SecPlus Main || Wrong || SecPlus Videos || SecPlus Resources
MikeMeyers || ProfMesser
These are the questions and answers I answered incorrectly at the endchapter review in the Mike Meyers A+ book.
Ch 1: Safety and Professionalism
6. You are at a customer’s workstation to install several software and ha
rdware updates, a process that will take a while and require several reboots of the computer. What should you do about the password to the user’s account?
C. Ask the user to change her password temporarily for you to use.
Ch 2: The Visible Computer (3/10)
6. 32-bit programs are installed into which folder by default in a 64-bit edition of Windows?
D. C:\Program Files (x86)
8. Which of the following paths would open Administrative Tools in Windows 8.1?
B. To open Administrative Tools (in Win 8.1), right-click the Start button and select Administrative Tools.
9. What feature of macOS is the equivalent of the command-line interface in Windows?
C. Terminal is the equivalent of the Windows command-line interface in macOS.
Ch 3: CPUs (6/10)
1. What do registers provide for the CPU?
B. The CPU uses registers for temporary storage of internal commands and data.
2. What function does the external data bus have in the PC?
C. The external data bus provides a channel for the flow of data and commands between the CPU and RAM.
3. What is the function of the address bus in the PC?
A. The address bus enables the CPU to communicate with the memory controller chip.
6. Into which socket would you place an Intel Core i5?
B. You’ll find Core i5 processors in several socket types, notably LGA 1150 and LGA 1151.
9. A client calls to complain that his computer starts up, but crashes when Windows starts to load. After a brief set of questions, you find out that his nephew upgraded his RAM for him over the weekend and couldn’t get the computer to work right afterward. What could be the problem?
B. Most likely, the nephew disconnected the CPU fan to get at the RAM slots and simply forgot to plug it back in.
10. Darren has installed a new CPU in a client’s computer, but nothing happens when he pushes the power button on the case. The LED on the motherboard is lit up, so he knows the system has power. What could the problem be?
B. The best answer here is that he forgot the thermal paste, though you can also make an argument for a disconnected fan.
Ch. 4: RAM (4/10)
3. What is the primary reason that DDR4 RAM is faster than DDR3 RAM?
B. The input/output speed of the DDR4 RAM is faster. [The input/output speed of the DDR4 RAM is faster than that of DDR3 RAM (although the latency is higher).]
6. Silas has an AMD-based motherboard with two sticks of DDR3 RAM installed in two of the three RAM slots, for a total of 8 GB of system memory. When he runs CPU-Z to test the system, he notices that the software claims he’s running single-channel memory. What could be the problem? (Select the best answer.)
D. He needs to move one of the installed sticks to a different slot to activate dual-channel memory. [Motherboards can be tricky and require you to install RAM in the proper slots to enable dual-channel memory access. In this case, Silas should move one of the installed sticks to a different slot to activate dual-channel memory. (And he should check the motherboard manual for the proper slots.)]
9. Gregor installed a third stick of known good RAM into his Core i7 system, bringing the total amount of RAM up to 12 GB. Within a few days, though, he started having random lockups and reboots, especially when doing memory-intensive tasts such as gaming. What is most likely the problem?
C. Most likely installed RAM that didn’t match the speed or quality of the RAM in the system.
10. Cindy installs a second stick of DDR4 RAM into her Core i5 system, bringing the total system memory up to 16 GB. Within a short period of time, though, she begins experiencing Blue Screens of Death. What could the problem be?
A. She installed faulty RAM. [If you have no problems with a system and then experience problems after installing something new, chances are the something new is at fault.]
Ch. 5: Firmware (5/10)
2. What is the correct boot sequence for an older BIOS-based PC?
D. Power good, CPU, POST, boot loader, operating system. [PCPBO]
3. Jill decided to add a second hard drive to her computer. She thinks she has it physically installed correctly, but it doesn’t show up in Windows. Which of the following options will most likely lead Jill where she needs to go to resolve the issue?
B. Jill should reboot the computer and watch for instructions to enter the CMOS setup utility (for to example, a message may say to press the Delete key). She should do what it says to go into CMOS setup.
5. Which of the following most accurately describes the relationship between BIOS and hardware?
A. All hardware needs BIOS.
6. After a sudden power outage, Samson’t PC rebooted, but nothing appeared on the screen. The PC just beeps at him, over and over and over. What’s most likely the problem?
A. The power outage toasted his RAM. [The long repeating beep and a dead PC most likely indicate a problem with RAM.]
9. Jill boots an older Pentium system that has been the cause of several user complaints at the office. The system powers up and starts to run through POST, but then stops. The screen displays a “CMOS configuration mismatch” error. Of the following list, what is the most likely cause of this error?
