Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 21 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: What type of Virtual Desktop should be chosen to reduce capital expenditures and have the hardware maintained by the clo. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- What type of Virtual Desktop should be chosen to reduce capital expenditures and have the hardware maintained…
- Jonni's laptop works perfectly at his desk but powers off when moved to the conference room. What is MOST lik…
- Using the image above, which of the following correctly indicates the port labeled as G? (This is a simulated…
- A shared printer failed and its replacement will arrive in two weeks. A manager's USB printer could be shared…
- You have been asked to build a specialized computer that will be used exclusively as a gaming machine for bet…
- Using the image of the motherboard above, which of the following is circled? (This is a simulated PBQ. If you…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. What type of Virtual Desktop should be chosen to reduce capital expenditures and have the hardware maintained by the cloud service provider?
Answer: C. Remote hosted virtual desktops
Remote hosted virtual desktops shift hardware maintenance and capital expenses to the cloud service provider. Local virtualization options still require the end user to purchase and maintain their own physical hardware.
Q2. Jonni's laptop works perfectly at his desk but powers off when moved to the conference room. What is MOST likely the cause?
Answer: A. The laptop's battery connection is loose
A laptop losing power specifically when moved usually points to a loose battery connection. Thermal shutdowns occur randomly under load, while CMOS battery failures only affect system settings like date and time.
Q3. Using the image above, which of the following correctly indicates the port labeled as G? (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 name onto the pr…
Answer: D. USB 3.0
USB 3.0 ports are often color-coded blue or red to distinguish them from older USB 2.0 ports. FireWire and USB-C have distinct physical shapes that rule them out.
Q4. A shared printer failed and its replacement will arrive in two weeks. A manager's USB printer could be shared temporarily with 12 employees. No wired network jacks are available, but there is a wireless access point. Which of the following…
Answer: B. Purchase a portable wireless print server and connect the printer to it using USB
A wireless print server connects a USB printer to the network, allowing reliable access for all users without relying on the manager's computer. Network sharing via IP or local USB transfers would disrupt the manager.
Q5. You have been asked to build a specialized computer that will be used exclusively as a gaming machine for beta testing new video games. Which of the following should you install to BEST meet the company's needs? (Select FOUR)
Answer: B,C,E,F. 7.1 Dolby Sound audio card || Liquid cooling || Dedicated video card with GPU || 512 GB SSD
Gaming PCs require solid state drives, high end dedicated graphics cards, specialized cooling, and high definition sound cards. Traditional hard drives and integrated video processors lack the performance needed for gaming.
Q6. Using the image of the motherboard above, which of the following is circled? (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 name onto the proper locatio…
Answer: A. USB
Universal Serial Bus is the standard rectangular port found on motherboard rear I/O panels. DVI is a larger video connector, while FireWire and SPDIF have distinctly different shapes.
Q7. Which motherboard form factor measures 6.7" x 6.7" (17 cm x 17 cm) in size?
Answer: C. mITX
Mini ITX motherboards measure six point seven inches square and are used for small form factor builds. Micro ATX is larger at nine point six inches square, and standard ATX is even bigger.
Q8. A technician uses a virtual machine to run an older operating system required by legacy software. The virtualized environment works, but the user reports that the software freezes or runs slowly. What is the most likely cause, and how shou…
Answer: B. The virtual machine has too few resources; increase the RAM and CPU
Virtual machines share the physical resources of the host computer, so performance freezes usually indicate the allocated memory or CPU is insufficient. Increasing the VM resources resolves the bottleneck without breaking legacy compatibility or requiring unnecessary reinstallation.
Q9. The Chief Financial Officer has asked Maria for a recommendation on how the company could reduce its software licensing costs while still maintaining the ability to access its application server remotely. Which of the following should Mari…
Answer: A. Install and deploy thin clients without an operating system for each user
Thin clients rely on a central server for processing and applications, which drastically reduces local operating system and software licensing costs. They are specifically designed for remote server access, making them the best choice over thick clients or standard remote protocols.
Q10. A laptop has a defective keyboard. You have been asked to replace the keyboard. What type of cable should be connected to the internal laptop keyboard during your replacement?
Answer: B. Ribbon cable
Internal laptop keyboards use thin ribbon cables to connect directly to the motherboard, which saves critical space inside the compact chassis. Zero insertion force sockets are used for processors, while SATA and USB are for storage and external peripherals.
