List of CompTIA acronyms and a way to memorise them.

[The Zig]

In the next post on this thread I'm gonna put a full list of the CompTIA acronyms. I've taken them directly from the source so the list is accurate and complete.* My intent in posting is to provide the list in an easy format to import into Mnemosyne or any program that takes text input. (Or obviously it can be printed out, or used for just about anything else you fancy!)

Before I start I just want to make clear, I have no association with Mnemosyne the program, or the project who made it. It's free anyway, so there's no way I'm trying to sell you anything here! It's just something I use, that's great for memorising information quickly and effectively.

It works like any flashcard system, but of course, it's on a computer - no bits of paper randomly sprawled across your desk and hiding under the mousemat!
So you make electronic flashcards for the things you need to learn (or you import a list), and the program tests you on each one. It shows you the question side, you try to remember the answer, flip the card, and see if you got it right. But smarter than that, you can then tell the program how difficult the card was to remember. And it uses this information to zero in on the cards that are difficult. So rather than wasting your time testing you again and again on those easy ones you knew before you started, it tries to test you on the cards you're struggling with. If you tell it a card's easy, it won't show it so often.

So, at first it'll show you every card, so you can rate them all. Then it'll start trying to build a schedule for you. An easy card won't appear again for a few days, then, if it's still easy, you won't see it again for weeks or longer. Whereas a tricky card will appear every day at first, then every other day, and over time (depending on your responses) the interval will get longer and longer until, finally, the information is safely in your head.
I think it's most famous in language learning circles (I heard of it while studying Japanese) but it's perfect for lists like this. Apparently you can use it for music and graphics too - though I've never tried this so I've no idea how good it is. According to the website, you can even run it from a USB stick. In any case, it's a good resource, and one I thought I should share!

So that's enough from me. If you want to see how it works, you can try it.
It's available here: http://www.mnemosyne-proj.org/


The CompTIA list will be in a post immediately after this.
To import it into Mnemosyne, select the entire list (from AC to ZIP), and cut and paste it into notebook, or any text editor. Then use notebook to save it as a text file (.txt) on your desktop (or somewhere you can find it). Then, start Mnemosyne, click to File/Import; for 'file format' select "Text with tab separated Q/A". Then 'browse' to that text file on your desktop (or wherever you put it). Finally, type in a category name (eg. "A+ Acronyms"), and click 'OK'. You should get 285 cards - one for each acronym. Get to work!
The original list is available here: http://certification.comptia.org/res...aackronyms.pdf

If this doesn't work, or you've got any problems with this - let me know.
I'm posting this to be helpful, but if any Admins would rather I take it down for any reason, let me know.

Cheers,
Zig



* This list is exactly as taken from the original CompTIA list - it even contains some things that I'm pretty sure are errors.
This includes:

• the uncapitalised 'i' in "HDMi";
• BNC as "British Navel Connector" (as in belly-button) rather than the more standard "Naval" (as in boats);
• the uncapitalised and uncopyright-signed "rambus" in the CRIMM definition;
• WPA defined as "Wireless Protected Access" rather than the standard "Wi-Fi Protected Access".

[The Zig]

