A+ Depot Technician 604 Test 1

1. You are in your small shop and realize your onsite technician has taken your anti-static wrist strap. Which of the following is the best solution to your problem?
a. Delay work until the technician returns your strap.
b. Proceed with your internal computer repairs. The odds are in your favor that you will not destroy anything with ESD.
c. Fashion an impromptu wrist strap from a spare Ethernet patch cord.
d. Plug the computer system unit into the wall outlet, and touch the outside of the internal power supply.

2. While diagnosing a failed system, you discover the computer's power supply is defective. On closer inspection, you believe you have narrowed the problem to a fuse on the inside of the power supply. Which of the following is the best course of action to take?
a. To save the customer money, open the power supply, replace the fuse, and then test your solution.
b. Replace the power supply.
c. Bypass the circuit with the fuse on the outside of the power supply using a direct connection.
d. Tell the customer that you do not perform work on power supplies because of the inherent danger.

3. While working on a customer s computer in your shop, the power supply shorts out and starts a fire. What should you do?
a. Use a nearby class-C fire extinguisher to put out the flame.
b. Do nothing. These types of fire play out rapidly with little to no peripheral damage.
c. Douse the fire with water from the nearby water cooler.
d. Use your can of compressed air to blow out the fire.

4. While servicing a laser printer, you suspect the problem lies with the laser. Eager to diagnose the problem and fix it, which of the following is the best method to quickly test your theory?
a. With the printer's case removed, watch for the laser to come on while the customer begins a print job.
b. insert a flexible photometer into the feed mechanism, and watch the display for confirmation that light is found in its path.
c. Replace the EP cartridge, and print a test page.
d. Remove the EP cartridge, and look at the element to see if it has blown.

5. Upon entering your shop one morning, you find that a water pipe has apparently burst, and the room has about an inch of standing water on the floor. The equipment appears to be unaffected thus far, and the server you were going to work on first is at the edge of the room near the door where you enter. What should you do?
a. Alert your supervisor as well as any other pertinent authorities, and do no work until the water is removed.
b. Unplug the server, and perform the required service.
c. Soak up the water around the server or use your anti-static vacuum to remove it before performing the necessary service.
d. Remove the server, and perform the necessary service in a dry area.

6. When choosing a new motherboard, which of the following expansion slots are you least likely to find?
a. PCI
b. PCIe
c. AGP
d. EISA

7. Which of the following items can be found in a substance's MSDS?
a. The chemical model for the substance
b. Personal protective equipment to use while handling the substance
c. Where the substance was shipped from
d. The number to call to arrange for disposal of the substance

8. A customer drops off their computer and informs you that they attempted to upgrade the hard drive by using a new hard drive and an included utility to clone the old hard drive to the new one. Both drives are ATA and set for master, but the new drive does not show up when booting. Which of the following is most likely to fix the problem?
a. Inform the customer that you cannot have more than one ATA drive in the system at one time, and then provide a quote for your time to back up the data on the original drive, install the operating system on the new drive, and restore the data to the new drive.
b. Inform the customer that you are not willing to work on a system that has been tampered with.
c. Sell the customer a Y Molex connector, and provide power to the new drive.
d. Don't change the jumpers on the drives, but connect them both to the same controller on the motherboard.

9. You receive a computer for service that is taking an extremely long time to boot up after a large number of applications were installed. Which of the following would most likely speed up the customer's boot process while still allowing them to use the applications?
a. Disable some of the applications on the Startup tab in MSCONFIG.
b. Uninstall some of the applications.
c. Increase virtual memory.
d. Swap out for a larger hard drive.

10. Which two of the following may be the type of memory module that you need to upgrade a laptop?
a. MicroDlMMs
b. SIMMs
c. RIMMs
d. SoDIMMs

11. A customer brings you their computer and requests the latest and greatest video card to go with the cutting-edge motherboard they recently had installed. Which of the following expansion buses is the customer most likely referring to?
a. PCI
b. PCIe
c. AGP
d. ISA

12. A customer complains of having heard an unusual noise coming from the inside of the computer recently, but not during the two preceding days. You determine that the CPU fan was the source of the problem. Which of the following is the best way to handle the situation?
a. Replace the CPU fan.
b. Do nothing. No noise means no problem.
c. Solder the break in the CPU fans electrical wire.
d. Remove the defective CPU fan so that the remaining heat sink can remove heat from the processor without obstruction.

