CompTIA A+ Certification For Dummies (Book 1, Chapter 4)

Question 1

A standard North American power supply converts 120V AC to which of the following? (Select all that apply) 
A) 3.5V DC 
B) 3.3V DC 
C) 6V DC 
D) 12V DC

Answer 1

B&D) Power supplies have leads that supply 3.3V, 5V, or 12V.

Question 2

Firmware is composed of which of the following? (Choose two)
A) Software 
B) Middleware 
C) Hardware 
D) Componentware

Answer 2

A&C) Firmware consists of programming code or software that is contained within a hardware component such as a ROM chip.

Question 3

Modems are usually attached to a computer through what type of port? 
A) Serial 
B) Sequential 
C) Parallel 
D) Modem

Answer 3

A) Modems are serial devices, and as such are attached to the serial port.

Question 4

The programs that allow the POST to take place are stored in what? A) BIOS
B) CMOS
C) RAM
D) POSTOS

Answer 4

A) BIOS contains the programs that allow the POST to take place. The BIOS is stored on a ROM or an EPROM.

Question 5

What does CMOS stand for?
A) Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor
B) Co-management of operating system
C) Configuration management and option semiconductor
D) Configuration memory option system

Answer 5

A) Complementary metal-oxide semiconductor.

Question 6

What does CPU stand for? 
A) Core predetermination utility 
B) Complementary provider unit
C) Central processing unit
D) Co-primary uniprocessor

Answer 6

C) Central processing unit.

Question 7

What does SCSI stand for? 
A) Serial Component System Interface 
B) Small Component Serial Interface 
C) Serial Computing Storage Interface 
D) Small Computer System Interface

Answer 7

D) Small Computer System Interface.

Question 8

What is the primary purpose of the processor?
A) To convert digital signals into analog signals
B) To process signals so that they can be displayed on your monitor C) To carry out instructions from the operating system
D) To convert 16-bit data into 8- or 32-bit data

Answer 8

C) Processors carry out instructions that they receive from the operating system.

Question 9

What standard do most current monitors follow? 
A) VGA 
B) SVGA 
C) CGA 
D) FLAT

Answer 9

B) Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) is the current graphics standard that monitors follow.

Question 10

What type of memory loses its contents when power is turned off on your computer? 
A) CMOS memory 
B) RAM 
C) ROM 
D) EPROM

Answer 10

B) RAM memory is volatile, or nonpermanent, because it loses its contents when power is turned off on the computer.

Question 11

What unit is used to measure RAM speed? 
A) Milliseconds 
B) Gigaseconds 
C) Picoseconds 
D) Nanoseconds

Answer 11

D) The normal measurement for RAM is nanoseconds, or billionths of a second.

Question 12

Which of the following components is not usually found on a motherboard? 
A) BIOS chips 
B) USB drives
C) Memory 
D) I/O ports

Answer 12

B.) The motherboard will include I/O ports or connectors for a variety of devices, but will not typically include the devices themselves. It will include the ATA controller and also a connector to attach the ATA drive, but not the drive itself. The same would be true of USB drives; the motherboard will include the controller and connector for the USB bus but not the actual device.

Question 13

Which two of the following represent hard drive architectures? 
A) PCI 
B) IDE 
C) CMOS 
D) SCSI

Answer 13

B&D) Hard drive architectures used with computers are IDE (or ATA), Serial ATA (SATA), SCSI, and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS).