you think him an imp of darkness, or the
near relative of an African monkey. You submit for a few minutes, but
the tossings up (you have no stirrups, and your legs are crossed)
and the jerks backwards and forwards are bad, and you don’t know
how far it will go, and so you call out, ‘You little Afreet, leave the
beast alone!’ This is said with a sweep of your stick towards him. He
dodges off with a grin. You are not disposed to laugh. Ina moment he
is back again like a fly. He will keep his camel up to the front if he
can. But you soon get accustomed to the swing. As you notice that
the desert is strewn with sharp angular pieces of granite of all sizes,
some jutting through the sand, some lying loose on the surface, you
again feel, as you did at first, that you are very far up above the
earth. The sun is blazing overhead. A thermometer on the sand
registers 140 degrees. There is, however, a pleasant breeze. You
are not long in getting to Philæ. You are surprised that the distance
has been done in so short a time. You get back to Assouan in the
evening not at all dissatisfied with your ride on a camel. The next day
you repeat the same journey in the same way. It has lost its novelty,
and you take it as a matter of course, and even expect to find it
pleasant. You go as much for the sake of a second day on a camel
as for Philæ itself. You now wish you could spare time for a trip to the
great Oasis on camel-back. Ever afterwards you talk of the camel
with an air of authority, as if you had been bred in tents.
 CHAPTER LI.
THE ASS.—THE HORSE.

The asses be for the king’s household.—II. Samuel.

The camel is, of course, the most characteristic feature of the

animal life of the East. The ass comes next. The camel has no
known history, except in connexion with man; for there is not
sufficient evidence to justify the belief, that he has ever been seen, in
a state of nature, on the elevated deserts of Central Asia; where one
cannot but suppose that it would be impossible for him to exist,
during the winter, in the open. But the ass once was free, and some
tribes to this day retain the primæval freedom in their aboriginal
Eastern home. All, however, of the race the ordinary traveller now
sees are the slaves of man. Though in the order both of utility and
picturesqueness the ass comes after the camel, still he deserves
prominent notice, for he is everywhere—in the field, in the village, in
the city. In Egypt ubiquity is one of his attributes. Universal
adaptation, out of which his ubiquity grows, is another. He is the
mount of the rich, and of the poor, of man, woman, and child. His lot
varies, as does the lot of those he serves. The rich man’s ass is a
lordly beast. In size, he is far ahead of anything of his kind we see
here at home. His coat is as smooth and glossy as a horse’s—the
face, of course, having been put on by the scissors as well as by
grooming. His livery is shiny black, satiny white, or sleek mouse-
colour. I never saw one of the dingy red of his Poitou brethren. He
carries a grand saddle, resplendent with many-coloured fringes, and
with a wondrous stuffed pommel of red morocco, eight or more
inches high, like a bolster laid before you. The head and reins are
decorated. It is a magnificent get-up, and the animal himself is
worthy of it all. Many of this sort cost more than a hundred pounds.
His hide has never been chafed, nor his spirit broken by ill-usage. He
is always left as nature made him, and is not vicious withal. I saw
one, at a rich man’s door at Alexandria, so like an unusually fine cob
pony, that it took the friend, who happened to be with me, and myself
a second look to assure ourselves that he was an ass. He might,
however, not have been an Egyptian, for I never saw another at all
like him in form or colour. He was of a dark rusty dun.
Such are high caste donkeys. There are, however, low caste
donkeys—very low, indeed, and these are far the most numerous.
Whatever is good in the appearance, and happy in the lot, of their
well-placed brothers is reversed in theirs. They are poor men’s
slaves—a proverbially miserable condition even, as Homer tells us,
in the heroic days of Hellas. Puny, unkempt, ill-fed, overloaded,
overworked, with shocking raws on their flanks and backs, which
never cease through life to wring and rack, till they can be burdened
and beaten no more, what a blessed consummation must it be for
them, when they are pushed off the path, or driven out of the gate, to
feed the dogs and vultures—a feast, indeed, which would, to these
guests, be a grievous disappointment, had not long experience
taught them to be, on such occasions, very moderate in their
expectations.
The thought of the life-long sufferings of these âmes damnées of
the humble fellow-workers of man troubles my recollections of the
East. I used to flinch from the sight of one of them—a sight as
common as disturbing. I feel now, as I then knew that I should feel
always, that either in this world, though its currents are so corrupt, or
in that which is to come, where the offence will stand in its true light,
retribution must overtake me for having used poor beasts of this
kind, though not yet fallen into quite the lowest depths. That it was
up the country, where nothing else could be got, much as I wish for
something to palliate the act, cannot, I know, be admitted as a
justification. While my heart was bleeding at the sight of these
sufferings, I could find no anodyne but the old Egyptian belief in the
transmigration of souls. The poor wretches must, I tried to think, be
expiating the crimes of a former life. They once were rich Legrees, or
devout bankers, who had robbed widows and orphans, or holy
fathers, who had kept eunuchs to sing the praises of the Creator.
 What a benefactor would he be who could satisfy us on this point
—who could demonstrate the thing to us. We should then no longer
be maddened at the thought of the iniquities of man, nor harrowed at
the sight of the sufferings of the brute. The one would cancel the
other.

