Chapter 5 - Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Flashcards
You are an avid fan of Twitch, the streaming application where you entertain yourself as you
watch other people play games. Twitch works well at your house and at your friend’s house.
However, when you visit the website at work, the website looks fine, but you can’t watch
anyone play games. You’ve tried this on both your phone and your laptop. Which of the fol-
lowing should you suspect as the reason?
A. Your immediate supervisor
B. Your company’s Wi-F i connection bandwidth
C. Your company data retention policy
D. Your company firewall
D. Your supervisor probably prefers that you are not on Twitch but has little actual impact
on the site’s performance. The Wi-Fi connection would be sufficient. The company likely has
a policy against watching streaming applications or against particular websites like Twitch.
However, the data retention policy is not relevant. Instead, the firewall is the reason behind
the streaming being denied.
A user approaches you and asks for a CPU upgrade so their Lenovo laptop will run faster.
What is most likely the easiest way to meet this user’s needs?
A. Remove the CPU and replace it with a faster one that fits the same socket.
B. Replace the laptop with one that has a faster CPU.
C. Replace the motherboard with a generic laptop motherboard with a faster processor.
D. Replace the motherboard with a Lenovo laptop motherboard with a faster processor.
B. Laptop processors generally are permanently attached to the motherboard. And motherboards are normally proprietary, meaning one from a certain model will not fit into a different case. Therefore, the best course of action is likely a laptop upgrade.
You are using a USB flash drive to transfer files from a laptop. You plug the USB drive in and
then copy the files to it. What is the recommended way to remove the drive?
A. Unplug the drive.
B. Use the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the system tray, stop the drive, and then unplug
it.
C. Close the drive’s window in File Explorer and unplug it.
D. Use the Shut Down Hardware icon in the system tray, stop the drive, and then unplug it.
B. You need to stop the device first (this is good policy even for USB devices) using the Safely
Remove Hardware icon in the system tray (it looks like a card and may have a green arrow
or green check mark over it, depending on your version of Windows). Highlight the device
and click Stop. Once it’s stopped, you can unplug it.
You have decided to start playing video-i ntensive games on your laptop computer. The
video appears jumpy and slow to respond. What should you do first to try to increase the
performance during game play?
A. Upgrade the video card.
B. Install additional video memory.
C. Use Windows Control Panel to increase the amount of video memory available.
D. Use the system BIOS/UEFI to increase the amount of video memory available.
D. Many laptops use shared video memory, meaning that system RAM is divided up for use
between the processor and the video card. On these types of systems, the amount of RAM
available for video is configured in the BIOS/UEFI.
A guest presenter plugs an external projector into their laptop using the HDMI port on the
back of the laptop. They then use the Fn key and video toggle switch; the projector displays
the presentation, but the laptop screen goes dark. What should they do if they want to see the
presentation on both the projector and the laptop?
A. Install a second video driver and then use the video toggle key to switch the video output
to both screens.
B. Unplug the projector and plug it back in to synchronize it with the laptop.
C. Unplug the projector, use the video toggle key to switch the video output, and then plug
the projector back in.
D. Press the video toggle key again until the presentation is shown on both screens.
D. Because of the much smaller space available for keys, some laptop keys are consolidated
into special multifunction keys. These keys are accessed through the standard keys by using a
special function (Fn) key. Nearly every laptop has a video connector on the back or the side
to plug in an external display or a projector. You will need to use the video toggle key to get
this external port to work. Usually there are three or four states: laptop only, external output
only, duplicate, or extend the desktop (some models won’t extend the desktop).
A user has a laptop that is intermittently locking up. Initial diagnostics indicate that the pro-
cessor is overheating. What can you do to try to remediate the issue? (Choose two.)
A. Leave the case open while the system is running to allow for better airflow and cooling.
B. Lower the CPU voltage in the system BIOS/UEFI.
C. Lower the CPU clock speed in the system BIOS/UEFI.
D. Run the laptop on AC power instead of battery power.
B, C. To combat heat, you can either slow the processor down (run it at a lower speed) or
give it less juice (run it at a lower voltage). Most of the time, this is configured in the system
BIOS/UEFI. For example, many Intel processors have SpeedStep technology to slow the processor down to produce less heat, and they may also have adaptive thermal management.
A client has a laptop with an integrated video card. The system seems to boot but produces
no video, even with an external display hooked up. What can you do to fix this?
A. Add an external USB video card and connect the display to it.
B. Remove the existing video card, and replace it with a new internal video card.
C. Replace the motherboard.
D. Leave the existing card in the system, and add an internal Mini PCIe video card.
C. If the integrated video card fails, you’re looking at a motherboard replacement. Some lap-
tops do have a replaceable video card. If it fails or if you choose to upgrade it, the procedure
will probably resemble replacing system memory.
A user has brought their laptop to you because the screen is intermittently flickering. Which
display component is most likely causing this?
A. Backlight
B. LCD
C. Screen
D. Inverter
D. If you are having problems with flickering screens or dimness, it’s more likely that the
inverter is the problem and not the backlight itself.
An administrator ordered replacement printer paper that is a thicker caliper than recom-
mended by the printer manufacturer. What is the biggest risk in using this paper?
A. Images will not print.
B. Paper will not feed.
C. Paper will jam.
D. Images will not print.
C. Thicker paper can cause paper jams, especially in printers with curved paper paths. Paper
that is too thin may not get picked up by the printer rollers at all.
You have an OLED display that you just plugged into a desktop computer. One of your
coworkers changes the resolution from 1920×1080 to 1920×1200, but then the image looks
highly distorted. What is the most likely cause of this?
A. The video driver does not support 1920×1200 resolution.
B. The display has a native resolution of 1920×1080.
C. The video adapter has a native resolution of 1920×1080.
D. The monitor is plugged into the wrong display interface to support the new resolution.
B. Most digital displays have a native resolution, which is a single, fixed resolution that they
support. Attempting to change the resolution may result in distorted images, or the image
may not display at all.
A user has a display that flashes a black screen every few seconds. What is likely set incor-
rectly and causing the problem?
A. Refresh rate
B. Frame rate
C. Native resolution
D. Aspect ratio
A. Refresh rate defines the vertical scan frequency of a display and determines how many
times, in one second, an image can be redrawn on the screen. Many LCD displays have a
fixed refresh rate. If the refresh rate is set faster than the video card or software can run, then
problems such as a black screen every few seconds may result. The solution is to lower the
refresh rate or invest in new hardware.
A friend who plays video games has asked you how they can fix tearing on their display.
What will you tell them?
A. They need a new display.
B. The refresh rate is set too low.
C. The screen’s refresh rate is set too high.
D. It’s a software defect.
B. Often when tearing happens, a video game is sending frames to the display faster than the
display can render them. Setting the refresh rate of the display higher, if it supports this, may
solve the problem.
What is the name of the boot routine that verifies the size and integrity of the system
memory, among other tasks?
A. RAMCheck
B. BIOS
C. UEFI
D. POST
D. The power- on self- test (POST) is a series of system checks performed by the system BIOS
when the computer is turned on. Checking the system memory is part of the POST routine.
You upgraded the RAM on your system and are now having boot issues. The manufacturer’s
website recommends updating the BIOS. What is the easiest way to do this?
A. Replace the BIOS chip.
B. Replace the CMOS battery.
C. Install a new motherboard.
D. Flash the BIOS.
D. Flashing the BIOS is the recommended way to upgrade a BIOS. It involves downloading
the new BIOS and flashing software from the manufacturer and installing it on the computer.
The worst- case scenario is replacing the motherboard (or in this case, the RAM, since that is
what you upgraded).
You moved a projector from an old conference room to a new one. The projector was
working fine in the other room, but the image seems dim in the new room. Before you
purchase a new projector, which of the following should you try?
A. Increase the frame rate.
B. Lower the native resolution.
C. Adjust the aspect ratio.
D. Turn the brightness up.
D. If the projector worked fine in a different room, then it’s something about the new
conference room. If the room is brighter, you’ll need to turn up the brightness of the pro-
jector or turn off lights and close shades. If these don’t solve the issue, then you might need
a new projector. Lumens is the measure of brightness for a projector. For a well- lit business
setting, you probably want a projector rated at 5,000–6,000 lumens.
Your friend has just finished building a computer. After installing the operating system, all
seems fine except that they found that flash drives placed in the USB ports on the top of the
case do not get noticed by the OS. Where do you suspect the problem is?
A. Device drivers outdated
B. USB settings misconfigured
C. Motherboard’s internal USB connector disconnected
D. System clock
C. Likely the friend forgot to connect the internal USB connector on the motherboard to the
USB ports of the case.
You are troubleshooting a Mac running macOS. Intermittently, the computer will completely
lock up and display a rotating pinwheel instead of the mouse cursor. It happens when differ-
ent applications are running. What is most likely causing this problem?
A. CPU
B. RAM
C. Motherboard
D. Faulty application
B. The spinning pinwheel, also known as the “Spinning Wheel of Death,” can happen for
several reasons. Sometimes it’s a frozen app, but in this case, it’s happening when different
apps are running, so hardware would be suspect. Of the hardware listed, the RAM is the
most likely problem. A faulty hard drive could also cause the problem.
You’re at a friend’s house when you notice a burning smell from their computer. What is the
first thing you should do?
A. Grab a fire extinguisher.
B. Unplug the computer.
C. Call the fire department.
D. Tell your friend to get a new computer.
B. It’s rare that a computer will catch on fire, but sometimes wires are frayed and excessive
dust can cause short circuits to happen. Burning electronics have an unmistakable odor. If
you ever smell electronics burning, even if you don’t see smoke or flame, immediately unplug
the device.
You are troubleshooting a desktop computer that is prone to unexpected shutdowns. They
seem to happen randomly, sometimes shortly after the computer starts, other times after
several minutes. The user reports that no error messages appear before the computer shuts
down. Which two things are most likely to cause this type of problem? (Choose two.)
A. Failing hard drive
B. Bad RAM
C. BIOS/UEFI misconfiguration
D. Improperly seated chips
B, D. Unexpected shutdowns are difficult to troubleshoot, as are all intermittent issues. The
first thing to check is to ensure that all socketed chips are seated properly; in fact, reseat-
ing them is a good option. If that does not resolve the issue, test the RAM or replace it
if possible.
You’re troubleshooting a computer that the user says shuts down after 10 minutes, every
time they start the computer. If they wait a few minutes and restart it, the same thing hap-
pens. What is most likely the problem?
A. RAM
B. Hard drive
C. Processor
D. Motherboard
C. Most likely, the processor is overheating. Check that the thermal paste/tape between the
processor and heat sink have not dried out. If they were fine, then consider adding better or
additional fans in the case. This would also be a good time to clean any dust out of the case.
A user calls the IT help desk in a panic because they have a BSOD on the screen. You ask
them if there is a specific error message displayed, and if they have installed any hardware or
software lately. They haven’t. What would be a good first step to resolve the BSOD?
A. Try rebooting the system; Windows will try to fix it.
B. Refresh the operating system.
C. Reinstall the operating system.
D. Restore to a previous version.
A. Sometimes it’s as simple as rebooting the system and the problem will resolve. If it
doesn’t, then the solution depends on any error messages received and what you find in the
troubleshooting process.
You have just replaced faulty RAM in a desktop computer. You reboot the computer, and
after a few seconds it beeps once. What does this indicate?
A. The RAM is faulty.
B. The motherboard needs to be replaced.
C. The system BIOS detected an error in the POST routine.
D. The system BIOS completed the POST routine normally.
D. Every computer has a diagnostic program built into its basic input/output system (BIOS)
called the power- on self-t est (POST). When you turn on the computer, it executes this set of
diagnostics. If the computer doesn’t perform the POST as it should, one way to determine the
source of a problem is to listen for a beep code. This is a series of beeps from the computer’s
speaker. A successful POST generally produces a single beep.
You are troubleshooting a computer that will not boot. It tells you that there is no bootable
device. You check the BIOS, and it does not show any installed hard drives. What should
you do next?
A. Run bootrec /fixmbr.
B. Replace the hard drive with an external drive.
C. Flash the BIOS.
D. Check the hard drive connections.
D. Failure to boot at all likely means the drive is dead. But first, do your due diligence and
reseat the connections and make sure the BIOS recognizes the drive before replacing it. BIOS/
UEFI should autodetect the hard drive. If that autodetection fails, it’s bad news for the hard
drive unless there’s a cable, connection, or jumper issue. If the internal hard drive is indeed
dead, you might be able to get by temporarily by plugging in an external drive.
A technician just replaced a failed internal hard drive in a desktop computer with an empty
hard drive. They need to boot to the network to connect to an imaging server to restore the
computer. How should they do this?
A. During boot, press the F2 key to boot to the network.
B. During boot, enter the BIOS/UEFI and change the boot sequence to boot to the network.
C. Let the boot complete normally. When the UEFI does not find a bootable partition on
the hard drive, it will boot from the network.
D. During boot, press the F7 key to edit the boot sequence menu.
B. The system BIOS/UEFI contains the boot sequence for a system. Most systems probably
boot to the first hard drive, but they can also be configured to boot from a secondary hard
drive, the optical drive, or the network. This setting is configured in the BIOS/UEFI.
A user’s laptop computer does not show anything on the screen, although the power light
and other indicator lights are on. You plug in an external display and it does not show an
image either. Which component is most likely causing the problem?
A. Inverter
B. Backlight
C. Screen
D. Integrated video
D. If a laptop does not display any video, it could be the screen or the integrated video. To
test it, plug in an external display (that you know works) and use the function keys on the
laptop to switch to external video output. If that doesn’t work, it’s likely that the video card
is defective.
You are troubleshooting a computer making a loud whining noise. Looking at the exhaust
fan, you see a thick coating of dust. What should you do next?
A. Use compressed air to clean the fan.
B. Use a computer vacuum to clean the fan.
C. Use a damp cloth to clean the fan.
D. Replace the power supply.
A. Try cleaning the fan before replacing any parts. The power supply fan has a protective
grid covering it, and you won’t really be able to get to it with a computer vacuum or a damp
cloth. Using compressed air to blow it out is your best option. Be sure to insert something
nonconductive, like a plastic knife, between the blades of the fan to keep the fan from
spinning and protect the fan’s motor. You will, of course, do this with the computer off.
A user reports that their laptop battery does not charge when the laptop is plugged into an
AC outlet. What is the best resolution to try first?
A. Replace the battery.
B. Replace the AC adapter.
C. Remove and reinsert the battery.
D. Drain the battery completely and then recharge it.
C. If the battery won’t charge while the laptop is plugged in, try removing the battery and
reinserting it. If it still won’t charge, you might want to replace the battery.
A technician has determined that they need to replace a motherboard in a laptop. Which of
the following procedures should be followed? (Choose two.)
