A Core Hardware Service Technician Test Taker s Cumulative Practice Exam

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The questions in this practice exam are based on topics that have been presented in Chapters 2 through 9 of this book. The answers to the following questions, as well as the chapter sections they were taken from, are provided at the end of the exam.

If you can answer all 80 questions in this practice exam correctly, as well as understand the theory behind each topic mentioned, there is a good possibility that you may pass the CompTIA A+ Core Hardware Service Technician Examination.

1. Which of the following will work with Slot 1 architecture? (Choose Two)

   1. AMD AT

   2. AMD K6

   3. Pentium II

   4. Pentium III

2. What advantages does the ATX form factor have over AT? (Choose Two)

   1. Dual power supplies

   2. PS/2 integration

   3. Microchannel

   4. ‘Soft switch’ power support

3. You are plugging the connectors from an AT power supply into the motherboard. Which wire colors must match up?

   1. Red and red

   2. Orange and orange

   3. Black and red

   4. Black and black

4. Where are the system settings stored when the computer is off?

   1. CMOS

   2. RAM

   3. A permanent swap file

   4. Disaster recovery site

5. You are planning to upgrade the CPU on your motherboard. What else must you consider?

   1. SCSI chain priorities

   2. Upgrading the CMOS chip

   3. Upgrading the operating system

   4. Adding an RS232C

6. Intel’s Single Edge Connector technology design incorporates a processor and?

   1. CMOS

   2. Level 2 cache

   3. Centronics D-shell

   4. Level 3 cache

7. A major difference between the original Pentium (I) and the Pentium II is?

   1. IEEE 1394

   2. LBA support

   3. Pipeline cache size

   4. File allocation table

8. The Pentium III is designed for what type of technology?

   1. Slot A

   2. Slot B

   3. Slot 1

   4. Slot 3

9. There are three programs running in ‘protected mode.’ One program fails. What happens to the other two programs?

   1. Both programs fail.

   2. One fails, one does not.

   3. Neither program fails.

   4. Only the program in Slot 1 fails.

10. Which of the following are valid types of video memory? (Choose Three)

    1. RWAM

    2. VRAM

    3. XRAM

    4. WRAM

    5. XGRAM

    6. SGRAM

11. What is the memory bus width of a 30-pin SIMM?

    1. 8 bits

    2. 4 bits

    3. 1 bit

    4. 1,024

12. What is the memory bus width of a 72-pin SIMM?

    1. 8 bits

    2. 4 bits

    3. 32 bits

    4. 64 bits

13. IRQ 4 is reserved for?

    1. COM2 and COM4

    2. COM3 and COM4

    3. COM1 and COM4

    4. COM1 and COM3

14. You connect to the Internet with a 56Kbps modem. At some times your access speed is faster than at other times. What can you do maximize your potential access speed? (Choose Two)

    1. Get the most recent driver update for your modem.

    2. Use a crossover cable.

    3. Change your RJ-11 connector to RJ-45.

    4. Resolve your IRQ 5 conflict.

    5. Have your telephone company clear the noise on your phone line.

    6. Grant full access permissions to your 56Kbps modem.

15. You need to manually reset your modem. Which AT modem command would you use?

    1. ATA

    2. ATH

    3. ATZ

    4. ATREST=ALL

16. By default, which IRQ is reserved for the real-time clock?

    1. IRQ 0

    2. IRQ 1

    3. IRQ 7

    4. IRQ 8

17. There is no sound coming from your speakers as you play your favorite CD. What is most likely the problem?

    1. Your floppy drive cable is connected backward.

    2. You need to refresh your sound card RAM.

    3. Your CD-ROM’s audio cable is disconnected.

    4. Your sound card drivers have become corrupt.

18. What is the default IRQ for COM2?

    1. IRQ 3

    2. IRQ 4

    3. IRQ 2

    4. IRQ 5

19. A customer is trying to print very large documents to a laser printer and consistently receives “memory overflow” error messages. How can you resolve this issue? (Choose Three)

    1. Decrease the print resolution.

    2. Increase the size of the toner cartridge.

    3. Add more memory to the printer.

    4. Use a SCSI cable connector.

    5. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete twice.