The Horse.
Little need be said of the horse in Egypt. He is not remarkable
there for size or beauty, nor does he obtrude himself much on the
traveller’s notice. Out of Cairo and Alexandria he is not frequently
seen, and in those cities he generally appears in harness, drawing,
always in pairs, the multiform public vehicles which have been
culled, one would suppose, from all parts of Europe. He is seldom
seen in good condition, unless he comes from the stable of the
Viceroy, or of some grandee, a governor or pasha, or of some rich
European resident. Taking the whole country, the number of them in
good case would thus not be great. He suffers from his double
competition with the ass and the camel; and from the absence,
except in a few towns, of the use of wheeled vehicles. He is also
affected injuriously by the dearness of his keep, compared with that
of his competitors for man’s favour; barley and clover being
indispensable for him. All this reduces him to the degrading position
of selling for less than, at present not half as much as, a good
donkey. A fair horse might have been purchased last spring for
twenty, or even fifteen pounds. He is seldom more than fourteen
hands high. With a tall Arab on his back, he looks too small for a
cavalry horse. It is his great merit to be better than he looks. He is
very docile, very hardy, and can go through a great deal of work.
Trotting is not one of his paces. Egypt used to have a celebrated
breed of horses of its own, but that is now nearly extinct.
 CHAPTER LII.
THE DOG.—THE UNCLEAN ANIMAL.—THE
BUFFALO.—THE OX.—THE GOAT AND THE
SHEEP.—FERÆ NATURÆ.

Nobis et cum Deo et cum animalibus est aliqua communitas.—Lactantius.