A. The CMOS battery is likely dying.
Ch. 6: Motherboards (2/10)
1. Which of the following statements about the expansion bus is true?
B. The expansion bus crystal sets the speed for the expansion bus.[But a separate expansion bus crystal enables the expansion bus to run at different speed than the frontside bus.]
5. Amanda bought a new system that, right in the middle of an important presentation, gave her a BSOD. Now her system won’t boot at all, not even to CMOS. After extensive troubleshooting, she determined that the motherboard was at fault and replaced it. Now the system runs fine. What was the most likely cause of the problem?
A. Burn-in failure. [Critical error associated with manufacturing defects.]
Ch. 7: Power Supplies (6/10)
2. What voltage does an ATX12V P1 connector provide for the motherboard?
D. 3.3, 5 and 12 volts.
3. What sort of regular power connector do better video cards require?
C. Better video cards require one or two 6- or 8-pin PCIe connector.
5. What should you keep in mind when testing DC connectors?
A. DC has polarity. The red lead should always touch the hot wire; the black lead should ouch a ground wire.
6. What voltages should the two hot wires on a Molex connector read?
B. A Molex connector’s red wires should be at 5 volts; the yellow wire should be at 12 volts.
8. A PC’s power supply provides DC power in what standard configuration?
B. Three primary voltage rails, one each for 12-volt, 5-volt and 3.3-volt connectors.
10. How many pins does a SATA power connector have?
D. 15.
Ch. 8: Mass Storage Technologies (6/10)
2. Which form factor connects directly to a dedicated motherboard socket?
C. M.2 SSD
3. How many PATA hard drives can you have on a system with two PATA hard drive controllers?
D. 4 [Each controller supports 2 drives]
4. How do you differentiate two PATA drives on the same cable?
B. You set jumpers on the individual drives to determine which is which. [PATA drives use master/slave jumpers to differentiate between the two drives.]
6. What is the maximum cable length of an internal SATA device?
D. 1 meter
9. Which SATA version offers the least overhead (and thus the best performance)?
A. AHCI. Supports magnetic SATA drives efficiently.
10. Which RAID standard requires at least four drives?
D. RAID 10 requires at least four drives.
Ch. 9: Implementing Mass Storage (6/10)
1. Which is the most complete list of file systems Windows can use?
B. FAT 32, exFAT and NTFS.
2. Which of the following correctly identifies the four possible entries in a file allocation table?
C. An end of file marker, a bad-block marker, code indicating the cluster is available, the number of cluster where the next part of the file is stored.
5. Jaime wishes to check her hard drive for errors. What tool should she use in Windows 8.1?
D. “Error checking” is used to check a drive for errors.
7. How can you effectively expand the capacity of an NTFS drive?
B. You can effectively expand the capacity of an NTFS drive by installing a second drive and mounting it to a folder on the original smaller NTFS drive.
8. Which configuration requires three same-sized volumes?
A. RAID 5 requires three same-sized volumes.
9. Which of the following partitioning schemes enable the creation of more than four partitions or volumes on a single hard drive? Select Two.
B. GPT
C. Dynamic disk
Ch. 10: Essential Peripherals (5/10)
1. Jason put in a recommendation that the company upgrade the SD cards used in the company smartphones from 32 GB SDHC A1 to 128 GB SDXC A2. What does A2 signify?
D. A2 cards sustain faster IOPS than A1 cards. [A1 and A2 Application Performance Class ratings refer to the IOPS rating of the card, with A2 cards offering better performance than A1. This matters for smartphones with multiple apps running. SDHC and SDXC refer to the capacity of a card’s storage.]
5. What is the highest speed that Hi-Speed USB 2.0 can go?
D. 480 Mbps
6. What is the maximum cable length for USB 2.0?
C. USB has a maximum cable length of 5 meters.
8. What type of a file is a MIDI file?
D. Text
9. Which optical disc type offers the most capacity writing and rewriting data files?
C. BD-RE ((what is diff BD-RE and BD-RW?))
Ch. 11: Building a PC (3/10)
3. Cindy’s client wants a new graphics workstation. The client’s small business has ten current workstations connected in a Windows domain, and the client wants the new graphics workstation to be part of that domain. What edition of Windows 10 should Cindy install on a new computer to accomplish this goal and provide the best value?
C. Windows 10 Pro.
4. What is the most important component for building a virtualization workstation?
C. RAM. Every virtual machine uses a large share of RAM.
8. If Windows locks up during the installation, what should you do?
D. Unplug and restart.
Ch. 12: Windows under The Hood (3/10)
2. What is the name of the command-line version of the Task Manager?
B. tasklist
3. When using Performance Monitor, which settings are defined to track resource usage? (Select Two)
B,C. To track resource usage in Performance Monitor, you need to configure Objects and Counters.
