CompTIA A+ Flashcards: What This 182-Card Deck Covers and What to Add
The CompTIA A+ deck maps the CompTIA certification ladder, renewals and stackables. Learn what to keep, which cards are outdated and the A+ cards to add.
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If you open the CompTIA A+ deck (code NW4397, 182 cards) expecting RAM types, port numbers and troubleshooting steps, you will be surprised: it is a deck about CompTIA itself, built from the organization's history and certification catalog. That still has value, as long as you know what you are studying and what to add before exam day.
Study this deck: CompTIA A+
1 / 10What does CompTIA stand for?
Tap the card for the answer · swipe right if you knew it, left if not
What the cards actually ask
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| What does CompTIA stand for? | Computing Technology Industry Association |
| When was CompTIA originally founded and under what name? | 1982, as the Association of Better Computer Dealers (ABCD) |
| What are Good-for-Life certifications? | CompTIA certifications issued before January 1, 2011 that do not expire |
| What are the two ways to renew a CompTIA certification? | Retake the exam, or pay a yearly maintenance fee for CEUs |
| What certification is replacing IT Fundamentals+ (ITF+)? | Tech+ |
| What is the CompTIA Systems Support Specialist stackable certification? | A+ combined with Linux+ |
| What is the new name for CASP+ starting December 2024? | SecurityX (exam CAS-005) |
| Through which testing centers does CompTIA administer its exams? | Pearson VUE |
Notions you will master
The certification ladder (ITF+/Tech+, A+, Network+, Security+, CySA+, PenTest+, CASP+/SecurityX, Cloud+, Linux+, Server+, Data+, Project+), retired credentials (CDIA+, Healthcare IT Technician, CTT+), 12 stackable certifications (IT Operations Specialist, Cloud Admin Professional, Security Analytics Expert...), the CE program and 3-year renewal cycle, ANSI and ISO accreditation, DoD 8570, Security Trustmark+ and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, SSAE-16, plus company trivia (Downers Grove HQ, ChannelCon, Skillsboost, the right-to-repair lobbying reversal of February 3, 2020).
Tip 1: study it as a career map, then cut the trivia
Cards 1-29 and 39-51 are the useful core: they tell you which certification follows A+ and what each one proves. Turn card 179 (ITF+ → A+ → Network+/Security+ → CySA+/PenTest+ → CASP+) into your anchor and hang the stackables on it. Suspend the company-history block (cards 55-73 and their near-duplicates 142-156, 163-178) unless you enjoy trivia: no exam asks about Skillsboost.
Fix a few cards while you go:
- Card 15: XK0-004 is no longer the current Linux+ exam; it was replaced by XK0-005 in 2022.
- Cards 100 and 103 announce three pathways and three specialist levels but list two.
- Cards 26 and 135: SecurityX is no longer future tense; the rename shipped with CAS-005.
- Cards 11, 19, 95-96: DoD 8570 has been superseded by DoD 8140, so retag these cards.
- Cards 114-115 (Global, TechAmerica) carry no real fact: delete them.
Tip 2: write the A+ cards the deck is missing
The real A+ exam is two tests: Core 1 (mobile devices, networking, hardware, virtualization and cloud, hardware and network troubleshooting) and Core 2 (operating systems, security, software troubleshooting, operational procedures). The current versions are 220-1201 and 220-1202, launched in 2025. Write one card per exam domain first, then build port cards (22 SSH, 25 SMTP, 53 DNS, 443 HTTPS, 3389 RDP) and the seven-step troubleshooting methodology. That gives this deck the technical spine its title promises.
Related guide
Another certification deck with the same organization-first design: our AWS Cloud Practitioner study guide.
Find NW4397 CompTIA A+ in the library on Flip It, keep the career-map cards and add your Core 1 and Core 2 cards on top.
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