13. A customer complains that their computer consistently runs for a little while and then shuts down on its own. Which of the following is most likely the culprit?
a. Multiple shallow dents in the system case
b. Clumps of dust on the back of the power-supply fan and chassis vent holes
c. A massive wad of cables the customer told you was behind the system and on the floor
d. Sticky keys indicating something has been spilled in the keyboard

14. While diagnosing a dead system, you discover that pressing the power button causes the power supply fan to kick over but not begin to run. The system never boots. Which of the following is a likely cause?
a. The power cable is not completely plugged in on the power supply.
b. The power button is defective.
c. An adapter card has become partially seated.
d. The system partition on the hard drive is damaged.

15. You are working on a computer that restarts automatically each time the owner shuts down their Windows XP system. Which of the following paths can you follow to prevent this behavior?
a. Go to the Advanced page of System Properties, and click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section. Then, clear the Automatically Restart check box.
b. Enter the BIOS setup routine; find the advanced section: and change the automatic restart field, or similar, to disabled.
c. Tell the owner to use the power button to shut down the system from now on.
d. Click the Hardware Profiles button on the Hardware tab of System Properties. Then select the "Wait Until I Select a Hardware Profile" radio button.

16. A customer's monitor has recently begun displaying odd colors, mostly purples and greens. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
a. One of the three cathode rays has stopped working.
b. The monitor needs to be degaussed.
c. The monitor's cable is not completely inserted into the video card's connector.
d. The wrong video driver is being used.

17. A customer brings in a system with a malfunctioning floppy drive. According to the customer, they recently installed additional RAM. Ever since the installation, the light on the floppy drive remains lit, and the customer is unable to access any diskettes. What is the most likely explanation for the problem?
a. More RAM has been installed than the system can support.
b. Apparently the customer's diskettes have been exposed to a magnetic field, because this is the normal operation of a floppy drive.
c. Diskettes are not meant to be inserted into a floppy drive.
d. While working inside the system unit, the customer dislodged the data cable from the floppy and reinserted it upside down.

18. In diagnosing a software issue with the functionality of a peripheral device, you discover that the driver for that device is two years old. Which of the following methods is the best way to upgrade the driver?
a. Use the original distribution disc for the operating system.
b. There is nothing for you to do. The latest driver is downloaded automatically when available.
c. Download the latest driver from the manufacturer's website.
d. Avoid the possibility of downloading a virus by calling the manufacturer to send you the latest driver my mail.

19. Which of the following is the best way to clean the screen of most monitors?
a. Spray the appropriate cleaning solution directly onto the screen, and wipe dry with a soft, lint-free cloth.
b. Spray the appropriate cleaning solution onto a soil, lint-free cleaning cloth, and then wipe the screen with the dampened cloth.
c. Wipe the screen with a dry soft, lint-free cloth or one lightly dampened with clean water.
d. Spray the screen with compressed air.

20. What's the best way to control ESD when electrical outlets are difficult to come by?
a. Wear rubber-soled shoes.
b. Attach your wrist strap to the computer chassis to take advantage of the enormous electron sink that large amounts of metal provide.
c. Rub a fabric-softener sheet over your clothes.
d. Purchase an antistatic bench-top computer mat to place under the computer you are working on.

21. While working inside a computer system. you drop a screw into the system unit. Which of the following is the best method of retrieving the screw?
a. Plastic tweezers
b. Static resistant vacuum cleaner
c. Magnetic screwdriver
d. Your fingers

22. You have a software utility that is able to test a computer's ability to send and receive the proper signals on a standard serial interface. Not having access to a remote device, what is the best way to make sure that both transmit and receive signals are available on the serial interface for the software to test?
a. Use a hardware loopback plug.
b. Disconnect the cable from the serial interface.
c. There is no need to do anything special. Utilities like this can control the serial interface to place it in a software loopback state.
d. Use a null-modern cable instead of the standard serial cable.

