Hardware & Peripheral Troubleshooting (CCST IT Support) Flashcards
Cisco CCST IT Support 100-140 Flashcards

| Front | Back |
| Best practice before replacing a laptop keyboard | Power off unplug battery and ground yourself |
| Best storage for OS performance | NVMe SSD |
| Cause of intermittent USB device detection | Faulty cable port or power limitation on hub |
| Common cause of ghost printing jobs | Corrupted print spooler or driver issue |
| Common symptom of a failing power supply | Random shutdowns or failure to power on |
| First step when laptop overheats | Clean vents and fans |
| Fix for loud PC fan noise | Clean dust check fan bearings and update fan curve in BIOS |
| Fix for printer not responding over network | Check IP address restart print spooler and update drivers |
| Fix for printer paper jams | Remove jammed paper follow maintenance guide and check rollers |
| How to check POST codes on modern motherboards | Use motherboard debug LED or speaker beep codes |
| How to check SMART status | Use disk diagnostic software like smartctl or manufacturer tools |
| How to clear a CMOS password | Use motherboard jumper or remove CMOS battery after power off |
| How to identify a device driver issue | Check device manager for errors and roll back or update driver |
| How to isolate faulty RAM | Run Memtest86 and test one module at a time |
| How to prevent electrostatic damage when replacing components | Use ESD wrist strap and work on grounded surface |
| How to recover data from failed HDD | Try disk cloning and use specialized recovery software or services |
| How to reset BIOS to defaults | Use CMOS jumper or remove CMOS battery briefly |
| How to resolve printer driver conflicts | Uninstall old drivers use vendor driver and restart spooler |
| How to test a monitor | Connect known good video source and swap cables |
| How to test a power supply without a PC | Use paperclip test and measure voltages with a multimeter carefully |
| How to troubleshoot slow boot times | Disable unnecessary startup apps check firmware and test storage speed |
| How to troubleshoot wireless printing | Confirm same network restart printer and check firewall settings |
| Procedure to replace a laptop screen | Power off remove bezel disconnect cable and install new panel |
| Purpose of thermal paste | Improve heat transfer between CPU and heatsink |
| Reason an SSD is slower than expected | Full drive outdated firmware or wrong interface mode |
| Reason BIOS not recognizing new RAM | Incompatible type or faulty module |
| Symptom of bad RAM | Random crashes blue screens and application errors |
| Symptom of failing GPU | Artifacts screen corruption or driver crashes |
| Symptom of failing hard drive | Clicking noises slow performance and bad sectors |
| Symptom of failing optical drive | Unable to read discs or read errors |
| Symptom of motherboard capacitor failure | Bulging or leaking capacitors and system instability |
| Tool for replacing laptop screws | Precision screwdriver set |
| Tool to manage partitions and file systems | Disk Management or GParted |
| Tool to test voltage rails in a PSU | Multimeter |
| Typical POST beep code for no video | Single long or repeated beeps depends on BIOS vendor |
| Use of ping command in troubleshooting | Verify network connectivity to another host |
| What causes blue screen memory allocation errors | Defective RAM driver conflict or corrupted system files |
| What does POST stand for | Power On Self Test |
| What is hot swapping | Replacing or adding components without shutting down system |
| What is NVMe | Non Volatile Memory Express high speed storage protocol |
| What is RAID 0 | Striping for performance no redundancy |
| What is RAID 1 | Mirroring for redundancy |
| What is thermal throttling | CPU or GPU reduces speed to avoid overheating |
| What is UEFI | Unified Extensible Firmware Interface |
| What to do when laptop battery will not charge | Test with known charger reset battery and update firmware |
| When to update firmware | To fix bugs add feature or support new hardware |
| Why does BIOS clock reset after power loss | Dead CMOS battery |
| Why would a system fail to POST after RAM upgrade | Unsupported RAM speed or incorrect seating |
| Why would BIOS not detect a hard drive | Loose cable wrong mode or failed drive |
| Why would USB devices be slow | Connected to USB 2.0 port or using a slow hub |
Related Study Materials
About the Flashcards
Flashcards for the Cisco CCST IT Support exam provide concise prompts to review hardware troubleshooting terminology, common failure symptoms, and repair procedures. Cards cover BIOS/UEFI and POST codes, power supply diagnostics and PSU testing, memory testing and isolation, storage technologies (HDD, SSD, NVMe) and RAID basics, plus peripheral and printer troubleshooting.
The deck reinforces practical steps and tools: using multimeters and precision screwdrivers, running Memtest86 and SMART checks, resetting CMOS and updating firmware or drivers, cleaning vents, and following ESD safety. Use these cards to drill key terms, diagnostic workflows, and quick fixes frequently tested on the exam.
Topics covered in this flashcard deck:
- Power supply diagnostics
- BIOS/UEFI and POST
- Memory testing and errors
- Storage, RAID and NVMe
- Printer and peripheral troubleshooting
- Thermal and cooling maintenance