The dog has, in the East, been spurned from the companionship
of man. He is no longer allowed to guard a master’s property, or to
be the playfellow of his children. He has been expelled from the
home, and the door has been closed against him; every contumely
has been heaped upon him; religion has pronounced him unclean,
and his contact double defilement.
But centuries of ill-usage have not obliterated nature. He cannot
divest himself of his old, hereditary, unreasoning feelings of eternal
dependence, and fidelity. Man has, it is true, with injurious
harshness, renounced the compact first indented in some distant
age, perhaps in some remote northern clime; but the dog neither
makes retort, nor claims his liberty. He remains faithful to his part of
the broken bond. Only let him be near his old master, allow him no
more companionship than to see him pass by, and he will bear all
the scorn, and all the hardnesses, of his cruel lot, and will ever be
forward to do him any service, however unhonoured. And so it is that
he has become homeless and masterless, the scavenger, and the
knacker, of eastern cities.
Among wild animals, every individual, or if the species be
gregarious, every association of individuals, has its own beat, which
is as much its own property as a landed estate is the property of its
human owner. In this we have the germ, and the rationale, of the
human developments of the natural necessity, and idea of property.
Each of these beats is an appropriated hunting ground. Any outsider
who appears within its limits is an invader, and is treated as such. So
it is with the dogs of a large eastern city. They are divided into
associations, and each association occupies its own district of the
city. If a dog sets his foot beyond the boundaries of his own district,
he is instantly attacked by those whose district he has invaded. An
alarm is given, and all concerned rush to drive off the intruder, who is
often seriously mauled. These raids, and their repulses, generally
take place at night. To sybarite travellers, and to those who take no
interest in the life of the world around them, the canine uproar
caused in these affairs is simply insufferable. The growling is
certainly very harsh: you might think it issued from the throats of
packs of hyænas. Many of these dogs are badly wounded, we may
infer, from one another’s teeth in these night rows, because if such
results do not ensue, for what earthly purpose do they make all this
uproar? It would then be made out of pure cussedness, which one
cannot believe of them.
I never saw a bitch with more than two pups—seldom with more
than one. I supposed some inhabitant of the district had knocked the
rest of the family on the head, to prevent the pack becoming too
numerous.
If a dog in the interior of the city makes himself disagreeable, he is
taken up by the scruff of the neck, and carried outside the city. He is
never known to return again to his old haunts: in fact, he is unable to
do so, being always hindered by those in possession of the
intervening districts from passing through them. He thus remains on
the outside of the city, an outcast from the dog community, a pariah
among dogs, for the rest of his days.
They never show any disposition to molest one in the day-time; at
night, however, it is always necessary to go about provided with a
good stick, for they will then scarcely ever allow a Frank to pass
without assailing him, if not with their teeth, at all events with their
tongues. The town dogs are about the size of our English pointers,
but with longer coats, generally of a yellowish colour. The tail is
somewhat bushy. The village dogs are larger and much fiercer. They
are dark brown or black. Their size, courage, and social position
improve as the river is ascended. I met a Scotchman, who carried
his dislike, and fear, of these ill-used animals so far, that he never
went out, night or day without a revolver, or a kind of fire-arm, of
German manufacture, which goes off without a report. He boasted of
the hecatombs he had slain—perhaps more had been maimed than
slain—during his residence in the country. At one time he had
cleared off so many in the quarter of the city in which he was living,
that the natives, inferring from the number of dead dogs found in the
neighbourhood of his house that it was his doing, laid a complaint
against him before the cadi for canicide. He was admonished to
abstain for the future from taking the life of, or wounding, useful and
unoffending animals.
Although the Arab can give the dog no place in his affections, nor
allow him the smallest familiarity, yet in his treatment of him you may
trace the working of a sort of compassionate kindliness. He sets up
for him water-troughs about the city; and I often observed a poor
man, as he ate his scanty meal, throw a morsel to a canine
mendicant, probably, and if so not misthinkingly, in the name of God.

The Unclean Animal.

