The short version of everything I study — key commands and facts by topic, each linking to the full chapter notes.
Ultimate Cheatsheet
#hardware
74 entries across collections.
A+ Core 1 3.5 — ATX vs micro-ATX vs Mini-ITX: size, slots, power (20/24-pin) and shared ATX mounting.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — buses, PCI (parallel, 32/64-bit) vs PCIe (serial, lanes), keying, and safe card installation.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — main and PCIe power connectors, SATA/eSATA, front-panel/USB/TPM headers, and M.2.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — Intel vs AMD sockets, zero-force CPU install, and multisocket server motherboards.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — BIOS firmware, POST and boot, legacy BIOS vs UEFI, dual-BIOS flash, and safe setting changes.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — entering setup, boot order, USB control, fans/temps, Secure Boot, boot vs supervisor passwords, CMOS reset, virtualisation.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — TPM (on-board crypto, root of trust, BitLocker) vs HSM (centralised keys and crypto offload).
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — 32-bit vs 64-bit (x86/x64), ARM architecture, and multi-core CPUs.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — sound cards, integrated vs discrete GPUs, capture cards, NICs, and driver install best practice.
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A+ Core 1 3.5 — fans and airflow, passive cooling, heat sinks, thermal paste vs pads, and liquid cooling.
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A+ Core 1 3.7 — MFD setup, drivers, PCL/PostScript, connectivity, sharing, print features, secure printing, and scanning.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — laser imaging process, toner/OPC drum, cartridge and maintenance-kit replacement, calibration, and safe cleaning.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — inkjet operation, CMYK cartridges, print heads, feed rollers, duplex, plus carriage/belt and calibration.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — cleaning inkjet print heads, replacing CMYK cartridges, calibration, and clearing paper jams.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — how thermal printers work, the feed assembly and heating element, thermal paper, and handling output safely.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — replacing thermal paper, cleaning the heating element with IPA, removing debris safely, and heat/fade sensitivity.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — dot-matrix print heads, ribbons, tractor-feed paper, green bar paper, and multi-part carbonless copies.
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A+ Core 1 3.8 — ribbon replacement, print head replacement, and continuous tractor-feed paper handling on dot-matrix printers.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: choosing between ATX, micro-ATX and Mini-ITX by size, slots, power and mounting.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: buses, PCI vs PCIe, parallel vs serial, PCIe lanes, and installing add-in cards safely.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: main and PCIe power connectors, SATA/eSATA data, front-panel and USB/TPM headers, and M.2.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: Intel vs AMD sockets, installing a CPU, and multisocket server motherboards.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: BIOS firmware, POST and boot, legacy BIOS vs UEFI, dual-BIOS flash, and settings.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: entering setup, boot order, USB control, fan and temperature, Secure Boot, passwords, CMOS reset and virtualisation.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: protecting cryptographic keys with a TPM (root of trust, BitLocker) and centralising them with an HSM.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: 32-bit vs 64-bit (x86/x64), ARM architecture, and multi-core CPUs.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: sound cards, discrete GPUs, capture cards, NICs, and driver install best practice.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.5: fans and airflow, passive cooling, heat sinks, thermal paste and pads, and liquid cooling.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.7: MFD setup, drivers, PCL/PostScript, connectivity, sharing, print features, secure printing, and scanning.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: the laser imaging process, toner/OPC drum, cartridge and maintenance-kit replacement, calibration, and cleaning.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: inkjet operation, CMYK cartridges, print heads, feed rollers, duplex, and (beyond the clip) carriage/belt and calibration.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: cleaning inkjet print heads, replacing CMYK cartridges, calibration, and clearing paper jams.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: how thermal printers work, the feed assembly and heating element, thermal paper care, and handling output.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: replacing thermal paper, cleaning the heating element, removing debris safely, and heat/fade sensitivity.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: dot-matrix print heads, ribbons, tractor-feed paper, and multi-part carbonless copies.