    6. Decrease the Resolution Enhancement technology.

20. What component of a dot matrix printer strikes a ribbon and leaves a character, number, or symbol on the paper?

    1. A print hammer

    2. A toner impaction device

    3. A pin

    4. A ribbon presser

21. A customer informs you that they keep getting “paper jam” error messages on their printer. You observe that there isn’t any paper in the paper feed tray. What would you check next to fix this issue?

    1. The daisy wheel

    2. The printers I/O memory address

    3. The printer’s paper feed sensors

    4. The printer rollers

22. You have collected several used laser printer toner cartridges. What is a standard procedure for disposal of such items?

    1. Place them in the dumpster out back.

    2. Send them back to the manufacturer.

    3. Do not dispose. Shake the cartridges to free up loose toner. Toner is very expensive.

    4. Empty toner into a half-used cartridge. Place the empty toner cartridge into a recycle bin.

23. How many pins does a dot matrix print head typically have?

    1. 9 or 24

    2. 27 or 16

    3. 14 or 7

    4. 1 or 4

24. What are the stages of the laser printing process collectively known as?

    1. Electric photo magnetic process

    2. Electronic laser photographic process

    3. Electro photographic process

    4. ELO imaging process

25. Which of the following are considered to be valid parallel port standards? (Choose Three)

    1. Bidirectional

    2. ECP

    3. Encapsulated postscript

    4. Reverse DNS lookup

    5. EPP

    6. Serial

26. At what stage of the laser printing process is the image melted onto the paper?

    1. Writing

    2. Developing

    3. Conditioning

    4. Fusing

27. When working on the inside of a laser printer, what should you never touch because of its extremely high temperatures?

    1. A toner cartridge

    2. The print head

    3. The fuser

    4. The power supply

28. Your computer is plug-and-play. You install a second hard drive. What will determine its drive letter?

    1. You

    2. The ribbon cable position

    3. The jumpers and dip switches

    4. The plug-and-play operating system

29. You need to terminate a SCSI bus that has an external CD-ROM and an internal hard drive. What devices would you terminate?

    1. The SCSI controller and the motherboard.

    2. The hard drive and the CD-ROM.

    3. The motherboard, the SCSI controller, and CD-ROM.

    4. You do not have to terminate both ends of a SCSI chain.

30. You want to install two new IDE drives on the same ATA controller and configure them as master/slave. You install drive 1 as master and drive 2 as slave. Your BIOS does not detect drive 2 on boot-up. What would you do next to troubleshoot drive 2?

    1. Install an IDE add-on card.

    2. Set up drive 2 to be the master. Remove drive 1 and reboot.

    3. Configure both drives to be masters.

    4. Set the BIOS hard drive detection method to cable select.

31. What would you have to enable on a SCSI controller card in order to use a tape device?

    1. Direct memory access

    2. Termination

    3. C000–C7FFF

    4. The INT 13h support

32. You are trying to access your A drive. You keep getting an error message “Drive not ready, Abort, Retry or Fail?” What is causing this problem? (Choose Two)

    1. You need to change the jumpers on your floppy drive back to slave.

    2. You have bad media inserted in your floppy drive.

    3. The spindle motor needs adjustment.

    4. Your physical floppy drive needs cleaning. Use compressed air.

33. Which of the following devices are compatible with SCSI technology? (Choose Three)

    1. A tape drive unit

    2. A modulation device

    3. A network interface card

    4. A hard drive

    5. A CD-ROM

34. What is the highest ID assignment on a SCSI 1 device with a block of three jumpers?

    1. 0

    2. 7

    3. 1,024

    4. 15

35. Name the minimum category cable type that can be used to support 100BaseTX?

    1. Category 6

    2. Category 43

    3. Category 4

    4. Category 5

36. Modems use which type of connector?

    1. BNC

    2. RJ-45

    3. RJ-11

    4. Kevlar

37. What technological communication method is most popular with PDAs today?

    1. USB

    2. 10BaseT

    3. The fourth OSI layer

    4. Infrared technology

38. What types of connectors are used with Coaxial cable? (Choose Two)

    1. BNC

    2. RJ-45

    3. RJ-11

    4. BNC T

39. What type of connector is most commonly used with twisted-pair cabling?

    1. RJ-11

    2. RJ-45

    3. BNC

    4. STP

40. What is the best choice of cable used to connect two computers together in a peer-to-peer network without a hub?

    1. Crossover cable

    2. RJ-45

    3. BNC

    4. STP

41. What IRQs by default are available for additional devices in a computer system? (Choose Three)

    1. IRQ 9

    2. IRQ 11

    3. IRQ 15

    4. IRQ 10

    5. IRQ 4

42. If a device such as a network interface card has an ST or SC connector, it will most likely be used with which type of cable?

