The CompTIA A+ certification is for aspiring or entry level Information Systems Technicians. The A+ certification covers basic installation and configuration of computer hardware and software. The exams will include topics involving PC's, laptops, various operating systems, mobile devices, tablets, basic computer networking, and troubleshooting. The certification requires passing the 220-801 and 220-802 exams, both consisting of multiple choice and performance-based questions.
A user has called the IT Department and states that their computer does not work. Which of the following would be the BEST question to obtain further information?
You should always try to get as much relevant information as possible before beginning to troubleshoot. But remember to start with basic information first, most users are not IT's or tech savvy.
Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process operational again. Troubleshooting is needed to identify the symptoms. Determining the most likely cause is a process of elimination—eliminating potential causes of a problem. Finally, troubleshooting requires confirmation that the solution restores the product or process to its working state. In general, troubleshooting is the identification or diagnosis of "trouble" in the management flow of a system caused by a failure of some kind. The problem is initially described as symptoms of malfunction, and troubleshooting is the process of determining and remedying the causes of these symptoms. A system can be described in terms of its expected, desired or intended behavior (usually, for artificial systems, its purpose). Events or inputs to the system are expected to generate specific results or outputs. (For example, selecting the "print" option from various computer applications is intended to result in a hardcopy emerging from some specific device). Any unexpected or undesirable behavior is a symptom. Troubleshooting is the process of isolating the specific cause or causes of the symptom. Frequently the symptom is a failure of the product or process to produce any results. (Nothing was printed, for example). Corrective action can then be taken to prevent further failures of a similar kind. The
Troubleshooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThere's no firewall or antivirus that can protect from Social Engineering. The best solution is to teach users how to identify and avoid Social Engineering.
In the context of information security, social engineering is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex fraud scheme. It has also been defined as "any act that influences a person to take an action that may or may not be in their best interests."An example of social engineering is an attacker calling a help desk, impersonating someone else, and claiming to have forgotten their password. If the help desk worker resets the password, it grants the attacker full access to the account.
Social_engineering_(security) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaTablets and other mobile devices do not use Hard Disk Drives (HDD). HDD's use magnetic storage and constantly moving parts, which makes them poor candidates when durability is necessary. Most mobile devices will use flash memory based storage mediums like Solid State Drives (SSD).
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk, is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored and retrieved in any order. HDDs are a type of non-volatile storage, retaining stored data when powered off. Modern HDDs are typically in the form of a small rectangular box. Introduced by IBM in 1956, HDDs were the dominant secondary storage device for general-purpose computers beginning in the early 1960s. HDDs maintained this position into the modern era of servers and personal computers, though personal computing devices produced in large volume, like mobile phones and tablets, rely on flash memory storage devices. More than 224 companies have produced HDDs historically, though after extensive industry consolidation most units are manufactured by Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. HDDs dominate the volume of storage produced (exabytes per year) for servers. Though production is growing slowly (by exabytes shipped), sales revenues and unit shipments are declining because solid-state drives (SSDs) have higher data-transfer rates, higher areal storage density, somewhat better reliability, and much lower latency and access times.The revenues for SSDs, most of which use NAND flash memory, slightly exceeded those for HDDs in 2018. Flash storage
Hard disk drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWhich of the following IP Addresses would be automatically assigned when a Windows PC is unable to contact a DHCP Server?
When a PC needs an IP address but cannot contact a DHCP server, it will will receive an APIPA Address. APIPA Addresses will be within the 169.254.0.0-169.254.255.255 range.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a client–server architecture.The technology eliminates the need for individually configuring network devices manually, and consists of two network components, a centrally installed network DHCP server and client instances of the protocol stack on each computer or device. When connected to the network, and periodically thereafter, a client requests a set of parameters from the server using DHCP. DHCP can be implemented on networks ranging in size from residential networks to large campus networks and regional ISP networks. Many routers and residential gateways have DHCP server capability. Most residential network routers receive a unique IP address within the ISP network. Within a local network, a DHCP server assigns a local IP address to each device. DHCP services exist for networks running Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), as well as version 6 (IPv6). The IPv6 version of the DHCP protocol is commonly called DHCPv6.
