A= Prep Questions

what are the 3 voltages for a PSU?

3.3 V, 5V, 12V

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) uses which of the following TCP/IP Protocols and ports? A. TCP, with ports 20 and 21 B. UDP, with ports 20 and 21 C. TCP with port 20, UDP with port 21 D. TCP with port 40, HTTP with port 80

Correct Answer: FTP uses TCP by default, with ports 20 and 21. Incorrect Answers: The other answers are not the correct protocol and ports.

What wireless standard can operate at speeds of up to 150 Mbps? A. 801.11 a B. 802.11 b C. 802.11 g D. 802.11 n

Correct Answer: 802.11 n has a maximum speed of up to 600 Mbps. Incorrect Answers: 802.11 a and g have a maximum speed of 54 Mbps. 802.11 b has a maximum speed of up to 11 Mbps.

Cain wants to install a wireless access point in his house, but he is unsure of the different wireless technologies in the market. Which wireless access point operates ONLY on the 5-GHz frequency? A. 802.11a B. 802.11b C. 802.11g D. 802.11n

Correct Answer: 802.11a is the only choice here that runs exclusively on the 5-GHz frequency. Incorrect Answers: B, G, and N all operate on the 2.4-GHz frequency. 802.11n is great because it can operate in dual mode, giving it the ability to use both frequencies!

What connector would you find only on a coaxial cable? A. RJ-11 B. ST C. BNC D. RJ-45

Correct Answer: A BNC connector is a quick connect used to connect television or video. Incorrect Answers: RJ-11 connectors are used on telephone cords. ST connectors are for fiber-optic cables. RJ-45 connectors are for Ethernet cables.

What would you use to enable multiple PCs to share a monitor? A. Router B. Bridge C. KVM D. Wireless keyboard

Correct Answer: A KVM (which stands for keyboard, video, and mouse) enables you to share a single monitor and set of inputs among several computers. They're used extensively in computer repair shops. Incorrect Answers: A router connects two networks together. A network bridge combines two distinct networks into one larger network. A wireless keyboard won't help you use share a monitor among PCs.

Which of the following explains why a tablets boot more quickly than most laptops? A. A tablet requires less power to operate than a laptop. B. A tablet has a smaller circuit board than a laptop. C. A SATA drive loads data much faster than an IDE drive. D. A SSD drive loads data much faster than a SATA drive.

Correct Answer: A SSD drive loads data much faster than a SATA drive.- Since tablets use SSDs for mass storage instead of platter-based hard drives, they load the OS much more quickly. Incorrect Answers: The other answers are made up.

Wearable technology devices used to track personal activity use what technology to determine user activity levels? A. Inverter B. Gyroscope C. Digitizer D. Accelerometer

Correct Answer: An accelerometer is a device that detects its own acceleration and is used in mobile phones to determine the phone's orientation. Once the orientation is determined, the phone's software can react accordingly, such as by changing its display from portrait to landscape. Incorrect Answers: An inverter is an electronic device that changes current. A gyroscope is a disk that is free to spin on any orientation by itself. A digitizer is a device that is used to convert analog signals into digital signals.

An iOS tablet user needs more storage. What external storage devices are available in this case? A. SD Card B. Thumb drive C. eSATA drive D. Nothing

Correct Answer: Currently, iOS tablets have no ability to add external storage. Incorrect Answers: There are no SD card, USB, or eSATA ports on iOS tablets.

What type of service is DHCP? A. Addressing B. Name resolution C. Remote access D. E-mail

Correct Answer: DHCP is the service that enables a centralized server to distribute IP addresses for a network. Incorrect Answers: The other three answers have nothing to do with DHCP and are incorrect.

What does ECC DRAM provide that non-ECC DRAM does not? A. ECC DRAM has a much lower response time than other forms of DRAM. B. ECC DRAM runs at much lower temperatures than other forms of DRAM. C. ECC DRAM enables error checking and correcting. D. ECC DRAM enables synchronous data transfers.

Correct Answer: ECC DRAM enables error checking and correcting. Incorrect Answers: The other answers are made up and not true.

A user wishes to access her contacts from their Android phone. Which of the following methods will provide the MOST up-to-date contact information on the user's phone on a daily basis? A. Enable contact synchronization by setting up her e-mail account on the phone. B. Download all her contacts in a .csv file and import them into the phone via a USB laptop connection. C. Enable Bluetooth and transfer the contacts from her laptop to the cell phone. D. Enable e-mail synchronization and e-mail the contacts to the user account for download.