4. When using Performance Monitor, which settings are defined to track resource usage? (Select Two)
A,C. The Registry’s root keys are further organized into subkeys and values.
Ch. 13: Users, Groups and Permissions (5/10)
1. Which tool or mechanism defines what resources a user may access and what he or she may do with those resources?
D. Authentication through NTFS defines resources a user may access and what he or she can do with those resources.
3. How can you encrypt an entire drive, including files and folders belonging to other users?
D. BitLocker
4. What feature in Windows 7 opens a consent prompt for standard users to enter administrator credentials to accomplish various tasks reserved for the latter group?
D. [The User Account Control feature in Windows 7 provides a consent prompt for standard users to enter administrator credentials to accomplish various tasks normally reserved for the Administrators group.]
5. Which permission enables an administrator to change the ownership of a file without knowing the user account password for that file?
D. The Take Ownership permission enables an administrator to change the ownership of a file without knowing the user account password for that file.
6. You copy a file from a folder on a hard drive formatted as NTFS, with permissions set to Read for everyone, to a USB thumb drive formattes as FAT32. What effective permissions does the copy of the file have?
D. None. [The key here is that you are copying from and NTFS hard drive to a FAT32 USB drive. Copying from and NTFS-based partition to a FAT- or exFAT-based partition creates two copies of the object; the copy of the object in the new location has no effective permissions at all.]
7. Which of the following commands is used to change file permissions in Linux?
A. chmod
8. Which tool in Windows 8.1 enables you to create a new user account based on a global Microsoft account?
C. Settings charm
Ch. 14: Maintaining and Optimizing Operating Systems (3/10)
1. What tool enables you to modify which programs start when Windows 7 starts?
C. msconfig [The System Configuration Utility (msconfig) enables you to select the programs and services that start with Windows 7.
7. Which tool enables you to test and repair a mass storage device in Windows?
C. Error checking [Windows uses Error Checking for testing and repairing mass storage devices, such as HDDs and SSDs.
10. What feature included in Windows 8, 8.1, and 10 allows you to back up your important files and folders regularly?
D. File History is an awesome backup tool included with Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. It enables you to perform backups of important files and folders regularly.
Ch. 15: Working with the Command-Line Interface (5/10)
3. Which of the following commands will delete all the files in a directory in Linux?
C. rm * [Type rm * and press enter to delete all files in a directory in Linux.]
4. Which command do you use to determine your exact folder location (path) in Linux?
C. pwd [the pwd command enables you to determine the current folder location in Linux.]
5. Which Windows command is functionally equivalent to the Linus ls command?
A. dir [The Windows dir command accomplishes a similar function to the Linus ls command.]
6. What do you type before a Linux command to access help for that command?
C. man [Access the help for a linus command by typing man [command name].]
7. Which of the following Linux commands will show detailed information about the contents of a folder?
A. ls -l . [The key here is that you are copying from and NTFS hard drive to a FAT32 USB drive. Copying from and NTFS-based partition to a FAT- or exFAT-based partition creates two copies of the object; the copy of the object in the new location has no effective permissions at all.]
Ch. 16: Troubleshooting Operating Systems (5/10)
3. Scott’s Windows 10 computer isn’t performing as well as it once did. What option can he use to reset his system without deleting any personal filesor changing any settings?
A. Keep my files. [In Windows 10 rebuilds windows, but preserves all user files and settings. Remove everything removes all apps, programs, user files, user settings, and presents a fesh installation of Windows.]
4. What can device drivers and failing hardware in macOS and Linux cause?
C. Kernal panic [Kp can fring the system down.]
7. What does Microsoft call the 32- or 64-bit installation environment in Windows?
B. WinPE [Windows Preinstallation Environment or WinPE.]
9. Which of the following commands will repair a damaged master boot record in a Windows 10 PC?
B. Run bootrec /fixmbr in Windows RE to repair a damaged master boot record in a Windows 10 PC
10. Which feature in Windows 7 and Windows 10 enables you to right-click a file or folder and restore previous version of that file or folder?
B. System protection . [enables you to right-click a file or folder and restore previous versions of that file or folder.]
Ch. 17: Display Technologies (3/10)
1. What do we call the time it takes for all of the sub-pixels on he panel to change from one state to another?
C. Response rate.
2. What provides the illumination for LCD monitors?
A. Backlights
10. A client calls complaining that his aging LCD monitor is flickering. What is most likely the problem?
C. The CCFL backlight is failing [LCD monitors have a fixed refresh rate, so the most likely cause here is that the CCFL backlight is failing. LED backlights don’t flicker]
Ch. 18: Essentials of Networking (2/10)
6. What kind of frame gets received by all NICs in a LAN?
B. Broadcast [All NICs in a LAN will receive broadcast frames.
8. John’s boss asks for a recommendation for connecting the company network to a small satellite building about 1 km from the main campus. The company owns the verdant land in between. Given such a scenario, what network technology implementation should John suggest?