23. Which of the following do surge protectors guard equipment from?
a. Direct lightning strikes
b. Voltage spikes in dirty power sources
c. Power lags and sags
d. Power loss

24. Which of the following is not a reason to use a keyboard cover?
a. To reduce the chance of damage from liquid spills
b. To reduce the effect of dust build-up
c. To increase the precision of keystrokes
d. To reduce wear on the keys

25. A customer brings their system to you and requests that the internal analog modern be removed. After removing the adapter, you search in vain for a blank bracket to go in its place. What should you do?
a. Temporarily cover the hole in the backplane with electrical tape until you can replace it with a bracket.
b. Without plugging it in. put the adapter hack in place to cover the hole.
c. Leave the hole open until you can find a blank bracket, and call the customer to come get it.
d. Disable the card in the BIOS, and leave it installed.

26. The read and write heads of floppy drives, tape drives, and optical disc drives, such as CD and DVD, can become dirty, obscuring their ability to function properly. Which of the following is the correct regular preventative maintenance to avoid such a problem?
a. Regular use of such drives keeps the heads clean and free of contaminants. If a drive has not been used recently and now produces errors, access it repeatedly until the data is read properly.
b. Use a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol to clean the heads.
c. Use a head-cleaning system designed for the drive being cleaned.
d. Execute the Head Clean utility in Windows on a regular basis.

27. A customer has complained that their system has started getting slower. You discover that their job entails the frequent creation of documents and presentations of various sizes and that for confidentiality reasons, once these data files are finalized, they are moved to a secure server and removed from the customer's hard drive. What is the best solution to attempt to speed up the system again?
a. Search for files that the customer forgot to delete after they were moved to the server, which are building up and slowing down the system.
b. Run the ASR utility.
c. Run System Restore.
d. Defragment the customer's hard drive.

28. While investigating the failure of a laptop's built in LCD display, you discover that an external monitor works fine when connected to the VGA connector on the back of the laptop. Upon closer inspection, you find that you can see the image on the LCD screen faintly, but only in certain light. Which of the following could cause this problem?
a. The external VGA connector is defective.
b. The inverter board is defective.
c. The operating system has been configured to display on the external monitor only.
d. The rectifier board is defective.

29. Which of the following is the service in Windows XP that allows you to install a wireless NIC and immediately find available wireless networks?
a. Wireless Zero Configuration
b. Windows Zero Configuration
c. Configuration-free Networking
d. Ad Hoc wireless mode

30. Which of the following methods is the best way to remove a PC Card NIC from a laptop?
a. Double-click the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the System Tray, and then stop the device before unplugging it.
b. Hot-swappable devices like PC Cards should be unplugged like a cable to disconnect them from the system.
c. Use Device Manager to uninstall the driver for the device before unplugging it.
d. Use the switch on the PC Card to turn it off before unplugging it.

31. While diagnosing a laptop that will not stay powered up, which of the following is the least effective way to gather information about the problem?
a. Observe the LED on the AC adapter.
b. Swap the AC adapter with another one.
c. Remove the battery from the laptop.
d. Unplug all non-power-related cables and PC Cards from the laptop.

32. A customer complains that their pen mouse has stopped working. Which of the following is the most probable cause of the problem?
a. The user is applying too much pressure to the tablet, which is confusing the driver.
b. The stylus is upside down.
c. The customer is using the stylus from their PDA.
d. The user has stopped holding down the button on the stylus while moving the stylus around the tablet.

33. A customer brings you a new, hardened laptop. Their complaint is that they see the End and Home keys but are unable to use them in a manner to which they are accustomed. What is the most likely issue with this service request?
a. The user must hold the Fn key while pressing these keys.
b. This particular model of keyboard does not use these keys in the same fashion as a standard laptop or computer keyboard.
c. To remain visually compatible with standard keyboards, these keys are present but not functional.
d. Number Lock is on and affects how these keys are used.

