:: A+ Questions and Answers ::

1: 9 bit SIMMs have how many pins?

A: 30
2: How many bits is the system data bus for a
Pentium Processor?
A: 64
3: How many bits is the data bus for a 486DX4
processor?
A: 32
4: A serial data port on your PC would have
how many pinouts?
A: 9
5: How many wires does the standard IDE drive
cable have?
A: 40
6: How big is the conventional memory in a PC?

A: 640K
7: How many bits is the system bus for a 386SX
processor?
A: 16
8: How many bits is the system bus for a
386DX processor?
A: 32
9: What is the maximum length for a parallel
cable?
A: 15 ft.
10: What IRQ does the real time clock use?
A: 8
11: What form of software can also be called
firmware?
A: System BIOS
12: What would you set your multimeter to if
you wanted to detect an AC ripple?
A: AC Voltage
13: After you install a new floppy drive and
restart the system, the floppy drive light stays
on constantly and you get an “FDD Controller
Failure” POST error. What is the problem?
A: Floppy cable on backwards
14: What type of port communicates
information to a peripheral device one bit at a
time?
A: Serial port
15: Should you wear a grounding strap when
servicing a CRT monitor?
A: No
16: What are the 4 types of DC voltage usually
produced by a power supply?
A: +5V
-5V
+12V
-12V
17: If your monitor just shows dots when you
turn it on, what is most likely the problem?
A: Bad Video RAM
18: You have 2 hard drives installed on your
primary EIDE controller. You install a CD-ROM
on your secondary EIDE controller. What
jumper setting would you use for the CD-ROM?
A: Master
19: What factor determines the amount of RAM
a CPU can control?
A: Width of the Address Bus
20: What would you use to clean a monitor
screen?
A: Anti-static spray
21: Missing slot covers on a PC can cause what
problem?
A: Overheating
22: A 15 pin, three row, female connector on
the back of a PC would be used for?
A: VGA/SVGA port
23: On a laser printer the primary corona does
what?
A: Places a uniform negative charge on the
photosensitive drum.
24: The correct AT command to tell a modem to
hang up is?
A: ATH
25: Using a portion of hard disk space to serve
as RAM is called?
A: Virtual Memory
26: The AT command to tell a modem to dial a
number is?
A: ATD{number}
27: How many pins does a Joystick or MIDI
port connector have?
A: 15
28: How can you tell that a PC has successfully
completed its Power on Self Test (POST)?
A: A single beep at startup
29: Locations in memory are referred to as?
A: Addresses
30: On a laser printer, the laser beam performs
what function?
A: Changes the charge on the photosensitive drum
31: Which electrical component will hold a
charge even when no voltage is being applied?
A: Capacitor
32: What is the IDE CMOS/BIOS limit for the
size of a hard drive?
A: 528 million bytes or 504 MegaBytes
33: You can probably determine that a monitor
is working, even though it is not connected to a
PC, by performing what action?
A: Turn up the brightness to see if the raster
appears.
34: What purpose does the system ROM serve?
A: Starts the system when the computer is turned
on.
35: A SIMM stick has 9 DRAM chips. How many
bits wide is it?
A: 8 bits + parity
36: What is the difference between SRAM and
DRAM?
A: SRAM has built in switches and does not have to
be refreshed.
37: What type of printers are considered
impact printers?
A: Dot Matrix and Daisy Wheel
38: How does a Pentium Pro processor differ
from a Pentium processor?
A: Pentium Pro has onboard L2 cache
39: What is the binary equivalent of decimal 3.
A: 011
40: In order for a device to communicate with
the CPU is must have?
A: An I/O Address
41: The lower the SIMM access rate the
___________ the memory.
A: Faster
42: Your PC is working perfectly, but you notice
the power supply fan has stopped working.
What should you do?
A: Replace the power supply
43: What does DMA stand for?
A: Direct Memory Access
44: Capacitance is measured in units called?
A: Farads
45: The default memory address for the
monochrome region of memory is?
A: B0000 - B7FFF
46: What does PIO stand for?
A: Programmed Input/Output
47: In serial communication, the setting 8,N,1
means?
A: 8 data bits, no parity, 1 stop bit
48: The 2 most important considerations when
selecting a surge suppressor are?
A: Clamping speed and Clamping voltage
49: Your sound card locks up your parallel port
tape device when both are running. What is
probably the problem?
A: IRQ conflict
50: You apply a password to CMOS but later
forget it. What should you do?
A: Clear the CMOS by shorting the CMOS jumper.
51: What should you do before you attempt to
discharge a CRT?
A: Turn power off before removing power source.
52: High humidity can cause what type of
problem?
A: It can cause electrical current to bleed around the
chips causing shorts.
53: When using an anti-static wrist strap, the
best place to attach the grounding clip is?
A: To the frame of the PC
54: On a laser printer, what moves the toner
from the drum to the paper?
A: Transfer Corona
55: The default I/O address for COM1 is?
A: 3F8
56: ESD occurs between two objects that have?