D. Ethernet over single-mode fiber [John should suggest the only network technology that can cover those distances (of what was listed), Ethernet over single-mode fiber.]
Ch. 19: Local Area Networking (4/10)
1. Steven’s Windows system can’t connect to the Internet, and he comes to you, his PC tech, for help. You figure out that it’s a DHCP problem. What program should you run to troubleshoot his DHCP problem from the client side?
A. ipconfig [You should run ipconfig, or more specifically ipconfig /release and then ipconfig /renew to get a new IP address if a DHCP server is available for Steven’s Windows system. This typically resolves most DHCP client-side problems. ifconfig is the program used by macOS and Linux systems for this task. Neither config nor dhcp is valid.]
3. Which of the following is the correct net syntax for discovering which network shares on a particular server are mapped on your computer?
A. net view \\fileserver
4. What small device enables you to test a NIC’s circuitry?
A. Loopback plug [will test the NIC’s Ethernet port and circuitry]
5. Which command can be used to display the cached NetBIOS names for a Windows system?
C. nbtstat -a [nslookup and dig only work with DNS, not NetBIOS, nbtstat -a is for querying a remote system’s name, but nbtstat -c displayed the cached names]
Ch. 20: Wireless Networking (4/10)
1. Which of the following 802.11 standards functions only on the 5-GHz band?
C. 802.11ac 1
3. Which device enables you to extend the capabilities of a wireless network?
A. WAP
7. What is the top speed for data transfers using IrDA technology?
B. 4 Mbps
9. What is the name for the common omni-directional antennas found on wireless access points?
B. Dipole antennas
Ch. 21: The Internet (2/10)
3. What advantage does dial-up have over DSL?
B. You can be farther than 18,000 feet from a main phone service switching center
7. Which of the following represent invalid port to protocol matchups (2)?
B. 3398 = RDP
C. 80 = HTTPS ]RDP uses 3389, HTTPS uses port 443; HTTP uses port 80
Ch. 22: Virtualization (4/10)
2. What is the difference between a virtual machine (VM) and an emulator?
B. An emulator converts commands to and from a host machine to an entirely different platform, whereas a VM creates an environment based on the host machine and does no converting [a VM mirrors the host machine].
3. What feature lets you save a VMs state so you can quickly restore to that point? (choose 2)
A. Checkpoint
C. Snapshot
6. Janelle wants to start a new photo-sharing service for real pictures of Bigfoot, but doesn’t own any servers. How can she quickly create a new server to run her service?
A. Public cloud
9. When a virtual machine is not running, how is it stored?
D. Files
Ch 23: Portable Computing (1/10)
3. ExpressCards connect to which busses? (choose 2)
C. PCIe
Ch 24: Understanding Mobile Devices (2/10)
5. What are the steps involved in pairing a Bluetooth keyboard with a tablet?
A. Enable Bluetooth on the tablet; turn on the Bluetooth device; find the device with the tablet; enter a PIN code or other pairing sequence
9. What information do you need to connect an Android-based tablet to an IMAP account?
C. User name, password, sending and receiving server addresses
Ch 25: Care and Feeding of Mobile Devices (6/10)
1. After five minutes of struggling with a painfully sluggish device, you finally manage to close the offending application. What’s the best next step?
C. Perform a soft reset and see if the app runs smoothly afterward
2. Which of the following would be a legitimate reason a mobile device is running slowly?
C. Lack of storage space
3. Joyce notices her GPS map app gives the error “GPS coordinates not available”. What should she try first?
C. Move to a place where she can get a good GPS signal
4. You’ve lost your iPhone. What would you use to try to find it?
D. iCloud [specifically, the Find My iPhone feature]
6. Jailbreaking an iPhone gives access to:
B. The root account
8. Which mobile operating system requires a third-party software firewall?
A. Android
Ch. 26: Printers and Multifunction Devices (4/10)
2. With a laser printer, what creates the image on the photosensitive drum?
B. Laser imaging unit
4. On a dot-matrix printer, what physically strikes the ribbon to form an image?
B. printwires
6. what part must be vacuumed or replaced periodically to prevent damage caused by the action of the corona?
B. The ozone filter
7. Which of the following port types do most printers support?
B. USB
Ch 27: Securing Computers (2/10)
3. Which of the following tools would enable you to stop a user from logging on to a local machine but still enable him to log on to the domain?
C. Local Security Policy
7. What tool would you use to enable auditing on a local lever?
C. Local Security Policy
Ch 28: Operational Procedures (6/10)
2. Annie wants to mark several Mac laptops issued to salespeople so that she can set up a scanner at the office door to track each time the laptops enter and leave the building. What will help her accomplish this goal?