34. Which switch specified during the execution of WINNT32.EXE installs the Recovery Console?
a. /CMD
b. /RCONS
c. /RECCONS
d. /CMDCONS

35. Which of the following is the first step ~you should take when troubleshooting a computer hardware or software issue?
a. Evaluate your results.
b. Determine who is at fault.
c. Gather information.
d. Document your work.

36. What does it mean for a computer to support SLI mode?
a. It is capable of accepting two or more 16X PCIe video cards and allowing them to share the video processing load.
b. It has an AMD K6-SLI processor installed.
c. A Windows operating system has booted into normal mode, as opposed to Safe Mode.
d. The appropriate chipset is installed to allow symmetric multiprocessing.

37. A customer has been complaining that their battery gauge is not acting in a linear fashion. It shows that the LiIon battery has 98% of its charge left and that this equates to three and a half hours of run time; but after reaching about 50% of its charge, the laptop dies quickly. Overall run time is never more than 90 minutes on a full charge. What can he done to improve this situation?

a. The battery must be placed in a deep-charge apparatus overnight to reverse the cell oxidation.
b. Nothing can be done, short of a battery replacement.
c. This is the standard operation of LiIon batteries, and the situation cannot he rectified.
d. The battery needs to he calibrated.

38. Where is the best place to obtain firmware updates for computers and printers?
a. A local computer superstore.
b. Through the Postal Service.
c. The manufacturer's website.
d. Updates are down loaded and installed automatically through Windows Update.

39. Which of the following is the highest-quality LCD technology?
a. Passive matrix
b. Active matrix
c. Dual scan
d. Triple scan

40. A customer brings you their scanner and complains that every time they scan a file and then try to use a specific application to open the file produced. They receive the message "This file cannot be used with this software." Only that software package has issues. What should you do?
a. Quote the customer a new scanner.
b. Open the file with an image-editing application, and reduce the resolution or change the file type.
c. Return the scanner's software to its default settings.
d. Sell the customer a new application that can use the file in the expected manner.

41. Which of the following should be done before removing a network share?
a. Lock the tile system.
b. Reboot the server.
c. Disconnect all users of the resource.
d. Announce the loss of the shared resource across the network.

42. The HP printer you are repairing displays the message PERFORM USER MAINTENANCE. Which two of the following are most likely called for in this case?
a. Clear all paper jams.
b. Clean spilled toner out of the printer.
c. Install a maintenance kit.
d. Reset the page count.

43. What is the term that describes a network naming convention that can be written generically as \\hostname\path or \\server\sharename?
a. UNC
b. NCSU
c. NetBIOS
d. ARC

44. Why will an 8x AGP card not fit into a 3.3V AGP slot on a motherboard?
a. The 3.3V slot is not long enough.
b. The 3.3V slot is not deep enough.
c. An 8x AGP card is a 3.3V AGP card and fits perfectly.
d. The keying of one of the specifications does not match the other.

45. Which key can you hold down to temporarily disable the autorun feature while inserting devices such as discs and USB thumb drives, without permanently disabling autorun through the Registry?
a. Shift
b. Ctrl
c. Alt
d. Esc

46. Which of the following impacts proper airflow and cooling most in a desktop computer system?
a. The number of properly mounted hard drives
b. Slot covers
c. The size of the chassis
d. The number of installed expansion cards

47. Which of the following is improper cable routing inside the case of a desktop computer system most likely to cause?
a. A tripping hazard
b. Components that fail to work
c. Overheating
d. Automatic system restarts

48. You receive a computer that has a power-supply fan that does not turn when you press the power button on the case. Which of the following is most likely to solve this problem?
a. Replace the power supply.
b. Replace the power-supply fan.
c. Replace the motherboard.
d. Replace the power button.

49. After completing a memory upgrade from 256MB to 512MB in a client's laptop, you attempt to confirm that the upgrade was successful and that all memory in the system is accessible. You notice that all but 32MB of the total RAM installed is accessible by Windows. What is the most likely issue at play here?
a. The memory module you installed is defective.
b. The onboard video adapter uses shared memory.
c. The operating system does not report virtual memory in the total.
d. The operating system always reserves 32MB for non-application purposes.

