Basic CompTIA A+ Certification Prep

B. SO-DIMM

Which of the following RAM stick form factors would you most commonly find in a laptop computer? A. DIMM B. SO-DIMM C. Mini-DIMM D. SIMM

C. RJ-45

Which of the following connection type is used for networking? A. HDMI B. DVI C. RJ-45 D. VGA

D. HDMI

Which of the following connections supports both audio and video streams? A. VGA B. Mini-audio C. DVI D. HDMI

B. USB

Which of the following hot-swappable connectors provides the most common general-purpose connection for the PC? A. PS/2 B. USB C. VGA D. FireWire

C. The power coming into the power supply.

What should you check first if a computer will not start and the fan in the power supply will not turn? A. The motherboard power connector. B. The voltages coming out of the power supply. C. The power coming into the power supply. D. The power switch.

C. Hyper-Threading

What technology enables a single-core CPU to appear as two CPUs? A. Multicore B. Dual-core C. Hyper-Threading D. Z-core

True

PC2700 = DDR333 True False

False

Core clock speed of DDR3-1333 = 133 MHz True False

A. Type C

What type of fire extinguisher should you use to put out a PC fire? A. Type C B. Type D C. Type A D. Type B

True

184-pin module = DIMM. True False

A. The customer should install a UPS.

A customer calls to complain that her PC randomly reboots at different times of the day. What recommendation should Julie the tech make first? A. The customer should install a UPS. B. The customer should replace the Molex connectors with newer SATA connectors. C. The customer should install a surge suppressor. D. The customer should replace the power supply with an ATX12 2.0 power supply.

D. Replace the power supply with a known good power supply.

A customer calls to complain that her computer just crashed, hard, and won't restart. When Julie the tech arrives on the scene, she checks the AC outlet and it seems fine. She verifies that the computer won't start at all. What should she try next? A. Remove the shell of the case to cool everything down for a while. Then try to start the computer again. B. Install a UPS. C. Open up the power supply to see if the fuse popped. If so, repair the power supply and reinstall. D. Replace the power supply with a known good power supply.

B. His hard drive capacity is 2 TB.

A customer exclaims that he has a "two-terabyte system." What does that mean? A. His RAM capacity is 2 TB. B. His hard drive capacity is 2 TB. C. His CPU runs at 2 TB. D. His network runs at 2 TB.

B. The outage cooked her RAM.

After a sudden power outage, Margaret presses the power button on her PC. The fans spin, but the computer won't boot. It just beeps at her, over and over. What most likely happened? A. The outage cooked her power supply. B. The outage cooked her RAM. C. The outage cooked her CPU. D. The outage cooked her hard drive.

B. Check settings, replace components, verify good components, and document all testing.

Barry has a very buggy computer that keeps locking up at odd moments and rebooting spontaneously. He suspects the motherboard. How should he test it? A. Check settings, and verify good components. B. Check settings, replace components, verify good components, and document all testing. C. Verify good components, and document all testing. D. Replace the motherboard first to see if the problems disappear.

D. Document that he installed new printer drivers.

Bill just installed new printer drivers into Roland's computer for the big networked laser printer and verified that everything works. Using the troubleshooting methodology, how should Bill complete the repair? A. Print a test page, and go to the printer to verify the results. Assuming everything works, Bill's done. B. Print a test page, and go to the printer to verify the results. Document that you installed new printer drivers successfully. C. Tell Roland to print a test page. D. Document that he installed new printer drivers.

B. In an antistatic bag.

Cindy plans to install a video card she pulled out of a computer into her old computer. Where should she store the card until she's ready to do the installation? A. On her work desk. B. In an antistatic bag. C. On an antistatic bag. D. On an antistatic mat.

False

DDR2 requires double-channel; DDR3 requires triple-channel. True False

True

DDR2-667 = PC2-5300. True False

False

DDR3 + ECC = DDR4 True False

A. The Internet.

If you do not receive an MSDS with a product, where can you obtain one aside from directly from the manufacturer? A. The Internet. B. You can only get the MSDS from the manufacturer. C. Any good technical book. D. The outside of the box the product came in.

A. Into the back of the power supply.

If you use an antistatic wrist strap with a clip, where do you attach the clip? A. Into the back of the power supply. B. To the grounding wire of a wall outlet. C. In the slot of a wall outlet. D. In a special hole that is incorporated into every PC case.

D. She forgot to plug in the front panel connectors.

Jenny installed a new motherboard into a case and connected all the power to the motherboard, fans, and components. When she plugged into the wall outlet and pressed the power button on the case, nothing happened. What is most likely the problem? A. She forgot to plug in the main motherboard power. B. Nothing. PCs just don't start sometimes. C. She has a dead motherboard. D. She forgot to plug in the front panel connectors.