Dynamic_Host_Configuration_Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA user is experiencing slow performance with their computer. A technician suspects the computer has a virus and runs antivirus software. A virus is found and removed, but the performance issue is not resolved. Which of the following should the technician perform NEXT?
Although the technician was able to locate and remove a virus, that virus was not the cause of the user's issues. The technician should continue to troubleshoot the computer.
Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process operational again. Troubleshooting is needed to identify the symptoms. Determining the most likely cause is a process of elimination—eliminating potential causes of a problem. Finally, troubleshooting requires confirmation that the solution restores the product or process to its working state. In general, troubleshooting is the identification or diagnosis of "trouble" in the management flow of a system caused by a failure of some kind. The problem is initially described as symptoms of malfunction, and troubleshooting is the process of determining and remedying the causes of these symptoms. A system can be described in terms of its expected, desired or intended behavior (usually, for artificial systems, its purpose). Events or inputs to the system are expected to generate specific results or outputs. (For example, selecting the "print" option from various computer applications is intended to result in a hardcopy emerging from some specific device). Any unexpected or undesirable behavior is a symptom. Troubleshooting is the process of isolating the specific cause or causes of the symptom. Frequently the symptom is a failure of the product or process to produce any results. (Nothing was printed, for example). Corrective action can then be taken to prevent further failures of a similar kind. The
Troubleshooting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA user has reported that their laptop is not charging and often turns off, even when the charger is plugged in. Which of the following is most likely the problem?
If the battery is not charging and the laptop powers off when plugged in, it is most likely an issue with the power cord or DC jack. Remember: Laptops do not convert AC->DC. The power is converted by the power cord before reaching the laptop's DC jack.
A DC connector (or DC plug, for one common type of connector) is an electrical connector for supplying direct current (DC) power. Compared to domestic AC power plugs and sockets, DC connectors have many more standard types that are not interchangeable. The dimensions and arrangement of DC connectors can be chosen to prevent accidental interconnection of incompatible sources and loads. Types vary from small coaxial connectors used to power portable electronic devices from AC adapters, to connectors used for automotive accessories and for battery packs in portable equipment.
DC_connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaSusan, a new user, was recently given a new company laptop. While traveling, Susan reports that her laptop shuts off whenever it is unplugged, even if the battery is 100% charged. Which of the following should the technician do?
The first step here should always be to try a new battery. Although the issue could possibly be more complicated than that, it is most likely a failing battery.
A technician is troubleshooting a PC that is not completing POST and merely provides an audible beep code. Which of the following should be the FIRST item checked?
During a POST the computer would have checked to ensure that all equipment required to boot is properly working. Of the 4 choices, the only part required for BOOT is a proper memory configuration. Heat sinks, hard drives, and IDE/SATA Cables are not needed to pass POST, which makes them irrelevant to the question.
A power-on self-test (POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on.This article mainly deals with POSTs on personal computers, but many other embedded systems such as those in major appliances, avionics, communications, or medical equipment also have self-test routines which are automatically invoked at power-on.The results of the POST may be displayed on a panel that is part of the device, output to an external device, or stored for future retrieval by a diagnostic tool. Since a self-test might detect that the system's usual human-readable display is non-functional, an indicator lamp or a speaker may be provided to show error codes as a sequence of flashes or beeps. In addition to running tests, the POST process may also set the initial state of the device from firmware. In the case of a computer, the POST routines are part of a device's pre-boot sequence; if they complete successfully, the bootstrap loader code is invoked to load an operating system.
Power-on_self-test - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe MSCONFIG tool, officially called the System Configuration tool has several features for troubleshooting and modifying the start up process.
MSConfig (officially called System Configuration in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, or Windows 11 and Microsoft System Configuration Utility in previous operating systems) is a system utility to troubleshoot the Microsoft Windows startup process. It can disable or re-enable software, device drivers and Windows services that run at startup, or change boot parameters. It is bundled with all versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems since Windows 98 except Windows 2000. Windows 95 and Windows 2000 users can download the utility as well, although it was not designed for them.