Correct Answer: Enable contact synchronization by setting up her e-mail account on the phone. - Synchronization keeps a user's e-mail contacts updated constantly. Incorrect Answers: All the other answers are made-up.

Which of the following memory features allows for protection against random inconsistencies in the transfer of data? A. Low latency B. Dual channel C. ECC D. Single channel

Correct Answer: Error correcting code RAM detects and corrects any any data errors that it may encounter. Incorrect Answers: Latency is a measurement of RAM's speed. Dual-channel is a feature that means that installing two identical sticks into certain motherboard slots. Single-channel is just a single RAM stick.

Which of the following motherboard form factors is the smallest? A. Micro-ATX B. ATX C. ITX D. BTX

Correct Answer: ITX (mostly referred to as Mini-ITX) was created by VIA in 2001 as a 17 x 17 cm low-power motherboard form factor. It is the smallest form factor of the choices given. Incorrect Answers: ATX is the current standard form factor for most desktop systems. It is rather large at 305 × 244 mm. Micro-ATX (sometimes referred to as mATX) is a form factor standard that is slightly smaller than ATX. It comes in at 244 × 244 mm. BTX is a pretty much defunct form factor standard that repositions some of the internal components to provide for better cooling. It measures at 325 × 266 mm.

What are the voltages are associated with a standard Molex connector? A. 12v, 5v B. 3.3v, 12v C. 5v, 3.3v D. 2v, 4v

Correct Answer: In a standard 4-pin Molex connector, the red wire is 5v and the yellow wire is 12v. The black wires are grounds. Incorrect Answers: You would see 3.3v on your main ATX power connector as well as SATA power connectors. You shouldn't see 2v and 4v.

Johan needs to finish a presentation before his plane lands, but the underside of his laptop is scorching his legs. What should he do? A. Nothing, all laptops are warm on the bottom. B. Ask the flight attendant for a pillow. C. Place the laptop on a hard, smooth surface. D. Put the laptop into sleep mode.

Correct Answer: Laptops need a flat, smooth surface for proper airflow.

What type of printer uses an imaging drum? A. Laser B. Impact C. Inkjet D. Thermal

Correct Answer: Laser printers use lasers to charge the surface of the imaging drum in the shape of the image to be printed. Incorrect Answers: None of the other printers use an imaging drum.

In which of the following printers would you have to replace toner as part of printer maintenance? A. Inkjet B. Thermal C. Impact D. Laser

Correct Answer: Laser printers use toner to create an image on the paper. Incorrect Answers: Inkjet printers use ink. Thermal printers use a special type of heat-sensitive paper to create images. Impact printers physically strike the paper to leave a mark.

Danerys needs high-powered but perfectly quiet cooling for a HTPC she's building. What's her best option? A. Side panel slots B. Liquid based C. Additional fans D. Thermal paste

Correct Answer: Liquid cooling is both powerful and quiet. Perfect for a home theater PC! Incorrect Answers: Side panel slots help with cooling, but they're definitely not a complete solution. Fans are a bad choice for a home theater environment, since they can create distracting noise. Thermal paste is necessary for cooling, but you can't cool a PC with just thermal paste.

Someone has placed a CMOS password on a computer and has forgotten the password. What should you do? A. Go into CMOS and delete the password. B. Reboot the PC, holding down the CTRL key. C. Boot to a floppy and FDISK the drive. D. Clear the CMOS password by removing the shunt from the clear CMOS jumper for a few seconds.

Correct Answer: Most motherboards have a labeled Security or Password jumper. Removing or moving the shunt for a few seconds clears any CMOS passwords. Incorrect Answers: You will not be able to enter CMOS if you don't have the password. Holding down the CTRL key while booting won't clear the CMOS password. You won't be able to boot to anything if you can't get past CMOS.

Which of the following allows a user to pinch zoom on an Android device? A. Accelerometer B. Micro USB port C. Multi-touch D. A trackball

Correct Answer: Multi-touch - Multi-touch enables mobile devices to recognize input from more than one finger at a time. Incorrect Answers: An accelerometer helps keep track of a device's orientation in space. A Micro USB port enables mobile devices to connect to a PC. A trackball is an input device that uses a small ball to move a cursor, kind of like a mouse.

Yesterday you were working on client's wireless laptop, patching the system through Windows Update. Today, the client reports that they can no longer access the internet. What is the FIRST thing you should check? A. Make sure they have properly connected their WiFi antenna B. Ensure that the driver wasn't accidently updated through Windows Update C. Check for a BIOS firmware update D. Check the switch on the laptop to ensure that the WiFi radio is on.