B. Ass an RFID tag to each laptop
3. Joan has proposed upgrading the inkjet printers in the marketing department with color laser printers. The purpose of the change is to reduce the cost per page printed, because toner is less expensive than ink and the duty cycle of laser printers is longer than that of inkjet printers. The marketing department currently has three inkjet printers. What’s her logical next step?
A. She should complete the scope of change part of the change document to factor in the price of the printers
4. Once the change board has reviewed and approved Joan’s plan for the new printers, what’s her next step?
A. Create a backout plan in case the quality of print with the laser printers isn’t sufficient for the marketing materials.
5. What broad term the process of creating a road map for current and future techs to make changes or repairs over time for an organization?
D. Network documentation
6. What broad term describes the process of enabling organizations to implement changes to IT infrastructure in a safe and cost-effective manner?
B. Change management
7. As part of the change management process, educating users on new systems is an important component in which of the following?
C. End-user acceptance
MikeMeyers || ProfMesser
From Professor Messer’s CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1001 Practice Exams
Section A. Wrongly answered, 13 out of 90 = 85.56%
A2. Order these technologies from fastest throughput to slowest:
Thunderbolt 3 – 40 gigabits per second
802.11n – 150 megabits per second
1000BASE-T – 1 gigabit per second
FireWire 800 – 800 megabits per second
SATA Revision 3.0 – 6 gigabits per second
USB 3.0 – 5 gigabits per second
It’s useful to know the functionality and limitations of common technologies,
and these will become especially useful for questions asking for the best possible
option for transferring data.
A3. Match the port number to the protocol. Not all port numbers will be used.
tcp/443 HTTPS – HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure
tcp/389 LDAP – Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
udp/53 DNS – Domain Name System
tcp/143 IMAP – Internet Message Access Protocol
udp/161 SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol
tcp/3389 RDP – Remote Desktop Protocol
tcp/22 SSH – Secure Shell
Port numbers can be challenging to memorize, so you may want to consider
adding some firewall rules in Windows Firewall or any third-party firewall frontend.
Once you create firewall rules and work with some of the port numbers,
you’ll find that they’re much easier to remember..
A11. A user has powered on their computer and received the message
“Operating system not found.” A check of the system shows that the hard
drive cables are properly connected. Which of the following would be the
NEXT best troubleshooting step?
❍ A. Boot to Safe Mode
❍ B. Replace the boot drive
❍ C. Restore from a known good backup
❍ D. Check for removable drives
The Answer: D. Check for removable drives
If a USB (Universal Serial Bus) storage device is connected to a computer
and the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is checking USB devices before
the primary storage drive, the “Operating system not found” error could
appear with some USB devices. To avoid this error, the boot order in the
BIOS can be changed, or the USB device can be disconnected during the
boot process and reconnected after the operating system has started.
A17. A firewall is configured to block email transfers from a remote server.
Which of the following ports is the firewall blocking?
❍ A. 443
❍ B. 22
❍ C. 23
❍ D. 25
The Answer: D. 25
Port 25 is used by SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) to send email
messages from devices and transfer those messages between SMTP email
servers.
A24. Which of the following ports are used for file transfers? (Select TWO)
❍ A. 21
❍ B. 110
❍ C. 25
❍ D. 23
❍ E. 20
❍ F. 53
The Answer: A. 21 and E. 20
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a standard method of transferring files
across different operating systems. FTP uses TCP (Transmission Control
Protocol) ports 20 for control messages and port 21 to transfer data.
A44. An application developer needs to test an application across all of the
operating systems used by the company. Each operating system will be
tested individually in a lab environment. The company would like to
minimize any additional hardware purchases for this project. Which of
the following would be the BEST way to test this application?
❍ A. Purchase a system that is configured just above the hardware
requirements for the highest-end operating system. Create separate
VMs for each operating system.
❍ B. Purchase individual test computers that match the hardware
requirements for each OS. Install different operating systems on
each test computer.
❍ C. Designate existing user workstations to be used as testing systems.
Run all application tests during non-working hours.
❍ D. Purchase a system that matches the minimum hardware
requirements for the highest-end operating system. Create a system
image for each operating system and reimage the computer
between tests.
The Answer: A. Purchase a system that is configured just above the
hardware requirements for the highest-end operating system. Create
separate VMs for each operating system.
Creating virtual machines for these tests would be a great way to minimize
hardware costs, and the machine used for the testing should be able to
properly virtualize the testing OS while the host OS is running. Purchasing
a system that is slightly more powerful than the highest-level operating
system configuration should cover any technical requirements.
A45. Which wireless standard operates in the 5 GHz band and provides over
5 Gbit/sec of throughput?
❍ A. 802.11n
❍ B. 802.11g
❍ C. 802.11ac
❍ D. 802.11a
The Answer: C. 802.11ac
802.11ac operates in the 5 GHz band and can provide almost 7 gigabits per
second of total throughput.