50. Which of the following is something that should be cleaned or replaced during routine maintenance of a laser printer?
a. Fuser
b. Corona wires
c. Toner cartridge
d. Ozone filter

51. Which of the following should you do before servicing a laser printer?
a. Allow the fuser to cool.
b. Allow the laser to discharge.
c. Allow the toner to settle.
d. Allow the page count to reach the maintenance threshold.

52. What is the last thing you should do when repairing a printer?
a. Instruct the customer on how to use the printer.
b. Clean the paper path.
c. Print a test page.
b. Reinsert the toner cartridge or ink cartridges.

53. In Device Manager, what is the easiest way to find out which device is using IRQ5?
a. Double-click each device, and click the Resources tab to observe the IRQ it is using until you find one that is using IRQ5.
b. Click View -> Devices by Connection, and find IRQ5 in the list.
c. Click View -> Resources by Type, and then expand Interrupt Request.
d. Click View -> Devices by Type, and find IRQ5 in the list.

54. A computer and printer are brought into your shop with the vague report that what they print is not acceptable. Which of the following is the best first step to figure out the characteristics of the problem?
a. Print a test page from the attached computer.
b. Print a test page from the printer's console.
c. Calibrate the printer.
d. Change the toner or ink cartridges.

55. When diagnosing an issue you are confident is linked to the motherboard, which of the following is not something you should be concerned with looking for?
a. Damage to the motherboard
b. Loose socketed chips
c. Improperly seated cards
b. Routing of the internal cables

56. What is the first thing you should do for a computer that the owner claims has become progressively slower over the past couple of weeks?
a. Defragment the hard drive.
b. Reinstall Windows.
c. Run antivirus and anti-spyware scans.
d. Run CHKDSK and SFC.

57. Which of the following is the closest distance to the maximum range of a Bluetooth device from the computer-attached receiver?
a. 3 feet
b. 30 feet
c. 300 feet
d. 3000 feet

58. After connecting a new scanner to their computer, a customer brings in the scanner and computer and asks you to get the scanner to be recognized, an event that did not occur automatically in this case. What can you use to manually get the operating system to recognize the scanner?
a. The Scanners and Cameras Wizard
b. Device Manager
c. The Add Hardware Wizard
d. The Add Printer Wizard

59. Where do you go in Windows XP to force a user to press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reach the logon screen?
a. The Advanced tab of the User Accounts applet in Control Panel
b. User Profiles on the Advanced tab of System Properties
c. The Windows logon screen
d. Taskbar and Start Menu Properties

60. You receive a computer that boots only into Safe Mode because of a known driver issue. Which of the following can you try, to return the system to normal operation?
a. Uninstall the device in Device Manager.
b. Press the F8 key during bootup, and select Last Known Good Configuration.
c. Physically remove the offending device.
d. Disable the device in Device Manager.

61. Which of the following best describes an IDE header found on a motherboard?
a. Beige, two rows of 20 pins each
b. Black, two rows of 20 pins each
c. Blue, two rows of 17 pins each
d. Black, two rows of 62 pins each

62. After replacing a video expansion card with a superior model, you notice the resolution is worse than before with no options to increase it. Which of the following is the best solution to this problem?
a. Reinstall the old adapter alongside the new adapter.
b. Assign the old driver to the new adapter in Device Manager.
c. Install or update the driver for the new video adapter.
d. Enable the new video adapter in the BIOS.

63. Which of the following is an example of biometric authentication?
a. Smart card
b. USB token
c. Username and password
d. Retinal scan

64. Which of the following is the optimal DDR for a motherboard with a 400MHz FSB?
a. PC400
b. PC800
c. PC3200
d. PC2-3200

65. You receive a computer for service with a 200GB Ultra DMA/100 hard drive that the owner claims is not verifying at this speed with benchmark utilities. If you can confirm the slower performance in the shop, which of the following is the most likely cause?
a. The drive is attached with a 40-pin cable.
b. The drive is attached with a 40-conductor cable.
c. The drive-cable's connector is not completely attached to the drive, the motherboard, or both.
d. The drive is set for slave.

