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: A user reports that their laptop's trackpad is unresponsive after waking the device from sleep mode. They have verified . Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A user reports that their laptop's trackpad is unresponsive after waking the device from sleep mode. They hav…
- You just printed a new sign for your office using thick cardstock paper with your network printer. Unfortunat…
- You are troubleshooting a customer's printer that is attached to their workstation by a USB cable. The printe…
- A user reports that their mobile device is unable to connect to a corporate Wi-Fi network after switching fro…
- A user needs to run a legacy business application that is incompatible with their current operating system. T…
- Linda's laptop began acting strangely. She asked a coworker to examine the laptop, and they stated they smell…
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 laptop's trackpad is unresponsive after waking the device from sleep mode. They have verified that the device works fine when using an external USB mouse. What should you check first to resolve the issue?
Answer: A. Confirm if the trackpad is disabled in the laptop's settings or function keys
Trackpad toggles are frequently bound to laptop function keys and can be accidentally disabled, causing an unresponsive touchpad after waking from sleep. Updating the BIOS or reinstalling the operating system are disruptive steps that should be deferred until simpler settings are verified.
Q2. You just printed a new sign for your office using thick cardstock paper with your network printer. Unfortunately, when you pick up the cardstock from the laser printer's output tray, the printed image smears across the paper. Attempting to…
Answer: D. Increase the temperature of the fuser element
Laser printers use heat and pressure in the fuser assembly to permanently bond toner to the paper. Thicker media like cardstock absorbs more heat, so increasing the fuser temperature ensures the toner melts and adheres properly without smearing.
Q3. You are troubleshooting a customer's printer that is attached to their workstation by a USB cable. The printer is powered on, but it fails to print. You question the customer, but they claim that nothing has changed on the computer or the…
Answer: C. Examine the workstation and printer for any obvious indicators of failure
The CompTIA troubleshooting methodology requires examining the system for obvious indicators of failure before taking disruptive action. Replacing hardware or updating drivers are premature steps because you have not yet established a theory of probable cause.
Q4. A user reports that their mobile device is unable to connect to a corporate Wi-Fi network after switching from their home network. What should you check first to resolve the issue?
Answer: B. Verify that the correct SSID and password are entered
When a device switches networks, it often requires updated credentials to establish a new connection to the corporate Wi-Fi. Verifying the correct network name and password is the most logical first step before considering drastic measures like factory resets.
Q5. A user needs to run a legacy business application that is incompatible with their current operating system. The IT team decides to use application virtualization to address the issue. How does application virtualization resolve this proble…
Answer: A. It creates a virtual environment for the legacy application to run
Application virtualization isolates a legacy program in a virtualized environment so it runs without conflicting with the host operating system. Dual booting or rewriting the app is unnecessary, and hardware emulation is a different concept entirely.
Q6. Linda's laptop began acting strangely. She asked a coworker to examine the laptop, and they stated they smelled a foul odor coming from it. Which of the following is MOST likely causing the laptop to have a foul odor?
Answer: B. The laptop's motherboard has a swollen capacitor
A failing or swollen capacitor on a motherboard releases a noticeable foul odor and causes erratic system behavior. Loose battery connections cause power loss, and a dead CMOS battery only resets the system clock.
Q7. You are building a bitcoin mining workstation that will have multiple graphics cards, lots of memory, and an octa-core processor. This computer is expected to generate a lot of heat during its operations. Which of the following solutions w…
Answer: D. Liquid cooling system
Liquid cooling systems are the most efficient way to dissipate extreme heat generated by high performance components like multiple graphics cards. Passive heatsinks and high speed fans simply cannot match the thermal transfer rate of liquid cooling.
Q8. A client has asked you to build a computer to use as part of their home theater (HTPC) system. The HTPC will be used primarily to stream videos in their living room and must have a small form factor to fit into their entertainment center n…
Answer: A. Mini-ITX
Mini ITX is the best motherboard choice for a home theater PC because its small form factor allows for compact cases and quiet passive cooling. Micro ATX and standard ATX boards are larger and require louder cooling fans.
Q9. You have been asked to add an entry to your DNS records to allow SMTP traffic to be sent out using your domain name. Which type of record should you add to your DNS record?
Answer: C. MX
An MX record directs email to a specific mail server for a domain, managing both incoming and outgoing SMTP traffic. A and AAAA records are eliminated because they only map hostnames to IP addresses, without providing mail routing instructions.
