A+ Certification

Front 1

What's the difference between honesty and integrity?

Back 1

Honesty means to tell the truth; integrity means doing the right thing.

Front 2

What is the difference between a responsible and a dependable person?

Back 2

A responsible person is answerable for the acts she does; a dependable person can be counted on to perform those acts.

Front 3

What's the difference between adaptability and versatility?

Back 3

Adaptability defines how someone adjusts to changes; versatility is bringin ga broad set of skills to the PC repair process.

Front 4

What is a User Advocate?

Back 4

User advocates are technicians who take the time to learn the processes of whatever organization they work for and look to create technology solutions for problems and inefficiencies.

Front 5

Define sensitivity.

Back 5

Sensitivity is the ability to appreciate another's feelings and emotions.

Front 6

What is assertive communication?

Back 6

Assertive communication isn't pushy or bossy; it first requires you to show the other person that you understand and appreciate the importance of his feelings; use statements like "I know how frustrating it feels to..."; the 2nd part is making sure you state the problem clearly without accusing the user directly: "Help me understand how..."; last, tell the user what you need to prevent this error in the future.

Front 7

How do you communicate respect?

Back 7

Communicate with users the way you would like them to communicate with you, were the roles reversed

Front 8

Define 'eliciting answers'

Back 8

Once the person has described the situation, you must then ask questions; ask questions that help clarify the situation; repeat what you think is the problem after you've listened all the way through the user's story; follow up with fact seeking questions (ex: when did it last work?); just ask direct, faactual questions in a friendly tone, using simple non-jargon language to zero in on what the user was trying to accomplish adn what happened when things went wrong.

Front 9

What should you do at the completion of the work?

Back 9

At the completion of work, document the problem, including the time and day you started work, the solution, the hours worked, and a list of all parts replaced. Give a follow up call.

Front 10

Define ESD

Back 10

Electrostatic Discharge- the passage of a static electrical charge from one item to another; ESD will destroy the sensitive parts of your PC, so it is essential that you take steps to avoid ESD when working on your PC.

Front 11

When does ESD take place?

Back 11

ESD only takes place when 2 objects that store different amounts of static electricity come in contact.

Front 12

How can you avoid ESD?

Back 12

the secret to avoiding ESD is to keep you and the parts of the PC you touch at the same electrical potential; you can accomplish this by connecting yourself to the PC via a hardy little device called an anti-static wrist strap

Front 13

What are anti-static wrist straps?

Back 13

Standard equipment for anyone working on a PC; the monent you take a piece out of the PC, it no longer has contact with the systems and may pick up static from other sources; techs use anti-static mats to eliminate this risk

Front 14

What do anti-static wrist straps and mats use?

Back 14

Tiny resistors-devices that stop or resist the flow of electricity- to prevent anti-static charge from racing through the device

Front 15

Where do you store any electrical component not in a PC?

Back 15

an anti-static bag

Front 16

What is an anti-static bag?

Back 16

a specially designed bag that sheds whatever static electricity you have when you touch it, thus preventing any damage to components stored within; experienced techs never throw these bags away, as you never know when you'll want to pull a part out and place it on a shelf for a while; always put components in an anti-static bag, not on the bag

Front 17

How do you work on a PC when you don't have an anti-static wrist strap?

Back 17

Before working on a PC, take a moment to touch the power supply every once in a while as you work to keep yourself at the same electrical potential as the PC.

Front 18

What is EMI?

Back 18

Electromagnetic Interference- a magnetic field interfering with electronics; it isn't nearly as dangerous as ESD, but it can cause permanent damage to some components and erase data on some storage devices

Front 19

How can you prevent EMI?

Back 19

You can prevent EMI by keeping magnets away from computer equipment; never get a magnet close to: 1) floppy disks, 2) hard drives, 3) flash drives, 4) CRT (tube) monitors

Front 20

What is RFI?

Back 20

Radio Frequency Interference

Front 21

Identify 5 devices that emit radio waves

Back 21

cell phones, wireless network cards, cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens

Front 22

What's the best way to prevent RFI?

Back 22

keep radio-emitting devices as far away as possible from other electronics

Front 23

When does RFI become a big problem?

Back 23

when 2 devices share the same frequencies

Front 24

What devices share the same range of frequencies?

Back 24

cordless phones, baby monitors, and wireless networks

Front 25

Describe the different types of protective packaging.

Back 25

The typical pink translucent computer bag is coated with a film that prevents the bag from producing static electricity and mildly protects the contents against physical contact; 2 types of metal bags offer shielding against EMI and RFI as well as ESD; these are the silvery bags you'll see hard drives packed in; the metal bags provide proper protection only when sealed

Front 26

Describe 3 physical safety hazards.

Back 26

1) cable messes, 2) heavy boxes, 3) burns (look for a cooling fin or labels/stickers)

Front 27

What does a basic tool kit consist of?

Back 27

Phillips head screwdriver, most kits have a star headed Torx wrench, a nut driver or two, pair of plastic tweezers, a little grabber tool (parts retriever) and a hemostat to go along with Phillips head and flat head screwdrivers; a lot of techs throw in an extension magnet to grab hard to reach bits that drop into cases; they also add a magnifying glass and flashlight for those hard to reach numbers and text on the printed circuit boards (PCBs) that make up a large percentage of devices inside the system unit.