AC	alternating current
ACPI	advanced configuration and power interface
ACT	activity
ADSL	asymmetrical digital subscriber line
AGP	accelerated graphics port
AMD	advanced micro devices
AMR	audio modem riser
APIPA	automatic private internet protocol addressing
APM	advanced power management
ARP	address resolution protocol
ASR	automated system recovery
AT	advanced technology
ATA	advanced technology attachment
ATAPI	advanced technology attachment packet interface
ATM	asynchronous transfer mode
ATX	advanced technology extended
BIOS	basic input/output system
BNC	Bayonet-Neill-Concelman or British Navel Connector
BRI	basic rate interface
BTX	balanced technology extended
CCD	charged coupled device
CD	compact disc
CD-ROM	compact disc-read-only memory
CD-RW	compact disc-rewritable
CDFS	compact disc file system
CMOS	complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
CNR	communication network riser
COM1	communication port 1
CPU	central processing unit
CRIMM	continuity-rambus inline memory module
CRT	cathode-ray tube
DAC	discretionary access control
DB-25	serial communications D-shell connector, 25 pins
DB-9	9 pin D shell connector
DC	direct current
DDOS	distributed denial of service
DDR	double data-rate
DDR RAM	double data-rate random access memory
DDR SDRAM	double data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory
DFS	distributed file system
DHCP	dynamic host configuration protocol
DIMM	dual inline memory module
DIN	Deutsche Industrie Norm
DIP	dual inline package
DLT	digital linear tape
DLP	digital light processing
DMA	direct memory access
DNS	domain name service or domain name server
DOS	disk operating system or denial of service
DPMS	display power management signaling
DRAM	dynamic random access memory
DSL	digital subscriber line
DVD	digital video disc or digital versatile disc
DVD-RAM	digital video disc-random access memory
DVD-ROM	digital video disc-read only memory
DVD-R	digital video disc-recordable
DVD-RW	digital video disc-rewritable
DVI	digital visual interface
ECC	error correction code
ECP	extended capabilities port
EEPROM	electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
EFS	encrypting file system
EIDE	enhanced integrated drive electronics
EISA	extended industry standard architecture
EMI	electromagnetic interference
EMP	electromagnetic pulse
EPROM	erasable programmable read-only memory
EPP	enhanced parallel port
ERD	emergency repair disk
ESD	electrostatic discharge
ESDI	enhanced small device interface
EVGA	extended video graphics adapter/array
EVDO	evolution data optimized or evolution data only
FAT	file allocation table
FAT12	12-bit file allocation table
FAT16	16-bit file allocation table
FAT32	32-bit file allocation table
FDD	floppy disk drive
FERPA	Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Fn	Function (referring to the function key on a laptop)
FPM	fast page-mode
FRU	field replaceable unit
FTP	file transfer protocol
FQDN	fully qualified domain name
GB	gigabyte
GDI	graphics device interface
GHz	gigahertz
GUI	graphical user interface
GPRS	general packet radio system
GSM	global system for mobile communications
HAL	hardware abstraction layer
HCL	hardware compatibility list
HDD	hard disk drive
HDMi	high definition media interface
HPFS	high performance file system
HTML	hypertext markup language
HTTP	hypertext transfer protocol
HTTPS	hypertext transfer protocol over secure sockets layer
I/O	input/output
ICMP	internet control message protocol
ICS	internet connection sharing
ICR	intelligent character recognition
IDE	integrated drive electronics
IEEE	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
IIS	Internet Information Services
IMAP	internet mail access protocol
IP	internet protocol
IPCONFIG	internet protocol configuration
IPP	internet printing protocol
IPSEC	internet protocol security
IPX	internetwork packet exchange
IPX/SPX	internetwork packet exchange/sequenced packet exchange
IR	infrared
IrDA	Infrared Data Association
IRQ	interrupt request
ISA	industry standard architecture
ISDN	integrated services digital network
ISO	Industry Standards Organization
ISP	internet service provider
KB	kilobyte
LAN	local area network
LBA	logical block addressing
LC	Lucent connector
LCD	liquid crystal display
LDAP	lightweight directory access protocol
LED	light emitting diode
LIP or LiPoly	lithium-ion polymer
Li-on	lithium-ion
LPD/LPR	line printer daemon / line printer remote
LPT	line printer terminal
LPT1	line printer terminal 1
LPX	low profile extended
LVD	low voltage differential
MAC	media access control
MAN	metropolitan area network
MAPI	messaging application programming interface
Mb	megabit
MB	megabyte
MBR	master boot record
MBSA	Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
MCR	multivariant curve resolution
MFD	multi-function device