Correct Answer: On most modern laptops there is a little switch on the laptop that will enable or disable the WiFi radio on the device. This should be your first stop in troubleshooting WiFi problems. Incorrect Answers: The WiFi antenna on most, if not all laptops is built into the screen portion of the laptop. If this laptop were to have a PCMCIA wireless card, then maybe it would have an antenna. A BIOS firmware update while always handy for random hardware fixes, would probably be one of the last things I do, especially since their laptop worked fine yesterday. Having a drive updated through Windows Update is usually a great thing! You may get additional features or funtionality. However, there are those times where patching can produce negative results. I would definitely have this somewhere in my troubleshooting process, but not first.

What is likely to be reset during standard printer maintenance? A. Print job cache B. Paper and tray settings C. Page count D. Job queue

Correct Answer: Printer maintenance might have the effect of resetting the printer's paper and tray settings. Incorrect Answers: None of the other answers are reset by standard printer maintenance.

A client reports that their VoIP phone screen displays a "Duplicate IP address" error. Which of the following is the first action to try to resolve this problem? A. Change MAC address settings B. Call the vendor C. Try another LAN connection D. Reboot the phone

Correct Answer: Rebooting a device is almost always the first thing you should do when trying to fix a problem. Incorrect Answers: MAC address settings won't have any affect on the phone's IP address. You might have to call the vendor, but that's not the first thing you should do Trying another LAN connection is another of those "do it, but not first" solutions.

The technician on call has just finished working on a PC by creating a plan of action and implementing a solution. What is his next step according to the troubleshooting theory? A. Identify the problem. B. Document the actions. C. Verify the system works. D. Formulate a theory.

Correct Answer: Right after you implement a solution, verify that your solution worked by checking that the system functions properly. Incorrect Answers: You have just implemented a solution, so you already identified the problem and formulated your theories. You'll want to document everything right after you've verified that the system works.

Robert wants to have an Internet connection that will give him the lowest latency when viewing streaming videos. Which of these options should he choose LAST? A. Cable B. Satellite C. DSL D. T-1

Correct Answer: Satellite connections have to travel almost 45,000 miles roundtrip, which can cause major latency issues when doing bandwidth-intensive applications. Incorrect Answers: Cable, DSL, and T-1's are all wired connections. Latency will be lower using them.

You install a second video adapter and monitor on your Windows PC, but when you start the system, the second monitor doesn't display anything. You've confirmed that the video driver is correct, and that the video card is active in Device Manager. What else do you need to do? A. Open Control Panel and run the Multiple Monitor configuration applet. B. Open Display properties and check the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor checkbox. C. Upgrade the PC to Windows 10 Pro. D. Reinstall Windows with the /MMSUPPORT parameter switch.

Correct Answer: Tell the OS that you want to use two monitors by checking the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor checkbox in Display properties. Incorrect Answers: There is no Multiple Monitor configuration applet. Windows 10 Pro is not required for a dual-display setup. The reinstallation of Windows is not needed.

Sam sent a print job to the printer, can see it is the only one in the queue, but it is not printing. What can be done to try to get it to print? A. Open the Print Spooler icon in the system tray, select the print job, and click Restart. B. Open the Print Spooler icon in the system tray, select the print job, and click Delete. C. Shut off the printer. D. Open the Print Spooler icon in the Control Panel, select the print job, and click the Restart button. E. Disable the printer.

Correct Answer: The Print Spooler shows up in the System Tray for all actively printing jobs. Open it and restart the print job. Incorrect Answer: There is no delete option available from the Print Spooler. Shutting off/disabling the printer would not help print. There is no Print Spooler icon in the Control Panel.

A retail-boxed CPU usually comes with a ________ fan. A. Large B. Specialized C. Overdrive D. OEM

Correct Answer: The fans that come with retail-boxed CPUs are known as Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) fans. Incorrect Answers: The other answers are aftermarket fans that are designed when using the CPU beyond its normal intent. Manufacturers provide a fan that will support normal usage on a CPU.

In laser printer technology, what occurs during the writing stage of the image formation? A. An alternating charge is applied to drum. B. A uniform negative charge is applied to the drum. C. The print image is written to the drum. D. The print image is transferred to the paper.

Correct Answer: The laser strikes the drum in the areas that are to be printed, giving those areas a less negative charge. This makes these areas relatively positive, so that they attract the toner. Incorrect Answers: The alternating charge answer is nonsense. A uniform negative charge is applied by the primary corona, but not during the writing stage. The image is transferred to the paper in the transfer stage.