    1. Thicknet

    2. 100BaseTX

    3. Fiber optic

    4. Shielded twisted pair

43. Name three characteristics of a peer-to-peer network. (Choose Three)

    1. Password protected shares.

    2. Ten or less workstations.

    3. Individual workstations can act as both client and server.

    4. A user must authenticate with a security accounts manager database.

44. What device would you use to extend the length of your 10Base2 bus segment?

    1. A gateway

    2. A bridge

    3. A hub

    4. A repeater

45. A star typology typically uses which type of cable to connect workstations?

    1. Token Ring cable

    2. FDDI cable

    3. Twisted pair

    4. Fiber optic

46. A 10Base2 would be implemented in which type of network typology?

    1. Ring

    2. Bus

    3. Star

    4. FDDI

47. What type of network would be implemented if users must be authenticated before they could access resources?

    1. Peer to peer

    2. Stand alone

    3. Server based

    4. Share level permission

48. What does 10/100 mean?

    1. Ten users for peer-to-peer 100 for server based

    2. 10Mbps or 100Mbps transmission

    3. A processor that utilizes 10 threads and 100 processes

    4. A Sonet technology term for high-speed access

49. An EEPROM chip on a network interface card is capable of storing certain settings. Name three of these settings. (Choose Three)

    1. MAC address

    2. IRQ

    3. I/O

    4. IP address

50. A customer is trying access a Novell network using a NIC card with the IPX/SPX protocol bound to it. The customer cannot access the network. What is most likely the problem?

    1. Incorrect frame type setting.

    2. Incorrect IP configuration

    3. The IPX/SPX protocol should be the first in the binding order.

    4. IPX/SPX and TCP/IP cannot run together.

51. Which is a specification for motherboard architecture that allows analog I/O functions to be separate from the motherboard by placing them on a riser?

    1. Plug-and-play

    2. MCA

    3. AMR

    4. ISA

    5. None of the above

52. How does AGP differ from PCI?

    1. AGP uses a point-to-point dedicated channel to directly access RAM.

    2. AGP offers faster NIC card support.

    3. PCI specifications include 2x, 4x, and 8x.

    4. PCI offers faster video acceleration speeds.

53. How much memory can a PCI-32 bus access?

    1. Up to 1GB

    2. Up to 4GB

    3. 512K

    4. Up to 17 billion gigabytes

    5. All of the above

54. Which of the following is used to translate drive information such as sectors, cylinders, and heads into BIOS-understandable format?

    1. Power-on Self-Test

    2. ROM BIOS

    3. CMOS checksum

    4. LBA

    5. None of the above

55. Which of the following is usually posted in a hazardous area?

    1. ESD wrist strap

    2. APW hose

    3. Uninterruptible power supply

    4. Halon gas warning

    5. MSDS

56. Recently, manufacturers, such as Intel, have developed technology that brings an additional 1MB (512K) onto the CPU chip. This addition has dramatically increased the speed at which a processor can access stored information. What is the new addition being described as?

    1. MICRODIMM

    2. L3 cache

    3. SODIMM

    4. L5 cache

    5. DMA

57. What type of technology do all of the processors in the AMD Athalon XP line use?

    1. Pentium 4 technology

    2. Slot technology

    3. Socket A technology

    4. AMD Duron technology

    5. None of the above

58. What is used to fill the area between a CPU and a heat sink in order to transfer heat from the CPU to the heat sink?

    1. Liquid nitrogen

    2. CNR

    3. L3 cache

    4. Thermal compound

    5. All of the above

59. Which of the following is a motherboard-installable module that regulates the electrical voltage that is fed to the system’s microprocessor?

    1. VRM

    2. CNR

    3. AMR

    4. LCA

    5. None of the above

60. There were two SODIMM memory module configurations mentioned in Table 4.3 of Chapter 4. What were the number of pins and memory bus widths associated with the SODIMMs? (Choose Two)

    1. 72 pins and 32 bits

    2. 144 pins and 64 bits

    3. 184 pins and 16 bits

    4. 168 pins and 64 bits

61. These memory modules are often used in subnotebook computers. They have 144 pins and provide a 64-bit data path. What are they?