MFP	multi-function product
MHz	megahertz
MicroDIMM	micro dual inline memory module
MIDI	musical instrument digital interface
MIME	multipurpose internet mail extension
MLI	multiple link interface
MMC	Microsoft management console
MMX	multimedia extensions
MP3	Moving Picture Experts Group Layer 3 Audio
MPEG	Moving Picture Experts Group
MSCONFIG	Microsoft configuration
MSDS	material safety data sheet
MUI	multilingual user interface
NAS	network-attached storage
NAT	network address translation
NetBIOS	networked basic input/output system
NetBEUI	networked basic input/output system extended user interface
NFS	network file system
NIC	network interface card
NiCd	nickel cadmium
NiMH	nickel metal hydride
NLI	not logged in or natural language interface
NLX	new low-profile extended
NNTP	network news transfer protocol
NTFS	new technology file system
NTLDR	new technology loader
NWLINK	Netware Link
OCR	optical character recognition
OEM	original equipment manufacturer
OMR	optical mark recognition
OS	operating system
OSR	original equipment manufacturer service release
PAN	personal area network
PATA	parallel advanced technology attachment
PC	personal computer
PCI	peripheral component interconnect
PCIe	peripheral component interconnect express
PCIX	peripheral component interconnect extended
PCL	printer control language
PCMCIA	Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
PDA	personal digital assistant
PGA	pin grid array
PGA2	pin grid array 2
PIN	personal identification number
PKI	public key infrastructure
PnP	plug and play
POP	post office protocol
POP3	post office protocol 3
POST	power-on self test
POTS	plain old telephone service
PPP	point-to-point protocol
PPTP	point-to-point tunneling protocol
PRI	primary rate interface
PROM	programmable read-only memory
PS/2	Personal System/2 connector
PSTN	public switched telephone network
PVC	permanent virtual circuit
PXE	preboot execution environment
QoS	quality of service
RAID	redundant array of independent (or inexpensive) discs
RAM	random access memory
RAS	remote access service
RBAC	role-based access control or rule-based access control
RDRAM	RAMBUS® dynamic random access memory
RF	radio frequency
RFI	radio frequency interference
RGB	red green blue
RIMM	RAMBUS® inline memory module
RIP	routing information protocol
RIS	remote installation service
RISC	reduced instruction set computer
RJ	registered jack
RJ-11	registered jack function 11
RJ-45	registered jack function 45
RMA	returned materials authorization
ROM	read only memory
RS-232 or RS-232C	recommended standard 232
RTC	real-time clock
SAN	storage area network
SATA	serial advanced technology attachment
SC	subscription channel
SCSI	small computer system interface
SCSI ID	small computer system interface identifier
SD card	secure digital card
SDRAM	synchronous dynamic random access memory
SEC	single edge connector
SFC	system file checker
SGRAM	synchronous graphics random access memory
SIMM	single inline memory module
SLI	scalable link interface or system level integration or scanline interleave mode
SMB	server message block or small to midsize business
SMTP	simple mail transport protocol
SNMP	simple network management protocol
SoDIMM	small outline dual inline memory module
SOHO	small office/home office
SP	service pack
SP1	service pack 1
SP2	service pack 2
SPDIF	Sony-Philips digital interface format
SPGA	staggered pin grid array
SPX	sequenced package exchange
SRAM	static random access memory
SSH	secure shell
SSID	service set identifier
SSL	secure sockets layer
ST	straight tip
STP	shielded twisted pair
SVGA	super video graphics array
SXGA	super extended graphics array
TB	terabyte
TCP	transmission control protocol
TCP/IP	transmission control protocol/internet protocol
TDR	time domain reflectometer
TFTP	trivial file transfer protocol
UART	universal asynchronous receiver transmitter
UDF	user defined functions or universal disk format or universal data format
UDMA	ultra direct memory access
UDP	user datagram protocol
UL	Underwriter’s Laboratory
UNC	universal naming convention
UPS	uninterruptible power supply
URL	uniform resource locator
USB	universal serial bus
USMT	user state migration tool
UTP	unshielded twisted pair
UXGA	ultra extended graphics array
VESA	Video Electronics Standards Association
VFAT	virtual file allocation table
VGA	video graphics array
VoIP	voice over internet protocol
VPN	virtual private network
VRAM	video random access memory
WAN	wide area network
WAP	wireless application protocol
WEP	wired equivalent privacy
WIFI	wireless fidelity
WINS	windows internet name service
WLAN	wireless local area network
WPA	wireless protected access
WUXGA	wide ultra extended graphics array
XGA	extended graphics array
ZIF	zero-insertion-force
ZIP	zigzag inline package