MSConfig - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA business needs its sales team to have laptop computers on the sales floor, but is afraid they can be easily stolen. Which choice will best secure a companies laptop from theft?
A cable lock will physically secure the laptop to a desk, counter, or table. This will keep the laptops from being stolen, but still portable when unlocked.
A Kensington Security Slot (also called a K-Slot or Kensington lock) is part of an anti-theft system designed in the mid 1980s and patented by Kryptonite in 1999–2000, assigned to Schlage in 2002, and since 2005 owned and marketed by Kensington Computer Products Group, a division of ACCO Brands.
Kensington_Security_Slot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA friend has come to you for help with a laptop, which has been regularly experiencing the BSOD and is making a faint clicking noise. What is most likely the issue with this laptop?
The key bit of information for this question is the faint clicking noise. The only moving component in a computer is a Hard disk drive, and the first sign of a physical hard drive failure is a clicking noise. SSD's do not have any moving parts and will not make clicking noises, while a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) will. HDD is not an answer, so None of the Above is correct.
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk, is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material. The platters are paired with magnetic heads, usually arranged on a moving actuator arm, which read and write data to the platter surfaces. Data is accessed in a random-access manner, meaning that individual blocks of data can be stored and retrieved in any order. HDDs are a type of non-volatile storage, retaining stored data when powered off. Modern HDDs are typically in the form of a small rectangular box. Introduced by IBM in 1956, HDDs were the dominant secondary storage device for general-purpose computers beginning in the early 1960s. HDDs maintained this position into the modern era of servers and personal computers, though personal computing devices produced in large volume, like mobile phones and tablets, rely on flash memory storage devices. More than 224 companies have produced HDDs historically, though after extensive industry consolidation most units are manufactured by Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. HDDs dominate the volume of storage produced (exabytes per year) for servers. Though production is growing slowly (by exabytes shipped), sales revenues and unit shipments are declining because solid-state drives (SSDs) have higher data-transfer rates, higher areal storage density, somewhat better reliability, and much lower latency and access times.The revenues for SSDs, most of which use NAND flash memory, slightly exceeded those for HDDs in 2018. Flash storage
Hard_disk_drive - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA technician is installing a webcam in a nursery for a user to monitor their baby. The user wants to ensure that the webcam is not broadcasting externally. Which of the following would the technician implement on the SOHO router to prevent the broadcast?
The outbound port should be blocked to ensure no one can connect to the webcam outside of the LAN. This is probably the default setting for the router, but you should still check to be sure.
In computing, a firewall is a network security system that monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules. A firewall typically establishes a barrier between a trusted network and an untrusted network, such as the Internet.
Firewall_(computing) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaUnfortunately the FAT32 file system does not allow for file and folder permissions like those that are commonly found on modern file systems, such as NTFS.
New Technology File System (NTFS) is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft. Starting with Windows NT 3.1, it is the default file system of the Windows NT family. It superseded File Allocation Table (FAT) as the preferred filesystem on Windows and is supported in Linux and BSD as well. NTFS reading and writing support is provided using a free and open-source kernel implementation known as NTFS3 in Linux and the NTFS-3G driver in BSD. By using the convert command, Windows can convert FAT32/16/12 into NTFS without the need to rewrite all files. NTFS uses several files typically hidden from the user to store metadata about other files stored on the drive which can help improve speed and performance when reading data. Unlike FAT and High Performance File System (HPFS), NTFS supports access control lists (ACLs), filesystem encryption, transparent compression, sparse files and file system journaling. NTFS also supports shadow copy to allow backups of a system while it is running, but the functionality of the shadow copies varies between different versions of Windows.
NTFS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCheck Disk (CHKDSK) verifies the file system integrity of a volume and fixes logical errors. FSCK is the Unix/Linux equivalent of CHKDSK.
In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and attempts to fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix and similar to Microsoft ScanDisk, which co-existed with CHKDSK in Windows 9x and MS-DOS 6.x.