A58. A system administrator created a series of VMs that will use a portion of a
server’s available physical memory. Which of the following describes this
cloud computing characteristic?
❍ A. Resource pooling
❍ B. Rapid elasticity
❍ C. Metered
❍ D. On-demand
The Answer: A. Resource pooling
Resource pooling places all of the computing resources in one place, and
then distributes from the pool when needed. A VM (Virtual Machine)
manager using a portion of available physical memory is taking advantage
of resource pooling.
A59. A group of wireless laptops in a conference room are reporting
intermittent connectivity issues. The wired computers in the room are not
experiencing any network problems. A check of the laptops shows that
the IP addresses and configurations appear to be correct. Which of the
following would be the best NEXT troubleshooting step?
❍ A. Verify the wireless signal strength
❍ B. Check the ARP table on the default gateway
❍ C. Confirm the operation of the DHCP server
❍ D. Perform a wire map on the network drops
The Answer: A. Verify the wireless signal strength
Since the wired devices are working properly, the troubleshooting process
should focus on the wireless network. The connectivity is also intermittent,
which means that the network is operating normally during certain
periods. This would move the focus from the network configuration to an
availability issue.
A72. Which of these connection types use coax to provide Internet data, voice,
and video over the same wire?
❍ A. DSL
❍ B. Cable
❍ C. ISDN
❍ D. Dialup
The Answer: B. Cable
Cable television brought cable into everyone’s home, and now they include
voice and Internet services on the same coax cable.
A77. An engineering firm is upgrading their storage array to include additional
drive space for documents and designs. The primary goal is to provide
high performance and uptime, even if two drives were to fail. Which of
the following would be the BEST choice for this firm?
❍ A. RAID 1
❍ B. RAID 5
❍ C. RAID 0
❍ D. RAID 10
The Answer: D. RAID 10
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a method of combining
storage drives together to add speed and/or redundancy. A RAID 10 array is
a nested RAID configuration that creates a mirrored set of RAID 0 drives.
As long as only one drive fails in each RAID 0 mirror, the redundancy will
remain valid and the user’s data will continue to be available.
A85. A workstation has been assigned an APIPA address. Which of the
following would be the MOST likely reason for this configuration?
❍ A. The workstation is not connected to the wireless network
❍ B. The DNS server is misconfigured
❍ C. The network is using public Internet addresses
❍ D. The DHCP server is down
The Answer: D. The DHCP server is down
APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) is an IPv4 (Internet Protocol
version 4) link-local addressing scheme. If a device does not have a static
IP address and an address is not available from a DHCP server, the local
device will assign itself an APIPA address so that communication to other
APIPA devices on the same subnet will be available.
A87. A system administrator made some BIOS changes to a desktop computer
running Windows 10, and now this message appears when starting the
computer:
“This drive can only boot in UEFI mode.”
Which of the following would be the BEST next troubleshooting step?
❍ A. Modify the boot drive sequence
❍ B. Enable Secure Boot
❍ C. Remove the BIOS password
❍ D. Boot the system with the Windows setup media
The Answer: B. Enable Secure Boot
Secure Boot is part of the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface)
standard for a computer BIOS (Basic Input Output System). Secure Boot
ensures that the underlying operating system has not been modified by
malware or any other process.
From Professor Messer’s CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1001 Practice Exams
Section B. Wrongly answered, 15 out of 90 = 67.5%
B4. Match these network protocols to their description.
Not all protocols will be used.
AFP Transfer files between macOS devices
AFP (Apple Filing Protocol) is used for copying, moving, deleting, and
other file services in macOS. AFP commonly operates over tcp/548
SMTP Send email messages from a mobile device
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used to send messages from a
device, or to transfer email messages between email servers over tcp/25
SNMP Gather statistics from network devices
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is used to monitor and
configure network devices over udp/161. Devices can send alerts (called
“traps”) to an SNMP console over udp/162.
DHCP Automatically assign IP addresses
DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) is the primary protocol
commonly used to automate the configuration of IP addresses, subnet
masks, and other networking options. DHCP uses both udp/67 and
udp/68 for these auto-configuration tasks.
SLP Find Mac OS services by name
SLP (Service Location Protocol) is used to populate the list of available
devices on a macOS devices. SLP commonly uses tcp/427 and udp/427.
CIFS Print from Windows to a network printer
CIFS (Common Internet File System) is also known as SMB (Server
Message Block), and it’s commonly used on Windows systems for file and
printer sharing over tcp/445.
SSH Encrypt a terminal connection
SSH (Secure Shell) is used to communicate to a terminal screen over an
encrypted channel using tcp/22.
