Practice for the CompTIA A+ Core 2 exam with 16 exam-style practice questions, instant answer reveals, and concise explanations of every correct answer. Topics include: You have submitted an RFC to install a security patch on all of your company's Windows 2019 servers on Friday at 11 pm u. Follow @CertPunch and visit certpunch.com for more certification practice exams and study content.
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What you will practice
- You have submitted an RFC to install a security patch on all of your company's Windows 2019 servers on Friday…
- Which of the following should be implemented to allow wireless network access for clients in the lobby using…
- Which of the following Control Panel sections would allow a technician to see which version and build of Wind…
- A user reports frequent security warnings from outdated antivirus software. What should be done to resolve th…
- Which of the following commands is used to identify devices between a client and a destination that are exper…
- You have been asked to configure your neighbor's SOHO network. Your neighbor wants to build a Minecraft serve…
Answers and explanations
Tap a question to expand the answer and the exam reasoning. Try to commit to your own pick first.
Q1. You have submitted an RFC to install a security patch on all of your company's Windows 2019 servers on Friday at 11 pm using an automated patch installation process. Which of the following change request documents would describe any uncert…
Answer: A. Risk analysis
The risk analysis component of a change request identifies potential adverse effects and the likelihood of failure during implementation. The plan dictates the steps, while the scope defines exactly which servers are affected.
Q2. Which of the following should be implemented to allow wireless network access for clients in the lobby using a shared password as the key?
Answer: D. WPA2
WPA2 uses a pre-shared key to authenticate wireless clients using a shared password. IPsec encrypts VPN tunnels, while geofencing restricts access based on physical location rather than a network passphrase.
Q3. Which of the following Control Panel sections would allow a technician to see which version and build of Windows 10 is installed on a computer?
Answer: B. System
The System applet displays the installed operating system version, CPU, and RAM specifications. Device Manager manages hardware drivers, whereas Programs and Features handles application installations.
Q4. A user reports frequent security warnings from outdated antivirus software. What should be done to resolve this?
Answer: B. Enable automatic updates to keep virus definitions current.
Enabling automatic updates ensures the antivirus receives the latest threat definitions to resolve the outdated warnings. Disabling alerts or running manual scans leaves the system vulnerable because the core issue remains unfixed.
Q5. Which of the following commands is used to identify devices between a client and a destination that are experiencing network latency?
Answer: D. pathping
The pathping command identifies network latency and packet loss at intermediate routers between a source and destination. While ping tests basic reachability, pathping combines routing discovery with extended polling to pinpoint problematic hops.
Q6. You have been asked to configure your neighbor's SOHO network. Your neighbor wants to build a Minecraft server so that all their friends can play together over the internet. When configuring their firewall, where should you place the serve…
Answer: A. Perimeter network
A perimeter network isolates public-facing servers like a Minecraft host from the internal local area network. Placing the server directly on the LAN exposes the internal network to internet threats, making the perimeter network the safest choice.
Q7. Which log shows if a video card driver was recently updated?
Answer: C. System log
The System log records driver load failures and hardware conflicts, making it the best place to check for video card driver updates. The Setup log only covers installation events, so it misses post-install driver changes.
Q8. Jason wants to configure his Windows 10 laptop to suspend individual USB ports when not in use. Which of the following Control Panel sections should he use to set the USB selective suspend feature?
Answer: B. Power Options
The USB selective suspend feature is configured in the Power Options section of the Control Panel. This feature allows the system to power down individual unused USB ports to conserve battery life on laptops. The other options manage network settings, file views, and search indexing.
Q9. A technician removed malware from a Windows 10 laptop and wants to restore system files to defaults while preserving user data and Windows Store apps. User-installed applications may be deleted. Which installation type should be used?
Answer: A. Refresh installation
A refresh installation restores system files and settings to their defaults while keeping user data and Windows Store apps intact. This makes it ideal for malware removal without losing personal files. A clean install would wipe everything, while an in-place upgrade preserves all standard applications.
Q10. A user reports that their Windows computer suddenly displayed a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and restarted. What is the most likely cause of this error?
Answer: A. A critical hardware driver failed or incompatible hardware was installed
A Blue Screen of Death indicates a critical system-level error, most commonly caused by faulty hardware drivers or incompatible hardware. These stop errors protect the system from data corruption. Low disk space or routine antivirus detections happen at the software level and do not cause kernel crashes.
Q11. A laptop's CPU utilization consistently stays at 95-100%. After closing three applications, it drops to 30-35%. Which of the following tools was used to check the CPU and to manage high-resource processes?
Answer: B. Task Manager
Task Manager lets you view CPU utilization and terminate high-resource processes to resolve performance issues. While Performance Monitor can track resource usage, it cannot manage or end running processes, making Task Manager the correct choice.
Q12. A user has asked you for a recommendation for a word processing program for their home computer. The user doesn't want to pay for a license to be able to use the word processor. Based on this, what type of license would you recommend to th…
Answer: D. Open license
An open license allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute software without paying licensing fees. Corporate or enterprise licenses require payment and are designed for business use, making them incorrect for this budget-conscious user.
Q13. Which of the following would NOT be included in a company's password policy?
Answer: A. Password style
Password policies typically define complexity, length, history, and expiration requirements rather than aesthetic choices. Password style is vague, and a strict policy might technically define style rules, making this an imperfect distractor.
Q14. Dion Training has configured Windows Defender Firewall on all of its corporate Windows 10 laptops. When connected to a public network, the firewall has been configured to allow only inbound connections that match an existing rule and to on…
Answer: C. Explicit allow for inbound, explicit allow for outbound
Allowing only traffic that matches an existing rule creates an explicit allow posture for both inbound and outbound traffic. This is the strictest security stance because it blocks all unauthorized network traffic by default. Implicit allow is less secure because it permits all non-blocked traffic.
Q15. You are troubleshooting a workstation and want to check if any S.M.A.R.T. errors are being reported. Which of the following tools should you use to troubleshoot this workstation?
Answer: C. Disk management
To check S.M.A.R.T. error reporting, you should use the Disk Management console to view the status and health of attached drives. While Disk Management shows basic drive status, other third-party tools or the BIOS or UEFI are often better for detailed S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics.
Q16. A user is complaining that their profile is taking too long to load on their Windows 10 system. Which of the following is the BEST solution to this problem?
Answer: B. Rebuild the user's Windows profile
Rebuilding a corrupted user profile is the standard fix for extremely slow profile load times in Windows. While disabling startup programs improves general boot times, it does not directly resolve underlying profile corruption causing the load delay.
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