CHKDSK - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaPXE (PreBoot Execution Environment) is an industry standard protocol that allows client computer(s) to boot to an environment located on a central server.
In computing, the Preboot eXecution Environment, PXE (most often pronounced as pixie, often called PXE Boot/pixie boot.) specification describes a standardized client–server environment that boots a software assembly, retrieved from a network, on PXE-enabled clients. On the client side it requires only a PXE-capable network interface controller (NIC), and uses a small set of industry-standard network protocols such as DHCP and TFTP. The concept behind the PXE originated in the early days of protocols like BOOTP/DHCP/TFTP, and as of 2015 it forms part of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) standard. In modern data centers, PXE is the most frequent choice for operating system booting, installation and deployment.
Preboot_Execution_Environment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaWhich of the following Windows commands can identify and repair corrupted information and other hard drive issues?
Check Disk (CHKDSK) is a Windows Repair tool for verifying volume integrity.
In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and attempts to fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix and similar to Microsoft ScanDisk, which co-existed with CHKDSK in Windows 9x and MS-DOS 6.x.
CHKDSK - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaAlex, a technician, would like to map a network drive when he starts up his computer in the morning. Which of the following commands would he use to accomplish this task?
The NET command in Windows provides many options, including the NET USE command tool. The NET USE command will show and configure mapped network drives from a shared resource like a NAS or a storage server.
NET may refer to:
NET - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaA Piconet is a group of wireless devices connected using Bluetooth. An Extranet is an Intranet that is partially available to external users. WAP is a Wireless Access Point.
A piconet is an ad hoc network that links a wireless user group of devices using Bluetooth technology protocols. A piconet consists of two or more devices occupying the same physical channel (synchronized to a common clock and hopping sequence). It allows one master device to interconnect with up to seven active slave devices. Up to 255 further slave devices can be inactive, or parked, which the master device can bring into active status at any time, but an active station must go into parked first. Some examples of piconets include a cell phone connected to a computer, a laptop and a Bluetooth-enabled digital camera, or several PDAs that are connected to each other.
Piconet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaYou work as an IT Consultant for a small business. The business uses several Windows based servers to store data used between company employees. After a power outage and UPS failure, one of the servers has rebooted and users are unable to communicate with the server. After running the IPCONFIG command line tool, you find the server has an IP Address of 169.254.20.1. Which of the following is likely the issue?
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provides network devices with IP configurations. When a Windows based PC or Server does not have a statically assigned IP and cannot connect to a DHCP server it will assign an Automatic Private IP Address (APIPA) and attempt to use it to communicate on the network. The APIPA address range is 169.254.0.0 to 169.254.255.255.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used on Internet Protocol (IP) networks for automatically assigning IP addresses and other communication parameters to devices connected to the network using a client–server architecture.The technology eliminates the need for individually configuring network devices manually, and consists of two network components, a centrally installed network DHCP server and client instances of the protocol stack on each computer or device. When connected to the network, and periodically thereafter, a client requests a set of parameters from the server using DHCP. DHCP can be implemented on networks ranging in size from residential networks to large campus networks and regional ISP networks. Many routers and residential gateways have DHCP server capability. Most residential network routers receive a unique IP address within the ISP network. Within a local network, a DHCP server assigns a local IP address to each device. DHCP services exist for networks running Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), as well as version 6 (IPv6). The IPv6 version of the DHCP protocol is commonly called DHCPv6.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaCheck Disk (CHKDSK) is a Windows command line tool that will verify the integrity of a disk drive, as well as attempt to solve any errors that are found.
In computing, CHKDSK (short for "check disk") is a system tool and command in DOS, Digital Research FlexOS, IBM/Toshiba 4690 OS, IBM OS/2, Microsoft Windows and related operating systems. It verifies the file system integrity of a volume and attempts to fix logical file system errors. It is similar to the fsck command in Unix and similar to Microsoft ScanDisk, which co-existed with CHKDSK in Windows 9x and MS-DOS 6.x.
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