B5. Match the technologies to their description.
Not all technologies will be used.
Hybrid Services are available publicly on the Internet
and within a private network
A public cloud is available to everyone over the Internet, and a private cloud
exists within an organization’s own data center. A hybrid model combines both
of these into a mix of both public and private cloud components.
Resource pooling Individual services are allocated from a larger resource
Cloud technologies allow a cloud service provider to create large pools of
resources and separate those pools into smaller virtualized groups as needed.
This allows the service provider to manage smaller and more powerful groups of
hardware devices and separate that hardware into different logical groups.
IaaS Hardware is available as an on-demand resource
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is sometimes called Hardware as a Service
(HaaS). With IaaS, the service provider allocates hardware to be used in the
cloud, and it’s the responsibility of the customer to install operating systems,
applications, and data into the IaaS infrastructure.
Rapid elasticity Services can scale up or down as needed
Resource demands can change dramatically depending on the time of day,
the season of the year, or an advertising campaign. Rapid elasticity allows the
infrastructure to grow and shrink based on these changing demands.
Unused answers:
Community cloud-based resources are shared by several organizations
simultaneously. These resources straddle the line between a public and private
deployment model.
SaaS (Software as a Service) is a cloud model that provides on-demand software
with no local installation or local support requirement.
Metered cloud services allow a customer to pay for what they use instead of
purchasing resources at a fixed rate.
B9. What kind of IPv6 address starts with fe80: ?
❍ A. Link-local
❍ B. Broadcast
❍ C. Loopback
❍ D. Multicast
The Answer: A. Link-local
A link-local address is an address that can only communicate to other
devices on the same subnet. In IPv6, all link-local addresses start with
fe80:.
B12. The computers in the shipping department are receiving the message “No
connectivity” on their computers. The ipconfig output on one of the
computers provides this information:
IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.22
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.1
From this device, a technician is able to successfully ping 127.0.0.1 and
192.168.1.22. The technician can also ping other devices in the shipping
department, but cannot receive a ping response from servers in the data
center or from the 192.168.1.1 address.
Which of these would be the MOST likely cause of this issue?
❍ A. The DHCP server is down
❍ B. The wireless network is experiencing interference
❍ C. The local router is down
❍ D. The Internet provider is experiencing an outage
The Answer: C. The local router is down
The default gateway is commonly the local router for the IP subnet. If the
default gateway address of 192.168.1.1 is not responding to a ping, then the
router may not be operational.
B16. A server administrator is configuring a new system for virtualization.
Which of the following configurations would provide virtualization
support on an Intel CPU?
❍ A. Install a 64-bit operating system
❍ B. Turn on HTT
❍ C. Allocate a larger amount of storage space to the
virtualization partition
❍ D. Enable VT in the firmware
The Answer: D. Enable VT in the firmware
Many Intel processors support VT, or Intel Virtualization Technology.
This CPU (Central Processing Unit) feature for virtualization provides
hardware support for hypervisors and can make the virtualization process
much more efficient than running the virtual machines in a software-only
environment.
B23. A new laptop is connected to an LCD projector in a conference room.
However, the LCD projection shows a compressed picture where squares
look more like rectangles. Which of the following would resolve this issue?
❍ A. Replace the video cable
❍ B. Change the laptop resolution
❍ C. Power cycle the projector
❍ D. Replace the projector bulb
The Answer: B. Change the laptop resolution
The resolution setting of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) monitor or
projector will display information with a specific number of horizontal and
vertical pixels. If the resolution of the display is different than the settings
on the computer, the output may appear skewed or blurry due to an
incorrect aspect ratio. Setting the computer to match the native resolution
of the monitor will provide the best possible output.
B28. A medical office is installing a new network attached storage device.
Which of the following components would be MOST important for this
installation? (Choose TWO)
❍ A. SSD
❍ B. High-end video
❍ C. Gigabit NIC
❍ D. Dual monitors
❍ E. Enhanced audio card
❍ F. RAID array
The Answers: C. Gigabit NIC, and F. RAID array
A NAS (Network Attached Storage) device needs a lot of storage space,
and it needs to provide access to that storage across the network. For
those reasons, a RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) array and
a gigabit NIC (Network Interface Card) are important components of any
NAS configuration.
B32. A user has complained that a laptop will not charge their battery past 25%
percent, and the laptop only operates for fifteen minutes when on battery
power. The battery and the AC adapter have already been replaced.
Which of the following components would be the MOST likely cause of
this issue?
❍ A. Motherboard
❍ B. Backlight inverter
❍ C. 802.11 adapter
❍ D. CPU
The Answer: A. Motherboard
The motherboard on a laptop usually contains all of the major subsystems,
including the CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, video, and power.
If the laptop will not charge a battery or power the system, then the entire
motherboard will need to be replaced.