A. Never use a power screwdriver with a laptop.
B. Document and label screw locations.
C. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
D. Remove the keyboard before removing the motherboard.
B, C. When repairing laptops, you should always document and label screw and cable loca-
tions, organize parts, refer to manufacturer instructions, and use appropriate hand tools.
Power screwdrivers can be used. In some cases, but not all, you might need to remove the
keyboard to remove the motherboard. Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
You are troubleshooting a computer that has been randomly rebooting, and now it refuses to
boot properly. Upon boot, you receive one long beep and three short beeps but no video on
the screen. What tool should you use to troubleshoot the situation?
A. Multimeter
B. Power supply tester
C. Loopback plug
D. POST card
D. This computer is giving you a beep code during the POST routine. One way to trouble-
shoot this is to use a POST card. This is a circuit board that fits into an expansion slot (PCI
or PCIe) in the motherboard or connects via a USB port, and reports numeric codes as the
boot process progresses. Each of those codes corresponds to a particular component being
checked. If the POST card stops at a certain number, you can look up that number in the
manual for the card to determine the problem.
You are troubleshooting a computer that has been randomly rebooting, and now it refuses
to boot properly. Upon boot, you receive one long beep and three short beeps but no video
on the screen. You don’t have a POST diagnostic card that will work with this motherboard.
What tool should you use to troubleshoot the situation?
A. Motherboard documentation
B. Power supply tester
C. Loopback plug
D. Multimeter
A. This computer hasn’t reached the video part of POST yet, so the only way it has to com-
municate error codes with the user is through a series of beeps. The pattern of beeps has a
specific meaning. Often continuous short beeps is a RAM problem, while one short beep and
three long is video, but you would need to consult the motherboard manual to be sure. A
power supply tester and multimeter would be used to troubleshoot problems with power, and
a loopback plug is used to troubleshoot problems with the network card.
Over time, the hard drive performance of your computer has gotten slower. A quick check of
Performance Monitor shows that your disk read/writes are taking more time as compared to
the baseline. What should you do to resolve this issue?
A. Run Optimize and defragment the drive.
B. Format the hard drive and restore the data.
C. Delete the partition, create a new one, and restore the data.
D. Run chkdsk.
A. When files are written to a hard drive, they’re not always written contiguously (with all
of the data in a single location). As a result, file data is spread out over the disk, and the time
it takes to retrieve files from the disk increases. Defragmenting a disk involves analyzing the
disk and then consolidating fragmented files and folders so that they occupy a contiguous
space, thus increasing performance during file retrieval.
A user’s computer has failed. When you try to boot it up, you hear a loud, rhythmic clicking
sound, and the system does not boot properly. What is most likely the issue?
A. HDD failure
B. SSD failure
C. RAM failure
D. Power supply fan failure
A. A rhythmic clicking sound can be made only by components with mechanical parts, such
as a conventional hard disk drive (HDD). A power supply fan failure will usually result in a
whining sound or no sound at all because the fan doesn’t work, but it will not cause a system
boot failure. Solid state drives (SSDs) and random access memory (RAM) don’t make any
sound when they fail.
A laser printer you are working with consistently produces images with white streaks
running down the page. What can you do first to resolve this issue?
A. Clean the transfer corona wires.
B. Clean the EP drum.
C. Clean the fusing assembly.
D. Gently shake or replace the toner cartridge.
D. Vertical white lines running down the page are likely due to toner that is clogged and
not able to transfer properly to the drum. This is a common problem when the ambient air’s
humidity is too high. First remove and try gently shaking the toner cartridge to loosen the
toner. If that doesn’t work, you may have to replace the toner cartridge with a new one.
The laser printer in your office recently started creasing papers and producing paper jams.
Which of the following are likely to cause these problems? (Choose three.)
A. Bits of paper in the paper path
B. Paper tension settings
C. Using the wrong paper
D. Damaged rollers
A, C, D. Printer jams and creased paper happen when something prevents the paper from
advancing through the printer evenly. There are several reasons this could be happening. If
the rollers that pull the paper along are damaged, they won’t pick paper up properly. If the
paper is too humid it can crease, jam, or tear easily. Paper that is too thick or debris in the
paper path can cause paper to crease or jam.
You power on a desktop computer, and you hear the fan spinning. However, you do not see
any indicator lights or get a POST beep. Which component is likely causing the problem?
A. CPU
B. RAM
C. PSU
D. HDD
C. This is most likely a problem with the power supply. Test it with a power supply tester or
a multimeter. Even though the fan is spinning, the power supply might still not be providing
the correct power to run the computer. Not having any indicator lights would indicate a
problem with the power supply. If it were RAM, CPU, or HDD, there would at least be some
lights (like the power light) on.
Your computer is making an intermittent grinding noise. What component is most
likely failing?
A. Magnetic hard drive
B. Solid state drive
C. Processor fan
D. RAM
A. If you hear a grinding noise, consider yourself fortunate to have a warning that your hard
drive is failing. If you don’t have a good backup and a way to reinstall the operating system,
you’ll want to take care of that immediately then invest in a new hard drive. Solid state drives
(SSDs) and RAM don’t make any noise when they fail. A failing processor fan would result in
an overheating CPU, which would shut the system down.
You just replaced the toner cartridge on the laser printer in your office. Now you’re getting
an error message displayed on the screen. What should you try first?
A. Call the printer company’s tech support.
B. Remove and reinsert the toner cartridge.
C. Install a maintenance kit.
D. Replace the printer.
B. Whenever you’ve just replaced something and an error pops up, it’s a fairly safe assump-
tion that it had something to do with what you just replaced. A toner cartridge that isn’t
seated properly can cause an error message. Reseat it and the error might go away.
Your office uses an inkjet printer. Recently, it started having problems picking up paper.
Which component is likely to cause this problem?
A. Transport rollers
B. Pickup rollers
C. Corona wire
D. Transmission rollers
B. If your printer fails to pick up paper, it could indicate that the pickup rollers are too worn.
They press up against small rubber or cork patches known as separation pads. These help to
keep the rest of the paper in the tray so that only one sheet gets picked up at a time. A pickup
stepper motor turns the pickup rollers.
Your office uses an impact printer and multipart carbonless forms. The office manager
noticed that the bottom copies of the forms are readable, but the top copy is too light to
read. What needs to be replaced?
A. Toner cartridge
B. Printhead
C. Ink ribbon
D. Ribbon advance motor
C. Most likely, the ink ribbon has reached its maximum number of prints or has dried out.
Since the bottom copies are printing fine, the printhead is working. Replace the worn- out
ribbon and it should work fine again.
Your network uses 802.11ac for all client computers. Recently, several users moved from one
office space to another, increasing the users in the area from 20 to about 50. Now, both new
and old users are reporting very slow network transfer speeds. What is most likely the cause
of the problem?
A. 802.11ac can’t support that many concurrent users.
B. It’s too far from the wireless access point.
C. There are too many users for one wireless access point.
D. The new users all have 802.11n network cards.
C. The users are connecting; it’s just slower than it should be. This is likely due to too many
people accessing the WAP at once. The more devices there are connected, the more likely
that their signals will interfere with each other, even if the WAP hasn’t reached the theoret-
ical maximum that the manufacturer says it should support. To solve this problem, install a
second WAP.
You have installed an 802.11ac wireless access point for a company. To cut costs, the
company wanted only one central access point in the building, which is about 150 feet long.
Users at both ends of the building report intermittent wireless connectivity drops and slow
access. What is most likely the cause of the problem?
A. Low RF signal
B. Oversaturated WAP
C. SSID not found
D. IP address conflicts
A. The most common reason that users on wireless networks experience intermittent connec-
tivity issues is distance. The farther away from the WAP the user gets, the weaker the signal
becomes. When the signal weakens, the transfer rates drop dramatically. Ways to fix a low
RF signal range from using a more powerful transmitter, using a larger antenna, focusing the
signal toward where it is needed, or moving the users closer.
A customer complains that although they installed a 10 Gb Ethernet card in their server and
their cable supports 10 Gbps, the network connection is still running at 1 Gbps. What is most
likely the problem?
A. Debris in the PCIe slot
B. Faulty network cable
C. Slower switch
D. Slower PC
C. Unless you replace all the network connectivity devices with faster 10 Gbps devices,
the network will run at the slower speed. The customer needs to replace the switch with a
10 Gbps switch.
You get a call from the accounting department that their printer is printing something very
strange. There are unexpected characters and text is missing. Which of the following are
likely culprits? (Choose two.)
A. Loose or defective printer cable
B. Overheating
C. Wrong language keyboard
D. Incorrect or corrupted printer driver
A, D. Try reseating the printer’s data and power cable. The printer may need to be reset,
which can sometimes be done by unplugging it for 30 seconds, then plugging the power back
in. If the print jobs are still garbled, replace the printer driver.
You’re having lunch with a friend. They are charging their phone and you notice that the
phone is swelling. What action should be taken first?
A. Nothing, it’s fine.
B. Disconnect the power, and turn it off.
C. Turn it off, and remove the battery if possible.
D. Replace the battery.
B. An overheating, swelling battery has the potential to explode and should be handled
carefully. If the phone is plugged in, immediately unplug it. Turn the phone off and discon-
tinue using it. While you might be able to replace the battery, for most phones you’ll need to
replace the device.
You have a laptop that the user says won’t charge up since they dropped it on the floor while
it was plugged in. It hit on the side with the charger, but it was running fine until the battery
ran out. What might be the most expedient solution?
A. Replace the motherboard.
B. Replace the power connector.
C. Solder the power jack back onto the motherboard.
D. Solder the power cord to the motherboard.
C. Most laptops have a power jack that is soldered onto the motherboard. They have been
known to be knocked loose with rough handling or when a laptop is dropped or bumped
while the power cord is plugged in. If the power jack isn’t damaged, you may be able to
rectify the problem by simply soldering the power jack back into place. If the power jack is
damaged, then you’ll need to find a replacement jack.
A user complains that their laptop charges only when they wiggle the connector and get it at
a certain angle. What will you most likely need to do?
A. Solder the port back into place.
B. Replace the port.
C. Replace the charger.
D. This can’t be fixed.
B. When a charger wiggles in the port, it’s usually a sign that the port has been damaged
by pressure against the cord plugged in, causing the port to bend out of shape. You would,
of course, check the port and the cable first, but most likely you’ll need to replace the port.
Soldering it back into place won’t help.
Lately your friend’s phone hasn’t been charging very well from the wall outlet. It charges
very slowly, if at all. Once it’s charged it seems to work OK, but when they connect it to
their laptop, the laptop doesn’t recognize the phone. What will you try first to remedy the
situation?
A. Check for debris in the charging port.
B. Spray a port cleaning solution into the phone.
C. Replace the phone battery.
D. Replace the charger block and cord.
A. Phones that are stuffed in back pockets or purses often end up with lint and other debris
in the charging port. Using canned air to remove debris from ports isn’t recommended. Try
holding the phone with the port facing downward and gently tap the phone to remove the
debris. Don’t blow into the port as this can introduce moisture into the phone. You may be
able to remove the debris with a small sewing needle, but this could also damage the port if
you’re not careful. If debris isn’t the problem, you’ll need to try some other solutions, such
as a different block and cord or replacing the battery or the port. You would never spray
cleaning solution or any liquid into the phone. If the phone is compatible with wireless charg-
ing, you could try charging the battery wirelessly to determine if the battery is the problem.
Your phone is not charging properly. When you look inside the port you can see corrosion on
the connectors. What should you do?
A. Replace the phone.
B. Replace the port.
C. Use lint- free swabs with a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to gently clean the connec-
tion.
D. Use a toothbrush dampened with isopropyl alcohol to brush the connector clean.
C. Corrosion can limit or totally prevent a phone’s charger port and cable from making a
connection, but you don’t necessarily need to replace the port or the phone. Tread carefully
when cleaning corrosion. Isopropyl alcohol is used to clean because it will dry very quickly.
Ensure that the phone is powered off and remove the battery if it is one that is intended to be
removed. Use as little liquid as possible on a lint- free cleaning swab, and be gentle. Never use
a toothbrush to clean the phone’s power port.
The laser printer in your office recently started producing images that are not completely set.
When the images come out, people are smudging them as they pick them up. What is causing
this problem?
A. Fusing assembly
B. Exit rollers
C. Drying assembly
D. Charging corona
A. The fusing assembly heats up the toner, and the toner melts into the paper. If the fuser
isn’t heating properly, images can smudge.
Guests in the lobby of your office are complaining that the wireless connection is often
dropped and seems to be very slow (high latency). The company president wants their visi-
tors to be happy, so they’ve asked you to take care of the situation. You analyze the wireless
signal strength in the lobby, and it is very weak compared to the rest of the building. What
are the two best solutions? (Choose two.)
A. Install wired connections in the lobby for visitors.
B. Install a WAP in the lobby.
C. Buy a faster WAP.
D. Install a wireless range extender.
B, D. Installing another wireless access point closer to where the users are will extend the
overall range of the wireless network and give them a better signal. A wireless range extender
might also do the trick. You wouldn’t install wired connections for the users because not all
visitors will have an RJ45 connection on their device or carry a cable with them. Buying a
faster WAP won’t help if the network doesn’t support it, and it doesn’t solve the issue of the
signal being weak in the lobby.
A technician is troubleshooting a computer configured for wired network connection that
can’t connect to the network. They verified that the cable is plugged in, but there are no lights
lit on the network card. The computer could connect yesterday, and no other users report an
issue. Which of the following are most likely to be causing this problem? (Choose two.)
A. Faulty network cable.
B. Faulty network card driver.
C. Incorrect TCP/IP configuration.
D. The cable is unplugged at the other end.
A, D. If the network card doesn’t have any lights, it doesn’t have a connection. It could be
that the cable is bad or that it’s not plugged in on the other side, or it could also be a problem
with the NIC or the connectivity device on the other side. If nobody else in the same area is
having the same problem, that points to an issue with this computer or cable.
You are troubleshooting network connectivity issues in one section of the building. After a
few hours, you come to the conclusion that the network cables in the wiring closet must be
mislabeled. Which tool is most appropriate to test your theory?
A. Multimeter
B. Cable tester
C. Punchdown tool
D. Tone generator and probe
D. If you need to trace a wire in a wall from one location to another, a tone generator and
probe (or toner probe) is the tool for you. It consists of two pieces: a tone generator and a
probe. Because it’s so good at tracking, you will sometimes hear this referred to as a “fox
and hound.”
You have just installed a new HP LaserJet printer on your network. You’ve plugged it directly
into a Cat 6a network cable. You try to install the printer on a client using the printer’s
IP address, but you are unable to connect. The printer is in Ready state. What should
you do next?
