Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 19 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: A company is implementing a telework policy that allows employees to use their personal laptops and smartphones for work. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A company is implementing a telework policy that allows employees to use their personal laptops and smartphon…
- A technician is building a new computer. The technician installs the motherboard, processor, memory, hard dri…
- A user wants to print a large job on both the front and back sides of the paper. Which of the following setti…
- John connected his MacBook to the corporate network and is trying to print to the office's large network prin…
- You are troubleshooting a laptop's display for a customer. The customer states that parts of the picture rema…
- Which of the following is an advantage of using the 6GHz Wi-Fi frequency band over the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands?
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. A company is implementing a telework policy that allows employees to use their personal laptops and smartphones for work. Which technology should be implemented to manage these devices, provide security updates, and perform remote administ…
Answer: B. MDM
Mobile Device Management provides centralized administration, security enforcement, and remote updates for personal devices in a BYOD environment. NVMe is a storage interface, while CDMA and GSM are cellular network standards.
Q2. A technician is building a new computer. The technician installs the motherboard, processor, memory, hard drives, and case fans, then attempts to connect the cables to the appropriate connections. When the technician powers on the system…
Answer: A. SATA 15-pin power cable
A missing SATA power cable leaves the storage drive completely unspun and invisible to the system, triggering a bootable device not found error. The system still passes POST successfully because memory, CPU, and video checks do not require an active drive.
Q3. A user wants to print a large job on both the front and back sides of the paper. Which of the following settings should the technician advise the user to change in the printer settings?
Answer: A. Duplex
Duplex printing allows a printer to automatically print on both sides of a sheet of paper. The other options control different features, such as collate organizing pages into sequential sets and orientation switching between portrait and landscape layouts.
Q4. John connected his MacBook to the corporate network and is trying to print to the office's large network printer. John notices that the print job is failing to print. The other employees in the office are having no issues printing from the…
Answer: B. Install the print drivers for OS X on the print server
Print servers must have the appropriate drivers installed for every operating system that will be sending print jobs. Because Windows users can print successfully, the network and printer are working properly and the issue is isolated to missing macOS drivers.
Q5. You are troubleshooting a laptop's display for a customer. The customer states that parts of the picture remain on the screen even after a full shutdown or reboot. You update the device drivers and recalibrate the display, but the problem…
Answer: D. Burn in
Burn-in causes a permanent or persistent ghost image to remain on the screen even when the display changes or powers off. Dead pixels would appear as unchanging black dots, while distorted geometry warps the overall image shape.
Q6. Which of the following is an advantage of using the 6GHz Wi-Fi frequency band over the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands?
Answer: D. Less interference and higher data speeds
The 6GHz band offers wider channels and less interference because it is exclusive to newer Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 devices, resulting in higher data speeds. The catch is that higher frequencies have shorter ranges and worse wall penetration than lower bands.
Q7. An employee's workstation will operate for a short period of time, but then it unexpectedly shuts down. When you check the workstation, you hear the hum of the cooling fans. What is most likely the issue?
Answer: B. CPU overheated
System shutdowns after a short period of operation are a classic sign of an overheating processor. To protect itself from thermal damage, the CPU triggers an automatic shutdown even if the cooling fans are still spinning.
Q8. Your friend just noticed their smartphone's battery is running low. Unfortunately, your friend isn't very knowledgeable about computers and smartphones, so they don't know what type of charging cable they need. They know their phone is run…
Answer: D. Lightning
Apple iPhones from 2020 rely on the proprietary Lightning cable for charging and data transfer. While newer Apple devices have transitioned to USB-C, older iOS smartphones distinctly use the Lightning connector.
Q9. A company tablet lost access to corporate email and files. The device's operating system is outdated because the user skipped updates. How would you resolve this?
Answer: B. Update the tablet's operating system to restore compliance with MDM policies
Mobile Device Management platforms often block access to corporate resources when a device falls behind on mandatory operating system updates. Updating the tablet restores its compliance, automatically resolving the access issue without disabling security.
Q10. There is a crinkling sound coming from a laser printer in an office. During an investigation, a technician observes that the images are printing at an angle on the pages. Which of the following should the technician do to fix this problem?
Answer: C. Replace the rollers
Worn or dirty pickup rollers frequently cause paper to feed at an angle, resulting in skewed prints and crinkling sounds. Replacing the rollers ensures smooth paper traction, whereas toner or a transfer drum defect would not skew the physical page alignment.
Q11. A smartphone shows a question mark next to the Wi-Fi icon after connecting to an open wireless network. The user can make calls but cannot access websites. What is the MOST likely issue?
Answer: A. The smartphone is connected to the FreeAirportWifi but is not authenticated yet
A question mark over the Wi-Fi icon indicates the device connected to the router but lacks internet access. Open public networks often require the user to authenticate or accept terms via a captive portal before granting full web connectivity.
Q12. Which of the following cables is NOT used by Android smartphones and tablets?
Answer: B. Lightning
Android mobile devices use USB-C, Micro USB, or Mini USB for charging and data transfer. Lightning is an exclusive proprietary Apple connector used primarily on iPhones and older iPads, making it completely incompatible with Android hardware.
Q13. A company has just installed a VoIP system on its network. Before the installation, all of the switches were replaced with layer 3 multilayer switches to allow for the VoIP devices to be placed on separate VLANs and have the packets routed…
Answer: B. Performance optimization
Creating separate virtual LANs for Voice over Internet Protocol devices is a classic example of performance optimization. By decreasing the size of the broadcast domain and routing traffic efficiently, the network maintains higher reliability and better quality for voice communications.
Q14. A service desk has received calls from numerous users stating they are receiving an error message concerning duplicate IP addresses being detected on their systems. These users also cannot access the network's file server or browse any web…
Answer: C. DHCP server
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, or DHCP server, is the first component to check when multiple workstations report duplicate IP address conflicts. A misconfigured DHCP server or overlapping static assignments are the most common causes of these widespread address conflicts.
Q15. Which of the following network performance metrics is used to represent the round-trip time it takes for a packet to be sent by a device to a server and then a response received from that destination server?
Answer: C. Latency
Latency measures the round-trip time it takes for a data packet to travel to a destination server and back. Bandwidth is the theoretical maximum transfer rate, whereas jitter is the variation in packet arrival times, especially impactful to voice and video streams.
Q16. A busy business owner needs a wearable device to quickly view email notifications, instant messages, and stay in contact with the office while running between meetings. Which device would BEST meet these needs?
Answer: C. Smartwatch
A smartwatch is the best wearable device to meet these requirements because it provides immediate access to notifications, messages, and phone calls. Fitness monitors focus on health tracking, while e-readers and portable hotspots do not offer these direct communication features.
Q17. A technician is building a new computer. The technician installs the motherboard, processor, memory, hard drives, and case fans, and then attempts to connect the cables to the appropriate connections. When the technician attempts to power…
Answer: D. Motherboard 24-pin power cable
The 24-pin ATX power cable supplies main power to the motherboard. Without it, the system remains completely dead, meaning LEDs and fans will not turn on. Missing the 8-pin CPU power cable usually prevents POST but still allows motherboard LEDs and fans to operate.
Q18. A technician is building a new computer. The technician installs the motherboard, processor, memory, hard drives, and case fans, then they attempt to connect the cables to the appropriate connections. When the technician powers on the syst…
Answer: C. CPU 8-pin power cable
Missing the 8-pin CPU power cable prevents the processor from receiving power. Since the motherboard lights and fans still turn on, the 24-pin cable is connected, but the system cannot pass POST without a functioning CPU. Hard drive and fan connections do not halt POST.
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