This course will prepare you for the Comptia A+ Core Hardware exam. Now seen as the industry standard certification at entry level I.T. Recognised by Microsoft, Apple & All Major computer companies. If you are serious about learning PC Maintenance then this is the course for you. From beginner all the way through to advanced. Everything you need to know will be covered on this course.

Now updated to include laptop repairs.

What skills are needed to enrol onto this course?

Unit 1: How computers work

Hardware used for input & output
Hardware inside the computer case
The motherboard
The CPU and chipset
Storage devices
Interface expansion cards
The electrical system
Instructions on the motherboard & other boards

Unit 2: How hardware & software work together

How an operating system manages hardware
How an OS uses device drivers
How a OS uses system BIOS to manage devices
System resources
IRQ
Memory address
I/O addresses
DMA channels
OS tools to examine a system
Booting up your PC
Starting BIOS controls the beginning of your boot.
Troubleshooting a failed boot


Unit 3: Electricity & power supplies

Measures & properties of electricity
AC & DC
Hot, Neutral & ground
Common electrical components
Protecting your computer system
Static electricity
EMI (electromagnetic interference)
Surge protection & battery back up
The computer case and form factors
Case, motherboard & power supply form factors
Types of cases
Detecting & correcting power supply problems
Upgrading your power supply
Intro to troubleshooting
Troubleshooting the power supply
Energy star systems (the green star)
Power management methods & features

Unit 4: The motherboard

Types of motherboard
Components on the motherboard
The CPU & the chipset
ROM BIOS
Buses & expansion slots
Hardware configuration
Protecting documentation & configuration settings
Building a PC
Installing a motherboard
Preparing the motherboard
Completing motherboard installation


Unit 5: Managing memory

RAM on the motherboard
Static RAM technologies
Dynamic RAM technologies
Error checking & parity
CAS latency & RAS latency
Memory speeds
Upgrading memory
What to look for when purchasing memory chips & modules
How much & what kind of memory to buy
Reading ads about memory modules
Installing memory

Unit 6: Floppy drives

How floppy drives work
How data is physically stored on a floppy disc
How data is logically stored on a floppy disc
The formatting process for a floppy disc
Exchanging & supporting floppy drives
Replacing a floppy drive
Adding a new drive
When a floppy disc drive doesn’t work
Error messages & their meanings


Unit 7: Understanding & installing hard drives

Hard drive technology
Types of hard drive interfaces
How hard drives work
Communicating with the hard drive controller
Calculating drive capacity on older drives
Hard drive size limitation
Hard drive partitions & logical drives
Set jumpers
Mounting a drive in a bay
Use CMOS setup to change hard drive settings
Set up for large capacity hard drives
Use Fdisk to partition a drive
Format each logical drive
Using windows to partition & format a new drive
Troubleshooting hard drive installations
An ounce of prevention
Commands to use with hard drives
Resolvimg common hard drive problems
Getting technical support


Unit 8: Supporting I/O devices

Basic principles of peripheral installations
Using ports & expansion slots for add-on devices
Using serial ports
Using parallel ports
Using USB ports
Using IEEE 1394 ports
Installing an expansion card in an expansion slot
Using PCI expansion slots
Using ISA expansion slots
Keyboards
Keyboard connectors
Installing keyboards
Troubleshooting keyboards
Pointing devices
Cleaning the mouse
Touch screens
Other pointing devices
Troubleshooting a mouse
Computer video
Monitors
Video cards
Troubleshooting video problems

Unit 9: Multimedia devices & mass storage

Multimedia on a PC
CPU technologies for multimedia
Sound cards
Digital cards
MP3 players
Video capture card
Optical storage technology
CD-ROM
CD-R & CD-RW
DVD
Hardware dusted for backups & fault tolerance
Tape drives
Removable drives
Fault tolerance, dynamic volumes & RAID
Problems with CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD or DVD-RW installation
Troubleshooting sound problems
Troubleshooting tape drives


Unit 10: Supporting modems

All about modems
How modems are rated
Installing & configuring a modem
Troubleshooting modems

Unit 11: PCs on a network

Ethernet
Wireless LANs
Token ring & FDDI
How NICs work
Segmenting a network
Windows on a network
Addressing a network
Installing a network card & connecting to a network
Installing a NIC using windows 2000/XP
Installing a NIC sing windows 98/ME
Installing wireless NIC
Troubleshooting a network connection
Connecting networks
Routers
Bandwidth technologies

