CompTIA A+ Core 2 Study Resources: What to Use, What to Skip
Core 2 is the half people fail. Here is every resource that exists for it, what each one costs, and the version mistake that wastes the most money.
- ~$265Exam fee
- 60-80 hTotal prep
- Fee onlyCheapest path
- Messer courseFree spine
- PBQ practiceBiggest gap
Table of Contents
What actually exists
Core 2 is the operating systems, security, software troubleshooting and procedures half of A+ — and it is the half candidates more often resit, because it rewards memorised detail rather than the hardware intuition Core 1 rewards. The good news is that A+ has the deepest free resource shelf of any certification on the market. The catch in 2026 is version drift: CompTIA has begun rolling out the newer objectives (220-1201 / 220-1202) alongside the 220-1101 / 220-1102 pair, and half the material on YouTube is silently aimed at whichever version its author last taught.
- Official trainingWell servedCertMaster Learn, Labs and Practice all exist for A+, sold standalone or in a bundle with a voucher. Complete but the most expensive route by a wide margin.
- Free video courseWell servedProfessor Messer publishes a complete, free A+ course plus free monthly live study groups — the single best-value resource for this exam, and it exists for both objective versions.
- BooksWell servedThe Mike Meyers All-in-One and the Sybex study guide both cover Core 2 in depth and both ship with test-bank access. Check the objectives version printed on the cover.
- Paid video coursesWell servedThe usual marketplace instructors run $15-$30 on sale. Useful as a second pass in a different voice, not as your only source.
- Hands-on labsThinCertMaster Labs is the only structured lab set. Everything else you build yourself from spare hardware and virtual machines — which is free and works fine for Core 2.
- Performance-based question practiceThinPBQs are where Core 2 candidates lose time, and almost no free resource simulates them. The official practice tool and paid question banks are the only realistic drilling ground.
- CommunityWell servedr/CompTIA carries daily pass and fail reports with objective-level detail. Treat trends as signal and individual posts as anecdote.
The practical read: A+ Core 2 does not have a resource shortage, it has a resource surplus with a version problem. Pick one primary source, confirm it targets the objectives version you booked, and use everything else as a second opinion.
The stack, in build order
Assemble the stack in this order. Each layer answers a different failure mode, and skipping the objectives map at the bottom is what leads to three weeks of study aimed at the wrong exam version.
- 1Objectives PDF, read onceDownload the objectives for the exact exam code on your voucher and read every bullet. It is the only document that defines the exam; everything else is an interpretation of it.
- 2One primary video courseWatch straight through at 1.25x without pausing to take notes. The goal is coverage, not mastery — you cannot tell which topics are hard until you have seen all of them once.
- 3One book, used as a referenceRead only the chapters your first-pass questions exposed as weak. Reading a 1,200-page A+ book cover to cover is the most common way to spend six weeks and learn nothing new.
- 4Hands-on in a VMInstall Windows in a virtual machine, break it, and repair it: user accounts, permissions, Group Policy basics, Task Manager, command line, restore points, and a Linux and macOS look-around for the OS domain.
- 5Question bank, to volumeAnswer several hundred questions across mixed domains, reading the explanation on every one you get right for the wrong reason. This is the layer that converts recognition into recall.
- 6PBQ and final week drillsPractise the performance-based format under a clock, then re-read only the objectives bullets you still cannot explain out loud. Stop studying new material 48 hours out.
Total: roughly 60-80 hours for a candidate with some hands-on IT exposure, and 90-110 if Core 2 is your first exposure to Windows administration.
Every resource, ranked
Ranked by value per dollar for a self-funded candidate. Prices move constantly and marketplace courses are almost never worth full list price — wait for a sale.
| Resource | Type | Cost | Hours | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Messer A+ course | free | $0 | 20-25 | Best single resource for this exam. Complete objective coverage, free, and updated per version. Paid notes and practice exams are optional add-ons. |
| Official exam objectives PDF | official | $0 | 1 | Non-negotiable. It is also your checklist for readiness — if you cannot explain a bullet, you are not ready for it. |
| Mike Meyers All-in-One / Sybex study guide | paid | $35-$55 | 12-18 | Buy one, not both, and buy the edition matching your exam code. Use the index, not the page order. |
| Marketplace video course (Dion, Meyers video series) | paid | $15-$30 on sale | 18-22 | Good second voice if a topic did not land the first time. Never pay list price; these discount to under $20 routinely. |
| CertMaster Learn + Labs + Practice bundle | official | $300-$600 with voucher | 30-40 | Worth it if an employer is paying or you need a structured, single-vendor path. Poor value out of pocket. |
| ExamCert A+ question bank | paid | Free tier, then $5.99 | 12-15 | Volume and explanations, which is what the last three weeks need. Free sets first so you can judge the fit. |
| r/CompTIA exam reports | community | $0 | 1-2 | Read for emphasis patterns, not for content. Never for questions — posting real exam items violates the candidate agreement. |
Three budgets, three plans
Three realistic ways to fund Core 2. All three assume you still pay the exam fee, which is the one line item nobody escapes.