Q10. Jason's smartphone gets 8761 kbps on cellular, but his laptop which is connected to the phone's hotspot only gets 243 kbps. What is MOST likely the cause?
Answer: B. The wireless hotspot feature is throttling the cellular connection speed
Cellular providers often artificially throttle mobile hotspot data speeds to manage network bandwidth, even when the phone's primary connection remains fast. Range or broadcast issues would eliminate connectivity entirely rather than producing the observed slow speeds.
Q11. Rick, a computer technician, was contacted by a customer who wants to reduce his office computer's footprint to save space. Which of the following cases has the smallest form factor?
Answer: D. mITX
The Mini-ITX form factor provides the smallest footprint among the options, measuring less than seven inches square. While microATX is also smaller than standard ATX, it is still significantly larger than Mini-ITX, making it the secondary option.
Q12. Christian is planning on taking a business trip to Mexico in his SUV. He gets into the car, enters the address, and the device plots a route south from Oregon to Mexico. As he begins driving, he notices the GPS states that he is driving so…
Answer: B. Perform the GPS calibration
Calibrating the GPS sensor fixes directional discrepancies by realigning the device compass to true north. Updating maps only changes route data and will not resolve a conflicting directional heading.
Q13. Using the image above, which of the following correctly identifies the fiber optic connector shown as Connector B? (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 co…
Answer: D. ST
The ST connector is identified by its round, bayonet-style locking mechanism used for fiber optic cabling. The other fiber connectors use different latching methods, such as the push-pull square design of an SC connector.
Q14. A company wants to ensure that its mobile devices are configured to protect any data stored on them if they are lost or stolen. Which of the following should be enabled and enforced through their MDM?
Answer: A. Full storage encryption
Full storage encryption protects data at rest if a mobile device is lost or stolen. Single sign-on manages authentication, operating system updates patch vulnerabilities, and removing backups would not protect the physical device data.
Q15. A technician at Dion Training is troubleshooting an issue with a workstation. The technician believes that the motherboard needs to be replaced based on the symptoms they observed. Which of the following symptoms did the technician likely…
Answer: D. Distended capacitors
Visible physical damage like distended or bulging capacitors definitively indicates a failing motherboard requiring replacement. However, continuous reboots and burning smells can also stem from motherboard failures, making those options reasonably defensible depending on context.
Q16. A technician is troubleshooting a newly installed WAP that is sporadically dropping connections to devices on the network. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST during troubleshooting?
Answer: A. WAP placement
A wireless access point should be placed to optimize signal coverage and minimize interference from building materials. However, bandwidth saturation from network overload is a strong competing cause for dropped connections, making this a slightly tricky prioritization question.
Q17. Which of the following DNS records should you analyze to identify human-readable records, domain verifications, and domain authentications?
Answer: C. TXT
Text records store human-readable information and are commonly used for domain verification and email authentication frameworks. Mail exchange records only route email, while service records define specific ports and hosts.
Q18. Using the image of the motherboard above, which of the following correctly indicates the circled area?
Answer: B. Front panel connector
The circled area indicates the front panel audio connector on the motherboard, used for analog audio output to the case. Modern front panel connections are distinguished from standard USB headers by their physical layout and surrounding markings.
Q19. During the process of replacing an SSD in a mobile device, which precaution is most important to protect the component from damage?
Answer: C. Wear an anti-static wrist strap and work on a surface that prevents electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge can permanently damage sensitive storage components, so technicians must wear anti-static wrist straps and use ESD-safe mats. While often used for screws, magnetic tools are generally discouraged near sensitive electronic components to prevent unintended interference.
Q20. You have decided that you want to install a second operating system on your computer. After installing the OS and rebooting the computer, you see the "Operating System Not Found" error on your display. You verify that the boot.ini file is…
Answer: B. An incompatible partition is marked as active
An operating system not found error occurs when the active partition lacks valid boot files, which happens if the wrong partition is marked active. When installing a dual-boot setup, the bootloader may inadvertently point to a partition lacking the necessary master boot record.
Q21. A customer's computer has a noisy, whining sound coming from it when in use. You opened the case and did not see any dust on the fans. What should you attempt next to eliminate the noise?
Answer: C. Apply a small amount of oil to the fan's bearings
Applying a small amount of oil to the fan bearings can temporarily eliminate a whining noise caused by friction. Cleaning the fan with compressed air is generally ineffective for this specific symptom since the issue is mechanical wear rather than dust accumulation.
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