A. Double- check the printer’s IP configuration information.
B. Stop and restart the spooler service.
C. Take the printer offline and bring it back online.
D. Turn the printer off and back on to save the IP configuration information.
A. For network-e nabled laser printers, no connectivity can be a sign of improperly config-
ured IP settings such as the IP address. While each printer is somewhat different, you can
manually configure most laser printers’ IP settings through the LCD control panel.
Your network has recently grown from 50 client computers to about 90. All workstations
on the network are connected using Cat 6 or better cabling, and all network devices support
at least 1 Gbps data transfers. Users have been reporting very slow network speeds since the
expansion, and complaints are now coming more frequently. Which of the following actions
is most likely to help resolve the issue?
A. Add another hub to the network.
B. Upgrade all the cabling to Cat 8.
C. Upgrade the existing router to support 10 Gbps data transfers.
D. Add another switch to the network.
D. On a wired network, if you run into slow speeds or intermittent connectivity, it’s likely
a load issue. There’s too much traffic for the network to handle, and the network is bog-
ging down. Solutions include adding a switch, replacing your hubs with switches, and even
creating virtual LANs (VLANs) with switches. If you want to upgrade the cabling or con-
nectivity infrastructure to combat a speed issue, you should do all of it and not just cables
or a router.
Your junior IT administrator has identified a port on your Cisco switch that is changing bet-
ween up and down repeatedly. What have they observed?
A. Port flapping
B. Port toggling
C. Port flashing
D. Port flagging
A. This is known as port flapping, also known as link flapping. It can be caused by a faulty
or nonstandard network cable, non–Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) devices, or small form-
factor pluggable (SFP) devices that are not working or synchronizing properly.
Users have been complaining that a network resource has intermittent connectivity. You’ve
identified the problem; the switch port is flapping. The connected device is not EEE com-
pliant, and users need it to be available. What should you do?
A. Configure link flap prevention settings.
B. Replace the offending device.
C. Disable EEE on the switch.
D. Disable EEE on the device.
C. You would need to disable EEE on the switch. The port is flapping because the device
connected to it is not EEE compliant. Link flap prevention settings would disable the port
when port flapping is detected and require the network administrator to enable the port each
time it is disabled. Eventually you may want to replace the offending device, but until that is
done, disabling EEE on the switch is the best option.
A user calls you about a printer not working. The user is standing next to the printer
while you are in the next building. What can the user do to be helpful in your diagnosing
the problem?
A. Turn the printer off and on.
B. Read the printer error code.
C. Remove the jammed paper.
D. Check the network link light.
B. Without knowing the printer’s problem, it would be most helpful if the user can tell you
the error code seen on the printer’s display. The error code might signify a paper jam or no
connectivity, but knowing the error code will save the guesswork and possibly avoid creating
more problems.
A user calls to report that they can’t access the Internet or a corporate server. However, they
are still able to print to a printer nearby. They have not received any error messages. Other
users in the area are also unable to access the Internet. What is most likely the problem?
A. IP address conflict
B. Default gateway down
C. Incorrect subnet mask
D. Network card failure
B. You can immediately rule out client-s ide hardware issues because the user can connect to
some resources. You need to figure out why they can’t connect to others. This is most likely
caused by one of two things: a configuration issue or a connectivity device (such as a router)
problem. Since it’s affecting multiple people, it’s probably something to do with the router
(default gateway).
A workstation is sending print jobs directly to a printer that has a stapler as a finishing
option. When they retrieve the print job, the document is not stapled. Which of the following
could be the problem? (Choose three.)
A. The stapler is empty.
B. The staples are in backward.
C. A different printer driver is needed.
D. The stapler is not enabled.
A, C, D. The answer will depend on the specific printer, but common causes are that the
stapler is empty, a different driver is needed, or the staple unit isn’t enabled on the printer. It’s
usually physically impossible to put the staples in backward.
A message has appeared on the office copier/printer that says “Stapler Jam.” Which of the
following are true? (Choose three.)
A. The jam must be cleared before anything else is printed.
B. Print jobs not involving the stapler may still work.
C. This can be caused by trying to staple too many pages.
D. The manufacturer documentation should be consulted for procedures to follow.
B, C, D. Depending on the copier/printer, you may still be able to print to it even though the
stapler is jammed. Trying to staple too many pages or unsupported paper can certainly cause
staple jams, as well as installing the wrong staples. Since the procedure varies by company,
you’ll want to consult the manufacturer’s documentation for removing jammed staples.
You set your phone in a cubby on the dashboard of your car while you’re driving. It’s a cold
winter day in upstate New York, so you have the car’s heat on fully. When you get to your
destination and grab your phone, you discover that it has shut down and it won’t turn on
again. What do you need to do?
A. Buy a new phone.
B. Heat the phone with a blow dryer.
C. Let the phone cool down before turning it on again.
D. Remove the battery and reinstall it.
C. The phone has overheated due to the car’s heater blowing hot air on it and it is in an
area that is not ventilated. It needs to cool down before you try to use it again. The phone
wouldn’t be too cold because you had the heat on. It’s probably not necessary to buy a new
phone. Most modern phones will shut down before damage occurs, and most modern phones
don’t have batteries that are intended to be removed.
A user reports that their smartphone is always overheating and constantly locks up. What
should you advise them to do?
A. Replace the battery.
B. Open the Power app and set the phone to operate on the low voltage setting.
C. Turn off the phone and let it cool down.
D. Replace the phone.
D. If overheating is persistent, you don’t have many options. The problem is most likely the
battery and in modern mobile phones, the battery is not designed to be field replaceable. In
this case, the only option may be to replace the device.
A user reports that the video on their desktop computer does not display properly. There are
several places where the screen will not light up; those spots are always black dots. What is
this a symptom of?
A. Artifacts
B. Dead pixels
C. Backlight failure
D. Overheating
B. Dead pixels are spots on the screen that never light up. You can check for these by setting
the background to white and seeing whether any spots don’t light up. If the display is under
warranty, you may want to return it, but otherwise there isn’t much you can do to fix a
dead pixel.
A user calls the help desk stating that the icons on their computer screen are huge. They
can see only about six of them, and they can’t see the Start menu. What most likely caused
this issue?
A. Failing backlight
B. Incorrect video resolution
C. External interference, such as a fan or a motor
D. Incorrect video driver
B. Oversized images and icons are related to screen resolution; it usually means that your
resolution is set too low for the display or projector you are using. Set the resolution to the
native setting (or higher than it was) and the problem should disappear.
You are troubleshooting a desktop computer and receive S.M.A.R.T. errors. To which com-
ponent do these errors refer?
A. SSD
B. RAM
C. CPU
D. Network card
A. Nearly every hard drive is built with Self-M onitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology
(S.M.A.R.T.) software installed on it, which monitors hard drive reliability and theoretically
can warn you in the event of an imminent failure.
You are troubleshooting a computer system that received a S.M.A.R.T. error. Which of the
following will you do first?
A. Check that the system has adequate cooling/ventilation.
B. Back up the system’s data.
C. Run a drive diagnostic tool.
D. Run a RAM diagnostic tool.
B. Before you do anything else, you need to back up the system’s drive. S.M.A.R.T. (Self-
monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) errors indicate that a hard drive failure will
happen. Drive failure may be averted if the error is because of excessive heat and there is a
way to correct it; otherwise, expect the drive to fail sooner rather than later. The best course
of action is to ensure that the system is backed up regularly until a new drive can be installed.
A technician is troubleshooting a desktop computer that they suspect has a network card
problem. They have tested their theory to determine the cause of the problem. According to
the best practice methodology to resolve problems, which step should they take next?
A. Conduct external or internal research based on symptoms.
B. Document findings, actions, and outcomes.
C. Verify full system functionality.
D. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution.
D. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
The desktop computer you are troubleshooting will not retain the proper time and date. You
set the time and date, power the system down, and power it back on. Again, the settings are
incorrect. Which component is likely causing the issue?
A. CMOS battery
B. UEFI
C. Hard drive
D. RAM
A. A common issue with the BIOS/UEFI is when it fails to retain your computer’s settings,
such as time and date and hard drive configuration. The BIOS/UEFI uses a small battery
(much like a watch battery) on the motherboard to help it retain settings when the system
power is off. If this battery fails, the BIOS/UEFI won’t retain its settings. Simply replace the
battery to solve the problem.
Your friend’s iPhone always has the wrong time. You tell them it’s a simple fix. What
should they do?
A. Trade in the phone for a new one.
B. Go to Settings, select the General tab, and for Date And Time choose Set Automatically.
C. Replace the phone’s battery.
D. Update the iOS to the latest version.
B. If Set Automatically is turned off, the date and time will be based on what the user set it at
initially, which may or may not be correct.
A technician is troubleshooting a RAID 5 array with four hard disks. One of the disks has
failed. What can the technician do to recover the array?
A. Replace the failed disk and rebuild the array.
B. Replace the failed disk and restore from backup.
C. Rebuild the failed disk and restore from backup.
D. Remove the failed disk and rebuild the array.
A. If you’re using RAID 5 (disk striping with parity), a single drive failure usually means that
your data will be fine, provided you replace the failed drive. If you lose multiple drives at the
same time, you will need to restore from backup. Incidentally, the minimum number of disks
for a RAID 5 array is only three, but the additional disk to stripe across will increase speed.
The corporate finance team is getting ready for a presentation in the conference room in
about an hour. They frantically called you because the image the projector is putting on the
screen is fuzzy. Which of the following is the least likely cause?
A. The projector’s lens needs to be cleaned.
B. The projector focus needs to be adjusted.
C. The contrast setting is too high.
D. The PCs resolution is too high for the projector.
C. Of the possible issues, the least likely is the contrast setting. Having an incorrect contrast
may make the image difficult to see, but it shouldn’t make it blurry. Adjusting the focus and
cleaning the lens are easy fixes. The most likely, if they’re using their own laptop, is that the
resolution is too high for the projector. In that case, change the PCs resolution to match the
native resolution of the projector if possible. Depending on the projector, you may need to
adjust the sharpness setting or turn on automatic keystone adjustment. The position of the
projector shouldn’t matter if it’s in a room where it’s mounted to the ceiling and doesn’t get
moved; otherwise, having it too far away could also be a problem.
A user reports that regardless of what is showing on their LCD desktop display, they
can always see an outline of another image that never changes. What is the solution to
this problem?
A. Replace the video card.
B. Degauss the display.
C. Replace the display.
D. Clean the screen.
C. With artifacts, no matter what you have on your screen, you can still see the outlines of
a different image. That image has been “burned” into the display (sometimes simply referred
to as burn- in) and isn’t going away. The only solution is to replace the display. Burn- in is also
called image persistence or ghosting.
A user claims that on their laptop, the mouse cursor will occasionally jump to different areas
of the screen when they are typing. It is causing problems with their work because they end
up typing in different fields than they need to. What can you suggest that will help this issue?
A. Disable the point stick.
B. Replace the keyboard.
C. Replace the motherboard.
D. Disable the touchpad.
D. When users are typing, their palm might rest on the touchpad, causing erratic pointer
behavior. This is referred to as a ghost cursor because it seems like the cursor just randomly
jumps all over the screen. The touchpad can be turned off through Control Panel. Depending
on the OS, you disable the touchpad under Settings. You may also be able to adjust the sensi-
tivity of the touchpad. On a laptop, there may be a function button to turn the touchpad on
and off easily.
A user is complaining that the mouse drifts away on its own while they are working on their
company laptop. They have changed the batteries, gotten a new mouse pad, and cleaned the
mouse’s sensor. What should they try next to resolve the issue? (Choose two.)
A. Remove and reinstall the mouse driver.
B. Get a new mouse.
C. Plug the mouse into a different USB port.
D. Disable the mouse in control panel.
A, C. A corrupted driver can make any device behave in a nonstandard way. Check the
driver name in Device Manager, then locate and rename the driver file with a different
extension such as .old. Again in Device Manager, remove the old driver and install a new
one. The driver file being renamed keeps Windows from reusing it, and leaving it there means
you’ll still have the file to revert to if you must. There could also be a problem with connec-
tivity with the mouse port. Try using a different port to see if the problem disappears.
A coworker comes to you for help with their iPhone. When they touch the screen, it acts as if
they touched it somewhere else. They have already cleaned the touchscreen with a microfiber
cloth. What will you do to help them?
A. Download a calibration app.
B. Adjust the touch accommodations settings.
C. Suggest they get the digitizer replaced.
D. Suggest they get a new phone.
C. Most smartphones use capacitive touchscreens. Calibrating the screen is not an option.
You can check to see if something is pressing on the phone where it shouldn’t be, but other-
wise fixing this problem is likely going to require replacing the digitizer.
You’re about to refer to a vendor’s instructions for guidance. What step of the best practice
methodology to resolve problems should you be in?
A. Establish a theory of probable cause.
B. Identify the problem.
C. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution.
D. Document the findings, actions, and outcomes.
C. Step 4 of the best practice methodology, which is establish a plan of action, includes Refer
to the vendor’s instructions. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems con-
sists of the following steps:
Your Surface Pro tablet running Windows 10 is not responding properly to your touch ges-
tures. What will you do?
A. Buy a new tablet.
B. Use the built- in calibration software.
C. Replace the digitizer.
D. Replace the device.
B. If the touchscreen on a Microsoft Surface Pro is not working properly, search for calibrate
and select Calibrate the screen for pen or touch, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Your smartphone slipped into the ocean when you were taking pictures. You retrieved it after
a minute or so, but it was wet. What do you do?
A. Place it in a bag of rice.
B. Use a hairdryer to dry it out.
C. Nothing. It’s fine.
D. Immediately turn it off.
D. While modern smartphones are water resistant, none of them to date are waterproof. The
water- resistant feature fades over time and doesn’t protect the phone against water under
pressure (like a shower) or extreme temperatures. If your phone gets wet, immediately turn it
off. Tap it gently with the power port facing down to remove excess water and leave it off in
a well- ventilated area to allow it to dry out for several hours. A fan gently blowing cool air
into the power connector may help. Wipe any visible water off the phone with a clean, soft
cloth, but don’t stick anything into the phone’s ports. Water, especially salt water, is conduc-
tive and can cause a short in the phone that could damage or destroy it or cause the battery
to swell or explode.
A customer comes into your shop with a smartphone that is acting strangely. The sound is
distorted, and there is static when they plug in the headphones. You look into the sim card
slot and see a red line. What will you tell the customer? (Choose two.)
A. This phone may have water damage.
B. This phone has been exposed to high temperatures.
C. There is no way to fix your phone.
D. We can replace corroded components, but the fix may not last.
A, D. Water and electronics don’t mix. A darkened screen, inability to charge, and distorted
pictures and sound are all symptoms of water damage. Water inside a phone can cause a
short circuit and damage the phone or the battery. Some problems might not show up until
much later, when components have had time to corrode and lose their connectivity. Most
phones will have some type of visible indicator, like a red line, to show when the phone has
been exposed to excessive moisture.