D. John forgot to plug in the fan, and the CPU is overheating.

John installed a new CPU. When he boots the system, it comes up for a few seconds and then shuts down. What could be the problem? A. John installed an Intel CPU in an AMD motherboard. B. John installed an AMD CPU in an Intel motherboard. C. John failed to raise the arm on the socket to lock down the CPU. D. John forgot to plug in the fan, and the CPU is overheating.

B. The power supply is set to receive 230 VAC and it's plugged into a 115 VAC outlet.

Julie installs a new power supply in a PC, correctly inserting necessary motherboard connectors. When she presses the power button, however, she gets an almost dead PC. The fans spin, but nothing else happens. Julie lives in New York. What's most likely the problem? A. The AC outlet is dead. B. The power supply is set to receive 230 VAC and it's plugged into a 115 VAC outlet. C. The power supply is set to receive 115 VAC, and it's plugged into a 230 VAC outlet. D. She used an ATX12V power supply and should have used an EPS12V.

D. Test his theory by using a known-good power supply from his FRUs.

Marvin is on the scene of a dead PC. He's analyzed the problem and suspects that the power supply has died. What should he do next? A. Document his theory. B. Question the user. C. Escalate the problem to his supervisor. D. Test his theory by using a known-good power supply from his FRUs.

True

SDRAM = synchronous memory True False

C. Prepare an incident report to send to your supervisor.

Steve in accounting was rearranging his cubicle and knocked his new monitor off the side of the desk, breaking the frame and cracking the screen. As the tech on site, what should you do? A. Clean up and quietly replace the monitor so that Steve can get back to work. B. Prepare an accident report to send to your supervisor. C. Prepare an incident report to send to your supervisor. D. Start yelling at Steve so that everyone knows it wasn't your fault.

B. BIOS provides the programming that enables the CPU to communicate with other hardware.

What does BIOS provide for the computer? A. BIOS provides the physical interface for various devices such as USB and FireWire ports. B. BIOS provides the programming that enables the CPU to communicate with other hardware. C. BIOS provides memory space for applications to load into from the main system RAM. D. BIOS provides memory space for applications to load into from the hard drive.

C. The system will not boot or turn on at all.

What is the effect of exceeding the wattage capabilities of a power supply by inserting too many devices? A. The system will boot normally and all of the devices will work, but only for a limited time. After an hour or so, the system will spontaneously shut down. B. The system will try to boot, but the overloaded power supply will fail, burning up delicate internal capacitors. C. The system will not boot or turn on at all. D. The system will boot normally, but some of the devices will not function properly.

A. Thermal compound/paste

What should be placed between the processor and the heat sink or cooling element? A. Thermal compound/paste B. Denatured alcohol C. Fan D. Power supply

C. Swap out the suspect RAM module with a known good module, and see if the problem goes away.

What's a simple way to test for faulty RAM that applies to all versions of Windows? A. Watch the start-up screen for memory error reports. B. RAM doesn't go bad, so it's not a legitimate question. C. Swap out the suspect RAM module with a known good module, and see if the problem goes away. D. Open all programs to see if the system will lock up.

B. Install CPU, heat sink and fan assembly, and RAM into motherboard. Make sure standoffs line up properly with motherboard. Install motherboard into case.

What's an ideal sequence for installing new components into a computer case? A. Make sure standoffs line up properly with motherboard. Install motherboard into the case. Install CPU, RAM, heat sink and fan assembly. B. Install CPU, heat sink and fan assembly, and RAM into motherboard. Make sure standoffs line up properly with motherboard. Install motherboard into case. C. Install CPU, heat sink and fan assembly, and RAM into motherboard. Install motherboard into case. D. Install motherboard into case. Install CPU, RAM, heat sink and fan assembly.

C. GPU

Which component in a PC is responsible for updating the image on the monitor? A. CPU B. FRU C. GPU D. PSU

A. RAM

Which component stores programs and data currently being used by the CPU? A. RAM B. NIC C. DVD D. Hard drive

D. Sharon, a lot of programs save files to a default folder, often to a folder called Documents. Let's look there first. Click the Start button, left-click File Explorer, and move the mouse until the cursor hovers over Documents. Click the left mouse button, and tell me what you see when Documents opens.

While manning the help desk, you get a call from Sharon in accounting. She's lost a file that she knows she saved to her hard drive. Which of the following statements would direct Sharon to open her Documents folder in the most efficient and professional manner? A. Sharon, check Documents. B. Probably just defaulted to Docs. Why don't you open Excel or whatever program you used to make the file, and then open a document and point it to Documents? C. Look, Sharon, I know you're a newb when it comes to computers, but how could somebody lose a file? Just open up Documents, and look there for the file. D. Sharon, a lot of programs save files to a default folder, often to a folder called Documents. Let's look there first. Click the Start button, left-click File Explorer, and move the mouse until the cursor hovers over Documents. Click the left mouse button, and tell me what you see when Documents opens.