    1. DIMMs

    2. RIMMs

    3. MicroDIMMs

    4. L3 cache SIMMs

62. Of the following choices, which is a handheld pen-shaped device that is commonly used as a pointing or writing instrument to input text into a system, such as a PDA?

    1. Optomechanical pencil

    2. Stylus

    3. MIDI pen

    4. Joystick

    5. None of the above

63. Which of the following choices is not a touch screen technology?

    1. Surface wave.

    2. Resistive.

    3. Capacitive.

    4. Foam element.

    5. All of the above represent touch screen technologies.

64. What is DMA channel 2 assigned to?

    1. Second DMA controller (cascades to DMA channels 0–3)

    2. Floppy drive (or possibly a tape drive)

    3. Available

    4. Port 1024

    5. None of the above

65. Where in Windows Me/2000/XP would you go to easily add or configure a digital camera or scanner?

    1. Command prompt

    2. DOS prompt

    3. Control Panel > Scanners and Cameras

    4. Control Panel > Cameras and Scanners

    5. None of the above

66. Which is considered the newest battery type that produces hydrogen converted from methanol or alcohol?

    1. NiCad

    2. NiMH

    3. Fuel cell

    4. Lithium ion

    5. None of the above

67. Using a video resolution of 800•600 is equivalent to using which video mode?

    1. Raster

    2. Vector

    3. VGA

    4. SVGA

    5. MCA

    6. None of the above

68. How many pins does a VGA connector have?

    1. 7

    2. 9

    3. 10

    4. 15

    5. None of the above

69. Which of the following represents possible printer connections?

    1. Centronix

    2. DB-25

    3. USB

    4. All of the above

70. What is a common name used to describe a single device that combines printing, scanning, copying, and faxing capabilities?

    1. PSCAF

    2. MFD

    3. Hub

    4. Sublimation device

    5. None of the above

71. What type of printing technology has become very popular based on the growth of digital camera use?

    1. Dye sublimation

    2. CAD/CAM

    3. Ink dispersion

    4. Saddle stitch and fold

    5. Ozone filtering

72. Which of the following commands will remove MBR infector viruses and replace a system’s boot loader with a generic boot loader?

    1. Erase MBR

    2. FDISK /?

    3. Format C:\MBR

    4. Scandisk /MBR

    5. FDISK /MBR

    6. None of the above

73. Which RAID level is known as disk mirroring?

    1. RAID Level 0

    2. RAID Level 1

    3. RAID Level 3

    4. RAID Level 5

    5. None of the above

74. What should your first troubleshooting step be if you have installed a new CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD device into a computer and it doesn’t work?

    1. Insert a pin or paper clip into the tiny hole on the front of the unit.

    2. Verify that the jumper settings on the device are correct.

    3. Purchase a new device.

    4. Verify that the CD-ROM, CD-RW, or DVD audio cable is connected to an installed sound card.

    5. None of the above.

75. How many USB devices will one system resource (IRQ) support?

    1. 1

    2. 15

    3. 2

    4. 127

    5. None of the above

76. What is WEP?

    1. A wireless transceiver that transmits and receives RF signals.

    2. WEP is a standard for Windows Enterprise Programming.

    3. Wireless security protocol specified under the IEEE 802.11b.2.

    4. Windows Standard for Encapsulated Post Script.

    5. None of the above.

77. What is considered the hub in a wireless network?

    1. Router

    2. Server computer

    3. Access point

    4. Wireless NIC card

    5. WAP

    6. None of the above

78. Which of the following is a nonroutable, small, efficient transport layer protocol meant for use in small networks with 1–200 workstations?

    1. NetBEUI

    2. TCP/IP

    3. IPX/SPX

    4. LDAP

    5. WEP

    6. All of the above

79. What does a DNS server do?

    1. Allows Web pages to be formatted with graphics and symbols other than plain text

    2. Converts fully qualified domain names to IP addresses

    3. Offers developers and designers more flexibility in creating Web pages through the use of call tags

    4. Connects different network typologies together, such as Token Ring and Ethernet

    5. None of the above

80. At this point, what should you do before taking the CompTIA A+ Core Hardware Service Technician Exam?

    1. Have the ability answer every question in this test correctly.

    2. Read the first section of this book a second time.

    3. Study the Operating Systems section of this book, because CompTIA is going to ask operating systems questions on the Core exam.

