Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 15 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: A user reports that their computer has been randomly shutting down and restarting without warning. What should be checke. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
Prefer hands-on? Take this round as an interactive practice test — answer every question, get instant feedback, and see your score: Start the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) practice test →
What you will practice
- A user reports that their computer has been randomly shutting down and restarting without warning. What shoul…
- A user is selecting an operating system for a custom-built gaming PC. They want a system that offers a wide r…
- You want to automate the lighting and thermostat control in your home for energy efficiency and convenience…
- You are setting up email communication for your organization, and you need a protocol for sending and receivi…
- A user has configured their corporate Google Workspace email on their mobile device. They notice that emails…
- An organization wants to ensure that only authorized employees can access its proprietary mobile application…
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 reports that their computer has been randomly shutting down and restarting without warning. What should be checked first to diagnose this issue?
Answer: B. Inspect the power supply and electrical connections
Random shutdowns and sudden restarts are classic symptoms of a failing power supply unit or loose electrical connections. Before checking software logs or replacing drives, physically verify that the power cables are secure and the power supply is functioning correctly.
Q2. A user is selecting an operating system for a custom-built gaming PC. They want a system that offers a wide range of gaming options, including the latest titles. Which operating system should they choose?
Answer: D. Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows supports the widest variety of hardware and software, making it the dominant choice for PC gaming. Most developers optimize their latest titles specifically for Windows, leaving macOS and Linux with significantly fewer compatible games.
Q3. You want to automate the lighting and thermostat control in your home for energy efficiency and convenience. What type of devices should you consider installing to achieve this automation?
Answer: C. Smart Devices (IoT Devices)
Smart devices, or Internet of Things devices, are designed for home automation tasks like adjusting lighting and thermostats. The other choices are standard peripherals that lack built-in automation capabilities.
Q4. You are setting up email communication for your organization, and you need a protocol for sending and receiving emails between mail servers. Which protocol should you use for this purpose?
Answer: C. SMTP
SMTP is the standard protocol used for sending emails between servers. Remember that POP3 and IMAP are used for retrieving messages by email clients, not for server to server delivery.
Q5. A user has configured their corporate Google Workspace email on their mobile device. They notice that emails older than one month are not available. Which setting should they modify to access older emails?
Answer: C. Modify the sync settings to include a longer time period
Modifying the synchronization settings to include a longer time period will allow the mobile device to download and display older emails. Default sync windows often limit mail to thirty days to conserve local storage space and cellular data.
Q6. An organization wants to ensure that only authorized employees can access its proprietary mobile application. What MDM/MAM feature should be implemented?
Answer: C. Application whitelisting
Application whitelisting through mobile device management ensures that only approved, proprietary corporate applications can be installed or accessed on a device. While biometrics authenticate the user, whitelisting restricts the specific software they can run.
Q7. A user wants to mirror the display of their smartphone onto a larger screen. Which technology would allow them to do this wirelessly?
Answer: B. Miracast
Miracast is the standard wireless display technology used for casting or mirroring a mobile screen to an external monitor or television. Bluetooth and NFC lack the required bandwidth for video.
Q8. When comparing two smartphones, a customer notices that one has a higher pixel density (PPI) than the other. What advantage does a higher PPI offer?
Answer: C. Sharper image quality
Higher pixel density, measured in PPI, results in sharper image quality and finer detail on a display. While outdoor visibility relies on brightness nits, pixel density strictly dictates visual clarity.
Q9. A user is experiencing eye strain after prolonged use of their smartphone. Which display feature should they adjust to alleviate this issue?
Answer: A. Color temperature
Adjusting the display color temperature to reduce blue light emission helps alleviate eye strain during prolonged use. Most modern devices offer built-in blue light filters or night modes for this purpose.
Q10. You need to connect multiple monitors to your desktop computer for a more productive work environment. Which type of video output port on your desktop computer can support the connection of multiple monitors simultaneously?
Answer: C. DisplayPort
DisplayPort supports daisy chaining multiple monitors through a single output port using Multi Stream Transport. While HDMI can handle multiple displays on some graphics cards, DisplayPort is the standard for chaining.
Q11. A user wants to set up a high-performance home network with speeds exceeding 1 Gbps and is looking for a suitable wireless standard. Which IEEE 802.11 standard should they choose for this purpose?
Answer: B. 802.11ac (WiFi 5)
The 802.11ac standard operates in the 5GHz band and provides multi-stream throughput exceeding 1 Gbps. For the exam, remember 802.11n and older standards cap well below gigabit speeds.
Q12. A user's smartphone is frequently disconnecting from the office Wi-Fi network. Which setting should they check first to address this issue?
Answer: A. Wi-Fi Assist or Adaptive Wi-Fi
Features like Wi-Fi Assist automatically drop a weak Wi-Fi connection to switch to cellular data, causing apparent disconnects. Disabling this feature forces the device to maintain its active Wi-Fi connection.
Q13. A desktop computer's USB port is physically damaged and needs replacement. What is a key consideration when performing this repair?
Answer: C. The type of USB port
Identifying the exact physical USB port type, such as Type-A or Type-C, ensures the replacement matches the case cutout and device cables. While data speed matters electrically, the physical form factor is the primary constraint when swapping a broken port.
Q14. A user is building a high-performance gaming PC. Which type of RAM should they choose for better speed and efficiency compared to its predecessors?
Answer: C. DDR5
DDR5 is the correct choice for a modern high-performance gaming build, offering faster speeds and greater efficiency than older generations. The provided explanation incorrectly describes DDR4 instead of the selected option, but DDR5 remains the best answer.
Q15. A user is experiencing slow app updates on their smartphone. Which action could potentially speed up the process?
Answer: D. Connecting to a stronger Wi-Fi network
Slow app updates are typically caused by a weak or congested internet connection. Upgrading to a faster, more stable Wi-Fi network directly increases download throughput, whereas clearing cache does not.
More CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) drills and other practice exams are on @CertPunch. New rounds drop every few days at certpunch.com.