A: Different electrical potentials

57: How many pins does a serial port connector
have?
A: 9
58: What function does the power supply
perform?
A: Converts AC current into DC current.
59: On a dot matrix printer, a good image on
one side of the page and a poor image on the
other side of the page would mean what?
A: Platen out of alignment
60: A mouse begins to move erratically jumping
around when moved. What is the problem?
A: Dirty mouse
61: Which AT command is used to reset a
modem?
A: ATZ
62: What information is stored in CMOS or
PRAM?
A: Date and time. CPU and memory size
characteristics. Floppy and hard disk configuration
data.
63: The term "ESD" refers to?
A: Electrostatic Discharge.
64: How do you dispose of a PC battery?
A: Check the battery label information for special
disposal procedures.
65: How can you limit the chance of AC line
noise?
A: Install the computer system on its own power
circuit.
66: You suspect a virus has entered your
computer. What will not be affected by the
virus?
A: CMOS or ROMBIOS
67: What will happen when shadowing is
enabled in a computers BIOS?
A: Instructions stored in various ROM chips are
copied into extended memory.
68: What does an IRQ allow interface cards to
do?
A: Interrupt the CPU to request service.
69: Which ports use IRQ4?
A: COM1 and COM3
70: What uses IRQ3?
A: COM2 and COM4
71: What IRQ is assigned to the floppy disk
controller?
A: IRQ6
72: How can you tell if the CMOS backup
battery is going bad?
A: Computer will start losing the date and time.
73: How many intelligent devices can be daisy-
chained together from a standard SCSI
controller?
A: Seven (8 if you include the adapter card)
74: If a SCSI card is controlling both external
and internal devices where would the
terminators need to be located?
A: The terminating resistor must be disabled on the
controller, and both the last internal and last
external devices on the chain must be terminated.
75: What is the default resolution of a VGA
monitor?
A: 640x480
76: What does TSR stands for?
A: Terminate and Stay Resident.
77: Which allows faster access; RAM, ROM, or
virtual memory?
A: RAM
78: When installing a high capacity hard disk
drive on older machines, what might you have
to upgrade?
A: ROM System BIOS
79: What is parity error?
A: Indicates a problem with data stored in memory
(Bad RAM).
80: What type of a connector does a parallel
cable have?
A: DB25
81: A parallel printer cable has a DB25
connector on one end and a _____________
connector on the other end.
A: Centronics
82: Software or firmware embedded in chips on
the circuit board which determines
compatibility.
A: BIOS
83: The design of the ISA bus only allows for
support of 16 MB of memory. If that is the case,
how can a computer support 64MB of memory?
A: By page swapping
84: Hard drives start out essentially blank.
They need to have their sectors defined on
each track. In addition, the sectors have to be
marked so that data can later be found and
retrieved. This process is called?
A: Low level formatting
85: LPT2 uses what I/O address?
A: 278
86: What are I/O addresses and what do they
do?
A: Communication ports between a device and the
CPU.
87: An error detection technique consisting of a
cyclic algorithm performed on each block or
frame of data by both sending and receiving
modems.
A: Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC)
88: How many programs may reside in the
HMA?
A: Only One at a time.
89: This step of the Electrographic Printing
process puts a uniform negative charge on the
drum, erasing the electrical image of the
previous page.
A: Conditioning
90: Serial cables can be longer than parallel
ones, with the maximum recommended length
for a serial cable being?
A: 50 ft.
91: This topology uses a hub instead of a single
trunk cable. Individual workstations extend
from the hub, each connected by its own cable.
Signals are broadcast to all stations or passed
from station to station.
A: Star
92: How many transceivers can be integrated
onto a Thicknet backbone?
A: 100
93: Consider the following scenario: You are
looking at a laser printer that prints perfectly
formed letters that smear easily. Using what
you know about the EP process, what assembly
would you suspect?
A: Fuser
94: What was the first CPU to come with a
built-in coprocessor?
A: 486DX
95: DC2000, DAT, and QIC80 are all examples
of what?
A: Tape media
96: What type of motherboard has a soft
power-on switch?
A: ATX
97: What occurs during the writing part of the
EP print process?
A: An image of 0Vdc charge is ‘written’ to the drum
with a laser
98: The first CPU to have a 64bit data path
was?
A: 586
99: What are the 6 steps of Laser Printer
process?
A: cleaning
charging
writing
developing
transfer
fusing
100: Where do you terminate SCSI?
A: At both ends
101: Which bus supports both 8 & 16 bit cards?

