Professor Messer CompTIA A+ Practice Exam A

Q6 — A printer has seven jobs stuck in its queue. What is the best next troubleshooting step?

Restart the printer spooler. A queue full of pending jobs with no printing is commonly resolved by restarting the spooler service.

Q7 — A computer tries to boot from an attached USB drive and fails. What is the best way to prevent that USB drive from booting?

Modify the BIOS/UEFI boot configuration so the internal drive is booted first.

Q8 — One user's jobs print as garbled text while other users print normally. What is the most likely cause?

The user's print driver is configured for the wrong printer language, such as PCL.

Q9 — You have an undocumented Ethernet cable run and need to find the other end. Which tool is best?

Tone generator and probe. The tone identifies the corresponding cable at the other end.

Q10 — An Ethernet switch port is repeatedly going up and down. What is the most likely cause?

A faulty crimp/connection on the Ethernet cable.

Q11 — A computer reports “Operating system not found,” and the SATA cables are connected correctly. What should you check next?

Check for removable drives that the system may be trying to boot from.

Q12 — A smartphone battery is bulging and pushing the screen away. What should you do?

Power the phone off and contact appropriate support/service. Do not continue using a swollen battery.

Q13 — A laptop LCD image is visible but extremely faint. What component is the likely cause?

The inverter/backlight circuitry.

Q14 — A user's hard drive is becoming increasingly slow, but daily backups exist. What is the best next step?

Run a hard-drive diagnostic to determine the drive's condition.

Q15 — Which item would most likely be stored on an optical disc?

A document archive.

Q16 — A computer screen stays blank and the system beeps twice during startup. What is the most likely cause?

Faulty or improperly functioning RAM.

Q17 — A firewall blocks email transfers from a remote server. Which port is associated with SMTP?

Port 25.

Q18 — A laptop display works, but an LCD projector flickers and pixelates even after resolution/refresh-rate changes. What should you try next?

Replace the video cable.

Q19 — A tablet stylus no longer interacts with the user interface. What component is most likely faulty?

The digitizer.

Q20 — What printer setting should be selected to print a form on both sides of the paper?

Duplex printing.

Q21 — A laptop has no Ethernet port. Which TWO options can provide wired Ethernet connectivity?

A docking station and a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

Q22 — One drive in a RAID 1 array has failed. What is the best resolution?

Replace the failed drive and resynchronize/rebuild the mirror.

Q23 — A server will be installed in another country. Which power-supply specification is most important?

Voltage input options, so the PSU can support the local electrical standard.

Q24 — Which TWO ports are commonly used for file transfers?

TCP 21 (FTP) and TCP 23 (Telnet).

Q25 — Which display technology does not require a backlight?

OLED.

Q26 — An RJ45 connector on an Ethernet cable is broken. Which tool should be used to replace it?

A crimper.

Q27 — An audible alarm sounds when entering a data center. What is the most likely reason?

A RAID array has failed.

Q28 — A multifunction device offers “scan to SMB.” What does that mean?

Scanned files are saved to a Microsoft/SMB network share.

Q29 — Access points receive electrical power through existing Ethernet cables. What technology is being used?

Power over Ethernet (PoE), typically from a PoE switch.

Q30 — What is a Lightning cable most commonly used for?

Charging a mobile device.

Q31 — DHCP should assign the same IP address to a laptop every time. What provides this?

Create an IP reservation on the DHCP server.

Q32 — Wires are not properly seated in a 110 block. Which tool should be used?

A punch-down tool.

Q33 — A wireless client has a 169.254.x.x address and no default gateway. What is the most likely cause?

The DHCP server is unavailable, so the client assigned itself an APIPA address.

Q34 — A technician needs several Windows versions for certification study on one PC. Which TWO options are best?

Upgrade the system RAM and use Windows guest virtual machines.

Q35 — What does 255.255.255.0 represent in an IP configuration?

The subnet mask.

Q36 — What type of network is Bluetooth commonly associated with?

PAN (Personal Area Network).

Q37 — A company adds an employee's phone to its corporate mobile-device-management system. Which deployment model best fits a company-provided phone?

COPE (Corporate-Owned, Personally Enabled).

Q38 — A smartphone has a black, nonresponsive screen, and the SIM has a red liquid-damage indicator. What is the most likely cause?

Liquid damage.

Q39 — What is the best source for finding the MAC address of a print server?

The server's network interface/NIC.

Q40 — A laptop needs to use a smartphone's Internet connection. Which wireless technology would normally connect the laptop to the phone's hotspot?

802.11 Wi-Fi.

Q41 — What is the most efficient way to upgrade a laptop from a hard drive to an SSD while preserving the existing system?

Create an image of the old drive and restore it to the SSD.

Q42 — A corporate smartphone has its camera and third-party app installation disabled. What is the most likely reason?

Mobile device management (MDM) policies disabled those features.

Q43 — After performing maintenance on a network laser printer, what should be the final step?

Reset the printer's page/maintenance counter.

Q44 — An application must be tested on several operating systems while minimizing hardware purchases. What is the best approach?

Use one sufficiently capable system and create separate virtual machines for each operating system.

Q45 — A graphics editor wants a monitor whose colors best match a laser printer's output. Which specification matters most?

Color gamut.

Q46 — Every page from a network laser printer jams inside the printer. What is the most likely cause?