Unit 12: Notebooks, Tablet PCs, & PDAs

Notebook computers
Windows notebook features
Caring for notebooks
Power management
Connecting peripheral devices to notebooks
Upgrading memory
Replaceable units for laptops
Online resources for troubleshooting laptops
Tablet PCs
PDAs
Battery life on a PDA
Applications for a PDA
Connecting a PDA to a PC
PDA manufactures & operating systems

Unit 13: supporting printers

How printers work
Laser printers
Inkjet printers
Dot-matrix printers
Thermal printers & solid ink printers
Installing & sharing a printer
Installing a local printer
Sharing a printer with others in a workgroup
Troubleshooting printers
How windows handles print jobs
Printer maintenance
Problems printing from windows
Troubleshooting networked printers


Unit 14: all about SCSI

SCSI basics
The SCSI subsystem
Host adaptors
SCSI device drivers
Variations in SCSI
Comparing SCSI & IDE
Installing SCSI devices
Installing a host adaptor card
Setting device IDS during installation
Troubleshooting SCSI devices


Unit 15: purchasing a PC or building your own

Selecting a PC to meet your needs
Upgrading a PC
Buying a new PC
Selecting parts
Final preparations
Overview of the assembly process
Installing drives
Set jumpers on switches on the motherboard
Install the CPU & CPU fan
Install RAM on the motherboard
Install RAM & attach the cabling
Install the video card
Install the modem card
Plug in the computer & attach external devices
Boot the computer, check settings and verify operation
Install peripheral devices & applications


Unit 16: troubleshooting & maintenance fundamentals

Troubleshooting tools
Fundamental rules
Gathering information
When a PC is your permanent responsibility
A preventative maintenance plan
Moving equipment
Disposing of used equipment
Fire extinguishers


Unit 17: error messages & their meanings

Unit 18: understanding binary

Unit 19: electricity & multimeters

Voltage
Amps
Relationships between voltage & current
Ohms
Relationships of resistance to current & voltage
Wattage
Measure the voltage of a power supply


Unit 20: the professional PC technician

What customers want: beyond technical know how
Support calls: providing a good service
Making on site service calls
Phone support
When you can’t solve the problem?
Recording & information tools
Professional organisations & certifications
Why do I need certification?
Protecting software copyrights
What the law says
What are your responsibilities under the law?


Unit 21: supporting notebooks

Warranty concerns
Service manuals & other sources of information
Diagnostic tools provided by manufacturers
Operating systems upgrade
Replace or substitute a component
Protecting a notebook & its data
Special tools for disassembling a notebook
Preparation for servicing a notebook
Components that are easy to get to
Full disassemble of a notebook
Common problems with notebooks
Protecting & retrieving data
Slow systems, pop up ads & viruses
Problems with the power system
Problems with video
When a notebook gets wet
When a notebook is dropped
General OS or application problems
Problems connecting to the network
Problems with the hard drive or other devices
More errors & what to do about them.

What are the career opportunities and salary potential when working in this field?

When giving our students careers advice, we like to leave it to the experts. Visit www.s1jobs.com and see for yourself. You will find thousands of national employment opportunities at your fingertips, giving you relevant and up to date information. By visiting them you will get the real facts.

Can you send me this info in the post?

Unfortunately not, we list all our course details online including fees, duration and syllabus. By doing this we are able to keep our fees to a minimum. Please contact us if you have further questions.

Can I pay the course fees in instalments?

Yes no problem at all. Take a look at the payment method page in the top right hand corner for further details. Payment plans can only be arranged by calling FREE on 0800 0131030. All payment plans incur a £15.00 admin charge.

What if I receive my course and it’s not suitable?

We offer a seven day money back guarantee on this course. If for any reason you are not happy please return it to our office within seven days of receipt and we will refund your money. Please be aware all courses require a signature upon receipt. The seven day period starts from the date it is signed for. No refunds are given after seven days whatever the circumstances. Money back guarantee excludes postage costs. It is also the student’s responsibility to cover return postage costs. All returns must be sent recorded delivery to our trading address shown on the contact us page.