IT Specialist Exam Study Guide Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering hardware troubleshooting, expansion cards, printers, networking, and system commands from the IT Specialist Exam study guide.

Recommended Troubleshooting Approach

Starting with the simplest solution first, then moving to more complex solutions (simple to complex).

Last Step in Troubleshooting

Documenting the solution after fixing the problem.

Power Supply Unit (PSU) Failure

The component failure indicated when a PC is turned on but shows no lights, fans, or signs of power.

Single Short Beep

A boot sound signifying that the Power-On Self-Test (POST) completed successfully.

Hard Drive Ticking

A rhythmic ticking or clicking sound from a mechanical HDD indicating hard drive failure.

CMOS/RTC Battery

The battery responsible for maintaining system time; failure causes date and time loss or 'Date and Time not set' errors.

7,200 RPM

The typical rotational speed of a standard SATA hard drive.

64-bit Operating System

An operating system whose main advantage is the ability to access more than $4\,\text{GB}$ of RAM.

RAM (Random Access Memory)

Memory best used to store frequently used data and programs because data can be readily added and deleted.

AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)

An expansion slot designed specifically for high-performance graphics adapters.

NIC (Network Interface Card)

An Input/Output (I/O) type adapter used for network connectivity.

Electronics-Safe Contact Cleaner

An electronics-safe cleaner or appropriate isopropyl alcohol used to clean electronic connectors on expansion cards.

RJ-45 / Ethernet

The standard physical connection type used by a network-ready printer.

Laser Printer

A printer type that utilizes toner and an imaging laser drum.

UNC Path

Universal Naming Convention path format represented as \server\share (e.g., \stud6\laserJ).

Printer Spooling

Temporarily storing print jobs in a queue before they are sent to the printer.

Incompatible Printer Driver

The likely cause when a printed document appears as garbage characters.

Print Management MMC Snap-in

The administrative tool location used to see if a printer is offline.

100 Meters

The maximum allowable cable segment distance for standard 100Base-T, Category 5, and Category 6 Ethernet cables.

Fiber-Optic Cable

A cable type using light signals that provides the highest immunity to EMI and supports runs longer than $100\,\text{m}$.

Category 5e (Cat 5e)

The minimum UTP cable category required for 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet).

Single-mode Fiber

The fiber-optic cable type that allows the longest segment distance.

50 Micrometers (\mu m)

The core diameter represented by '50' in 50/125 multimode fiber.

IDE Cable Red Line

The stripe on an IDE cable used to identify pin 1.

Network Hub

A legacy device that sends incoming network data to all connected systems.

Router

A network device that connects different networks and routes traffic using logical network addresses (IP addresses).

Switch

A network device that connects devices within a local network and forwards traffic using MAC addresses.

arp -a

The command used to display the ARP table, which maps IP addresses to MAC addresses.