You are troubleshooting a laptop that you suspect was infected with malware. You have
established your plan of action and implemented the solution. According to the best practice
methodology to resolve problems, which step should you take next?
A. Test the theory to determine the cause.
B. Determine next steps to solve the problem.
C. Verify full system functionality and, if applicable, implement preventive measures.
D. Document findings, actions, and outcomes.
C. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
A coworker is getting an error message that says Paper Mismatch. What do you tell them to
do? (Choose three.)
A. Verify that the setting is correct in printer properties or tray properties depending on the
printer.
B. Ensure they’ve selected the right paper size in their software.
C. Remove and replace the paper in the tray, and verify the paper guides are properly
placed.
D. Change their orientation in the software.
A, B, C. Exactly what to do will depend on the printer and software being used, but most
likely it’s a default setting somewhere either on the printer or in the software. It could also
be caused by the paper guide being inadvertently moved when paper was placed in the tray.
Changing the orientation of the paper won’t fix this problem as a paper mismatch or wrong
paper size error means exactly that. There is a disconnect between the paper they’re telling
the software to print on and the paper size that the printer believes is in the tray.
You’ve recently doubled the number of employees in your call center. Users of your compa-
ny’s VoIP phones have been complaining that the calls sound like the person on the other end
is stuttering, if they can understand them at all. What can you do to remedy this situation?
(Choose two.)
A. Add more RAM to each VoIP phone.
B. Set up a VLAN for the phones.
C. Configure QoS to prioritize phones.
D. Configure WoL.
B, C. What the users are experiencing is called jitter. There can be many causes for jitter, but
setting up a VLAN for the phones to segment traffic may help as well as configuring Quality
of Service (QoS) to prioritize the phone traffic. WoL is Wake- on- LAN, a feature to remotely
turn on a computer. Most VoIP phones don’t have user- upgradable RAM.
Laser printer users are complaining that their print jobs aren’t printing. They’re using an
accounting package that won’t let them reprint the reports they have printed. When you look
at the print queue you see their print jobs just sitting there. What will you do? (Choose two.)
A. Ensure the printer is turned on.
B. Ensure there is paper in the printer.
C. Stop and restart the print server service.
D. Delete and reinstall the printer in the OS.
A, B. Always look for the simple things first. Is the printer turned on? Does it have the right
paper in the selected tray? Restarting the print server service will delete all the jobs in the
queue, which would result in some very upset accountants. So would deleting and reinstalling
the printer in the OS. If one particular job is causing problems, you may be able to stop that
print job and print the others, then try to resolve the problem with that one print job.
A presenter using a projector is near the end of a lengthy presentation when an audible pop is
heard, and the image goes dark. What will you do to fix the situation?
A. Allow the projector to cool down awhile.
B. Unplug the projector, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in.
C. Reset the lamp timer.
D. Replace the projector bulb.
D. An audible pop sound and darkness is most likely the projector bulb burning out. It’s time
to replace the bulb. Most projectors will have an indicator light or will display a message
telling you that the bulb is near its end-o f- life, so hopefully you will have already purchased
one and have it on hand. Projectors should not be unplugged without allowing the fan to
cool the lamp down. Resetting the lamp timer would be done when the bulb is replaced so
that it can keep track of remaining bulb life for you.
A user has called the help desk complaining that their computer won’t boot. You’ve asked
them what changes, if any, have been made to the system. What step of the troubleshooting
methodology are you working in?
A. Identify the problem.
B. Establish a theory of probable cause.
C. Test the theory to determine cause.
D. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem.
A. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
A user has a hard drive that needs to be replaced. Before you establish a plan of action to
resolve the problem and implement the solution, what should you do?
A. Verify full system functionality.
B. Refer to the corporate policy for handling hard drive data.
C. Document the findings, actions, and outcomes.
D. None of these.
B. Before implementing any changes to computer systems or infrastructure, it’s important to
consider the corporate policies and procedures as well as what impact your plan of action
will have in totality, not just on the system in question.
You have a NAS system and have observed alternating blinking red and white LEDs. What is
happening?
A. The array is ready to receive data.
B. The drives are booting up or shutting down.
C. The RAID is synchronizing, or software is updating.
D. You’re not sure but will check the vendor’s documentation.
D. Hard drives, NAS, RAID arrays, NICs, and other devices, even motherboards, use
LED codes to let you know what’s going on with them. Knowing the LED codes for your
particular system is important. In the device used for this question (a Seagate NAS array),
alternating red and white means the RAID is synchronizing or software is updating. Blinking
white happens when the drive is starting up, shutting down, or has activity. When the LED
is solid white, the system is ready, but even an experienced tech wouldn’t know that without
checking the documentation or familiarity with the specific product.
Your home computer was working fine yesterday but today you get an error stating bootable
device not found. Which of the following is most likely?
A. The hard drive has failed.
B. The OS was deleted.
C. The POST is faulty.
D. A USB drive is in a USB port.
D. While this error can be caused by a faulty hard drive, it’s more likely that someone left a
USB drive in the computer and it’s set to boot to USB before the hard drive. It’s unlikely that
the OS was deleted unless there was an electrical event or someone sneaking in and deleting
it. If the POST detected a problem with the system, you would not have gotten this far. To
remedy the situation, enter the BIOS/UEFI and change the boot order so that USB ports are
not included, or at the very least, so that it looks for the hard drive first.
Which two of the following are finishing processes that can cause problems with print jobs?
A. Paper orientation
B. Staple
C. Hole punch
D. Paper size
B, C. Hole punch and staple are considered finishing options on printers. Both of these can
occasionally cause print jobs to stall. Incorrect paper size can also cause printers to stall
but is not a finishing option. Paper orientation will usually cause undesirable effects on the
output and might stall a print job, but again this is not a finishing option.
Users on your network are experiencing VoIP calls where they only hear every other word.
What is this a symptom of?
A. Jitter
B. High bandwidth
C. Packet loss
D. Low latency
C. Packet loss occurs when a chunk of data doesn’t make it to its destination, and words
cutting out is a symptom of it. Increasing bandwidth, setting up a VLAN for the phones, or
updating hardware may fix it. Jitter manifests as garbled or stuttered speech. High bandwidth
and low latency are always desirable features.
A user is trying to print and hole- punch reports on the shared office printer/copier, but every
time the documents come out without holes. Which of the following would be related to this
problem? (Choose two.)
A. The hole punch waste tray is full.
B. The user didn’t properly select Hole Punch.
C. A document was left in the ADF.
D. The hole punch feature is not enabled.
B, D. If hole punching isn’t enabled, the printer/copier won’t hole- punch the documents.
User error could also be a problem. Ensure that users are trained on selecting finishing
options. If the hole punch waste tray is full but everything else is in order, most printers will
pause the print job until the tray is emptied. A document in the automatic document feeder
(ADF) should have no effect on the current print job. If it were left on the scanning tray it
might, depending on the printer.
Which of the following is not a symptom of a projector bulb that is burning out?
A. Pop sound
B. Dim image, even in a dark room with the projector brightness up
C. Muddled (not crisp) colors being projected
D. A fan running when you’re done projecting
E. Flickering projector image
D. Typically a fan should run a while to cool the bulb down when you’ve finished using a
projector. A single loud pop sound, dim or flickering image, and muddy colors are all symp-
toms of a projector lamp that is burned out or on its way to burning out.
You’re working on a server RAID array and observe that the drive is blinking first green,
then amber, then off. What does this tell you?
A. The drive is preparing to be ejected.
B. You’re not sure but will check the vendor documentation.
C. The drive has failed.
D. The drive is online and is working fine.
B. Most RAID arrays will have indicator lights to tell you the status of the drive. These
may vary by manufacturer, but anything other than a green light is usually a cause for con-
cern. Other statuses that the lights may tell you are when the drive is rebuilding, a rebuild is
aborted, or the drive is predicted to fail.
You have a multitude of USB drives that you use for different storage purposes, but whenever
you leave one in your PC, the computer tries to boot to the USB port instead of your Win-
dows hard drive and gives you an error message about no boot device found. What can you
do to remedy this situation?
A. Enter BIOS/UEFI and change the boot order so that USB is disabled or last.
B. Put USB locks on all the USB ports.
C. Install the OS on a USB.
D. Install Linux.
A. Putting USB locks on all the USB ports would certainly prevent the PC from booting
to them, but it would also prohibit you from using those ports when you need them. If the
OS was installed on a bootable USB, you could likely boot from it, but that’s not what you
want either. You want it to boot to the hard drive. Whether it’s Windows or Linux isn’t
the issue either. You need to change the BIOS/UEFI boot order settings or disable boot-
ing to USB.
A user has called the helpline, and you’re helping them troubleshoot a failed computer. Upon
questioning the user, you discover that there was a lightning storm in their area last night.
What step of the best practice methodology to resolve problems will you perform next?
A. Identify the problem.
B. Establish a theory of probable cause.
C. Establish a plan of action.
D. Document the findings, actions, and outcomes.
B. Since inquire regarding environmental changes is part of step 1 of the best practice
methodology, the next step is step 2, establish a theory of probable cause. CompTIA’s best
practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
You’ve just built a new system with an SSD drive. It POSTs just fine, but it’s telling you that
the hard drive is not found. What should you do first?
A. Replace the SSD with an HDD.
B. Format the hard drive.
C. Ensure that the hard drive’s data and power cable are plugged in.
D. Install the OS.
C. You can’t format or install an OS on the hard drive until the system can see that it’s
there. Occasionally you will find a drive that is DOA (Dead on Arrival), but it’s more likely
that you forgot to plug in either the data cable or the power cable for the drive. You would
certainly check those before installing a different drive.
You are troubleshooting a Windows 10 computer that has crashed. It displays a blue screen
with the error “UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP” on it. Which component most
likely caused this problem?
A. RAM
B. CPU
C. SSD
D. PSU
A. While the CPU may be the component that generated the error, the most common cause
of this particular error is RAM. This is considered a fatal error in your operating system,
producing the infamous blue screen of death (BSOD) in Windows or the rotating/spinning
pinwheel in macOS.
Your computer has been intermittently rebooting when you play an online video game. You
install a hardware monitoring utility and notice in the log that the CPU temperature spikes
before the system shuts down. Which action should you take first to help resolve the issue?
A. Use the system BIOS to overclock the CPU.
B. Replace the CPU and heat sink.
C. Reseat the CPU heat sink.
D. Replace the power supply.
C. If the CPU is overheating, it may be that the heat sink is not functioning properly or is
not connected properly to the CPU. After the system cools down, try using new thermal
paste and reseating the heat sink. Overclocking will only make the processor run hotter. If
reseating the heat sink does not work, you might need to replace the processor or install a
better cooler.
A user reports that their tablet computer will work on battery power for only about
20 minutes, even after the battery icon says it’s full. They claim that it initially worked on
battery power for several hours. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
A. The user is running too many apps.
B. The user is constantly using the Wi- Fi connection.
C. The battery needs to be charged longer.
D. The battery is failing.
D. As batteries get older, they are not able to hold as much of a charge, and in some cases,
they are not able to hold a charge at all. It might be time for a new tablet.
A user complains that when they turn their desktop computer on, nothing appears on the
screen. It sounds like the computer’s fan is running, and the user reported hearing one beep
when the computer powered on. What is the first thing you should check?
A. Is the display plugged into the video port?
B. Did the computer complete the POST properly?
C. Is the display turned on?
D. Does another display work on this computer?
C. Check the easy fixes first. It might seem silly, but be sure that the display is plugged into
a power outlet and turned on. Check to see if its power light is on.
The AC adapter for your laptop has a green LED indicator on it. When you plug the
adapter into a wall outlet, the light does not illuminate. What could be the reasons for this?
(Choose two.)
A. The laptop is off.
B. The wall outlet is defective.
C. The AC adapter is defective.
D. The voltage selector for the AC adapter is set incorrectly.
B, C. Many laptop power adapters have a light on them indicating that they’re plugged
in. If there’s no light, check to make sure that the outlet is working or switch outlets. Also,
most laptops have a power- ready indicator light when plugged into a wall outlet as well.
Check to see whether it’s lit. If the outlet is fine, try another power adapter. They do fail
on occasion.
You have downloaded a scheduling app for your Android tablet. After two months of use,
it will not load. You reboot your tablet, and the app still will not open. Other apps appear
to work normally. What should you do?
A. Reset the tablet to factory specifications.
B. Reinstall the app.
C. Ensure that the app is configured to run in Settings.
D. Replace the tablet.
B. Sometimes you will tap on an app and nothing happens. Most likely, this means that
something has corrupted the app, but it could possibly be a memory issue. Try powering
the device off and back on again and then try the app once more. If that doesn’t resolve the
problem, simply uninstall and reinstall the app.
You have a macOS desktop computer that does not produce an image on the screen when it
boots. You hear a chime sound and normal indicator lights are on. The display is connected
to the computer and the power light is on. What should be your next troubleshooting step?
A. Try the display on another computer or another display on this computer.
B. Replace the video card.
C. Switch the display to another video connector on the video card.
D. Replace the motherboard.
A. Most macOS machines will make a chime sound on a successful bootup, so we’re
relatively certain the problem is not the motherboard itself. Before going that route, try
another display or try this display on another computer. That will narrow it down quickly.
Remember, if it’s not the display, it’s probably the video card.
The desktop computer you are troubleshooting will not boot. When you push the power
button, no status light indicators come on, and you do not hear a fan. You verify that the
outlet is working and try a power cord that you know works, but it doesn’t help. Which
component is most likely causing the problem?
A. RAM
B. PSU
C. CPU
D. HDD
B. If you try to power on the system but get no lights or fan, first check the obvious things.
Is it plugged in? Does the cord work? If those all check out, then it’s probably the power
supply unit (PSU).
While plugging in a VGA display, a user bent some of the pins on the connector. You
attempted to straighten them, but two broke off. If you use this display, what will most
likely happen?
A. It will work properly.
B. It will display incorrect colors.
C. It will display a distorted image.
D. It will produce dim or flickering images.
B. A display can present incorrect colors if the pins on the connector are damaged or if the
connector isn’t plugged all the way in.
You have a macOS computer that is beeping during startup. It beeps once every 5 seconds.
What do you need to do?
A. Reseat the RAM.
B. Replace the motherboard.
C. Replace the video card.
D. Nothing. It’s updating firmware.
A. One beep every five seconds indicates that the Mac isn’t detecting any RAM. Some-
times RAM will creep out of place because of heating and cooling of the metal contacts.
This might also happen if you just installed new RAM. If it’s updating firmware, the Mac
will beep three long, three short, and three long beeps. After a time, the Mac should start
up normally. If it produces three beeps, a five- second pause, and three more beeps, then the
RAM didn’t pass its integrity check and needs to be reinstalled or replaced.
