Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 20 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: A user called the help desk to complain about an issue with their laptop's keyboard. Every time they type a word like "h. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A user called the help desk to complain about an issue with their laptop's keyboard. Every time they type a w…
- Johnny is trying to download a file from a remote FTP server but keeps receiving an error that a connection c…
- A computer technician is configuring a NAS for a company to store their corporate data. The technician has in…
- Using the image of the motherboard above, which of the following correctly indicates the circled area? (This…
- Dion Training has just installed a new hub/control system to control the lights, HVAC, and power to the devic…
- A network technician connects three temporary office trailers with a point-to-multipoint microwave radio solu…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. A user called the help desk to complain about an issue with their laptop's keyboard. Every time they type a word like "help" or "none," it is displayed as something cryptic like "he3p" or "n6ne." Which of the following is the MOST likely c…
Answer: D. The NumLock has been enabled for the laptop
Enabled NumLock on laptops activates embedded number keys over letter keys, causing typing errors. While debris or faulty drivers can cause general hardware malfunctions, they do not specifically transform letters into adjacent numerals.
Q2. Johnny is trying to download a file from a remote FTP server but keeps receiving an error that a connection cannot be opened. Which of the following should you do FIRST to resolve the problem?
Answer: A. Ensure that port 20 is open
Active FTP transfers data over port 20, which must be open for downloads to succeed. Port 161 is used by SNMP, certificates relate to secure web pages, and DNS flushing only resolves hostnames rather than blocked transfer ports.
Q3. A computer technician is configuring a NAS for a company to store their corporate data. The technician has installed four 10 TB hard drives operating at 5400 RPM in a RAID 10 configuration. How much usable storage space is contained in thi…
Answer: B. 20 TB
RAID 10 mirrors data across paired drives, which means you lose half of your total raw storage capacity to redundancy. With four 10 TB drives providing 40 TB raw, the usable storage space is exactly 20 TB.
Q4. Using the image of the motherboard above, which of the following correctly indicates the circled area? (This is a simulated PBQ. If you had this question on the real exam, you would be asked to drag-and-drop a label with the component's na…
Answer: D. Fan power
The circled area indicates fan power connectors on the motherboard. The mainboard power uses a 24-pin connector, and CPU power uses an 8-pin connector, while AGP is a legacy slot.
Q5. Dion Training has just installed a new hub/control system to control the lights, HVAC, and power to the devices in their studio. The new hub/control system relies on Zigbee for wireless communication and networking between the different de…
Answer: D. Internet of Things
Internet of Things (IoT) describes a network of smart appliances and sensors equipped with network connectivity. IoT devices commonly rely on Zigbee or Z-Wave for wireless communication, unlike traditional servers which use standard Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
Q6. A network technician connects three temporary office trailers with a point-to-multipoint microwave radio solution in a wooded area. The microwave radios are up, and the network technician can ping network devices in all of the office trail…
Answer: A. Interference
Wireless microwave radio links require a clear line of sight to maintain a reliable connection. In a wooded area, trees and branches obstructing this path cause signal interference, leading to the sporadic connectivity reported by users.
Q7. Which type of wireless network utilizes the 5 GHz frequency band and reaches speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps?
Answer: A. 802.11ax
The 802.11ax standard, also known as Wi-Fi 6, operates on the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands and reaches theoretical speeds up to 9.6 Gbps. Older standards like 802.11ac and 802.11n offer significantly lower maximum speeds.
Q8. Susan is on a business trip, and her laptop doesn't appear to charge when plugged into the electrical outlet in her hotel room. She calls the help desk and asks for your assistance. Which of the following options should she attempt first d…
Answer: C. Plug AC adapter in a different outlet
Troubleshooting methodology requires questioning the obvious first, such as checking whether the wall outlet is controlled by a light switch or simply faulty. Replacing the battery or DC jack is not practical while traveling, making a simple outlet change the best initial step.
Q9. A company has a legacy Windows application that is critical to their operations. However, the application needs to run on macOS systems used by employees. How does cross-platform application virtualization help resolve this issue?
Answer: D. It allows the application to run within a virtual environment on macOS
Cross-platform application virtualization allows a Windows application to run inside an isolated virtual environment on macOS. This provides compatibility without modifying the host operating system or setting up a dual-boot configuration.
