How to – Page 9 – Paul's Tech Talk

How to prepare for the retaking of the Core 1 and Core 2 tests for A+ Certifications 220-1001 and 220-1002

PaulOctober 8, 2021

Don’t Give up!

IF you have anything to look forward to is that once you complete this test you are closer to getting that job that you want. I’ve already talked about people failing one or both of the cores for A+ Certifications. It is bound to happen because we didn’t do something right in the test or we just wasn’t as prepared as we thought we would be. There is no shame in failing a test, the good news is that we still have time to take it before we have to start over. According to Certblaster Website the certification for this version will retire on Jan 15, 2022. That is important information for those who might have passed at least one of the test whether it is core 1 or core 2. You still have time to pass the ones that you failed at.

How do we get ready for the retake?

This is something I have thought about after failing the first time around and I thought long and hard. I tried to problem solve how I could know what I needed to study for the retaking of the test. Here’s what I’ve found out. I am going to share with you what I have learned and maybe it will help other’s out along the way.

Use the score report that you got after taking the test. At the bottom of the first page it tells you want you missed. Go back and try to find tests that resemble the ones you missed. You can use many Different sites such as Examcram to take those practice exam tests or even ExamCompass which is a free site. Some of them cost money but you can easily find practice exams all over the internet for CompTIA A+ Certifications.
Buy Extra CompTIA Books — This is something I did, I went to Barnes and Nobles and bought a CompTIA A+ Certification Passport. I am not sure how this will help me but it does after all gives me another perspective that I might gain some insight into the test.
Ask yourself what were the more difficult questions that I failed at — This might help to prepare next time around but It doesn’t hurt to be ready for those types of questions because it’ll help with any questions that might be similar in the next test.
Give yourself Study Time — This seems to be the best way to pass it the next time around. Before the test go back and try to do practices exams and read about a week before you are due to take the test and don’t try to cram it in the last minute. Give yourself enough time to read and try to remember questions that were the hardest. If you can keep reading and trying to take those practice exams. You might just well pass the next time around.
Get Plenty of sleep the night before — Go to bed early and try to get as much sleep as you can before the test. Eat a good breakfast that will keep you from feeling hungry while taking the test. This is something that might help.

Last of the advice

Try to figure out the best time for you to take the test. If you are a morning person take it in the morning, if you are an evening person take it in the afternoon if you can. Remember that this test is for you and no one else. You can take it any day that is the most convenient for you. Try to avoid distractions to do the test. Like me, I might not be doing a lot of blogging next week but I will at least do some. It seemed to work on my Core 2 test which I passed. These are just what worked for me and I hope they will help you with you retaking the test. I’ve heard from others who failed one or both of the cores, so I know it’s not just me who failed. People just seem to have a hard time with getting the certifications. Do you have any recommendations for others? Why not leave a comment and tell people how you passed your tests? Was there something that I missed that you think is important? Why not leave a comment.

Windows Update in September causes printing issues in IT Support

PaulOctober 4, 2021

Print Nightmare Patch

Microsoft released an update for Windows (KB5005565 , KB5005566, and KB5005652) that is causing quite some problems with Printers and networking. There have been reports that I’ve seen of this affecting business and all around. I’ve seen this in my Job also, Drivers not installing and Windows updates not installing because the drivers isn’t being able to be installed. Paper sizes and even POS printers not printing due to the Printer spooler being patched by Microsoft. Bleeping Computers even says that it broke the point to a network printer and is causing issues with people being able to print on the network.

Significant problems

Even I’ve seen the problems that came along with the new update. The real problem is how to protect the business who need to use their network for business purposes. What are some ways to do it and keep the business safe? These are all the questions that need to be answered but as of yet no one knows what the really way to patch the problem associated with the Print Spooler and Print Network.

IT admins have said as much as uninstalling the update resolves most if not all the printer issues they’ve seen the last week or two but that isn’t really suggested by Microsoft due to the Print Nightmare issues and ransomware issues that might arise from it. All I know is IT admins are left on the side of the road as to how to fix the issue without the patch or if there will be a hotfix now the road to fix the September update. Either way there isn’t much we can do but wait and see.