The unclean animal often divides with the dogs the scavengering
of the towns. The part assigned him is the part the dogs’ stomachs
will not allow them to undertake. Outside the city a herd of swine is
generally to be seen on the filth-heap. It was there I saw them, at
Alexandria, Jerusalem, and elsewhere. A few solitary stragglers only
are met with in the streets. Of all that is hideous-looking, and
hideously filthy, I never beheld anything worse than these eastern
town pigs: long-snouted, long-legged, long-haired, ridge-backed,
mangy, bespattered with grime. I could hardly have supposed that
there had been in the nature of things such disgusting organisms. A
sense of loathing sickens you as you see them. But we must not be
hard on the helpless brute: is it not more shocking that man,
endowed with large discourse of reason, with sovereign power to
distinguish wrong from right, the lord, the soul, the very blossom of
this visible world, bid to look with the inward eye, as he has been
enabled to do with the bodily eye, onwards and upwards, should,
notwithstanding, still make himself a hog, morally a scavenger? And
this position has been forced by necessity on the swine of the East—
they did not turn to it from choice.
Christian travellers in the East, who will eat swine’s flesh, buy it
from the Greeks. That it was sold by a Greek is no guarantee that it
is food for a dog. Day after day I saw at Jerusalem a Greek boy
tending a herd of swine on the filth-heap outside the Jaffa gate. Hard
by, against the wall, were sitting a row of noseless, toothless,
handless, footless lepers. It was a sight, this combination of animal
and human debasement, to make one shudder. But as to those
ordure and garbage consuming organisms on the filth-heap: the
chemistry of nature can work wonders, but those wonders have a
limit. It cannot transmute that filth into human food. As well might you
dine on a rat taken from a sewer, or a vulture caught in the ribbed
cavity of a camel it was busy in eviscerating. It were all one to sup
with the ghouls.
In this matter it is entirely, from first to last, a question of climate,
and, through climate, of vegetation. In this part of the world we have
a moist climate, and, as a consequence, we have woods, supplying
acorns, beech-mast, and other sylvan fruits; and the same cause
gives us grassy meadows, and clover-fields, where pigs can graze.
And we have abundance of roots and corn, and much refuse garden-
stuff; which all comes to this, that in these latitudes nature and man
supply the pig, all the year round, with abundance of clean and
wholesome food. In the East nature has withheld every one of these
gifts. There are no woods, no meadows; and for him no roots, no
fruits. Throughout Egypt, with the small exception of some
uncultivated marshes in the Delta and Faioum, there is not a
mouthful of food for pigs. They must, therefore, become scavengers
of towns, or make their exit altogether from the scene. People are
very poor in these parts; and those among the Greeks whose
poverty suggests to them the idea of making a few piastres by
keeping pigs cannot, of course, be well off. The supposition, then,
that such people will always buy corn, costly to them, and of which
they are in need themselves, for pigs that other people are to eat, is
Utopian.
 America could not have been settled without the pig; but then the
pig has in America a perennial feast of good things. It is the pig’s
paradise. The country is under forest. Wood-nuts, and wild fruit of
several sorts, are everywhere. Peaches, and maize, and many other
things good enough for his betters, are in inexhaustible abundance.
Here in England it is one of the luxuries of having a little bit of land,
that you never need be without pig, in one form or another, in the
house. Besides it is the only animal a cottager can keep. Nothing
else is within his reach. Liebig tells us, too, that for those who are
exposed to the cold and damp climate of this part of the world, no
food is so suited as bacon; and the more oleaginous the better.
In the East the law-givers were right who made religion ban piggy.
They could not reason with the multitude on a point of this kind. They
could not make distinctions and exceptions. When you have to do
with a hungry stomach reason does not go for much. Of course they
did not take into consideration the opposite circumstances of other
parts of the world. What would be good for us here was no concern
of theirs.

The Buffalo.
The buffalo, if it were only for his uncouthness, ought not to be
unnoticed here. He has, however, another claim to a place in our
picture, from his so frequently coming into view. He is hardier, and
heavier, than the ox, and has, therefore, to a great extent, taken its
place both at the plough, and at the water-wheel. The Egyptian
buffalo has no resemblance to the brawny-shouldered, shaggy-
maned, clean-legged, American prairie bison, injuriously miscalled a
buffalo. What our Egyptian’s hairless, slate-coloured carcass is most
like is that of some ill-shaped primæval pachyderm. You would
hardly take him for a congener of the ox, even after you had noticed
his horns; such horns as they are, for they are so reflexed, and
twisted, as to give you the idea that something must have gone
wrong with them, till you find that they are alike in all. The little
buffalo calf, by the side of its ugly, dull, soulless dam, seems a far
more creditable piece of nature’s handicraft. You can hardly believe
that a few months will metamorphose it into such ugliness.