Q10. Tom is running some new Cat 5e cabling in an office building to connect a few offices. The ceiling is constructed as a drop ceiling with fluorescent lights and does not have any cable trays. Due to the proximity of the fluorescent lights t…
Answer: C. STP
Shielded twisted pair cable protects against electromagnetic interference from nearby fluorescent lights. Unshielded twisted pair is susceptible to this interference, while coaxial and fiber are completely different cable categories.
Q11. You just arrived at school today, pulled your laptop out of your backpack, and tried to connect your laptop to the Wi-Fi network. Your laptop worked yesterday but won't connect to Wi-Fi today. Everyone else's laptops seem to connect withou…
Answer: D. Wireless switch on your laptop
Troubleshooting follows the OSI model from the physical layer upward when a single user loses connectivity. Since others connect fine, checking the physical laptop wireless switch or toggle is the most logical first step.
Q12. A user wants to print a spreadsheet horizontally on a piece of paper instead of vertically to fit more columns on a single page. What setting should the user enable on the printer for this print job to achieve this result?
Answer: A. Orientation
Page orientation switches printing between portrait and landscape. Landscape orientation prints horizontally to fit more columns on a page. Transparency is irrelevant, duplex prints on both sides, and collate organizes multiple copies in sequence.
Q13. Jay is complaining that the speed at which the cursor moves across his laptop's screen when using his trackpad makes it difficult to properly control. Which setting could he use to slow down the cursor in Windows 10?
Answer: B. Settings > Devices > Touchpad > Speed
Touchpad speed directly controls cursor movement across the screen. Sensitivity adjusts the pressure required for taps, while mouse settings apply to external mice rather than the built-in trackpad.
Q14. Which of the following wireless standards should you implement if the existing wireless network only allows for three non-overlapping channels, and you need additional non-overlapping channels to prevent interference with neighboring busin…
Answer: C. 802.11ac
The 802.11ac standard operates in the 5 GHz band, providing many non-overlapping channels to prevent interference. Older 2.4 GHz standards like 802.11b and 802.11g only offer three non-overlapping channels. 802.1q is a VLAN tagging standard.
Q15. A touchscreen laptop is non-responsive to touch, but the touchpad works fine. The screen appears intact with no damage. Which component needs replacement?
Answer: B. Digitizer
A digitizer is the touch-sensitive layer that converts screen taps into digital input. Since the display appears intact and the touchpad works, the GPU and LCD panel are functioning correctly, isolating the issue to touch input.
Q16. A company implementing BYOD needs to secure corporate apps and data on employees' personal smartphones while respecting their privacy concerns about the company having full device control. Which solution best balances security and privacy?
Answer: D. MAM
Mobile Application Management isolates corporate applications and data without controlling the entire personal device. MDM and EMM provide full device control, which violates employee privacy expectations in a bring your own device environment.
Q17. You are troubleshooting a storage issue on a customer's computer. During the computer's operation, you hear a loud, rhythmic sound. Which of the following storage components is likely failing?
Answer: A. HDD
A failing hard disk drive makes a loud rhythmic clicking noise because it relies on moving mechanical parts. Solid state drives and memory modules have no moving parts, so they would not produce this sound during operation.
Q18. What type of wiring standard is used with POTS?
Answer: A. RJ-11
Plain old telephone service wiring uses an RJ-11 connector to terminate standard phone lines. RJ-45 is used for Ethernet networks, F-type connectors are used with coaxial cables, and ST connectors are used for fiber optic cabling.
Q19. Which port is used to connect to an IMAP server?
Answer: D. 143
The Internet Message Access Protocol uses TCP port 143 to retrieve emails. Port 110 is used by POP3, port 25 is used by SMTP, and port 443 is used for secure HTTPS web traffic.
Q20. A customer called the service desk and complained that they could not reach the internet on their computer. You ask the customer to open their command prompt, type in ipconfig, and read you the IP address. The customer reads the IP as 169…
Answer: C. Their workstation cannot reach the DHCP server
An IP address starting with 169.254 indicates Automatic Private IP Addressing, which occurs when a workstation cannot reach a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol server. Without a valid IP configuration from DHCP, the device cannot properly route traffic.
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