B40. What cloud-based service provides hardware, but still requires the user to
setup, configure, and manage the operating system and applications?
❍ A. SaaS
❍ B. PaaS
❍ C. IaaS
❍ D. DaaS
The Answer: C. IaaS
IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is a service hosting option that provides
CPU, memory, network connections, and storage, and the customer installs
and manages all of the software that uses the infrastructure hardware.
B46. A production editor is configuring a new video editing workstation.
Which of the following would be the MOST important component for
this system?
❍ A. RAID array
❍ B. Dual monitors
❍ C. High-end cooling
❍ D. Gigabit NIC
The Answer: B. Dual monitors
Video editors need one monitor for editing and a second monitor to view
the results of the output.
B52. A user is reporting this message on their Windows computer taskbar icon:
“Limited or No connectivity.” Which of the following would be the best
NEXT troubleshooting step?
❍ A. Check the local IP address configuration
❍ B. Restart the computer
❍ C. Ping the default gateway
❍ D. Check the switch VLAN configuration
❍ E. Check for a duplicate IP address
The Answer: A. Check the local IP address configuration
The message of limited connectivity is usually based on a system that does
not have access to network resources. This is often occurs when a system is
not able to contact a DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server
and instead assigns itself an APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing)
address. A check of the local IP address may identify a configuration error
or an link-local address.
B73. A network administrator would like to prevent wired kiosk workstations
from connecting to the wireless network. Which of the following would be
the BEST way to provide this type of control?
❍ A. QoS
❍ B. Port forwarding
❍ C. UPnP
❍ D. MAC filtering
The Answer: D. MAC filtering
Filtering on a MAC (Media Access Control) address allows the network
administrator to control which physical devices can connect to a network.
If the kiosk workstations are added to a MAC address blacklist, those
specific devices will be blocked from connecting to the wireless network.
B76. A member of the accounting department would like to work remotely
while attending a conference in another city. Which of these technologies
would BEST provide this functionality?
❍ A. VLAN
❍ B. 802.11
❍ C. VPN
❍ D. NAT
The Answer: C. VPN
A VPN (Virtual Private Network) would allow a remote user to connect
back to the corporate office over a secure encrypted tunnel.
B77. In which of the following situations would you be MOST likely to
use a multimeter?
❍ A. Identify interference on wireless channels
❍ B. Map the pins of an Ethernet cable
❍ C. Test packet loss on a router interface
❍ D. Locate a specific workstation connection on a punch-down block
The Answer: B. Map the pins of an Ethernet cable
The continuity feature of a multimeter can be used to create a wire map if
both ends of the cable are relatively close to each other.
B81. A system administrator needs to replace the keyboard on a laptop, but
the vendor has not provided any repair documentation. Which of the
following would be the BEST way to handle this issue?
❍ A. Check the vendor’s website each day for a repair document
❍ B. Replace the entire laptop
❍ C. Disassemble the laptop case and document the process
❍ D. Use an external USB keyboard
The Answer: C. Disassemble the laptop case and document the process
Although it’s common to find hardware guides, you’ll occasionally need
to work on equipment that does not have any documentation or the
documentation is not available to you. In these circumstances, the only
option may be to disassemble the device and document each step of the
repair process yourself.
B89. A system administrator is connecting a remote site to the Internet over a
single pair of copper cabling. Which of the following is the administrator
using for this installation?
❍ A. PoE switch
❍ B. Hub
❍ C. DSL modem
❍ D. Repeater
The Answer: C. DSL modem
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) Internet connections use the same single
copper pair of wires that are traditionally used by POTS (Plain Old
Telephone Service) lines. DSL modems connect to this pair of wires and
convert the signal to an Ethernet connection that can be used by other
devices.
These are the Professor Messer A+ Core 1 Exam Links to Videos.
Troubleshooting Common Hardware Problems https://professormesser.link/1001050201
Common Network Ports https://professormesser.link/1001020102
Network Tools https://professormesser.link/1001020801
How To Troubleshoot https://professormesser.link/1001050101
Assigning IP Addresses https://professormesser.link/1001020602
Mobile Device Synchronization https://professormesser.link/1001010701
Device Disassembly Best Practices https://professormesser.link/1001050503
Mobile Device Connections https://professormesser.link/1001010501
802.11 Wireless Standards https://professormesser.link/1001020401
Copper Network Cables https://professormesser.link/1001030101
Troubleshooting Video and Display Issues https://professormesser.link/100105040
Troubleshooting Networks https://professormesser.link/1001050701
Computer Power
https://professormesser.link/1001030701
Configuring Email on Mobile Devices https://professormesser.link/1001010602
- 11g functions in 2.4GHz, 802.11n functions on both, and 802.11i is a security standard called WPA2 ↵