CompTIA A+ 220-1202

Hours: 50 / Access Length: 12 Months / Delivery: Online, Mentor Supported
Retail Price: $1,049.00

Course Overview:

This course can benefit you in two ways. If you intend to pass the CompTIA A+ Core 2 Exam 220-1202 exam to receive an A+ certification, this course can be a significant part of your preparation. However, certification is not the only key to professional success in the field of IT support. Today's job market demands individuals have demonstrable skills, and the information and activities in this course can help you build your skill set so that you can confidently perform your duties in any entry-level IT support role.

Through this training, students will learn to:

• Manage Support Procedures
• Configure Windows
• Manage Windows
• Support Windows
• Secure Windows
• Install Operating Systems
• Support Other OS
• Configure SOHO Network Security
• Manage Security Settings
• Support Mobile Software
• Use Data Security
• Implement Operational Procedures

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: What Does an IT Specialist Do

You have finally secured a position in information technology (IT), and it begins today! Awesome, but what can you expect of your new position, and what work assignments should you expect each day? Answering the question of what your day-to-day "routine" will be is not an easy one, as different companies utilize technology for different purposes.

Lesson 2: Managing Support Procedures

Support for customers and clients provides an interesting dynamic to working as an IT specialist. Every issue is something new to learn and resolve. While the issues change, the process by which we resolve them should not vary much issue to issue. Imagine you have been assigned to resolve an issue with an employee's laptop. This employee works remotely in another time zone, and you will need to rely on email and phone conversations to work through the troubleshooting steps. Ensuring that you communicate efficiently and effectively will be key to handling the issue as a professional.

As you work through the process, you will also need to ensure you are documenting the steps you have taken and the results of any test you have run. In some cases, the problem will not be resolved in the same day and other team members may need to continue to find a solution after your shift ends. Tracking and documentation of steps taken thus far allows them to continue the process rather than starting all over again with the issue. Understanding which application you are working with and ensuring the correct operating system has been identified will be helpful in finding a resolution as well.

Lesson 3: Configuring Windows

The operating system (OS) is the software that provides a user interface to the computer hardware and provides an environment in which to run software applications and create computer networks. As a professional IT support representative or PC service technician, your job will include installing, configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting personal computer (PC) operating systems.

Before you can perform any of these tasks, you need to understand the basics of what an operating system is, including the various versions, features, components, and technical capabilities. With this knowledge, you can provide effective support for all types of system environments.

In this lesson, you will learn how the basic administrative interfaces for Microsoft® Windows 10® and Microsoft® Windows 11® can be used to configure user and system settings.

Lesson 4: Managing Windows

The rapidly growing e-commerce company you work for is expanding its operations and upgrading its IT infrastructure to handle increased online traffic and improve internal processes. Your role is to ensure that all desktop and laptop devices are configured correctly, maintained efficiently, and securely connected to the network, while also providing support for any technical issues that arise during the transition.

Lesson 5: Supporting Windows

Supporting an operating system is a greater challenge than simply being able to use the various configuration utilities, management consoles, and commands. To support an OS, you must be able to plan the deployment of software, train and assist users, and troubleshoot problems. As well as technical challenges, there are operational and business factors to consider when installing operating systems and third-party software. Troubleshooting requires knowledge of common symptoms and probable causes in addition to being able to use tools to recover a system or data files. This lesson will help prepare you to meet these challenges so that you can play an effective support role.

Lesson 6: Securing Windows

As a CompTIA A+ technician, your duties will include setting up and configuring computers so that they can connect to a network. By installing, configuring, and troubleshooting networking capabilities, you will be able to provide users with the connectivity they need to be able to perform their job duties.

Once you have the computer network up and running, you can start to configure it to provide useful services. File and print sharing are key uses of almost every network. When configuring these resources, you must be aware of potential security issues and understand how to set permissions correctly to ensure that data is only accessible to those users who really should have been authorized to see it.

Along with permissions, you will also need to manage user accounts on networks. Windows networks can use local accounts within workgroups or centralized Active Directory accounts on a domain network. In this lesson, you will learn some basic principles for managing users in both types of environments.

