CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1202) — the full course

Every lesson and every lab is free to read, mapped one-to-one to CompTIA’s published exam objectives. The paid tier adds the 594-question exam simulator; nothing is taken away from the free course to make room for it.

50written lessons

62hands-on labs

46hours of lab work

594practice questions

Start with lesson 1 — Windows editions, and choosing the one the job actually needs Exam simulator

Jump to a domain: 1. Operating systems · 2. Security · 3. Software troubleshooting · 4. Operational procedures

What the exam weighs

Domain	Share of the exam	Lessons here
1. Operating systems	28%	14
2. Security	28%	14
3. Software troubleshooting	23%	11
4. Operational procedures	21%	10

The curriculum

1. Operating systems 28% of the exam

01 Windows editions, and choosing the one the job actually needs objective 1.1 part single
- Turn four stated requirements into an edition you can defend short · 25 min
02 Boot media, partition schemes, and the choices you cannot undo later objective 1.1 part single
- Create installation media and record the scheme it produced short · 40 min
03 Installing Windows: clean install, upgrade, and the unattended middle objective 1.1 part single
- Install to the disposable machine and record what each route keeps short · 60 min
04 Installing macOS and Linux, and what is genuinely different on first boot objective 1.1 part single
- Install a Linux guest and record every first-boot task Windows does not need short · 50 min
05 Android and iOS: provisioning, enrolment, and what a reset destroys objective 1.1 part single
- Plan a reset for a real device without performing one applied · 40 min
06 The command line, and the twenty commands that earn their place objective 1.2 part single
- Diagnose a configuration from four commands and write down what each proved short · 30 min
07 PowerShell and scripting, at the depth a support role actually uses objective 1.2 part single
- Read a script before running it, then run it with -WhatIf short · 35 min
08 Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and reading a machine that is slow objective 1.2 part single
- Diagnose a slow machine end to end and write the recommendation applied · 45 min
- Load one resource deliberately and prove which one the tools blame short · 35 min
09 Disk Management: volumes, partitions, drive letters and the things that go missing objective 1.2 part single
- Take a disk through every state and record what each one looks like short · 40 min
10 Control Panel, Settings, and the management consoles behind both objective 1.2 part single
- Build a management console and record the direct route to twelve settings short · 30 min
11 Remote access: RDP, remote assistance, SSH, and the third-party tools objective 1.2 part single
- Connect three ways and record what each one does to the person at the keyboard short · 40 min
12 File systems: NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, APFS and ext4, and choosing between them objective 1.3 part single
- Prove the 4 GB limit and watch permissions disappear short · 35 min
13 Updates, patches and feature upgrades, which are three different things objective 1.3 part single
- Break Windows Update deliberately, then repair it in the documented order short · 40 min
14 Upgrading an operating system in place, without losing the machine objective 1.3 part single
- Perform an upgrade with a real backup and a real rollback applied · 70 min
- Build, document and hand over a machine somebody else could rebuild capstone · 90 min
- Run the compatibility assessment properly before any upgrade short · 35 min

2. Security 28% of the exam

01 Physical security, and the controls that come before every other one objective 2.1 part single
- Survey a real space and map each gap to the control that closes it short · 30 min
02 Authentication factors, multifactor, and why the password is the weak one objective 2.1 part single
- Audit your own factors and find the account that unlocks the others short · 35 min
03 User accounts, groups, and least privilege as something you can actually do objective 2.1 part single
- Run the same action as three account types and record what each is refused short · 35 min
04 NTFS permissions, share permissions, and working out which one wins objective 2.1 part single
- Design permissions for a stated organisation and prove the result applied · 50 min
- Predict every effective permission in writing, then test each one short · 40 min
05 Full disk encryption, and the things it does not protect you from objective 2.1 part single
- Encrypt a volume, escrow the key, and prove what encryption does not stop short · 45 min
06 Wireless security: WEP, WPA2, WPA3 and the settings that actually matter objective 2.1 part single
- Audit a network you own and separate the real controls from the theatre short · 35 min
07 Hardening a small network, and the defaults that must not survive first boot objective 2.1 part single
- Harden a router you own and record every forward with its reason short · 45 min
08 Browser security, and the handful of settings that actually help objective 2.1 part single
- Audit every extension's permissions and rebuild a browser profile deliberately short · 35 min
09 Social engineering, and the attacks that go around every control you set objective 2.1 part single
- Analyse real messages you were sent and write the user guidance from them short · 35 min
10 Malware types, told apart by what they do rather than by what they are called objective 2.2 part single
- Classify described behaviour into categories and name the response each implies short · 30 min
11 Detecting an infection without trusting the machine you are standing at objective 2.2 part single
- Use the harmless test file to prove your protection alerts, then scan from outside short · 40 min
12 The removal procedure, and why its order is the thing being examined objective 2.2 part single
- Run the whole procedure against a scenario and defend clean against rebuild applied · 50 min
- Plant your own persistence, then remove it in the prescribed order short · 45 min
13 After a removal: credentials, tokens, and the trust that does not come back by itself objective 2.2 part single
- Audit one account's persistence surface and time how long it takes short · 35 min
14 Preventing reinfection, and the handful of controls that actually hold objective 2.2 part single
- Secure one machine end to end and write the evidence that it is secured capstone · 90 min
- Rank the controls by what they actually prevent, and implement the top three short · 40 min