66. A laptop on which you are diagnosing a video problem boots up; but it initially flashes dark horizontal lines of various sizes, and then the video goes away and never returns. Which of the following is the most likely fix for this problem?
a. Replace the LCD.
b. Replace the inverter.
c. Use the keyboard key sequence to activate the LCD instead of or in addition to the external monitor.
b. Boot into Safe Mode, and update the video driver.

67. You receive a desktop computer for service but cannot get past the POST because of a system password that is requested early in the boot process. The owner is unavailable and is expecting the computer back at the end of the day. Which of the following can you try to reset the password?
a. Enter the BIOS, and turn off password authentication.
b. Use the jumper on the motherboard to clear the CMOS.
c. I-Told the Esc key while booting to bypass the password.
d. Edit the PASSWORD.INI file in the root of the system partition.

68. How can you best test a NIC without another network device to connect to?
a. Device Manager
b. Network Neighborhood or My Network Places
c. Loopback plug
d. Multimeter

69. What do inkjet, bubble-jet, and solid-ink printers have in common?
a. Their cartridges are usually interchangeable.
b. If you refill your own cartridges, you can use the same ink for each one.
c. Any driver that works for one works for the others as well.
d. They all shoot ink onto the page without touching the page.

70. A customer brings in a new printer that they have never used with the complaint that every time they start the printer, it emits an annoying noise and does not print. What should you do?
a. Replace the print cartridges.
b. Remove the packing tape.
c. Install more memory in the printer.
d. Replace the carriage motor.

71. Which two of the following connectors might you expect to see on a parallel printer cable?
a. Centronics 36-pin
b. USB TypeA
c. D-sub 25-pin
d. D-sub 9-pin

72. A customer complains that their ink jet printer has yellow ghosting around certain colored objects and that the spacing between horizontal lines is not consistent. Which of the following makes the most sense to try?
a. Calibrate the printer.
b. Change the print cartridges, especially the yellow one.
c. Replace the belt for the carriage assembly.
d. Clean the print cartridges.

73. One of the departmental printers in your customer's company has been seeing increased usage recently and does not appear to be up to the challenge. Complaints of slow printing and inefficient use of users' time are common. What can you do that is most likely to have the greatest positive effect on the problem?
a. Use compression to reduce the size of the print jobs.
b. Change the pickup and exit rollers to reduce slipping.
c. Add memory to the computers of each user who prints to that printer.
d. Add memory to the printer.

74. Which is the term for a technology that transmits one bit at a time?
a. Digital
b. Analog
c. Parallel
d. Serial

75. You receive from an athletic club a laser printer that experiences frequent paper jams. Which of the following is the most likely cause for these jams?
a. The pickup rollers are worn and must be replaced.
b. Humidity is causing the paper to stick together.
c. The toner cartridge needs to be replaced.
d. The fuser roller is marred.

76. Which of the following fans is considered an intake-oriented fan?
a. Front chassis fan
b. Power supply fan
c. CPU fan
d. Auxiliary rear chassis fan

77. Which of the following is the best permanent boot order for a customer who expects to boot regularly from each device?
a. HDD; FDD; CD
b. CD; FDD: HDD
c. FDD; CD; HDD
d. FDD; HDD; CD

78. All of the following are important considerations when cleaning a flatbed scanner's platen screen except:
a. Use a lint-free cloth.
b. Clean with strokes from the edge of the glass to the center.
c. Do not apply cleaning solution directly to the glass.
d. Blow the surface clean first to remove larger particles.

79. Which of the following is a standard tool for you to test a printer and scanner connected to the same computer?
a. Loopback plug
b. Test pattern
c. USB direct connection
d. Head cleaner

80. You receive a laptop with a touchpad, the touch stick disabled, and no external mouse. Without any interaction, the mouse cursor moves randomly around the screen. Which of the following is the first thing you should try?
a. Enable the touch stick.
b. Attach an external mouse.
c. Clean the touchpad.
d. Replace the rubber cover for the touch stick.