Free path
Exam fee only7-9 weeks
- Professor Messer's full course and study groups
- Objectives PDF as the checklist
- Windows VM you build yourself for hands-on
- Free question sets for calibration
- Trade-off: no structured PBQ practice, so budget extra time for the format
Balanced path
Fee + about $606-8 weeks
- Free video course as the spine
- One discounted marketplace course or one book
- Paid question bank for volume and explanations
- Best value per dollar for most self-funded candidates
Employer-funded path
Fee + $300-$6004-6 weeks
- CertMaster Learn, Labs and Practice bundle with voucher
- Structured, single-source, and reimbursable
- Only rational when someone else is paying or a deadline is fixed
Which resource covers which exam area
Core 2 domain weights differ slightly between objectives versions, so confirm yours — but the shape is stable: security and software troubleshooting carry the exam.
- Operating Systems~25-30%Video course plus your own Windows VM. Command line and Settings-versus-Control Panel detail comes from doing, not reading.
- Security~25-28%Video course plus book chapters. Heaviest memorisation load on the exam: malware types, authentication factors, and workstation hardening steps.
- Software Troubleshooting~20-25%VM practice and question banks. Learn the order of operations, since the exam asks for the next step more often than the fix.
- Operational Procedures~20-22%Book and objectives PDF. Documentation, safety, change management and communication — dull, cheap marks that candidates skip and then lose.
- Performance-based questionsFirst 5-8 itemsOfficial practice tool or a paid bank. Nothing free simulates the format properly.
The two gap rows are where Core 2 resits come from. Troubleshooting rewards sequence knowledge that passive watching never builds, and PBQs eat the clock of anyone meeting the format for the first time on exam day.
What to skip
The A+ market is crowded enough that a meaningful share of what is sold is either outdated, redundant, or against the rules.
Do not spend money on these
- Any material aimed at a different objectives version. Check the exam code on the cover against the code on your voucher. This is the single most expensive mistake in 2026 while two versions are live.
- Braindumps and "real exam questions". They violate the candidate agreement, get certifications revoked, and are usually recycled from a retired version anyway.
- A second book. Two books cover the same objectives with different pagination. The marginal hour is better spent answering questions.
- Full-price marketplace courses. They discount to under $20 on a predictable cycle.
- Buying Core 1 and Core 2 material as a bundle before you pass Core 1. If your version rolls over between sittings, half the bundle expires unused.
The layer nobody budgets for is question volume
Every layer above builds knowledge. Only one measures it. Answer a few hundred A+ Core 2 questions with explanations attached before you book, and the exam stops holding surprises. Free question sets first, then $5.99 unlocks the full bank.
Free practice testA+ Core 2 exam pageFAQ
Can you pass A+ Core 2 with only free resources?
Yes, and thousands of people do. Professor Messer's free course covers every objective, and a Windows VM covers the hands-on. The two things free material does not give you are performance-based question practice and high-volume mixed question drilling, so budget extra weeks to compensate or spend a small amount on a question bank.
Which is harder, Core 1 or Core 2?
Core 2 has the higher resit rate in candidate reports. Core 1 rewards hardware familiarity that experienced candidates already have; Core 2 rewards memorised security and procedural detail that nobody absorbs by osmosis. If you are budgeting unevenly, give Core 2 more weeks.
Should I buy CertMaster?
Only if someone else is paying or you genuinely cannot self-direct. It is a complete, well-built package, but at $300-$600 it costs several times the free-plus-question-bank route that produces the same result for a motivated candidate.
How long should Core 2 take?
Sixty to eighty hours for someone with help desk exposure, ninety to one hundred and ten for a career changer starting cold. Spread over six to nine weeks at eight to twelve hours a week, which is the pace most passing candidates report.
Sources
Fees, objectives and course catalogues on this page come from CompTIA and the publishers themselves:
- https://www.comptia.org/certifications/a
- https://www.professormesser.com/
- https://www.comptia.org/training/certmaster
Checked September 9, 2026. Training catalogues, book editions and exam fees change without notice — confirm with CompTIA before you spend anything.