    4. All of the above.

Test Taker’s Cumulative Practice Exam Answers

Answer Key	Question Taken From:
1. C and D	Chapter 2, Slots and Sockets
2. B and D	Chapter 2, Motherboards and Form Factors
3. D	Chapter 2, Electricity and The Power Supply
4. A	Chapter 2, Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
5. B	Chapter 2, Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)
6. B	Chapter 3, SEC and SEP
7. C	Chapter 3, Processors and Modes
8. C	Chapter 3, Processors and Modes
9. C	Chapter 3, Processors and Modes
10. B, D, and F	Chapter 4, Memory Types and Characteristics
11. A	Chapter 4, Memory Packaging
12. C	Chapter 4, Memory Packaging
13. D	Chapter 5, Interrupt Requests (IRQs)
14. A and E	Chapter 5, Modems
15. C	Chapter 5, Modems
16. D	Chapter 5, Interrupt Requests (IRQs)
17. C	Chapter 5, Sound Cards
18. A	Chapter 5, Interrupt Requests (IRQs)
19. A, C, and F	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
20. C	Chapter 6, Dot Matrix and Ink-Jet Printers
21. C	Chapter 6, Dot Matrix and Ink-Jet Printers
22. B	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
23. A	Chapter 6, Dot Matrix and Ink-Jet Printers
24. C	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
25. A, B, and E	Chapter 6, Parallel Port Standards
26. D	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
27. C	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
28. D	Chapter 7, The Hard Drive
29. B	Chapter 7, Drive Controllers and Interfaces
30. B	Chapter 7, Drive Controllers and Interfaces
31. D	Chapter 7, Drive Controllers and Interfaces
32. B and D	Chapter 7, The Floppy Drive
33. A, D, and E	Chapter 7, Drive Controllers and Interfaces
34. B	Chapter 7, Drive Controllers and Interfaces
35. D	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
36. C	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
37. D	Chapter 8, Wireless Connections
38. A and D	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
39. B	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
40. A	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
41. B, C, and D	Chapter 5, Interrupt Requests (IRQs)
42. C	Chapter 8, Networking Connectors and Cables
43. A, B, and C	Chapter 9, Network Categories
44. D	Chapter 9, Network Topology
45. C	Chapter 9, Network Topology
46. B	Chapter 9, Network Topology
47. C	Chapter 9, Network Categories
48. B	Chapter 9, Network Interface Cards
49. A, B, and C	Chapter 9, Network Interface Cards
50. A	Chapter 9, Protocols
51. C	Chapter 2, Expansion Bus Architecture
52. A	Chapter 2, Expansion Bus Architecture
53. B	Chapter 2, Expansion Bus Architecture
54. D	Chapter 2, Power-On Self-Test (POST) and Error Codes
55. E	Chapter 2, Preventive Maintenance and Safety
56. B	Chapter 3, Cache Levels 1, 2, and 3
57. C	Chapter 3, Processors and Modes
58. D	Chapter 3, Thermal Compounds
59. A	Chapter 3, VRM (Voltage Regulator Module)
60. A and B	Chapter 4, Memory Packaging
61. C	Chapter 4, Memory Packaging
62. B	Chapter 5, Mice and Pointing Devices
63. D	Chapter 5, Touch Screen
64. B	Chapter 5, Direct Memory Access Channels (DMAs)
65. C	Chapter 5, Digital Cameras
66. C	Chapter 5, Batteries and Power
67. D	Chapter 6, Liquid Crystal Display
68. D	Chapter 6, Liquid Crystal Display
69. D	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
70. B	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
71. A	Chapter 6, Laser Printers
72. E	Chapter 7, The Hard Drive
73. B	Chapter 7, RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks)
74. B	Chapter 7, Optical Storage Devices
75. D	Chapter 8, USB Connections
76. C	Chapter 8, Wireless Connectivity
77. C	Chapter 8, Wireless Connectivity
78. A	Chapter 9, Protocols
79. B	Chapter 9, The Internet and Viruses
80. D	Chapter 9, Chapter Summary

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