You’re troubleshooting a printing problem. The user selected to print in landscape mode in
the software, but it comes out as a small box in the middle of a portrait mode page. What
can you do to attempt to fix this? (Choose two.)
A. Tell the user to change their setting to portrait mode.
B. Verify that the printer is set to print in landscape mode.
C. Have the user select a different printer tray.
D. Take the paper out of the printer tray and turn it 90 degrees.
B, C. Depending on the printer and the settings, either choosing a different tray or chang-
ing the printer settings may do the trick. The printer may be overriding the software set-
tings. Most printers don’t have a single automatic tray that lets you turn the paper 90
degrees (it’s done using multiple trays), although some manual- feed trays will.
Your child has a new 3D printer. They’ve been having fun printing all sorts of things, but
today it’s making a grinding noise and not moving. What can you do quickly that might fix
it? (Choose two.)
A. Ensure that the cable moving the printhead moves freely.
B. Check for blockages and debris.
C. Replace the printer’s ink ribbon.
D. Replace the printhead.
A, B. Depending on your printer, there may be several reasons it’s making a grinding
sound, and the fixes vary by printer, but the two solutions here are fairly universal. If a
cable moves along with the printhead, make sure that is it not caught on something or
The advertising group in your company is complaining that their printer is not printing the
correct colors. Which of the following can you try to correct this problem? (Choose two.)
A. Change the print orientation.
B. Dispose of generic print cartridges and use those made by the manufacturer for this
printer.
C. Reinstall the printer.
D. Change the printer settings to better quality, not faster speed.
B, D. Sometimes using off- brand ink and toner works just fine, and other times it doesn’t.
It may be close enough for most of us but not for an artist’s eye. Try using ink or toner
made specifically for that make and model of printer. Another quick fix is to ensure that the
printer is defaulting to better quality, not faster speed. The exact steps to do that depend
on the specific printer being used. Paper orientation has nothing to do with color, and you
might need to reinstall a corrupted printer driver, but it’s unlikely that you’ll need to delete
and reinstall the printer to correct a color problem.
A laser printer you are servicing has been producing ghosted images. That is, regardless
of whatever prints, you can always see a faint copy of a previous image that was printed.
What can be causing this? (Choose two.)
A. Dirty charging corona wire
B. Broken cleaning blade
C. Broken fusing assembly
D. Bad erasure lamps
B, D. Two things that can cause ghosting are a broken cleaning blade or bad erasure lamps.
A broken cleaning blade causes old toner to build up on the EP drum and consequently
present itself in the next printed image. If the erasure lamps are bad, then the previous
electrostatic discharges aren’t completely wiped away. When the EP drum rotates toward
the developing roller, some toner sticks to the slightly discharged areas. A third cause can
be printing many copies of a document without allowing the printer to cool off between. In
that case, the toner can stick onto the fusing roller.
The desktop computer you are troubleshooting will not boot. When you push the power
button, no status light indicators come on, and you do not hear a fan. You verify that the
outlet is working and try a power cord that you know works, but it doesn’t help. What two
things will you do next? (Choose two.)
A. Push the power button in for 10 seconds.
B. Check the I/O switch on the back of the PSU.
C. Check the 115/220 switch on the back of the PSU.
D. Reseat the motherboard’s RAM.
B, C. The I/O switch will not allow the PSU to power on if it is in the Off position; equally,
the wrong voltage being selected may prevent the computer from starting, and if it does
start, using the wrong voltage would have disastrous consequences. The other two choices
are irrelevant to the problem at hand.
You charged your laptop overnight, but in the morning, it will not power on. You remove
and reinsert the battery, but still it will not power on. The system will power on when you
use the wall adapter, but not the battery, and the battery icon indicates that it’s full. What is
the most likely problem?
A. The battery is defective.
B. The AC adapter is not properly charging the battery.
C. The battery charging icon is not properly reading the battery life.
D. The DC converter between the battery and the motherboard is defective.
A. If the laptop works while it’s plugged in but not while it’s on battery power, the bat-
tery itself may be the culprit. As batteries get older, they are not able to hold as much of a
charge, and in some cases, they are not able to hold a charge at all.
A user complains of a burning smell coming from their desktop computer. You instruct
them to immediately shut the system down. What should be your next step?
A. Replace the power supply.
B. Replace the motherboard.
C. Test the power supply with a multimeter.
D. Inspect the inside of the computer for visible signs of damage.
D. If you smell an odd odor or see smoke coming from a computer, shut it down imme-
diately. Open the case and start looking for visible signs of damage. Things to look for
include melted plastic components and burn marks on circuit boards. If components appear
to be damaged, it’s best to replace them before returning the computer to service.
You have a Xerox color multifunction printer that is making a grinding noise. What is the
first thing you’ll try to fix the problem?
A. Replace the toner cartridge.
B. Clean the printhead lenses.
C. Perform a software reset.
D. Gently shake the toner cartridge.
C. Modern multifunction devices (MFDs) are practically computers on their own. As such,
like computers, restarting them will sometimes clear existing problems. If that fails, you
could try the other three options given, but refer to the individual printer manufacturer’s
troubleshooting procedures.
The company’s advertising department has been printing documents for an upcoming sem-
inar all day. They’ve called you because they noticed that the last few printouts have lighter
images of the print job displayed under the original one. What component will you clean
or replace?
A. The photosensitive drum
B. The corona wire
C. The fusing roller
D. The HVPS
C. When a fusing assembly doesn’t have a chance to cool off, toner can melt onto the over-
heated fusing roller, causing ghost images to appear on the printed page. The roller will
need to be cleaned or replaced.
Users are printing to a laser printer, but nothing is coming out. When you look at the print
queue, you see several jobs backed up. The printer is online, has paper, and says Ready.
What should you do to resolve the problem?
A. Turn the printer off and back on.
B. Stop and restart the print spooler.
C. Press the Reset button on the printer.
D. Use the printer’s display to clear out the oldest job, take it offline, and put it back
online.
B. If jobs aren’t printing and there’s no apparent reason why, it could be that the print
spooler has stalled. To fix the problem, you need to stop and restart the print spooler. This
is done through your operating system. The downside is that the print jobs in the queue
will be deleted and users will need to reprint them.
You are troubleshooting an inkjet printer. Users report that the printer is printing in the
wrong colors. The problem just started happening recently. What could be causing it?
(Choose two.)
A. Incorrect paper
B. Leaking ink cartridges
C. Malfunctioning fusing assembly
D. Malfunctioning stepper motor
A, B. Sometimes, when you print a color document, the colors might not be the same
colors that you expected based on what you saw on the screen. A few different issues could
cause this problem. First, ink could be bleeding from adjacent areas of the picture, causing
the color to be off. A leaking cartridge can cause this, as can using the wrong type of paper
for your printer. Paper that is designed for an ink- jet printer has different characteristics
than paper designed for a laser printer. You should always use the right paper for your type
of printer to avoid problems like incorrect colors or ink bleeding into unintended areas.
Second, it could be a dirty printhead. Try running the self- cleaning routine. If that doesn’t
work, consider replacing the ink cartridges.
Lately print jobs have been pulling multiple sheets from the tray instead of just one. You’ve
verified that the paper is the correct weight and that the tray is properly adjusted, and
you’ve fanned the paper’s edges, but it still happens. What component will you likely need
to replace in the printer?
A. Fusing assembly
B. Paper tray
C. Pickup roller or separation pad
D. Primary corona
C. If the pickup roller or separation pads get dirty or damaged, the result can be multiple
pages picked up instead of just one at a time. To remedy the situation, either clean them or
replace them. The fusing assembly has to do with melting toner on the paper, and the pri-
mary corona charges the drum. It’s unlikely that a paper tray would need replacing, and
you’ve already verified that it is properly adjusted.
People are complaining that the output from the company’s multifunction device has little
spots all over it, and it’s been getting gradually worse. What will you do to correct this?
(Choose two.)
A. Replace the HVPS.
B. Ensure the correct paper is being used.
C. Thoroughly clean the printer.
D. Blow debris out of the printer with canned air.
B, C. The spots are likely being caused by dirt or debris in the printer, on the scanning
tray, or in the automatic document feeder (ADF). Replacing the high- voltage power supply
(HVPS) is not going to fix this problem, and you would never use compressed air to blow
debris out of a printer. It may cause dust and debris to go even deeper into the device or
contain an explosive material that shouldn’t be used with electronics. Instead, follow the
manufacturer’s instructions for thoroughly cleaning all parts of the machine.
A user is upset because their Android tablet does not ring whenever they receive a phone
call. What is the first thing you should have them check?
A. If the tablet is configured to receive voice calls
B. If the tablet is in Airplane mode
C. If the tablet is set to silent mode
D. If the tablet’s speakers are working in another application
C. There’s probably a simple explanation for this one. The device may be in silent or
vibrate mode. Most mobile devices will have a switch on the side that sets them to silent or
vibrate mode, and that will mute the device from making a noise when it receives a call or
a message. If that doesn’t resolve the problem, it might also be a good idea to check their
volume settings.
You are troubleshooting a laptop with an integrated wireless networking card. The user
reports that the laptop will not connect to the Internet. When you look at the network
activity lights, the connection and activity lights alternate blinking, in a steady pattern.
What is the most likely cause of the problem?
A. No network connection
B. Incorrect TCP/IP configuration
C. Failed network card
D. Unable to reach a DNS server
A. Some wireless cards will have their connection and activity lights alternatively blink if
there is no network connection. If the card had failed, there likely would be no lights on
it at all.
A user calls to report that they can’t access the Internet or any other network resources.
The IP address on their computer is 169.254.1.102. Which of the following is most likely
to have caused this?
A. Unable to reach a DNS server
B. Unable to reach a DHCP server
C. Unable to reach the default gateway
D. Unable to read the local host configuration file
B. The address shown is one assigned by the IPv4 Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA)
service. It autoconfigures your network card with an IP address if your computer is set to
receive an IP address from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server and
that server doesn’t respond. You can always tell an APIPA address because it will be in the
format of 169.254.x.x.
The inkjet printer in your office is producing consistently faded prints. What should you do
to resolve the problem?
A. Replace the paper feed mechanism.
B. Turn up the color dithering.
C. Replace the ink cartridge.
D. Adjust the printhead to be closer to the paper.
C. Faded prints generally mean the printer is running out of ink. Replace the ink cartridge
and the problem should disappear.
The day after an electrical thunderstorm, you are troubleshooting a computer. After you
power it up, it flashes information briefly on the screen and then reboots. It continu-
ously reboots itself after this. Which components are most likely to cause this problem?
(Choose two.)
A. Hard drive
B. Power supply
C. Motherboard
D. CPU
C, D. A failing motherboard or CPU often causes continuous reboots. A hard drive failure
might give an error such as “No operating system found.” If the power supply failed, the
computer would not be booting at all.
Within the last five minutes, several users in one part of the building have called in to
report that they have lost their network connection. The connection had been working ear-
lier in the day. What is most likely the cause of the problem?
A. Faulty network card drivers
B. Incorrect TCP/IP configuration
C. Bad network cable
D. Faulty switch
D. If the problem affects multiple users, chances are that it’s an issue with the central con-
nectivity device. Suspect an issue with the switch that the computers are plugged into.
A user reports that they cannot see their network shares or email, or even connect to the
printer, but local applications are working fine. You ask what has changed since the last
access, and the user mentions cleaning their desk. What might be the problem?
A. The user might not have logged in.
B. The printer, email, and file server could be offline.
C. The network cable may not be connected.
D. The Group Policy was reconfigured.
C. Given that the user recently cleaned their desk, it is likely cables were moved. The first
thing to check would be the network cable. You know that they have logged in because
they are working locally. If the servers were offline or the problem was caused by a recon-
figured Group Policy, you would be receiving other complaints.
During a meeting, the manager mentions the projector has been problematic since the start
of the meeting. They tried running the projector from a few laptops with no success. Mul-
tiple pop- ups were occurring, but it’s unknown what the pop- up windows reported. What
might be your next step?
A. Open the log for information on failed jobs.
B. Check the light source for failure.
C. Verify that cables were attached.
D. Allow the projector to cool down and try again.
A. Opening the projector’s log to review for relevant information is a good step to
take. From the description, it doesn’t sound like the culprit was loose cables, lighting, or
overheating.
A user reports the wireless Internet connection will randomly shut down in the afternoon.
You check the Internet router by the window to find it still has power. What is the most
likely cause of this problem?
A. Network overloaded
B. Printer queue full
C. Wireless router overheating
D. Workstation requires patching
C. The most likely explanation is that the wireless router is overheating. If it randomly
shuts down in the afternoon, being in the sun may contribute to overheating.
A technician is troubleshooting a suspected hard drive issue. They are following the trou-
bleshooting methodology. As part of identifying the problem, what should they do?
A. If necessary, conduct external or internal research based on symptoms.
B. Question the user and identify user changes to the computer.
C. Document findings, actions, and outcomes.
D. Determine next steps to resolve the problem.
B. Part of identifying the problem is to gather information from the user, identify user
changes to the computer, and perform backups before making changes. One could argue
that doing external or internal research is part of identifying the problem as well, but in A+
troubleshooting methodology, that step is part of establishing a theory of probable cause.
CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
A billing clerk just moved from their normal office out to a new office separated from the
loading dock by a cement block wall. The shipping clerk on the loading dock doesn’t have
a problem with wireless connectivity, but the billing clerk can’t get reception in their new
office. When they step out onto the loading dock, their laptop works just fine. Why are they
losing connectivity in their office?
A. They’re too far from the WAP.
B. The cement walls block the signal.
C. The shipping clerk’s PC interferes with the signal.
D. The billing clerk accidentally turned their Wi- Fi off.
B. Wi- Fi signals can be blocked by thick walls, and concrete walls are very thick indeed.
While the office might be a safe place for the billing clerk to work, the walls are blocking
their Wi- Fi signal.
Your spouse just began working from home. They’ve decided that they like to work on the
kitchen island, so they moved the router into the kitchen to get a better signal. Now the
Wi- Fi connection gets dropped periodically no matter where they are in the home. What
is going on?
A. Your service provider is limiting the bandwidth.
B. The router is old and needs replacing.
C. The motors in the kitchen appliances are interfering with the Wi- Fi signal.
D. Your spouse needs a better laptop to work from home.
C. Although your spouse may want a better laptop, if it was working fine before and the
only thing that has changed is router placement, that’s most likely the problem. Large
motors and microwaves, among other things, can cause electromagnetic interference (EMI),
which can wreak havoc with Wi-F i signals. To solve the problem, move the router and
work area to another location.
You’ve moved to a new two- story townhouse and are trying to decide where to put your
router. The townhouse is a rather open concept with the dining room near its center. Which
of the following options would be best?
