# starting as a computer repair tech



## dunz (Dec 13, 2010)

Having worked for myself for a long time repairing for friends/family and others i am now looking to start a career as a computer repair tech. 

Id like to think i am quite good at it but at the back of my mind worry that their are things i haven't come across yet that i may be expected to fix. What are the main things you would be likely to see on a daily basis in a computer repair shop?


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## PinoyIT (Feb 28, 2011)

Got your A+?


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## dunz (Dec 13, 2010)

No, how long would this take to complete? Is it something that can be done on an evening course or is it a fulltime course?


thanks


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## PinoyIT (Feb 28, 2011)

Get Mike Myers's book and start reading. It pretty much covers everything that you'll see in the A+ exam.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

you dont need courses to do any IT certs (apart from very specialised ones). The A+ certifies you as an IT technican you will learn all about how pcs work with hardware and software in mind.

As said compTIA A+ all in one exam guide 7th edition by Mike Meyers is a great book for the A+. To take the two exams you book them through Computer-Based Testing Provider for Certification and Licensure Exams: Pearson VUE and take them at your nearest test center which you will find on the site.

Everyone is different so it may take you a long time it may nor. I know people who skimmed the Meyers book and took both exams on the same day and passed. It took me 4 months but that was down to not having enough time to study.

As for your question you will find all sorts of issues. I once had someone call me because their pc wouldn't switch on, I ended up telling them that it wasn't plugged in. Then I have had other issues where someone had one of the worst power supplies made inside their computer and it exploded taking just about everything else with it. So I had to build them a new pc.

As said you will find all sorts of issues such as people who have had a pc for a year which came with a years subscription to some anti virus software and its ran out but they havent bothered to renew it so they are infected with lots and lots of viruses.


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## dunz (Dec 13, 2010)

cheers for the replies, ive been fixing laptops/computers for a while now and buying broken ones then repairing them and selling them on. would the a+ course still be a good thing to do or will i probably no how to do most stuff already? 

I no how to do things like antivirus/spyware, soldering power jacks, screen inverters, hardware upgrading, keyboard replacement. Is there anything tricky that pops up frequently that i should learn that i may not have come across yet??


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

its not the course you need its the certification.

Think of it this way who would you hire some guy who can fix computers or some guy who is globally recognised as competent IT professional?


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## dunz (Dec 13, 2010)

ye good point. will look into doing the course as distance learning as there is no place remotely close to me that runs the course. 

Anything you would recommend to start learning in the mean time tho??


thanks


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

as I said you don't need a course. get a couple of books a study them. Since you have the experience you may find a course boring or too slow for you.

See the IT certifications in my signiture? I have got all those through studying books and practicing I have never taken a course for any of them.

The only IT related subjects I did where I was on a course was a GNVQ after I left school at 16 (not sure what the equivelant is in the US) and a HND (which is equivelant to an associates degree in the US).


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