Factors of 4?

[bansal.23]

If we have problem- 4 has how many factors?

do we consider only 3(1, 2, 4) or 6(-1, -2, -4, 1, 2, 4)??

[Jazmet]

Factors cant be in negative ever .

The best way to calculate the number of factors is to calculate the number of prime numbers and their powers and add 1 to them.

Ex- Factors of 4 (2 X 2) Hence the number of factors will be the power of 2 i.e. 2 and + 1 = 3

For positive squares - the number of factors will always be odd.

Factors of 6 - (2 X 3) = i.e. (1+1) X (1+1) = 4

[RonPurewal]

the GMAT will always be careful (often to the point of being pedantic/annoying) about specifying "positive factors". but, even if they don't, you should only consider positive factors.