What PHYSICAL part of the hard drive stores data? A. Head Actuator B. Platter C. Track D. Cylinder

Correct Answer: The metallic platters of the hard drive store data. Incorrect Answers: Cylinders, Heads, and Sectors are simply locations and are not physical parts of the drive.

A technician troubleshoots a broken PC only to find that a strong burning odor is coming from inside the case. Which of the following parts most likely experienced a level of electrical burn? A. PSU B. Processor C. CMOS battery D. Hard drive

Correct Answer: The power supply unit (PSU) is the most likely thing to experience electrical burn. Incorrect Answers: Although other components could experience electrical burn, the question asked for the most likely to experience electrical burn.

You just upgraded the RAM on your older PC at home. When you boot up the computer, it doesn't recognize the new memory even though it was on the Qualified Vendor's List (QVL) on the manufacturer's website. What are you going to need to do to solve this problem? A. Go to Windows Update and search for any latest patches B. Change the jumpers on your motherboard to allow for the RAM upgrade C. Flash your BIOS D. Replace your CR-2032 battery

Correct Answer: Time for a BIOS flash! The website said it is compatible, but if technology has changed, your BIOS version on your motherboard may be dated. The site will often also show the BIOS version required for the hardware. Incorrect Answers: This isn't a Microsoft problem yet, so visting the Windows Update site won't do much good. The only jumpers this question writer has ever messed with on a motherboard pertained to clearing my CMOS settings and overclocking my CPU. I haven't done the latter since 1999. A bad CR-2032 battery, or CMOS battery, will only cause a system to lose settings.

A user has installed a new wireless router and is unable to connect their game console to the manufacturer's network service. Which of the following should the technician look for first? A. Ensure the game system has a static IP address B. Contact the manufacturer to see if service is available C. Ensure the game system has updated firmware D. Ensure the correct ports are open

Correct Answer: To connect to the network services for game consoles, you might have to open some ports on your firewall. Incorrect Answers: Setting a static IP address for your router won't help unless the router has DHCP disabled. Basically every new wireless router out there has DHCP enabled by default, so this probably isn't the problem. If the correct ports are open and you still can't connect, then you might want to contact the manufacturer, but don't do it first. It's tough to update a system's firmware without first connecting to the manufacturer's network service so you can download the new firmware. This is something you'd do after connecting.

Which of the following URLs would indicate a secured HTTP server? A. HTTP://SECURE/WWW.WHEEBO.COM B. HTTP://WWW.WHEEBO.COM -S C. HTTPS://WWW.WHEEBO.COM D. HTTPSSL://WWW.WHEEBO.COM

Correct Answer: Web sites using SSL use "HTTPS://" instead of just "HTTP://" to show that they are secured. Incorrect Answers: HTTPSSL is not real. HTTP://WWW.WHEEBO.COM -S won't work because of the "-S". HTTP://SECURE/WWW.WHEEBO.COM is just a messed up URL.

Keivaun has just installed a LED-backlit LCD display. Which of the following is true about the native resolution of a digital display? A. It has the slowest refresh rate B. It causes the display to use pixel interpolation C. It is the lowest resolution D. It provides the best quality display

Correct Answer: When you set your display to use the native resolution, that means you are going to use the resolution that is was created for, which means it will provide you with the best quality image it can produce. Incorrect Answers: Granted, LCDs do have refresh rates. That's the time it takes to redraw the screen. However, LCDs don't have refresh rates the way a CRT has a refresh rate. Regardless, the refresh rate has nothing to do with the native resolution. Your LCD will experience pixel interpoltion—an effect used to blur the edges of pixel to create rounded edges—if you DON'T set your monitor to the native resolution. The lowest resolution would be the exact opposite of the native resolution.

What is the minimum cable type for 10BaseT? A. CAT 3 B. CAT 5 C. CAT 5e D. CAT 6

Correct Answer: You can run a 10BaseT network using CAT 3 cabling. Incorrect Answers: CAT 5 can run up to 100 Mbps. CAT 5e can run up to 1000 Mbps. CAT 6 can run up to 10000 Mbps.

You are setting up a RAID 5 drive array on your desktop PC. You have two 500-GB SATA HDD's. One of the drives is 7200 RPM and the other is 5400 RPM. Your RAID setup utility is unable to configure the RAID 5 array. What is the problem? A. SATA hard drives are incompatible with RAID B. You need a minimum of 3 drives for RAID 5 C. Hard drives need to have matching RPM speeds to do RAID. D. RAID 5 is designed for servers, not desktops.