The Ox.
Of the existing ox so little is seen that nothing need be said here,
except that it is a diminutive specimen of its kind; and that it gives
dry, stringy beef. It was different in the time of the old Egyptians.
They had (what had they not?) a polled breed as well as long-horns,
and also some breeds that were curiously-marked. But both bull and
cow were then divine. The latter was sacred to Athyr, the Venus of
Egypt. The former was worshipped as the symbol of strength, and of
the generative powers of nature; and, besides, his quiet rumination
suggested the idea of the sufficiency, and wisdom, of reflective
meditation. Since they ceased to be divine the couple have much
degenerated.

The Goats and the Sheep.

In Egypt the goats and the sheep, as is the case with their betters,
are not separated from each other. In outward appearance, too, as
respects size, colour, shape, and coat, there is not much difference
between them, nor is there much difference between their mutton.
This is not an instance, as some have suggested, of evil
communications having corrupted good mutton, but the result of
similarity of food. The Egyptian sheep have no mountain wild thyme,
and no short sweet herbage to crop. The weeds, and the dry acrid
plants on the edge of the desert, are all that Nature provides for
them, and these they have to divide with the goats. The sourness of
the food is what imparts to the mutton its twang; and then their wool
is long and oily, and this oiliness of the wool must aid the ill effects of
the food. I found, however, little reason to complain of the mutton,
when I compared it with the beef. The goats supply the greater part
of the milk, and of the butter, used in the country. Goats’ butter is as
white as paper; in this respect resembling the butter of the cows of
the American prairies. Neither sheep nor goats are larger than an
ordinary-sized Newfoundland dog. They are generally of a rusty
black, or smutty red colour.

Feræ Naturæ.
As to the Feræ Naturæ, Egypt offers little cover or feeding-ground
for them. I saw none but jackals and foxes. They can, therefore,
have no place in a traveller’s sketch of the country. The crocodile is
all but extinct below the cataract. The steamboat it is, which in this
part of the river, is scaring it away.[9] Formerly, both the crocodile and
the hippopotamus appear to have disported themselves even in the
Delta.
 CHAPTER LIII.
BIRDS IN EGYPT.

The cawing Rooks, and Kites that swim sublime

In still repeated circles, screaming loud,
The Jaye, the Pie, and e’en the boding Owl
Have charms for me.—Cowper.