Possible ways to Mitigate this issue:

Change your Group Policy Object (GPO) in Active Directory on the target computers on the network to “RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators = 0” but than again we are just opening up that hole that Microsoft is trying to close.

Registry add:

reg add “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Printers\PointAndPrint” /v RestrictDriverInstallationToAdministrators /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Again this will only bypass what Microsoft is trying to close with the vulnerability in Windows point and print issue on the network. You should be able to start printing after you reboot. This however isn’t suggested by me or anyone who is looking to keep the printer from being used in a ransomware attack.

Installing V4 drivers instead of V3 Drivers will solve this issue also but some vendors don’t even have V4 drivers available to install as of yet. Until they make those drivers available, there isn’t really much we can do about it or even suggest to the business that are having difficulty with the printing issue at hand.

Resources:

How to stay positive as a computer technician and why it helps!

PaulSeptember 24, 2021

Those Negative customers

Let’s face it, if you have been in IT for the last few months than you’ve probably seen it. Not enough technicians and to many customers. It seems to be a constant problem with how things are progressing with all the now hiring. We’ve all seen difficult customers but what about negative employees? Has that been a thing or is it just the customers? It can be very difficult to keep positive and be a able to feel like you are doing something productive. Not all technicians will ever see it that way, they are there just for money and they aren’t going to worry about accomplishing anything real but to get money. Now that it can be extremely difficult to deal with customers and other employees, when they are being negative.

Dealing with negative Employees

We’ve all be there. You’ve probably got a negative employee you have to deal with at work. It isn’t easy and we should also figure out how to deal with customers in the same right. All the negativity can bring out the worse in customers and people. I’ve seen it happen and know how it can create even more difficult situations when it comes to coming into work and see how that can effect other employees. It isn’t always easy to deal with customers or even employees, but I thought there could be a few ways you could do to change the tone in how they come off to others and help make a better job for everyone in return.

Staying positive

Here we are trying to stay positive in what we do. Not everyone will be positive and this might not work for every one but I thought it would at least help with some of the situations you might have. I am going to say these are just what has helped me in my current situation and who knows it might work for you too.

Music — If you can listen music while dealing with negative customers it can help keep your spirits high. It however depends on how you can communicate with the customers. So it has to be really soft and not be overpowering. You should also have an option to disable it real quickly if it something like having to talk to a person over the phone. So it might not be the best thing but it will help. Also listen to positive music and not anything negative to help with the negativity.
Boundaries — Seems to work for me with customers and employees. Knowing that you have boundaries will keep them getting to you. Always remember that it’s not always your problem to solve their issues but to know that when you go home it’s not your problem anymore. This can help with dealing with those negative people.
Find the Good — Sometimes the easiest way to disarm a negative comment is to find the good in comment. Instead of the glass is half empty, turn it around and say the glass is half full. Letting them see there is a different way in seeing it can help them to see that there is more than just the negative in life.
Be positive — This one is my most interesting, because it does help me out in my job. I am always trying to find the good and positive in people and trying not not assume. I do however will tell how the person is making me feel and rightly tried to even work with person if it has to come with it but I think we should all know that we have something to contribute to any situations we are trying to do.

These are just a few ways I found to fight negativity in customers and employees, this however is just how I deal with them. I’d love to hear how you do it and what helps you to deal with them? Do you do something different or do you make rules that help you to stop the negativity? Not all people are the same and that can be difficult to know how to handle them but at least I find myself in a better position when I am positive at my job.

4 ways to deal with difficult customers

PaulSeptember 22, 2021

Difficult customers

They are everywhere and nothing we can say sometimes will stop the difficult customer but that isn’t uncommon. When a customer calls because of something that has happened, you would probably also be mad. Either way, the probably is that you have to deal with them in one way or another and be able to listen to them and keep them calm. Even in IT, we deal with difficult customers. We all know those customers and they seem to always call when we least expect it. I even know that companies are scrambling to find coverage of people to cover the gaping hole for IT support. I guess this part, I am sure you’ve thought about. I guess it times to say that I got hired and have been busy with dealing with those really difficult customers who want to get the help they are paying for.

How to deal with them

So you have them on the phone or they are right next to you. Each technique can be used in any circumstance if you really think about it. These are just what I’ve noticed and seems to help with me. I know nothing I do or say sometimes will change how they will react or even deal with me but it does at least make it interesting to say the least.

