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 user wants to improve their laptop's multitasking capabilities by adding more RAM. What must you ensure to select the . Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- A user wants to improve their laptop's multitasking capabilities by adding more RAM. What must you ensure to…
- A customer wants to connect a USB-C external hard drive to their smartphone for additional storage but the ph…
- A user needs to transfer a large amount of data between two computers quickly. Which connection method should…
- While working in a tech support role, you receive a call from a user whose smartphone display appears unusual…
- You are upgrading the CPU of an older desktop to improve performance. What is the most important factor to ch…
- A technician is repairing a smartphone and notices that the display has inconsistent brightness levels. What…
Answers and explanations
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Q1. A user wants to improve their laptop's multitasking capabilities by adding more RAM. What must you ensure to select the correct RAM?
Answer: C. The type and speed of the RAM
Verifying the correct RAM type, such as DDR4 versus DDR5, and speed ensures physical and electronic compatibility with the laptop motherboard. While capacity affects multitasking capacity, using the wrong generation of memory prevents booting entirely.
Q2. A customer wants to connect a USB-C external hard drive to their smartphone for additional storage but the phone does not recognize the device. What is a likely cause of this issue?
Answer: A. The phone does not support OTG (On-The-Go)
Phones require USB On-The-Go, or OTG, support to act as a host and recognize external storage devices. While a bad cable or incorrect formatting can cause detection failures, a lack of OTG hardware support remains the most common hurdle.
Q3. A user needs to transfer a large amount of data between two computers quickly. Which connection method should they use for the fastest transfer speeds?
Answer: B. USB 3.0
USB 3.0 provides multi-gigabit transfer speeds, making it the fastest option listed for moving files between two computers. Bluetooth and NFC are designed for low-bandwidth tasks, while Wi-Fi is generally slower and more prone to interference.
Q4. While working in a tech support role, you receive a call from a user whose smartphone display appears unusually dim. What could be the most likely cause of this issue?
Answer: C. Display brightness settings
The most common cause of a dim mobile display is simply a low brightness setting or auto-brightness adjusting to ambient light. Always rule out basic configuration settings first before assuming hardware failures like a faulty battery or screen.
Q5. You are upgrading the CPU of an older desktop to improve performance. What is the most important factor to check before purchasing a new CPU?
Answer: C. The socket type of the motherboard
The motherboard socket type dictates which processors physically and electronically fit into the board. While core count drives performance, without a matching CPU socket, the upgrade will not function or boot.
Q6. A technician is repairing a smartphone and notices that the display has inconsistent brightness levels. What is the most probable cause of this issue?
Answer: A. Damaged backlight
A damaged backlight fails to illuminate the screen consistently, leading to uneven or shadowed brightness levels. Incorrect settings usually affect the entire display uniformly, whereas hardware damage causes localized dimming.
Q7. In a network firewall configuration, what is the purpose of an ACL?
Answer: C. Filtering and controlling network traffic
An Access Control List, or ACL, filters network traffic by applying rules based on source or destination IP addresses and ports. It does not assign IPs like DHCP or encrypt payloads like AES; it simply permits or denies traffic flow.
Q8. When setting up a virtual machine for resource-intensive applications, what must be considered to ensure optimal performance?
Answer: C. The resource requirements, including CPU, memory, and storage
Virtual machines share the physical resources of the host system, so allocating sufficient CPU, memory, and storage is vital. Without proper resource provisioning, resource-intensive applications will experience severe lag and system crashes.
Q9. Why is it important for a technician to use an ESD strap when working on computer components?
Answer: B. To prevent electrostatic discharge that can damage sensitive electronics
An ESD strap equalizes the electrical charge between the technician and the components, preventing sudden static discharges that destroy microchips. While grounding is involved, the primary goal of the strap is protecting the hardware, not improving device performance.
Q10. A company's wireless network performs well during the day but becomes unstable in the evening. What is a possible cause of this instability?
Answer: B. External interference from nearby wireless networks
Heavy evening usage in surrounding homes often generates overlapping Wi-Fi interference, degrading the company network. ISP throttling usually causes consistently slow download speeds rather than wireless instability, and access points do not typically power down automatically.
Q11. A user experiences intermittent wireless connectivity on their laptop at home. The issue does not occur in other locations. What could be the cause?
Answer: B. There is interference from other electronic devices at home
Location-specific wireless drops point directly to environmental interference from household electronics or neighboring networks. If the laptop adapter itself was failing or the ISP was unreliable, the connectivity problems would persist across all locations.
Q12. A printer is producing garbled text and images in its output. What is the most likely cause of this problem?
Answer: C. A problem with the printer's driver or software
Garbled text and scrambled images indicate a communication breakdown between the computer and printer, typically caused by a corrupt driver. Toner issues would create faded prints or streaks, while a paper jam would halt the device completely.
Q13. After accidentally dropping their phone in water, a user finds that the touchscreen is intermittently unresponsive. What is the most likely cause of this problem?
Answer: B. The device has suffered liquid damage
Submersion in water leads to short circuits and corrosion under the digitizer assembly, which directly causes intermittent screen failures. Recalibration only fixes minor touch drift, and full storage would slow the phone down but not interrupt input recognition.
Q14. A user's computer boots up but the monitor displays no signal. The monitor and cables are confirmed to work on another computer. What should be checked next?
Answer: B. The video card or onboard video on the user's computer
With peripherals confirmed as functional, focus shifts to the computer's graphics subsystem, such as reseating or replacing the video card. Operating system settings are never responsible for a missing signal during the initial power-on boot sequence.
Q15. A computer fails to boot into the operating system and displays a message "Bootable device not found." What is a likely reason for this error?
Answer: D. The hard drive is not detected or has failed
A bootable device error occurs when the system BIOS cannot locate a functioning drive with an operating system. While a bad BIOS update or RAM failure can cause boot issues, they normally halt the Power-On Self-Test rather than specifically triggering this missing media error.
Q16. A computer intermittently shuts down and restarts. The technician suspects power fluctuations. Which component is most likely to cause this issue?
Answer: C. The power supply unit
A failing power supply unit directly causes intermittent shutdowns and restarts because it cannot deliver stable voltage to the components. Overheating processors usually trigger protective thermal shutdowns, while faulty RAM or motherboards typically cause system freezes or blue screens.
Q17. A computer frequently crashes and shows a blue screen. The technician suspects a memory issue. What diagnostic action should they take first?
Answer: B. Run a memory diagnostic test
Running a dedicated memory diagnostic tool verifies if faulty RAM modules are causing the blue screen crashes. Always perform non-invasive software diagnostics before replacing expensive hardware like motherboards or CPUs, which wastes time and parts if the RAM is defective.
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