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Full class notes for A+ Core 1 3.8: ribbon replacement, print head replacement, and continuous tractor-feed paper handling on dot-matrix printers.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.1 — LCD backlights, TN vs IPS vs VA, OLED, mini LED local dimming, digitizers and styluses, inverters and the torch test.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.1 — pixel density and PPI maths, refresh rate vs FPS and V-sync, resolution and aspect ratio, and colour gamut percentages.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — twisted pair and why it is twisted, categories and distances, coax, UTP vs STP shielding codes, direct burial and plenum-rated cable.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — ANSI/TIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801, the T568A and T568B pinouts, the four pins that differ, crimping checks and keystone jacks.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — light through core and cladding, ferrules and connectors, and multimode vs single-mode fibre on distance, source and core size.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — USB versions and speeds, connector types and USB-C, DB-9 serial, RS-232 console access, and Thunderbolt 1 to 4.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — HDMI, DisplayPort and its locking connector, DVI variants and single/dual link, VGA, and video over USB-C.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — SATA revisions and speeds, the one-to-one power and data connectors, no daisy chaining, and eSATA.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — DVI-D to HDMI and DVI-A to VGA compatibility, USB-to-Ethernet and USB-C-to-USB-A adapters, and USB hubs.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — RJ11 and RJ45, F connectors and DOCSIS, punchdown blocks, USB and USB-C, Molex, Lightning, and DB-9/RS-232.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2 — ST bayonet, SC push-pull, and LC clip connectors for optical fibre, compared by mechanism and size.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.3 — RAM vs storage, DIMM and SO-DIMM, 64-bit data width, SDRAM, double data rate, and DDR3/DDR4/DDR5 compatibility and keying.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.3 — parity memory and even-parity calculation, ECC memory, memory bandwidth in MT/s, and multi-channel RAM.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.4 — hard drives and RPM, SSDs, PCIe and NVMe, SAS, mSATA and M.2 keying, flash memory formats, and optical drives.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.4 — RAID 0 striping, RAID 1 mirroring, RAID 5 and RAID 6 parity, and nested RAID 1+0, plus why RAID is not backup.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.6 — power supply safety, AC vs DC, amps/volts/watts, regional voltage, the 24-pin connector, redundant PSUs, modular cabling, sizing, and 80 PLUS efficiency.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.1: LCD backlights, TN vs IPS vs VA, OLED, mini LED local dimming, touchscreens and digitizers, and inverters.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.1: pixel density and PPI maths, refresh rate and frames per second, resolution and aspect ratio, and colour gamut.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: twisted pair and why it is twisted, cable categories and distances, coax, UTP vs STP shielding codes, direct burial and plenum-rated cable.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: ANSI/TIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801, the T568A and T568B pinouts, what differs between them, and wiring keystone jacks.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: how light travels through a fibre core and cladding, ferrules and connectors, and multimode versus single-mode fibre.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: USB versions and speeds, USB connector types and USB-C, DB-9 serial and RS-232 console access, and Thunderbolt 1 to 4.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: SATA revisions and speeds, the one-to-one SATA power and data connectors, and eSATA.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: DVI-D to HDMI and DVI-A to VGA compatibility, USB-to-Ethernet and USB-C-to-USB-A adapters, and USB hubs.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: RJ11 and RJ45, F connectors and DOCSIS, punchdown blocks, USB and USB-C, Molex, Lightning, and DB-9/RS-232.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: ST bayonet connectors, SC push-pull connectors, and compact LC connectors for optical fibre.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.3: RAM vs storage, DIMM and SO-DIMM, 64-bit data width, SDRAM, double data rate, and DDR3/DDR4/DDR5 compatibility and keying.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.3: parity memory and even-parity calculation, ECC memory, memory bandwidth in MT/s, and multi-channel RAM.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.4: hard drives and RPM, SSDs, PCIe and NVMe, SAS, mSATA and M.2 keying, flash memory formats, and optical drives.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.4: RAID 0 striping, RAID 1 mirroring, RAID 5 and RAID 6 parity, and nested RAID 1+0.
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Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.6: power supply safety, AC vs DC, amps/volts/watts, regional voltage, the 24-pin connector, redundant PSUs, modular cabling, wattage sizing, and 80 PLUS efficiency.
Lesson Note
Full class notes for Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 objective 3.2: HDMI, DisplayPort and its locking connector, DVI variants and single/dual link, VGA, and video over USB-C.
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Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 lesson 1.1 — laptop batteries, keyboards, SO-DIMM memory, 2.5-inch vs M.2 storage, HDD-to-SSD cloning, wireless cards and antennas, biometrics, NFC and cameras.
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Code ch. 25 — getting data in and out: I/O ports vs memory-mapped I/O, polling vs interrupts, DMA, and device controllers.
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TCM Practical Help Desk section 4 — ESD, CPU, RAM, drives, PSU, GPU, motherboard, ports and peripherals, POST and the BIOS, plus commands to inspect hardware.
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TCM Practical Help Desk section 5 — opening laptops safely, batteries, SODIMM RAM, laptop drives, the CMOS battery and other internal parts.
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Pre Security module 2 — what's inside a computer, how components connect, the boot process, and the many types of computer you'll need to secure.
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