Lesson 7: Installing Operating Systems

A mid-sized healthcare clinic is planning to upgrade its office IT infrastructure. The clinic currently uses a mix of outdated Windows editions and hardware. Your task is to ensure a smooth transition to the latest Windows editions, optimize system performance, and implement efficient installation and upgrade processes across all client devices, ensuring compliance with healthcare industry regulations such as HIPAA.

Lesson 8: Supporting Other OS

You work for a mid-sized educational institution, TechEd Academy, which provides both in-person and online courses. The institution uses a diverse range of operating systems across its computer labs, faculty offices, and student devices, including Linux and macOS. Your role involves ensuring seamless operation, security, and support for these systems, enabling faculty and students to focus on teaching and learning without technical interruptions.

Lesson 9: Configuring SOHO Network Security

As a CompTIA A+ technician, you are in a position to identify potential security issues before they become big problems. By identifying security threats and vulnerabilities, as well as some of the controls that can counteract them, you can help keep your organization's computing resources safe from unauthorized access. In this lesson, you will identify security threats and vulnerabilities, plus some of the logical and physical controls used to mitigate them on SOHO networks.

Lesson 10: Managing Security Settings

Firewalls provide a security border around a network, but this secure border is not sufficient to protect against insider threats, advanced malware, or sophisticated threat-actor tactics and techniques. Most organizations deploy defense in depth controls to ensure that each endpoint— computer, laptop, smartphone, or tablet— is deployed in a hardened configuration in terms of both the OS and the web browser software.

Despite best efforts to assess risks and deploy countermeasures, most networks will suffer from security incidents. As an IT specialist, you will need to be able to use best practice methods and tools to identify and eliminate malware and other intrusions to minimize the impact of these incidents.

Lesson 11: Supporting Mobile Software

You work for a logistics and transportation company, which relies heavily on mobile devices for tracking shipments, managing logistics, and communicating with drivers on the road. Recently, the company has experienced several issues with mobile device security and performance, impacting operational efficiency. Your task is to ensure that all mobile devices used by the company are secure, perform optimally, and comply with company policies to maintain smooth logistics operations.

Lesson 12: Using Data Security

As a CompTIA A+ technician, you will usually perform support tasks within the context of a company's operational procedures. These procedures include performing data backups and recovery, handling different types of sensitive data, and even integrating artificial intelligence into the organization's applications and workflows.

This lesson will help you to identify the technologies and best practices that underpin these important procedures.

Lesson 13: Implementing Operational Procedures

Documented procedures for employees and clients to follow ensure that a high level of service is maintained and that processes are completed with consistent outcomes. Having the documentation to support your operations, along with understanding the processes to follow should an incident or disaster occur, can ensure your organization can maintain progress as business needs change. Documentation of your organization's infrastructure ensures that you and your team of IT professionals have an awareness of the assets you are all responsible for. When changes are made to those assets, be it an update for the operating systems or a complete reconfiguration of an equipment rack, all changes should be documented so all team members are aware of the change.

All necessary course materials are included.

Certification(s):

This course prepares students to take the CompTIA A+ 220-1202 national certification exams.

System Requirements:

Internet Connectivity Requirements:

• Cable, Fiber, DSL, or LEO Satellite (i.e. Starlink) internet with speeds of at least 10mb/sec download and 5mb/sec upload are recommended for the best experience.

NOTE: While cellular hotspots may allow access to our courses, users may experience connectivity issues by trying to access our learning management system.  This is due to the potential high download and upload latency of cellular connections.   Therefore, it is not recommended that students use a cellular hotspot as their primary way of accessing their courses.

Hardware Requirements:

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 4 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher.  1920x1080 resolution is recommended for the best experience.
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone for Webinar or Live Online sessions.

Operating System Requirements:

• Windows 7 or higher.
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions
  

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

Web Browser Requirements:

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

Basic Software Requirements (These are recommendations of software to use):

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is described in the above course outline.