A. On a stand in the corner of the dining room.
B. Next to the metal staircase, so they’ll be a good signal upstairs.
C. Hide it behind the sofa.
D. Set it on a sunny windowsill to reflect the signal back in.
A. Wi- Fi signals are radio waves and part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The metal
staircase would act like an antenna, absorbing the energy of the signal. Sofas are thick and
most have metal in them that will also absorb the signal. The sunny windowsill is out in the
open, but sunlight can interfere with radio signals too, and too much heat might damage
the router. The best option here is on the stand in the corner of the dining room, which is
in the center of the home. While you have chairs and a table there, there would likely not
be as much furniture to block the signal as behind the sofa. Placement would, of course,
depend on the exact situation.
Your friend dropped their iPad and it landed on its corner, on a rock. Now the screen has
three large cracks from the corner radiating outward. The icons are still visible, and the
home button works, but the screen only responds in some places to touch, and they cut
their finger. What will you tell them? (Choose two.)
A. Recycle it and get a new one.
B. If possible, back up the device.
C. The digitizer and glass need replacing.
D. The display assembly needs replacing.
B, D. Newer iPads, like smartphones, have the display, digitizer, and glass front neatly
bonded together, so if you must replace one, you must replace them all. If a backup has not
been recently made and the device is still working, make one immediately. A bit of package
sealing tape over the crack may keep it together until it can be repaired and keep your
friend from cutting their finger again.
You are troubleshooting a difficult network connectivity problem. You have tested your
theory to determine cause and found that you were wrong. According to troubleshooting
theory, you have two choices for next steps. What are they? (Choose two.)
A. Tell the user that the problem has been fixed, and document it as such.
B. Verify full system functionality and document findings, actions, and outcomes.
C. Escalate the issue.
D. Establish a new theory of probable cause.
C, D. When troubleshooting an issue, a technician should never leave it unresolved. If the
technician’s first attempt at solving the problem failed, there are two acceptable next steps,
depending on the situation and available resources. The first is to establish a new theory
and test it. The second is to escalate the issue to a more experienced technician who may be
able to solve it.
You are troubleshooting a desktop computer that is exhibiting erratic behavior. As part of
establishing a theory of probable cause, what step should you take, as part of the best prac-
tice methodology to resolve problems?
A. Question the user and identify user changes to the computer.
B. Determine next steps to resolve the problem.
C. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem.
D. If necessary, conduct external or internal research based on symptoms.
D. Part of establishing a theory of probable cause is to perform external or internal
research based on symptoms. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems
consists of the following steps:
You’re at your favorite coffee shop. You want to use their Wi- Fi, but your smartphone
didn’t automatically connect like it usually does. What do you suspect?
A. Their WAP is down.
B. Airplane mode is on.
C. Their DNS server is down.
D. Your phone is damaged.
B. It’s easy to accidentally bump the Airplane mode button on some smartphones. Air-
plane mode turns off cellular and Wi- Fi service on your device so that it won’t interfere
with a plane’s controls during takeoff and landing. Luckily, turning off Airplane mode is
equally easy.
You’re in an office building and need to make a phone call, but when you look at your
phone, you have half of a bar. What should you do?
A. Ask to join their Wi- Fi and use it to make a call.
B. Move toward an outside wall.
C. Move closer to the elevator.
D. Go to a lower floor.
B. Multiple walls and floors between you and the outside world, not to mention all the
electronic equipment found inside an office building, may be interfering with your signal.
Move toward an outside wall or window away from the interfering walls and equipment to
see if the connection improves.
You are troubleshooting a computer with a RAID 0 array using four disks. One of the disks
fails. What can you do to recover the array?
A. Rebuild the failed disk and restore from backup.
B. Replace the failed disk and rebuild the array.
C. Replace the failed disk and restore from backup.
D. Remove the failed disk and rebuild the array.
C. If you are using RAID 0 (disk striping), you have increased performance but no fault
tolerance. RAID 0 has more points of failure than a single drive would, meaning that
you’re at a greater risk of failure versus using just one hard drive. One drive failure will
cause the entire set to fail. To recover it, your only option is to replace the failed disk and
restore from backup. You cannot rebuild the array as you could with RAID 1 or RAID 5.
You are troubleshooting a Windows desktop computer that appears to be having driver
issues. According to troubleshooting methodology, when is the appropriate time to perform
backups of the system?
A. After verifying full system functionality and implementing preventive measures
B. Before making changes
C. After documenting findings, actions, and outcomes
D. Before identifying the problem
B. According to troubleshooting methodology, backups should be made before making
changes. This is part of the first step, which is identifying the problem. It does make a lot of
sense to perform backups before making major changes to a system— just in case.
The laser printer in your office is about eight years old. Recently, when you print, you occa-
sionally get “low memory” error messages. What should you do to fix the problem?
A. Stop and restart the print spooler.
B. Implement printing priorities for the most important users.
C. Upgrade the printer’s memory.
D. Upgrade the printer’s hard drive.
C. If print jobs are processed very slowly or if you are continually seeing “low memory”
error messages, it might be a good time to upgrade the memory in the printer.
You are troubleshooting a recently installed three- disk RAID array. The original technician
left notes that they were concerned about creating multiple points of potential failure in
the system. Which type of RAID array creates more points of potential failure than a single
hard drive?
A. RAID 10
B. RAID 1
C. RAID 0
D. RAID 5
C. If you are using RAID 0 (disk striping), you have more points of failure than a single
device, meaning that you’re at a greater risk of failure versus using just one hard drive.
One drive failure will cause the entire set to fail. If a single drive fails with RAID 1, RAID
5, or RAID 10, the system will not crash, and you can rebuild the failed drive from the
information on the other drives. If the drives are hot- swappable, you may be able to do it
without incurring any downtime at all.
You’ve been working awhile and decide to restart your Windows 10 computer, but instead
of booting into the OS, the screen flashes on and off several times and seems to restart.
What is likely happening?
A. The OS is performing updates.
B. The display is about to fail.
C. The hard drive is about to fail.
D. The display cable is loose.
A. If this happens, don’t panic. Wait several minutes to see if it stops. Most likely the screen
is flashing on and off several times because the operating system is updating. Flashing could
indicate a display that is failing; however, it was working fine before you restarted it, so it’s
more likely to be an update.
A technician is troubleshooting a Windows laptop that won’t boot properly. They have
established a theory of probable cause. According to troubleshooting methodology, what
should they do next?
A. Identify the problem.
B. Test the theory to determine cause.
C. Establish a plan of action to resolve the problem and implement the solution.
D. Document findings.
B. CompTIA’s best practice methodology to resolve problems consists of the fol-
lowing steps:
The display on your laptop seems to go off and on whenever you move it. What’s
happening?
A. The video cable is loose.
B. The laptop is failing.
C. The battery is failing.
D. The motherboard is failing.
A. A loose video cable may be fine while you’re stationary, but wiggle enough to lose con-
nection between the motherboard and display when the laptop is moved. Luckily, this is an
easy fix. The video cable in a laptop is a very thin and delicate ribbon cable. Disassemble
the laptop following manufacturer’s instructions to the point where you can reseat the
video cable, then carefully reseat it.
Your employer has a heavily used conference room with a ceiling mounted projector. The
projector connects to users’ laptops with an HDMI cable. Lately users are complaining that
no matter what computer is connected to the projector, the sound is muffled. What will you
try first to fix it?
A. Replace the lamp assembly.
B. Replace the HDMI cable.
C. Clean the speakers.
D. Clean the lens.
B. HDMI cables carry both video and audio signals. These cables can wear out over time
from excessive use, plugging and unplugging, or excessive heat.
A day- long training is happening in your company’s conference room. The group took a
break for lunch and when they returned, the projector was off. The presenter has called you
for help. What has most likely happened?
A. The projector overheated.
B. The projector entered standby.
C. The power cable is loose.
D. The lamp has burned out.
B. While an overheated projector will shut down, and a burned- out lamp will not project
an image, the most likely cause is that the projector simply went to sleep after a time of
inactivity. Usually a touch of the power button will wake it up again.
You are about to begin troubleshooting a laptop with no display. According to the best
practice methodology to resolve problems, what should you always consider before you
begin troubleshooting?
A. The user’s feelings
B. The cost associated with hardware replacement
C. The implications of delivering bad news to management
D. The corporate policies, procedures, and impacts before implementing changes
D. It’s always good to consider the feelings of the user so that you don’t make them feel
worse for a situation that they likely already feel bad about. But the right answer is to
consider corporate policies, procedures, and impacts before implementing changes. Per-
haps considering user feelings should be part of the corporate policies and procedures for
technicians.
You just installed an additional new hard drive in your Windows 10 desktop computer,
but when you turn the computer back on, the drive shows in the BIOS/UEFI but not in File
Explorer. What is your next step?
A. Replace the new drive.
B. Check the drive’s data and power cables.
C. Partition and format the drive.
D. Reinstall the OS.
C. You know that the drive’s data and power cables are plugged in properly because the
drive is showing in the BIOS/UEFI. The drive won’t show in File Explorer until it is par-
titioned and formatted. There is no need to reinstall the OS or replace the drive. Neither
is faulty.
Your friend’s home theater projector is turning off unexpectedly. Which one of the follow-
ing is not a possible cause?
A. The power cable is loose.
B. The unit is overheating.
C. The filter needs cleaning.
D. The HDMI cable is loose.
D. A loose power cable can cause intermittent shutdown. Try reseating the cables. If the
unit is overheating, it will shut down and not turn back on until it cools. Check to see if
there is excessive dust in the cooling fan, and if so, clean it. Projectors also have a filter that
may need periodic cleaning to avoid overheating. A loose HDMI cable would have other
symptoms such as a flickering image or distorted sound.
Over time, the hard drive performance of your computer has gotten slower. A quick check
of Performance Monitor shows that your disk read/writes are taking more time as com-
pared to the baseline. What should you do to resolve this issue?
A. Format the hard drive and restore the data.
B. Enable write caching on the drive.
C. Delete the partition, create a new one, and restore the data.
D. Run chkdsk.
B. The hard drive cache will hold information that is being used repeatedly so it can be
accessed more quickly, much like the cache on a processor. It also acts as a buffer between
writing data and the hard drive, improving system performance; however, if the power goes
out unexpectedly, data stored in the hard drive’s cache will be lost.
Your server’s drive read/write times are a bottleneck in your system, and you’re concerned
about downtime in the event of a drive failure. Which of the following will improve
performance and fault tolerance?
A. Replace the HDD with an SSD.
B. Install RAID 0.
C. Install RAID 1.
D. Install RAID 5.
D. Replacing the mechanical drives with SSDs will improve the performance, but not the
fault tolerance of the system. RAID 0 (disk striping) does the same. RAID 1 (mirroring) will
provide fault tolerance but does nothing to help performance. RAID 5 provides disk strip-
ing and parity. The striping improves system read/write speed and the parity means that if
one drive crashes, the system can continue working until the drive is replaced.
You’ve been troubleshooting a network connectivity issue for a user at your company and
just resolved it. You’ve verified that the system is fully functioning again and talked to the
user about how to prevent this problem in the future. What is your next step?
A. Hand them the bill.
B. Document the finding, actions, and outcomes.
C. Consider corporate policies and procedures.
D. Thank them for their patience.
B. According to CompTIA’s best practice methodology for resolving problems, the final
step is to document the findings, actions, and outcomes. CompTIA’s best practice method-
ology to resolve problems consists of the following steps:
You are troubleshooting a computer that will not boot properly. When you power it on, it
produces a series of beeps. Which components are most likely to be causing this to happen?
(Choose two.)
A. BIOS
B. Hard drive
C. Network card
D. RAM
A, D. Every computer has a diagnostic program built into its basic input/output system
(BIOS) called the power- on self-t est (POST). When you turn on the computer, it executes
this set of diagnostics. The steps include checking the CPU, checking the RAM, checking
for the presence of a video card, and verifying basic hardware functionality. An error in the
BIOS or one of the checked components can cause a beep code.
You are working on a laptop that appears to be frozen. You press the Num Lock key
several times, but the indicator light remains on. What should you do to try to resolve
this issue?
A. Push and hold the power button until the laptop turns off, and reboot.
B. Remove the battery and disconnect the laptop from an AC power source, and reboot.
C. Press and hold the Num Lock key until the light turns off.
D. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to reboot the laptop.
A. If the laptop is locked up, the only way to reboot it is with a hard boot. Although
removing all the power sources would work, it’s not necessary to do so. Simply hold down
the power button for about five seconds, and the laptop will power off. If that does not
work, then you might need to remove power sources.
A user reports that their mobile phone is extremely hot and appears to be locked up. What
should you instruct them to do?
A. Plug the phone into a wall outlet or USB port to charge it.
B. Turn the phone off and let it cool down.
C. Perform a factory reset of the phone.
D. Open the Power app and set the phone to operate on the low voltage setting.
B. If a mobile device is overheating, turn it off to let it cool down. It could be from overuse,
or perhaps it was left in a hot environment or did not have proper ventilation. If it con-
tinues to overheat or does so for no reason, expect a problem with the battery, and if pos-
sible, replace the battery. If the battery can’t be replaced, replace the phone.
You have an Android phone and it’s running slowly. The problem seems to be isolated to
one app in particular. You check and you have plenty of free memory. You have rebooted
the phone several times and the app is still slow. What should you try next?
A. Hold the power button and the Home button simultaneously for 10 seconds, and the
phone will reset.
B. Reset the phone to factory specifications.
C. Uninstall and reinstall the app.
D. Get a new phone.
C. If the phone is really slow but isn’t completely locked up, isolate the issue. Is it one app
or overall performance? It could be that apps are running in the background and need to
be closed. Shutting down those apps or powering the device off and then back on is a good
step. You can also check to see how much memory is available. If it’s one app that’s giving
you problems instead of the entire device, look for updates to the app, or delete and rein-
stall the app. Finally, if none of these steps works, perform a restore to factory settings. If
the problems persist, it’s time for a new device.
The desktop computer in your office’s lobby plays a welcome video for guests. Recently, the
audio started intermittently failing. You replaced the speakers, and it still happens. What is
the next step you should take in troubleshooting the issue?
A. Replace the motherboard.
B. Reseat the speakers.
C. Replace the sound card.
D. Reseat the sound card.
D. One potential cause of intermittent device failures is chip creep, which happens when
components such as expansion cards start to creep out of their socket. This can be caused
by heating and cooling. Reseat the card (and screw it into the case!) and see whether that
resolves the issue. If not, you may need to replace the sound card.
You have just used administrative privileges to install a printer on a user’s workstation.
When the user tries to print to the printer, they get an error message saying access denied.
What is the cause of this problem?
