Communication and Professionalism

 

Keep these recommendations in mind to help you do well on the 220-801 exam (and in your work):

 

Avoid jargon, acronyms, and slang —Speak to the customer in language he or she under-stands. Use comparisons and analogies if necessary to explain the problem and the process you are following.

 

Maintain a positive attitude —Your job is to make possible the seemingly impossible. Usethe resources provided in this text and elsewhere to find the answers you need.

 

Listen (really listen) to the customer —The customer may need to act as your “eyes andears” if the problem isn’t readily repeatable. Don’t interrupt, but ask questions to help draw out more information if you need to learn more.

 

Be culturally sensitive —Today’s business culture is more diverse than ever before. Avoidcontroversial topics, and “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

 

Be on time, and use your phone and email to connect with the customer if you can’t avoid being late —Remember how frustrating it is when an appliance tech or handymanyou’re expecting at your home is late. Your customer feels the same way.

 

Avoid distractions —Turn off or mute the cell phone; let your office mates or family knowthat you’re not available to take calls. No personal calls, please! And, don’t talk to a co-worker while you’re working with a customer unless you’re both working on the problem.

 

Be professional —Deal with difficult customers or situations by not arguing, and avoidbeing defensive.

 

Do not minimize customers’ problems —You might have seen the problem before, but it’sa new (and scary) problem to them.

 

Don’t be judgmental —Your job is to solve the problem. Skip the blame game (“you didn’tmake a backup?”).

 

Get customers to open up by asking open-ended questions —Restate the issue or ques-tion to find out if you understand it.

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Set and meet customer expectations —Provide an accurate estimate of time and expense,offer different repair or replacement options, provide proper documentation on services pro-vided, and follow up to verify satisfaction.

 

Keep customers’ confidential information confidential, whether it is on the desk or stored inside a computer or device —Ask permission before performing work that maylead to viewing files or photos.

 

 

Dealing with Prohibited Content/Activity

 

This section reviews the procedures you should follow when you are responding to an incident involving prohibited content or activity.

 

First Response

 

The first response needs to include the following elements:

 

Identify —Determine what happened.

 

Report through proper channels —If the incident needs to be reported, report the issue toyour supervisor along with a report about what you discovered.

 

Data/device preservation —This might involve removing the system’s hard disk or makinga forensics-level backup of the hard disk. These tasks might be performed by you or by a forensics expert or data security expert.

 

 

Documentation

 

Document the information you discovered. Also, document processes, procedures, or user training that might help prevent recurrences of the problem.

 

Chain of Custody

 

Documenting the chain of custody of evidence might be part of your responsibility or might be performed by a security analyst or forensic specialist. The documentation should be started at the time the incident was first discovered and needs to be maintained until the incident is resolved. This documentation helps to ensure the evidence was not tampered with.

Chapter 6

 

 

Operating Systems

 

The subject of operating systems (OS) is a significant area of the CompTIA A+ exams. It makes up 33% of the 220-802 exam. The operating system exam objectives examine Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 in depth.

 

 

OS Concepts

 

The OS serves as the middleman between a user and the equipment. It handles resource management (such as hard drives, printers, I/O cards) and the user interface (such as mouse pointers, icons, and windows).

 

When troubleshooting an OS, first start with the hardware, and then move to BIOS, drivers, updates and service packs, and applications. Don’t rule out the possibility of user error. Figure 6-1 shows the layered PC model with the interactions among the hardware, software, and the user.

User

 

Applications

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, MS Office,

OpenOffice,

Outlook, Entourage, Antivirus, iTunes …

 

 

Operating System

 

(only one of the following)

 

Windows 9x, NT, XP, Vista, a Linux Distribution, Mac OS 9, Mac OSX

 

Drivers		BIOS
Printer Drivers, Video Drivers, NIC		SATA and PATA Designations, Enabling
Drivers, Audio Drivers…		Integrated Devices, Boot Sequence…

 

Hardware

 

Expansion Cards, Hard Drives, Optical Drives, Ports, Printers, Video Cameras, Speakers…

 

Figure 6-1 Layered PC model.

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