3. Software troubleshooting 23% of the exam

01 A method for software faults, and why it is the same method as for hardware objective 3.1 part single
- Diagnose a fault you did not plant, using scope tests only short · 35 min
02 Windows that will not boot, and the recovery tools in the order they help objective 3.1 part single
- Rescue data from a machine that will not boot, then decide its fate applied · 50 min
- Break the boot at three different stages and identify each from the screen short · 50 min
03 Stop errors, services and startup faults, and reading what they tell you objective 3.1 part single
- Produce a stop error on purpose and read it back from the logs short · 40 min
04 Applications that crash, hang, or will not install at all objective 3.1 part single
- Break an application four ways and find each cause from evidence short · 40 min
05 Performance problems that are not hardware, and proving which is which objective 3.1 part single
- Make a machine slow four different ways and produce the recommendation each needs short · 40 min
06 Mobile connectivity faults, from the software side objective 3.2 part single
- Produce the connectivity decision tree and test it against four real faults applied · 45 min
- Work the four-question split on a real device before changing anything short · 30 min
07 Apps that crash, drain the battery, or refuse to update objective 3.2 part single
- Read the per-app figures honestly and find one anomaly short · 30 min
08 Mobile storage, battery and performance faults, and their real causes objective 3.2 part single
- Separate storage, battery health and age with three measurements short · 30 min
09 Symptoms of compromise on a desktop, and what each one narrows down objective 3.3 part single
- Correlate the machine against the network and defend the escalate decision applied · 50 min
- Build a hijack from your own extension and find every place it persists short · 45 min
10 Symptoms of compromise on a mobile device, where the tooling is thinner objective 3.3 part single
- Check the five mobile persistence surfaces on a device you own short · 30 min
11 Recovering an account after unauthorised access, in the order that works objective 3.3 part single
- Run a full incident from report to handover, and write what you would tell the user capstone · 90 min
- Rehearse the recovery order on your own account and time each step short · 40 min

4. Operational procedures 21% of the exam

01 Documentation that is actually used, and the kind that is only written objective 4.1 part single
- Write the seven-field asset record and the one-page network document short · 40 min
02 Change management, and the plan that exists before anything is changed objective 4.1 part single
- Write a change record with a rollback that has been tested short · 40 min
03 Ticketing, and writing a ticket the next person can actually use objective 4.1 part single
- Write a ticket somebody else could pick up cold, and have them try short · 35 min
04 Regulated data, incidents, and the chain of custody you may have to keep objective 4.1 part single
- Produce a custody record for a stated scenario, with no gap in the timeline applied · 45 min
05 Safety: electrical, electrostatic and physical, and the rules that do not bend objective 4.2 part single
- Audit your own working area against the hazards this exam names short · 30 min
06 Environmental controls, disposal, and the documents that govern them objective 4.2 part single
- Find the lawful disposal route for five items, and read one safety data sheet short · 35 min
07 Communication, professionalism, and the conversations nobody enjoys objective 4.2 part single
- Rewrite real support messages that are correct and unusable applied · 40 min
08 Backup schemes: full, incremental, differential, synthetic, and where each fits objective 4.3 part single
- Run all three schemes and measure the restore cost of each short · 45 min
09 The 3-2-1 rule, and a restore you have actually tested objective 4.3 part single
- Write a restore procedure and have somebody else run it applied · 50 min
- Restore a file, a folder and a machine, and record how long each took short · 60 min
10 Recovering a workstation that is gone, and the order that gets someone working objective 4.3 part single
- Lose a machine on purpose and recover the person, not just the computer capstone · 120 min
- Recover a machine to working order and time the two halves separately short · 60 min

Supplementary not examined — background reading

01 A machine you can safely break, and how to get it back part single
- Build the disposable machine, snapshot it, and prove the revert works short · 45 min

The exam simulator

594 questions, every one mapped to an objective and to the lesson that teaches it. Timed full-length papers drawn to the real domain split, retakes weighted to your weak areas, and a readiness report from your own results.

Open the simulator

This is an independent study companion for CompTIA A+ Core 2 220-1202 and is not produced by or endorsed by CompTIA.