The paper has an incorrect weight/type for the printer.

Q47 — Which mobile-device technology is commonly used for contactless payments?

NFC.

Q48 — A cloud application has redundant servers in data centers around the world. Which cloud characteristic does this primarily provide?

Availability.

Q49 — Which memory technology/configuration maximizes bandwidth when accessing memory modules?

Multiple memory channels.

Q50 — A laptop has Internet access away from its desk but loses it when placed in its docking station. What should you check first?

Check the docking station's network cable/connection.

Q51 — A manager wants an additional phone number on an iPhone for use in another country. What feature provides this?

An eSIM/secondary cellular line.

Q52 — Which feature is most associated with an IoT device?

ARM-based processing.

Q53 — A computer and monitor are powered on, but the screen is completely black. What is the most likely simple cause to check?

The monitor is set to the wrong input source.

Q54 — Devices with manually configured IP settings can reach the local gateway but cannot browse websites. The DNS setting points to the device itself. What should be checked next?

Correct the/check the DNS configuration.

Q55 — A device uses an F-connector. What is it most likely connected to?

A cable modem/coaxial cable service.

Q56 — A computer reports “Date and Time not set” at startup. What is the likely cause?

The motherboard/CMOS battery has discharged.

Q57 — HDMI video works but audio does not. Which TWO are likely causes?

Audio is muted, or the operating system is not configured to output audio through HDMI.

Q58 — A cloud system automatically tracks usage for usage-based billing. Which characteristic is this?

Metered service.

Q59 — Wireless laptops have intermittent connectivity while wired systems are fine. IP settings are correct. What should you check next?

Verify wireless signal strength.

Q60 — A server is slowing down and you hear clicking from inside the case. What should you do first?

Perform a full backup of the server/data before the failing drive gets worse.

Q61 — A motherboard's 12-volt power pin measures only 6 volts. What is the most likely cause?

The power supply is faulty.

Q62 — A network printer's third paper tray does not appear in print options. What should resolve it?

Update the printer driver so the available tray options are recognized.

Q63 — A laptop's corporate Wi-Fi Internet access is much slower than its remote network. What is the most likely cause?

Wireless interference.

Q64 — What is the main purpose of a port replicator?

Increase the number of available peripheral connections/interfaces, especially for a laptop.

Q65 — A shared printer works for other users but not from one application. What should you check next?

Verify the network printer name/selection in the application.

Q66 — Four company locations in different countries need to be interconnected. What type of network is this?

WAN (Wide Area Network).

Q67 — Spoofed email messages are being sent as though they came from the company. What should be implemented?

Configure an SPF record in DNS.

Q68 — What is required to start a virtual machine configured with virtual processors, RAM, and storage?

A hypervisor.

Q69 — A smartphone battery drains quickly at work because cellular reception is poor, while Wi-Fi works well. What can extend battery life?

Disable the cellular radio at work when cellular service is unnecessary.

Q70 — A desktop suddenly shuts off and has no fans, lights, or display. What is most likely?

A faulty power supply.

Q71 — What device commonly filters network traffic using a predefined set of rules?

Firewall.

Q72 — Which Internet connection type commonly uses coaxial cable to deliver data, voice, and video?

Cable broadband.

Q73 — A smartphone normally updates apps automatically, but no updates appear for weeks. What is a likely cause?

Insufficient storage space.

Q74 — What security method is commonly used to authorize Bluetooth pairing?

PIN/passcode.

Q75 — Cloud-hosted virtual desktops will be accessed through thin clients. What hardware is required at each client?

A mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

Q76 — A laptop connected to an LCD displays the correct image, but everything looks fuzzy. What is most likely?

The laptop's display resolution is incorrect for the LCD.

Q77 — A storage array must maintain high performance and uptime even if two drives fail. Which RAID level is best?

RAID 10.

Q78 — An access point is configured for 40 MHz. What does that setting describe?

Channel bandwidth.

Q79 — A printer for an open work area must be as quiet as possible. Which type is best?

Inkjet.

Q80 — A user wants to draw with a stylus through an external digitizer. What device is best?

A drawing pad/graphics tablet.

Q81 — A cloud platform automatically scales up when usage rises and scales down at night. What characteristic is this?

Elasticity.

Q82 — A tablet's finger input stops working, but its other functions still operate. What should you try first?

Restart the tablet.

Q83 — What is the best secure hardware-based method for storing encryption keys?

HSM (Hardware Security Module).

Q84 — A server works normally with its original RAM but will not boot with new ECC RAM. What is the most likely reason?

The new memory is incompatible with the motherboard.

Q85 — A workstation receives an APIPA address. What is the most likely reason?

The DHCP server is down/unreachable.

Q86 — Which device forwards traffic based on destination MAC addresses?

An Ethernet switch (an unmanaged switch can perform MAC-based forwarding).

Q87 — After BIOS changes, Windows reports that the drive can only boot in UEFI mode. What is the best next step?

Enable Secure Boot/UEFI-compatible boot configuration.

Q88 — A corporate smartphone automatically receives and updates company email-server settings after login. What provides this functionality?

MDM (Mobile Device Management).

Q89 — Which connector is used to connect a DSL modem to the telephone/DSL line?

RJ-11.

Q90 — What is the best device for capturing a printed page and saving it to a computer?

A flatbed scanner.