Correct Answer: You must have a minimum of 3 hard drives in order to set up RAID 5. Incorrect Answers: SATA is completely compatible with RAID. You don't have to have matching RPM's (or capacities for that matter) for RAID 5. And finally, if you have a traditional ATX motherboard with at least 4 SATA ports on it, there's a good chance you too can do RAID 5!

When installing a new point of sale printer, which of the following will you most likely need? A. RJ-11 B. Operating system disk C. RG-58 D. Drivers

Correct Answer: You'll need to install drivers so that the computer can communicate with the printer. Incorrect Answer: RJ-11 is a cable connector for a phone. Operating system disk may have drivers, however it is not likely for it to have a manufacturer specific driver. RG-58 is a coaxial cable for RF connection.

New smart phones have features that enable them to be backed up to a remote location. Of which of the following is this an example? A. Desktop Manager B. iOS C. iCloud D. App Market

Correct Answer: iCloud is an example of a remote backup solution for iOS mobile devices. Incorrect Answers: Desktop Manager is synchronization software for Blackberry devices. iOS is the operating system running on Apple mobile devices. App Market is a made-up term.

Which of the following components would be utilized most in a virtualization server? (Select two.) A. Maximum memory B. High-end sound card C. High-end video card D. Dual-rail 1000w PSU E. Quad core CPU

Correct Answers: In order to properly manage and run all of the virtual machines, the virtualization server will need to have as much memory as possible as well as a multi-core CPU. Incorrect Answers: Having a high-end graphics card and high-end sound card is more important for a gaming PC. Those features are not needed in a virtualization server. A dual-rail 1000w PSU would also probably be needed in a gaming computer where you have multiple graphics cards that require a lot of extra power.

Which of the following are good ideas for cooling a high-end gaming PC? (Select two.) A. Power-saving NIC B. Passive cooling C. Additional case fans D. Liquid cooling system E. Lower-wattage power supply

Correct Answers: Liquid cooling is a great idea for keeping your most important components (primarily the CPU and video card) cool, and adding additional case fans will keep the rest of your system cool, too. Incorrect Answers: A power-saving NIC won't help cool your PC at all. Passive cooling won't cut it for a gaming PC. A lower-wattage PSU will make your gaming PC not work at all. Which I guess would keep it cool.

Which of the following is a typical Class C address? A. 169.254.0.1 B. 192.168.1.100 C. 10.12.14.5 D. 172.16.5.100

Correct: 192.168.1.100 is a typical private Class C address. Incorrect: 169.254.0.1 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address. 172.16.5.100 is a private Class B address. 10.12.14.5 is a private Class A address.

Which of the following form factors dominates the PC industry? A. AT B. ATX C. BTX D. CTX

Correct: ATX is by far the dominant form factor. Incorrect: AT was ATX's predecessor. BTX was an alternate form factor developed to enable better cooling, but it never caught on. CTX is not an actual form factor (yet).

Anytime you hear either a scraping noise or a high-pitched squeal coming from your system, the first item to consider is: A. Bad DVD drive B. Bad fan C. Bad hard drive D. Bad power supply

Correct: Bad hard drive. These two sounds indicate a hard drive that will soon crash. Make a backup of critical data. Incorrect: Anything that rotates inside your computer is capable of making these sounds. However, given the gravity of the situation if your hard drive fails, you should assume the hard drive first and take action to save your data.

What is the correct boot sequence for a PC? A. CPU, POST, power good, boot loader, operating system B. POST, power good, CPU, boot loader, operating system C. Power good, boot loader, CPU, POST, operating system D. Power good, CPU, POST, boot loader, operating system

Correct: The correct boot sequence: Power good, CPU, POST, boot loader, operating system. Incorrect: All three other options are not the correct boot sequence

What is the screen resolution for WUXGA? A. 800 x 600 B. 1280 x 1024 C. 1024 x 768 D. 1920 x 1200

WUXGA stands for Widescreen Ultra Extended Graphics Array. It has a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels with a 16:10 screen aspect ratio. This was the highest resolution that was commonly available on computer displays, but as of 2010, most of the instrusty has moved to the 16:9 aspect ratio, using 1920x1080. Incorrect Answers: 800 x 600 is SVGA resolution. 1024 x 768 is XGA resolution. 1280 x 1024 is SXGA resolution.