Listen to them — This can be so difficult because of the way they customer is reacting to the situation. If you sit back and listen to what they are saying and make them feel like you are actually listening then it could help alleviate the situation and make the situation more bearable.
Tell them what you can do to help them — I’ve talked about this one but I will go back and talk about this. You tell them what you can do to help them and try to help them resolve their issues will help create a rapport for the customer and the problem. If you are there to help them they will make an effort to be more helpful to you.
Be Sincere — This one can seem almost like a given but you’d be surprised how people react to being sincere on the phone that you are trying to help them and be there for them. Once this one is good they are very likely to listen and stop being so difficult but that one might take some time to learn or know how to be sincere with customers.
Be ready to Apologize and say sorry — This is the best technique I could tell people because they really do want the company to apologize when the situation arises that even now. With having to deal with customers and not having enough staff that can help keep the customer calm or maybe it will calm them down even more because they wanted to hear that from the company.

Understand the situation

Now since we have talked to the customer and tried to actively listen to the customer, we are more likely to want to understand the customer. Have a script ready to ask the customers who are having a difficult time. The script is always a good idea. Here’s a good script that you can adopt:

How can I help you?
I am sorry for . . .
Let me create a ticket and schedule a time good for you to fix the issue!
While I am at it, can we get more information on what you might need and what created the issue?
Don’t forget to always thank the customer. If they feel we value them and listen to them, they will come back even if we have a bad day.

Once you have the script down and know what to go to when there are customers who might be a very difficult person. This can be a very interesting issue and can draw even more people into the bad day. Understanding the situation and listening will help you evolve to be a better support specialist. It just takes some time and know to be able to deal with those difficult customers.

Do you have a way to deal with them? Why not leave a comment and tell me what you do and how you deal with them? Is it something you’ve learned over the years or is it something you just learned last week? Why not comment and tell me about it.

So you failed one or both A+ exam Tests and Now what?

PaulSeptember 17, 2021

I failed the CompTIA A+ Core 1 Certification

I am sure you are so surprised that I am saying this with very little hesitancy. I figure those of use who had to hear the bad news should at least know we aren’t alone in the struggle of get the certification. You’re probably thinking Now what do I do? I figure you have a couple of options to consider and we’ll talk about some of the options and what you might be able to do about it. First thing you have to consider is was your score really low or just missed it like I did. I’ve been doing IT on the side for several years. You’d think I would pass it on the first try, I was so hopeful. I missed it only be a several points to get to the 675, If you’re score is really under a 100 or so, you really need to consider what you can do better next time and be more prepared. You may even keep failing CompTIA A+ for several times before you can get to the 675 or higher to pass the core 1 exam.

Now what are you going to do?

This might be the first time or even the second time that you failed the exam. You have to consider why you are doing and consider if maybe you’re not ready to get the certification. It could just be dumb luck that you didn’t get, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least consider these questions for myself and think hard and long about what I wanted and why I wanted it. I’m not sure what goals you might of set for yourself but these are some important to think about. You might even need to cry to get the frustrations and disappointment out to be able to think clearly. In the end, it’s all about how you deal with the situation that makes or breaks your intentions to get the certifications.

What’s next?

Well for me, I’m going to have to take the test again for the Core 1 Test at least. I’ve scheduled the Core 2 for the next few weeks and intend to do that one just because I have already scheduled it and might as well see if I can pass at least one exam. If I can do at least the one exam the other one will be a lot simpler for me I think. You have to consider what you are wanting to do or if you think you can pass the next exam. I’m not going to give up just because I failed the first time. I’ve gotten this far and I won’t stop going farther. I know I can pass this exam if I just work on the questions and try to keep working to my goals. Some ways you can get ready for the next time:

I know I am not going to fail the next time and if I do, at least I have the experience to learn from and getting better. I am sure I am not the only one who has had this happen before. I’ve seen videos about people failing the CompTIA A+ certifications, so I guess it isn’t just me. This is what you need to learn for yourself that you’re not alone in the struggle of getting that exam certification and we all have had to do it at least once or twice. Hopefully this helps you to know you’re not alone.