Q11. A developer is deploying a containerized web application that needs to run consistently across multiple environments, including development, testing, and production. What is one key advantage of using containers for this purpose?
Answer: A. Containers package the application and its dependencies, ensuring it runs the same across all environments
Containers package an application with its dependencies to ensure consistent operation across different computing environments. Distractors describing hardware emulation or full virtual machines refer to virtual machines, not containerization.
Q12. Which of the following types of networking hardware is used to connect two dissimilar networks, such as connecting a local area network (LAN) to the wide area network (WAN)?
Answer: B. Router
A router is the networking device used to connect dissimilar networks, such as a local area network to the internet. Switches and hubs connect devices within a single network, lacking routing capabilities.
Q13. Your desktop computer is currently running out of internal storage space. You want to upgrade the workstation with more internal storage to store additional videos, photos, and backups. Which of the following is the BEST storage solution t…
Answer: B. 3 TB HDD
A three terabyte hard disk drive provides the largest available internal storage capacity for this workstation upgrade. The question prioritizes maximizing capacity over speed, making it the best option over the smaller solid state drive.
Q14. You are traveling to Thailand on a business trip. Your laptop's touchscreen display is visibly flickering between being too bright and too dim when plugged into the power outlet at a local coffee shop. You take your laptop to your hotel ro…
Answer: C. The coffee shop was experiencing power fluctuations that led to the flickering of the display
Intermittent flickering tied directly to different power outlets strongly suggests facility power fluctuations. A failing battery could also cause brightness instability, but the isolation to the coffee shop weakens the faulty hardware theory.
Q15. After turning off 65-inch plasma TVs used as displays, the company logo remains visible in the upper left corners. Which of the following should you do?
Answer: D. Replace the plasma TVs
The persistent ghost image is permanent burn-in damage caused by displaying static elements on plasma screens, necessitating replacement. Degaussing is only effective against temporary color distortion on legacy CRT monitors.
Q16. After replacing a failed 5400 RPM Seagate drive with a 7200 RPM Western Digital drive in a RAID 5, the array remains degraded. What is the most likely cause?
Answer: C. The HDD is incompatible
The replacement hard drive may not be compatible with the existing RAID configuration, which causes the array to stay degraded. When replacing a RAID disk, it is considered a best practice to use the same brand and model to ensure compatibility.
Q17. Jason wants to order a new gaming laptop for his son. The laptop display must support a high refresh rate of 120 Hz or 144 Hz. Which of the following types of laptop displays should Jason purchase to meet this requirement?
Answer: C. TN
A twisted nematic, or TN panel, supports high refresh rates like 120 or 144 hertz, making it popular for gaming laptops. While older IPS panels had lower refresh rates, modern IPS displays also support these speeds, making this question slightly dated.
Q18. Using the image provided, which of the following correctly identifies the fiber optic connector shown as Connector C? (This is a simulated PBQ. On the real exam, you would be asked to drag and drop a label with the component's name onto th…
Answer: C. LC
The connector shown is an LC connector, which is a small form factor fiber optic connector. SC and ST connectors are larger, and the F-type connector is used with coaxial cables rather than fiber optic cables.
Q19. Tom sends a print job to the Sales department printer but nothing prints. When he sends the same job to the Customer Service printer, it successfully prints. What should you check FIRST?
Answer: D. Verify that Tom has been sending the document to the correct network printer's queue
Always rule out user error first by verifying the correct print queue is being targeted. Restarting services or checking with coworkers are unnecessary actions if Tom is simply sending the document to the wrong printer.
Q20. You just received a phone call from one of your customers regarding an old monitor. The monitor uses a VGA port, and the customer is worried because they only have an old VGA cable that has a few pins broken off. The customer asks you what…
Answer: B. The display will show incorrect colors on the screen
VGA cables carry analog red, green, and blue video signals on dedicated pins, so a broken pin typically causes missing or incorrect colors on the display. Other options like dim flickering or complete distortion do not match the specific effect of losing a color signal pin.
Q21. A user reports that their mobile device has become significantly slower over time. Upon inspection, you discover that the device still uses a traditional HDD. What is the MOST effective upgrade to improve the performance of the device?
Answer: A. Replace the HDD with an SSD
Replacing a mechanical hard disk drive with a solid state drive is the most effective way to improve overall system responsiveness and performance. Upgrading the processor is rarely possible, and defragmentation provides minimal speed improvements.
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