Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1201) exam with 17 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: A photographer needs to quickly transfer large photo files from their camera to a computer. Which type of external stora. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A photographer needs to quickly transfer large photo files from their camera to a computer. Which type of ext…
- A company wants to run multiple operating systems on a single physical server for testing purposes. Which TWO…
- In a laser printer, what are the roles of the imaging drum and fuser assembly in the printing process?
- A small business wants to use software applications without the need for installing and maintaining them on t…
- If a technician suspects that a recent software update is causing a computer to crash, what should be their n…
- A user's laptop is experiencing frequent system crashes. The technician suspects a memory issue. What should…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. A photographer needs to quickly transfer large photo files from their camera to a computer. Which type of external storage is best suited for this task?
Answer: B. External SSD
An external solid state drive uses flash memory to provide significantly faster read and write speeds than traditional mechanical drives. This speed is essential for quickly moving large files like high resolution photos without waiting on slower spinning disks.
Q2. A company wants to run multiple operating systems on a single physical server for testing purposes. Which TWO technologies would allow them to do this effectively?
Answer: B,D. Virtual machines || Containerization
Virtual machines use a hypervisor to run multiple separate operating systems on one physical server. Containerization also provides isolated application environments, though it shares the host kernel rather than running entirely separate systems.
Q3. In a laser printer, what are the roles of the imaging drum and fuser assembly in the printing process?
Answer: C. The imaging drum creates the image with toner; the fuser assembly bonds the toner to the paper
The imaging drum receives the electrostatic image and attracts toner, while the fuser assembly uses heat and pressure to melt and bond that toner permanently to the paper. Laser printers use toner, not wet ink, so any option mentioning ink is incorrect.
Q4. A small business wants to use software applications without the need for installing and maintaining them on their own computers. Which cloud service model should they use?
Answer: B. Software as a Service (SaaS)
Software as a Service provides fully managed applications accessed over the internet, relieving the business from local installation and maintenance. Infrastructure as a Service only provides raw virtual hardware, and Platform as a Service is specifically for software developers building applications.
Q5. If a technician suspects that a recent software update is causing a computer to crash, what should be their next step?
Answer: B. Test the theory by uninstalling the update to see if the issue resolves
Following the standard troubleshooting methodology, once a probable cause is established, the next step is to test that theory before making permanent changes. Simply rolling back the update immediately is premature because you have not yet confirmed the update is the actual root cause.
Q6. A user's laptop is experiencing frequent system crashes. The technician suspects a memory issue. What should be the next step?
Answer: B. Run a diagnostic test on the laptop s memory
After suspecting a faulty hardware component like memory, the technician must test the theory by running memory diagnostics before replacing any parts. Upgrading the memory blindly wastes time and resources without actually confirming if the original RAM was defective.
Q7. A user experiences frequent crashes of various applications on their computer. The system otherwise operates normally. What is a likely cause of these crashes?
Answer: A. The applications are incompatible with the operating system
When individual applications repeatedly crash but the core operating system remains stable, an operating system incompatibility is the most likely culprit. Overheating or a failing hard drive generally cause random full system lockups or reboots, rather than isolated program failures.
Q8. When powering on a computer, a user hears a grinding noise coming from the case. What is the most likely cause of this noise?
Answer: B. The hard drive is failing
A grinding noise during startup strongly points to a failing mechanical hard drive as its internal physical components degrade. A malfunctioning fan typically produces a whining or rattling sound, whereas damaged motherboards or power supplies usually exhibit no audible moving parts.
Q9. A user notices small black spots on their monitor that do not change color regardless of the displayed content. What are these spots most likely indicative of?
Answer: C. Dead pixels
Dead pixels appear as tiny black or colored dots that never change, indicating a failed subpixel on the display panel. Do not confuse this with screen burn-in, which is a persistent ghost image caused by static elements being displayed for extended periods.
Q10. A user's smartphone is not charging properly. The charging cable and adapter work fine with other devices. What is the most likely issue?
Answer: B. The smartphone's charging port is damaged or dirty
Since the known-good cable and adapter successfully power other devices, the smartphone hardware itself is at fault, pointing directly to a damaged or dirty charging port. A depleted battery would simply accept a charge, and a faulty outlet would impact the other tested devices.
Q11. A smartphone user notices their device is performing slower than usual, and there are unexpected pop-ups and apps. What should be considered as a potential cause?
Answer: D. The device may be infected with malware
Unexpected pop-ups, unfamiliar applications, and sluggish performance are classic symptoms of a mobile malware infection. While aging processors or low memory can cause general lag, the sudden appearance of intrusive ads points specifically to malicious software.
Q12. A company's wireless network performs well in the mornings but becomes erratic in the afternoons. The office is located in a busy commercial area. What could be contributing to this issue?
Answer: B. External interference from other wireless devices
Afternoon wireless drops in a busy commercial area usually stem from external interference generated by neighboring businesses and client devices saturating available channels. Changing channels or utilizing the less congested five gigahertz band typically resolves this.
Q13. What role does the CMOS play in a computer system?
Answer: B. It stores the BIOS settings and system time
The CMOS chip retains fundamental BIOS settings, hardware configurations, and the system clock time even when the machine is completely powered off. It relies on a small motherboard battery, distinguishing it from primary storage or power distribution components.
Q14. You are trying to access a website by its domain name, but you are unable to resolve the domain to an IP address. What service is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses?
Answer: B. DNS
DNS, or Domain Name System, is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses. DHCP only assigns IP configurations automatically, while APIPA provides a fallback IP when DHCP fails.
Q15. What technology allows peripherals to access the computer's memory directly without involving the CPU, enhancing data transfer speeds?
Answer: B. DMA
DMA, or Direct Memory Access, allows peripherals to read from or write to memory directly, bypassing the CPU to speed up data transfers. RAM is the memory itself, not the technology managing the transfer.
Q16. An IT technician is wiring an office network that requires a moderate data transfer speed and a distance of up to 100 meters. Which type of cable is most suitable for this application?
Answer: B. Cat 5e
Category 5e cable supports gigabit speeds up to 100 meters and meets standard moderate office requirements. However, the wording is ambiguous because Category 6 cable also supports this distance and speed for future-proofing, making it an equally defensible choice.
Q17. A user reports that their laptop battery life has significantly decreased over the past six months, and now the device barely lasts an hour on a full charge. The laptop is about two years old and is used daily for work. The user has not ch…
Answer: A. The battery has reached its maximum charge cycles
Laptop batteries degrade over time due to repeated charge cycles. Since the usage patterns remained unchanged, a hardware failure from normal wear is the most logical conclusion. High screen brightness or malware would cause a sudden drain rather than a gradual decline.
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