[AndiC]

cool pm me

[Dullage]

Cheers 'The Zig', good effort, just need to find one for the N+ now

[AndiC]

A lot of that is N+ as well

Its general comptia.

we'll soon have some more N+ stuff out there.

Andi

[brizzoluk]

Hey Zig
I downloaded this prog after reading one of your previous posts on here about it.
I have installed it and and halfway through adding all the CompTia acronyms onto it, but i seem to have a peoblem in that when i start the prog and the first acronym appears ie ACPI but i cannot type an answer in because i cant activate the answer box, i click in it but nothing happens?
Am i doing something wrong or have i not configured something?

[The Zig]

Originally Posted by brizzoluk

Hey Zig
I downloaded this prog after reading one of your previous posts on here about it.
I have installed it and and halfway through adding all the CompTia acronyms onto it, but i seem to have a peoblem in that when i start the prog and the first acronym appears ie ACPI but i cannot type an answer in because i cant activate the answer box, i click in it but nothing happens?
Am i doing something wrong or have i not configured something?

Hey,
Yeah, I made this mistake too! You don't actually type in the answer, you just need to remember it.
Okay, a quick tutorial:

1. Open Mnemosyne.
2. At the top it will show you a question card - e.g, "ACPI" - at the bottom, it shows the blank side of the answer card. Now you try to remember the answer, e.g. "Advanced Configuration Power Interface", IIRC
   
3. When you're ready to see the answer (i.e. when you've remembered it, or given up!) click the long "Show answer" button. It will flip the answer card, showing you the answer - "advanced configuration and power interface".
   
4. Did you remember it right?
   Now you need to rate the difficulty.
   
   Was it way too easy? If so, click "5".
   About right? "4".
   Bit too tricky? "3".
   Only remembered after a minute and a half's pacing the room banging your hand against your head?! Click "2".
   Forgot entirely? "1" or "0".
5. Next card.

Then it'll show you the next one. At first you'll have to go through them all - which is a bit of a pain - but it pretty quickly zeros in on the ones you find tricky.
The ones that got me yesterday, were: "PXE", "RMA" and "RBAC".

Mnemosyne has a decent tutorial you can access by clicking: "Help/Getting Started". It's only 5 cards long and takes you through all the basics. There's also a more detailed set of instructions here on the project website.


As for the N+, if you can find an accurate list on-line, I'll be happy to put up a list formatted for use in Mnemosyne - I've got a few good Firefox tools that make the conversion easy.
Annoyingly, I can't find an official CompTIA list for the N+, and I don't want to put up anything that's wrong. The last thing I want to do is make the test more difficult with misinformation!

Cheers!

[brizzoluk]

Oh right i get it now thanks!
This is a great tool and as i have just started the A+ most of these are gonna be rated a 0 at the mo lol!

[Jubei_Jedi]

Thanks alot for bringing this to my and also others attention, this is an awesome tool for memorizing acronyms in a great format.

[The Zig]

Thanks.
Yeah, it's a great little tool for remembering stuff. I'm starting to toy around with it more now to see what else it can help with. One thing you can do is input foreign languages - for example, it has no problem with Japanese kanji (which uses Chinese characters).

Anyway, I'm just glad it's been generally well recieved, and I hope it's useful. I was a bit worried that my enthusiasm for this thing would just come across as just spamming some product!

[iansane]

Thanks Zig for the list.

If your using Ubuntu with kde or gnome you can install kwordquiz from synaptic or apt-get. If on gnome system it will need to install some other kde stuff but works great.

Can do flash cards, multiple choice, and QnA from imported .csv file so all you have to do is take zigs list, save it to a file "A+Acronyms.csv" then use text editor to put in commas and take out spaces for it to work with kwordquiz.

Like

AC,alternating current
ACPI,advanced configuration and power interface

and so on. I made one but it only takes a couple minutes to manually reformat the text so I didn't repost the whole thing.

[Markyboyt]

Decided to brush up on my acronyms so rooted out this post, downloaded the program and imported the list above.

What have I learnt? that I am terrible with acronyms so this tool is going to be very very useful to me.

I thought I would be better seeing as BMW use acronyms that dont even relate to our words and I can cope with them, guess practice makes perfect and I think this is the tool for the job for sure, you can banish them easy ones like CD and RAM and focus on stuff like ATAPI and stuff lol

[burla++]

kudos zig.....I found this really helpful even after passing my exams!!!

[soundian]

Excellent find, hats off to The Zig. This is pretty much what I was looking for.

I've started adding my own categories and questions to the acronyms list and after a couple of boring hours click-clacking away on the keyboard a thought occurred to me...

Does anyone want to collaborate on producing a list of, erm....., lists?
I can see three benefits, less typing, mutual error checking and much less chance of missing something out.

If anyone's interested, PM me and we'll take it from there.

[The Zig]

Thanks!
I've produced a few more categories for my own study too. Most of it's just my own mnemonics, a few shell commands and OS things, and some hardware things that wouldn't really be useful to anyone but me. One thing I did consider posting was a list of commonly used ports (e.g. HTTP on Port 80, etc.). This apparently used to be on the old A+, and I've heard comes up in the Network+. Not sure where to post it though. If I post here, and it's not on the exam, it's clearly off-topic. And people who skim-read might see the list and assume they need to know it (and thus waste prep time).

I'm considering a MCDST jargon list. Sadly, I can't find anything on the MS site like the CompTIA list, so I can't cut'n'paste and it'll be a case of bashing it all in manually. Plus it won't be an official 'list' so I doubt it'd be as useful or comprehensive. Still, if I get around to it, I'll post it in the MCDST forum.

I'd be happy to work with ya on making a list of lists - although time's often kinda scarce atm!