A. The printer is offline.
B. The printer is out of memory.
C. The print spooler needs to be restarted.
D. The user does not have the security permissions to print.
D. In a networked environment, users need the proper permissions both to install and to
print to the printer. Not having permission will result in denied access.
The inkjet printer in your office jams a lot and produces many crinkled papers. What is the
most likely cause of this?
A. Incorrect paper tension settings
B. Dirty printheads
C. Obstructed paper path
D. Paper that is too dry
C. Printer jams (aka “The printer crinkled my paper!”) happen when something prevents
the paper from advancing through the printer evenly. There are generally three causes of
printer jams: an obstructed paper path, stripped drive gears, and using the wrong paper.
While replacing a toner cartridge in a laser printer, a technician spilled toner on and around
the printer. What should be used to clean up the spill?
A. A damp cloth
B. Compressed air
C. A toner vacuum
D. Denatured alcohol
C. If you have a toner spill, don’t use compressed air to blow it away. You should use a
specialized toner vacuum to pick it up. Also, never use a damp cloth to try to clean up a
toner spill. If a cloth is needed, use a dry one.
You are disassembling a defective laptop to replace the motherboard. Which of the follow-
ing steps are recommended? (Choose two.)
A. Place the screws in a multicompartment pill box and label where they go.
B. Remove the hard drive before removing the motherboard.
C. Label where the cables plug into the motherboard.
D. Use needle- nose pliers to remove the motherboard from the spacers.
A, C. When repairing laptops, you should always document and label screw and cable
locations, organize parts, refer to manufacturer instructions, and use appropriate hand
tools. In some cases, but not all, you might need to remove the hard drive to remove the
motherboard. To remove the motherboard, use appropriate tools recommended by the
manufacturer as each system can be different.
A user reports that their LCD display is flickering constantly. What is the easiest course of
action to resolve this problem?
A. Replace the video card.
B. Replace the display.
C. Remove external interference such as fans or motors.
D. Degauss the display.
B. In an LCD display, dimness or flickering is most commonly caused by the backlight
starting to fail. In those cases, replace the backlight or the display.
You are having problems printing to a networked printer from your Windows workstation.
Several jobs were sent, but none printed. You just tried to print a test page and nothing
came out. What should you do?
A. Check your connections and stop and restart the print spooler.
B. Turn the printer off and back on.
C. Use the printer’s display to clear out the oldest job, take it offline, and put it back
online.
D. Press the Reset button on the printer.
A. If your printer isn’t spitting out print jobs, it may be a good idea to print a test page
and see whether that works. The test page information is stored in the printer’s memory,
so there’s no formatting or translating of jobs required. If the test page works, then the
problem is not communication between PC and printer. If nothing happens, double- check
your connections and stop and restart the print spooler. If garbage prints, there is likely a
problem with the printer or the print driver.
A user reports that none of the keys on their laptop keyboard seem to work. They have
rebooted the computer and the problem has not gone away. They need to finish an impor-
tant paper before lunch. What should you do next?
A. Replace the keyboard.
B. Check to ensure that the internal keyboard is still connected properly.
C. Connect an external keyboard using the USB port.
D. Clean under the keys of the keyboard with compressed air.
C. If a laptop keyboard is not responding, you can always plug in an external keyboard
and use that. It might not be an ideal long-t erm solution, but it will generally get a user
back up and running.
At random times, your computer will completely lock up, requiring a hard reboot. Which
two components are most likely to cause this type of problem? (Choose two.)
A. CPU
B. RAM
C. PSU
D. GPU
A, B. The most likely components are the processor and the memory. Try reseating the
chips or testing them. If the problems persist, you may need to replace those components. It
could also be the motherboard.
You are consulting with a user who has a failed hard drive in a Windows computer. The
user needs to get critical data off the drive but did not make a backup. Are there any
options to recover the data?
A. There is no way to recover data from the failed drive.
B. Use the Windows Disk Repair tool to create a backup and then restore the backup to
a new hard drive.
C. Use a file recovery service or software package to try to recover the data.
D. Install a second hard drive of the same or larger size. During Windows installation,
choose Recover Contents Of Hard Drive from the Advanced Options menu.
C. If your hard drive fails completely and you need to get critical data off it, there are
third- party companies that provide file recovery software and services. These services are
generally very expensive. (And your user should have been backing up the drive in the
first place!)
In the morning, a user calls from their desk and reports that their laptop will not connect
to the wireless network. They have never had a problem connecting to the wireless network
from that location. When you look at their wireless adapter, you notice that there are no
lights illuminated. What is most likely the problem?
A. They are not receiving a Wi- Fi signal.
B. The SSID cannot be found.
C. Their wireless card is disabled.
D. There is a conflict between the wireless card and wired network port.
C. If your wireless networking isn’t working, check to make sure that the LEDs on your
network card are functioning. If there are no lights, it could indicate a problem with
the card itself or, on some cards, that there is no connection or signal. Considering they
received a signal in that location previously, it’s most likely something to do with the card.
First, make sure the wireless card is enabled through the OS.
Your iPhone 11 has appeared to lock up. The touchscreen is unresponsive. You press and
hold a volume button and the side button, but it does not turn off. What should your
next step be?
A. Press and release the volume up button, press and release the volume down button,
and press and hold the side button.
B. Use a paper clip to press the recessed reset button on the bottom of the phone to reset
the phone.
C. Hold the side button and the up and down volume buttons simultaneously for 10
seconds and the phone will reset.
D. Get a new phone.
A. If an iPhone is entirely frozen, all you really can do is power it off and then back on.
The exact buttons to press depend on the model, but the process described in this question
works for iPhones X, 11, 12, and 13.
You frequently need to carry your laptop around the building as you troubleshoot com-
puter issues. In several places, you notice that the Wi- Fi connection drops completely. What
is the most likely cause of this problem?
A. You are walking too fast for the Wi- Fi to stay connected.
B. Low RF signal.
C. Oversaturated WAP.
D. Failing Wi- Fi antenna in the laptop.
B. The most likely cause of this intermittent Wi- Fi issue is a low RF signal. If you get too
far from a WAP, the signal will be too weak and the Wi- Fi will disconnect.
You have just installed a printer on a client computer. When you print to the printer, the
output is completely garbled characters. What is the most likely cause of this problem?
A. The print spooler
B. The printer’s memory
C. The printer driver
D. The print queue
C. The correct printer driver needs to be installed for the printer and operating system. For
example, if you have an HP LaserJet Pro M15w and a Windows 11 computer, then you
need to install an HP LaserJet Pro M15w driver made for Windows 11. If this is not done,
you will get garbled characters out of the printer. Often the Windows OS will have ade-
quate drivers for your printer, but the manufacturer’s driver downloads often come with
other software that provides additional features for you to use with your printer, and if the
output is garbled, then you certainly want to use the manufacturer’s printer drivers, not
those provided with Windows.
A user’s laptop computer does not display anything on the screen, although the power light
and other indicator lights are on. You plug in an external display, and after you toggle the
LCD cutoff switch, an image appears on the external display. Which components are most
likely causing the problem? (Choose two.)
A. Video driver
B. Backlight
C. Screen
D. Video card
B, C. If a laptop does not display any video, it could be the screen or the video card/
integrated video. To test it, plug in an external display (that you know works), and use the
function keys on the laptop to switch to external video output. If that doesn’t work, it’s
likely that the video card is defective. If the external display works, you know it’s a problem
with the display on the laptop. The backlight (or inverter) could be dead or it could be
the screen.
You have an Android phone and it’s running very slowly. The apps aren’t working as fast
as they used to, but you still have plenty of free memory. You have rebooted the phone
several times and it’s still slow. You tried running only one app at a time and it’s still slow
regardless of what app you’re running. What should you try next?
A. Hold the power button and the Home button simultaneously for 10 seconds, and the
phone will reset.
B. Back up the phone, then reset it to factory specifications.
C. Uninstall and reinstall all apps.
D. Get a new phone.
B. If the phone is extremely slow but isn’t completely locked up, isolate the issue. Is it one
app or overall performance? It could be that apps are running in the background and need
to be closed. Shutting down those apps or powering the device off and then back on is a
good step. You can also check to see how much memory is available. If it’s one app giving
you problems instead of the entire device, look for updates to the app or delete and rein-
stall the app. Finally, if none of these steps works, perform a restore to factory settings. If
the problems persist, it’s time for a new device.
The laser printer you are using has started producing all- black pages. What should you do
to fix the problem?
A. Use the display to initiate a self-c leaning cycle.
B. Use a maintenance kit to clean the printer.
C. Replace the toner cartridge.
D. Turn the printer off and back on again.
C. All- black pages happen when the charging unit (the charging corona wire or charging
corona roller) in the toner cartridge malfunctions and fails to place a charge on the EP
drum. Because the drum is grounded, it has no charge. Anything with a charge (like toner)
will stick to it. As the drum rotates, all of the toner is transferred to the page and a black
page is formed. Replace the toner cartridge. Other possible causes not listed include a defec-
tive DC controller PCA (printed circuit assembly) or a defective high- voltage power supply.
You have installed an internal RAID controller and configured a RAID- 5 array on it with
four hard disks. It has been operating normally. Today when you boot up, you receive
an error message saying, “RAID not found.” Which component is most likely causing
this issue?
A. One of the four hard disks
B. The RAID controller
C. The system BIOS/UEFI
D. The onboard hard drive controller
B. If the system had been operating normally but now tells you RAID not found, it’s likely
something is wrong with the RAID controller. Double- check to ensure that the RAID
controller BIOS is configured properly and everything is connected as it should be.
One of your friends complains that when playing action games on their computer, the
screen is slow to refresh and the motion is often jerky. Their system has a video card; their
graphics are not integrated with the CPU. What should be done to resolve this problem?
(Choose two.)
A. Buy a display with a faster refresh rate.
B. Increase system RAM.
C. Increase video memory.
D. Lower the screen resolution.
A, C. If the screen is slow to refresh, an obvious solution is to buy a display with a faster
refresh rate. Additionally, certain unacceptable video- quality issues (such as jerky refresh
speeds or lags) can be remedied by increasing video card memory. Since most video cards
don’t have the ability to add memory, you’ll likely need to purchase a new video card.
Doing so generally results in an increase in both quality and performance.
A user shows you their mobile device, and the screen is constantly flickering. They have
turned the device off and on again, and it still happens. Which component is likely causing
the problem?
A. Display
B. Video card
C. Backlight
D. Converter
C. Dim or flickering displays on mobile devices are usually caused by a faulty backlight in
the display panel. A failing inverter can cause these problems, too.
You are troubleshooting a laptop computer that has a pointing stick in the center of the
keyboard. If nobody is moving the external mouse, the cursor will slowly drift up and to
the right. You have tried a different external mouse and the problem still happens. What
should you do to resolve the problem?
A. Replace the laptop keyboard.
B. Recenter the laptop’s point stick.
C. Recenter the laptop’s touchpad.
D. Replace the laptop motherboard.
B. Pointer drift is the mouse cursor slowly drifting in one direction even though you are
not trying to make it move. This issue is generally related to the point stick not centering
properly after it’s been used. If you have pointer drift, try using the point stick and moving
it back and forth a few times to get it to recenter itself. You can also try rebooting. If the
problem persists, either disable or replace the point stick.
A remote workstation can’t connect to the network. You want to narrow down the
problem to the UTP cable or the network card. Which tool can help you determine whether
the cable is causing the problem?
A. Multimeter
B. OTDR
C. Cable tester
D. Crimper
C. Cable testers are indispensable tools for any network technician. Usually you would use
a cable tester before you install a cable to make sure it works. Of course, you can test them
after they’ve been run as well.
An iPhone user just downloaded a new app that requires the use of GPS. It doesn’t function
properly. Another app they have on their phone also needs GPS, and it also does not work.
How do they configure the phone to let the new app work properly?
A. Enable GPS under Settings ➢ Privacy.
B. Enable Location Services under Settings ➢ Privacy.
C. Enable GPS under Settings ➢ Location Services.
D. Enable Location Services under Settings ➢ GPS.
B. The iPhone and iPad use the term Location Services to refer to GPS. Android devices
will call it Location, Location Services, or Location Reporting. On an iPhone, you enable
Location Services under Settings ➢ Privacy. In Android, location access settings are usually
configured under Settings ➢ Location or Settings ➢ Personal ➢ Location.
A technician just replaced the toner cartridge in a laser printer. Now the printer only prints
blank pages. What should you do to resolve the problem?
A. Stop and restart the print spooler.
B. Reinstall the printer driver.
C. Replace the toner cartridge with a new toner cartridge.
D. Remove the toner cartridge, remove the sealing tape, and then reinstall the cartridge.
D. Toner cartridges are often shipped with a strip of sealing tape across the cartridge to
keep the toner from getting shaken out during shipment. If the user forgets to remove the
tape, the printer will only print blank pages. The solution to this problem is fortunately
quite easy: remove the toner cartridge from the printer, remove the sealing tape, and rein-
stall the cartridge.
You are troubleshooting network connectivity issues from a Linux workstation. Which
command should you use to check the computer’s IP address and subnet mask?
A. ping
B. ipconfig
C. ifconfig
D. netstat
C. The ifconfig command is used in Linux, Unix, and macOS to check a computer’s IP
configuration information. ipconfig is used in Windows.
You are troubleshooting a Windows 10 computer that appears to be unresponsive. You
press the Caps Lock key on the keyboard, but the Caps Lock light on the keyboard does
not light up. What is most likely happening?
A. The keyboard has malfunctioned.
B. The system is waiting for a process to finish and will respond soon.
C. The motherboard has failed.
D. The system has locked up and needs to be rebooted.
D. Most keyboards will have status lights for the Caps Lock and Num Lock keys. If you
believe a system is locked up, try pressing the Caps Lock or Num Lock key on the key-
board to see whether the lights change. If they don’t, that’s a sign that the system is unre-
sponsive. Reboot the computer.
A user reports that their computer is running slowly. When you investigate, you notice that
the free disk space is at 5 percent. What is the first solution to try?
A. Add more RAM.
B. Remove old files or applications.
C. Format the hard drive and reinstall from backup.
D. Replace the hard drive.
B. Luckily with today’s large hard drives, this problem doesn’t happen often. However, if a
hard drive is too full and has less than 10 percent free space, it can slow down dramatically.
The first solution to try is to remove files and uninstall unused apps to free up space. Then
you would want to run Disk Cleanup and optimize the drive. If that doesn’t resolve the
issue, you may need to replace the hard drive.
About a dozen network cables were unplugged from the patch panel, and none of them is
labeled. You are at the one workstation that needs to be reconnected, and another techni-
cian is in the wiring closet. You want to set this computer to persistently check network
connectivity so that you know when the other technician plugs in the right cable. Which
command should you use?