In the picture of Nature the birds’ place must not be left quite in
blank. The first to greet you in Egypt are two familiar home
companions. As you near the harbour of Alexandria—and even
sometimes before you sight the land—the wagtail comes on board,
and, without a moment lost in reconnoitring, begins to look about the
deck for crumbs. He flirts his tail as usual. Here, in our bird-
persecuting part of the world, it means that he is on the alert; but on
the deck of the steamer, that is entering the harbour of Alexandria, it
means, ‘All right. I am not afraid: I am quite at home. Every one here
is glad to see me, and I am glad to see you. Here no boys throw
stones at me.’ Every flirt of his tail sends a little ripple of pleasure
over your heart.
On entering Alexandria your only thought is of what is new and
strange: the last that would occur to you would be that you were
about to encounter an old friend. But the first object that meets your
eye, as you step through the custom-house gate into the street, is a
very old cosmopolitan friend you left in London a few weeks back—
the house sparrow. ‘What!’ you exclaim. ‘You here, you ornithological
gamin?’
As you go by rail to Cairo, and as you ascend the river, you are
never long out of sight of a mud-built village. The saddest and
sorriest of habitations for men and women are these Egyptian
villages I have ever anywhere seen. West India negro huts are
better-furnished abodes. Their best-lodged inhabitants are the
pigeons. The only storey that is ever raised above the ground-floor—
which is of the ground as well as on it—is the dovecot. This,
therefore, is the only object in a village which attracts the eye of the
passer-by. In the Delta the fashion appears to be to raise a rude
roundish mud tower, full of earthenware pots for the pigeons to breed
in. These are inserted—of course, lying horizontally—in the mud of
which the tower is built. In Upper Egypt these towers have assumed
the square form, about twelve feet each side. Three or four tiers of
branches are carried round the building for the pigeons to settle on;
these are stuck into the wall, and as the branches depart from the
straight line, each according to its own bent, each belt of branches
presents a very irregular appearance. No village is without its
dovecotes. From the summit of the propylæa of the grand Ptolemaic
temple of Edfou, I counted about forty of these dovecotes on the
tops of the mud hovels below me. The number of domestic pigeons
in Egypt must be several times as great as that of the population. I
suppose if they kept pigs they would not keep so many pigeons.
They must consume a great quantity of corn—more, perhaps, than
would be required for the pigs of a pig-eating population as large as
that of Egypt.
In going up the river from Cairo, the first birds that put in their
appearance are the pelicans. They are generally in parties of eight or
ten. They are fishing, in a line across the stream. They always keep
out of gun-shot. They loom large, showing about the size of swans,
and, as seen from a distance, of the colour of cygnets. They do not
care to go more than about two hundred miles above Cairo.
All up the river you see herons of several species: like their
English congeners, they are patient watchers for passing fish; and
when watching, more or less solitary.
The wet sand and mud banks are thronged with countless mobs of
ducks of various kinds, of geese, and of other aquatic birds.
Experience has taught them also how far guns carry.
As to the geese, you frequently hear and see overhead large
flights of them. Sometimes as many as four or five flocks are in sight
at one time. They are going to and from their feeding grounds. When
aloft they are generally in some figure; but very far from always, as
some say, in the form of a wedge. Perhaps the figure in which they
place themselves depends on the currents of wind where they are. If
they are driving against the wind, the wedge would of course be the
best figure for them to move in; but if they are going down the wind a
line one deep would be better, as it would give the full help of the
current to every individual of the flock; and this is a figure they are
often seen in. In the lately disinterred temple of Serapis, between the
dilapidated pyramids of Sakkarah, and the marvellous catacomb of
the sacred bulls, I saw, in painted relief, a scene which tells us how
geese were fattened in old Egypt. Men are seated at each end of a
table which is covered with pellets, probably of some kind of meal.
Each man has a goose in his lap, down the throat of which he is
cramming one of these pellets. The priests of Serapis liked their
geese fat.
In the neighbourhood of Siout I saw several flocks of flamingoes
on the wing. As they approached with the sun upon them, they
showed like discs of silver, supported on black wings. When they
had passed, the eye was charmed with their backs of rosy pink.
Among the land birds the commonest in the village palm groves
are the Egyptian turtle-dove, and the hopoe. Where there are so
many pigeons you might expect a great many hawks: these you see
of several species. Larks are everywhere in the fields. You frequently
fall in with bevies of quail, and with plovers. A small owl is common: I
heard and saw it during the day-time, in the tamarisks near the pool
in the sacred enclosure of Karnak, and elsewhere.
Our English rook—it has a wide range, being a denizen of Africa
as well as of every part of Europe—appears among the birds of
Egypt. My bedroom at Zech’s, late Shepheard’s, Hotel at Cairo was
off the back gallery, looking across a road on to a large garden.
Exactly opposite the window was the sakia which supplied the
garden with water. The creaking and shrieking, every morning, of its
lumbering wooden wheel whilst it was being worked by a patient,
plodding bullock, was far from unpleasant to one who wished to
become acquainted with the sights and sounds of Egypt. In this
garden were many palms. These were tenanted by a colony of
rooks. I was, day after day, interested in noting that they had just the
same bearing and manners as their English relatives. Like them,
they sought the society of man, and seemed to watch his doings with
the same kind of satisfied observation, accompanied with the same
harsh cries, expressive of security and confidence. They were in
every respect quite undistinguishable from our London rooks, and
those that affect our rural homesteads. I looked upon them with the
thought that just as we, at this day, are pleased with their social and
familiar ways, so must, many thousand years ago, have been the old
Egyptians.
The banks of the river are full of bird life, as every bird in Egypt
must daily come to the river to drink.