A. ping - t
B. ping - p
C. ping - l
D. ping - n
A. The ping command is one of the most useful commands in the TCP/IP protocol. It
sends a series of packets to another system, which in turn sends back a response. This
utility can be extremely useful for troubleshooting problems with remote hosts. The
ping - t command sets a persistent ping, which does not stop until you cancel it.
You are troubleshooting a laptop, and some of the keys on the left side of the keyboard
are constantly sticking. The user says that a little soda might have spilled on the keyboard.
What should you do first to resolve the issue?
A. Use a slightly dampened cotton swab to clean under the keys.
B. Remove the keyboard and rinse it with soap and water in a sink.
C. Replace the keyboard.
D. Hold the keyboard upside down and shake it.
A. If the key physically sticks, you can try blowing out underneath the key with
compressed air or use a cotton swab slightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol to clean
underneath the key. Make sure to clean the entire surface underneath the sticking key. If
none of this resolves the issue, you might need to replace the keyboard.
A user complains that sometimes their computer will not open files, and it happens in dif-
ferent programs. Which component is most likely to cause this problem?
A. RAM
B. CPU
C. HDD
D. Motherboard
C. Failure to open files means that the computer can’t properly read those files. In most
cases, this indicates an issue with the hard drive.
The LCD display you use with your desktop suddenly became very dim. You have
attempted to adjust the brightness settings, but even on the highest setting the picture is still
dim. What will most likely resolve the issue?
A. Degauss the display.
B. Replace the backlight.
C. Replace the screen.
D. Replace the inverter.
B. In an LCD display, dimness or flickering is most commonly caused by the backlight
starting to fail. In those cases, replace the backlight or the display.
The lines of print on your inkjet printer are unevenly spaced. Some are too close together,
while others are too far apart. What is the most likely cause of this problem?
A. Paper feed mechanism
B. Exit rollers
C. Print cartridge
D. Stepper motor
D. Stepper motor problems on inkjet and impact printers will look similar to each other.
If the main motor is damaged, lines of print will be unevenly spaced, and if the printhead
motor goes bad, characters will be scrunched together.
A user calls the help desk to complain that they’re getting an error message stating “SSID
not found.” Then you get a second call for the same reason. Both users were connected
from the same locations the day before. What is most likely the problem?
A. Low RF signal.
B. Oversaturated WAP.
C. SSID broadcast is disabled.
D. The WAP is down.
E. The user’s NIC is not working.
D. Suspect that the WAP is down. A low RF signal would show fewer bars but should still
be able to connect to the WAP, especially if they did the day before. An oversaturated WAP
would show sluggish performance and dropped packets. SSID broadcast shouldn’t be the
issue because they’ve connected to this network before and likely have saved the network
to their device. Since there is more than one user, the problem probably isn’t the individual
user. It is, most likely, that the WAP has failed.
You have sent several print jobs to a networked printer and nothing has printed. You do
not have printer administrator access. What can you do to see whether your Windows com-
puter is communicating properly with the printer?
A. Send the print job in RAW format.
B. Stop and restart the print spooler.
C. Print a test page.
D. Print a blank document from Notepad.
C. If your printer isn’t spitting out print jobs, it may be a good idea to print a test page
and see whether that works. The test page information is stored in the printer’s memory,
so there’s no formatting or translating of jobs required. It’s simply a test to make sure that
your printer hears your computer. If the test page works but other print jobs don’t print,
there could be a problem with the application or the driver.
You are troubleshooting a laptop that has a poor battery life. It will work for only about
30 minutes on a full charge. Which two things should you try first? (Choose two.)
A. Replace the battery.
B. Perform a battery calibration.
C. Drain the battery completely and then charge it fully.
D. Open the Power Management app and set the laptop to run on low energy mode.
B, C. Small devices sometimes suffer from an extremely short battery life. If it’s a laptop,
you may be able to perform a battery calibration. For all mobile devices, you can try to
drain the battery completely and then charge it fully before turning the device back on. If
these options don’t work, then it’s likely that the battery needs to be replaced.
A user is unable to connect to your Wi- Fi network. When you look at their device, there
is nothing to indicate that Wi- Fi is working, and Airplane mode is off. You next look in
Device Manager and see a yellow exclamation point next to the Wi- Fi NIC. What will your
next step be?
A. Replace the NIC.
B. Replace the device.
C. Update the driver.
D. Provide a USB NIC.
C. The yellow exclamation point tells you that there is a problem with the driver, and
updating the driver may be all it takes to get this user on the network.
You have installed a PCIe RAID controller and want to create a RAID- 5 array with three
disks. You plug the disks in and boot up the computer. The RAID array is not detected.
Where should you go to set up or troubleshoot the RAID array?
A. Windows Device Manager
B. Windows Disk Management
C. The RAID controller’s BIOS
D. System BIOS/UEFI
C. Nearly all PCIe RAID controllers will have their own BIOS for setup, configuration,
and troubleshooting. Some will have utilities available for use within an operating system
as well. If a motherboard has an onboard RAID controller, you will likely need to go to the
BIOS/UEFI to configure it.
A user complains of a loud whining noise coming from their computer. It occurs whenever
the computer is on and is relatively constant. Which component is most likely to cause
this problem?
A. RAM
B. SSD
C. CPU
D. PSU
D. The power supply is the only component listed with moving parts and therefore is the
most likely component to cause a whining sound. It’s more than likely a fan. Either it needs
to be cleaned (desperately) or replaced. Power supplies that are failing can also sound
louder and quieter intermittently because a fan will run at alternating speeds.
You have just upgraded the RAM in a desktop computer. After you power on the computer,
no video appears on the screen, and the computer produces a series of three long beeps.
What does this indicate?
A. The system BIOS detected an error in the POST routine.
B. The system BIOS completed the POST routine normally.
C. The RAM is faulty.
D. The motherboard needs to be replaced.
A. Every computer has a diagnostic program built into its basic input/output system (BIOS)
called the power- on self- test (POST). When you turn on the computer, it executes this set of
diagnostics. If the computer doesn’t perform the POST as it should, one way to determine
the source of a problem is to listen for a beep code. This is a series of beeps from the com-
puter’s speaker. A successful POST generally produces a single beep. If there’s more than
one beep, the number, duration, and pattern of the beeps can sometimes tell you what com-
ponent is causing the problem. Check the documentation to determine the specific issue.
A user with an 802.11ac network adapter is trying to join your 802.11ax network. Their
laptop is next to yours, which is connected to the network. However, they are unable to
locate the SSID. What is the most likely cause of the problem?
A. 802.11g is not compatible with 802.11n.
B. SSID broadcasting is disabled on the wireless access point.
C. The user is out of range of the wireless access point.
D. The SSID has been changed.
B. The most likely cause is that the router is configured to not broadcast SSIDs. 802.11ac
and 802.11ax are compatible, and they are certainly within range if your computer
is connected right next to theirs. Provide the user the SSID and password so that they
can connect.
A user’s Android 7 phone has been crashing and they complain that their data usage
has gone way up although their phone habits haven’t changed. What will you suspect is
the problem?
A. Bad battery
B. Water damage
C. Malware
D. Loose data cable
C. Both repeated crashes and soaring data usage could indicate malware on a phone. Typ-
ically, Android OS security updates end three years after the OS release, and without secu-
rity updates an older device is more at risk of contracting malware. The best thing to do in
this scenario is go to the Google Play store and download anti-malware software to check
the device. It might also be time to consider an upgrade.
You are troubleshooting a laser printer that keeps producing vertical black lines running
down the page. Which component is most likely causing this problem?
A. Fusing assembly
B. Pickup rollers
C. Exit rollers
D. EP drum
D. A groove or scratch in the EP drum can cause the problem of vertical black lines
running down all or part of the page. Because a scratch is lower than the surface, it doesn’t
receive as much (if any) of a charge as the other areas. The result is that toner sticks to it as
though it were discharged. The groove may go around the circumference of the drum, so
the line may go all the way down the page.
A user reports that the screen on their tablet computer is very dim and difficult to see.
They’ve adjusted it to the maximum brightness and it’s still dim. Which component is likely
causing the problem?
A. Backlight
B. Converter
C. Display
D. Video card
A. Dim or flickering displays on mobile devices are usually caused by a faulty backlight in
the display panel. A failing inverter can cause these problems, too.
You have been troubleshooting a computer, and you believe the power supply has failed.
Which of the following tools can you use to test the integrity of the power supply?
(Choose two.)
A. Power supply tester
B. Loopback plugs
C. POST card
D. Multimeter
A, D. If you’re curious as to the state of your power supply, you can buy hardware- based
power supply testers or multimeters to test it. Loopback plugs are for testing network inter-
face cards (NICs), and POST cards are for testing motherboards.
A user is trying to display a presentation on a projector, but nothing appears on the
external screen. They try toggling their LCD cutoff switch, and it doesn’t help. Another user
had just presented on the projector, and it worked fine. Which component is most likely
causing the problem?
A. Backlight
B. Display
C. Video port
D. Inverter
C. If the laptop won’t output a screen image to an external display or projector, it means
one of two things (assuming you know that the display or projector works): either the
external video port is malfunctioning or the function keys aren’t working. In either case,
you likely need to replace the motherboard if you want the display to appear on an
external device.
Your corporate office has sent a memo that all remote offices must use a security protocol
that your WAP doesn’t support. What should you do first?
A. Update the WAP’s firmware.
B. Replace the WAP.
C. Buy all new devices.
D. Keep using the old security protocol.
A. Your first step is to see if a firmware update to the WAP will provide the new security
protocol that you need. You’ll want to try updating the devices’ firmware or software as
well. During transition times, WAPs will often have a transitional security setting that will
support both the older and the new devices until you can get everything updated. If you
can’t update your old WAP, the next step would be to look for a new WAP to use during
your transition.
You’re considering storage devices for a NAS. Some drives are HDD, and some are SSD.
You need to balance drive speeds and price. What will you use to compare the drive speeds?
A. RPM
B. IOPS
C. Mbps
D. Gbps
B. Input/output operations per second (IOPS) is the only way to truly compare the speed
when some drives are solid state and others are mechanical. Mechanical drives often use
revolutions per minute (RPM), which is also known as spindle speed, as an indication of
how fast they can access data. Solid- state drives (SSDs) have no moving parts, so there
is no spindle speed. Regardless of the drive type, IOPS is a better way to compare drive
performance, and the only way when they are not the same type of drive. Other factors to
consider are how long the drive is expected to last and drive latency.
Your client is running a NAS with ten 16 TB HDDs for a total capacity of 160 TB. They
are complaining that the storage array’s average IOPS isn’t enough to keep up with
company demands. What might they replace the HDDs with to maintain capacity but
increase performance? (Choose two.)
A. A single 160 TB HDD
B. Twenty 8 TB HDDs
C. Ten 16 TB SSDs
D. Five 20 TB HDDs
B, C. HDDs have a natural speed disadvantage compared to SSDs because of their moving
parts. As hard drive storage gets bigger, the performance lag is exaggerated. SSDs have
no moving parts, so their latency is much lower. Either replacing the existing HDDs with
A routine check of IOPS of your NAS reveals that it has dropped significantly. What is a
likely cause? (Choose two.)
A. The HDDs were replaced by SSDs.
B. Usage patterns have changed.
C. The HDDs were replaced with M.2 drives.
D. A drive in the array has failed.
B, D. A significant change in usage patterns can affect the IOPS on the system based on the
type/size of files being transferred and the software used to do it. If a drive in the array has
failed, that will also affect the maximum IOPS the system is capable of, as there is one less
drive to do the work.
A user complains that they can barely see the image on their smartphone. Everything seems
to work fine, but they can’t see it. What will you do first?
A. Check the brightness settings.
B. Replace the display assembly.
C. Turn on location settings.
D. Replace the battery.
A. A dim or flickering screen can be a sign that the display assembly needs to be replaced,
but before you go that route, it’s best to check the brightness or auto- brightness features.
Location settings and battery are irrelevant in this situation. The battery is still working
because they can see something.
You’re at a friend’s house. Your phone was working fine before you got here, and it usually
works fine when you are here, but now it’s taking forever to try to load a web page, and
then it times out and asks if you want to use cellular data. You’re at your data plan’s limit.
What should you do?
A. Tell it to forget this network and ask your friend for the new password.
B. Use your cellular data and pay the overcharges.
C. Check for problems with their router.
D. Try a different website.
C. This error will happen when you have logged on to a familiar Wi- Fi but it is unable to
connect to the Internet. If the password was the problem, you would have gotten an error
about being unable to automatically connect, in which case you would forget the network
and rejoin with the new password. You could use your cellular data, but it might be better
to help the friend get their Internet connection working again instead.
You just installed and configured a new WAP to provide better network connectivity in
a remote part of the building. When you turn your laptop on to check the connectivity,
there are only a couple of bars even though you’re looking up at the WAP. What do you
need to do?
A. Increase the signal strength.
B. Broadcast its SSID.
C. Turn on your laptop wireless.
D. Adjust the antennas.
D. Improperly adjusted antennas can make a big difference in wireless connectivity. In this
case, take a few minutes and a Wi- Fi analyzer to check the signal strength and adjust the
antenna until it’s just where you want it. You would not need to adjust the WAP’s signal
strength because you’re right under it, looking up at it. Even on the lowest power setting
you should still see more bars. The SSID being broadcast or not is irrelevant.
You’re taking a walk around the exterior of your office building when your Wi- Fi analyzer
shows that your network is visible in the parking lot. You’re concerned that an unautho-
rized person can connect to your wireless network. What should you do?
A. Enable SSID broadcast.
B. Lower the WAP’s power setting.
C. Increase the WAP’s power setting.
D. Turn off the WAP’s broadcast.
B. Setting a WAP to transmit at the maximum power may cause the Wi- Fi to extend into
areas you would rather it didn’t. It can also cause problems like more interference causing
poor performance and stability because it’s picking up signals from nearby Wi- Fi networks.
Enabling or disabling the SSID broadcast will have no effect on the signal strength. It may
take a bit of playing with settings, antennas, and placement to get the Wi- Fi transmis-
sion exactly how you need it to be, but in this case, lowering the WAP’s power setting is a
good start.
Your Wi- Fi network is experiencing some interference, which is causing poor performance
and making it unstable. Which of the following might help? (Choose two.)
A. Enable SSID broadcast.
B. Disable SSID broadcast.
C. Increase the WAP’s power setting.
D. Choose a different channel.
C, D. The answer will depend on the exact situation, but if your WAP is experiencing inter-
ference from other WAPs or networks, you may want to lower, rather than raise, the signal
strength. You would want to run a network analyzer and choose the channel with the least
traffic, or optionally, if the WAP allows, let it choose the best channel for you. Installing an
antenna with a lower gain might also work.
Chapter 6: Operating Systems