A: ISA
102: What should the resistance of a good
15amp fuse be?
A: 0
103: How do you disable bus mastering on a
notebook?
A: in CMOS
104: What would cause your IP address to
change each time you log onto the network?
A: A DHCP server has been installed.
105: Software embedded on motherboard is
referred to as?
A: firmware
106: What are the jumpers on a network card
used to set?
A: I/O address
107: You want to be sure your PC is connected
to the network. What you should do?
A: ping the server
108: Which is not a form of a network?
A: NAN (National area Network:)
109: Which of the following is not a kind of
virus?
A: directory
110: What must never be connected to the
same UPS the PC is using?
A: laser printer
111: Which of the following is a type of parallel
port?
A: ECP
112: Which one of the following uses a DMA
channel?
A: Sound Card.
113: When you boot up your computer you get
a “Fixed disk” error. What is the cause?
A: Incorrect CMOS settings.
114: What is do you need to connect to a
networks resources?
A: access rights
115: What is another name for twisted pair
cable?
A: 10baseT
116: What protocol do you use to transfer a file
over the Internet?
A: FTP
117: What is ATAPI?
A: Mass storage hard drive
118: What must you have for a PCMCIA card to
work?
A: Software Enabler
119: What does LBA do on older PCs?
A: Allows them to access drives over 504 MB.
120: What should you do before taking case off
your computer?
A: Unplug all cables.
121: What is the I/O address for the hard disk
controller?
A: 1F0h
122: What is the 34 pin connector used for on
an I/O card?
A: Floppy
123: When do you need to discharge a CRT?
A: When you’re replacing an internal component
124: What is the I/O address for COM2?
A: 2f8h
125: What is the I/O address for COM4?
A: 2e8h
126: Which connector cannot be used for SCSI
cabling?
A: 15 pin Centronics
127: In Peer-to-peer networks which of the
following statements is true?
A: Each PC can access any other PCs data.
128: Which bus has up to a 16bit path?
A: ISA
129: What sort of chip has 168 pins?
A: DIMM
130: Which port can you plug an ISA card or
device into?
A: ISA, EISA, VL
131: The Pentium II chip has a cache size of?
A: 512K, 256K
132: How many pins does a SVGA monitor cable
have?
A: 15
133: A series 300 error is a problem with the
______.
A: Keyboard
134: At the end of a SCSI chain you should use
a terminator. This terminator is actually what?
A: a resistor
135: What does the acronym SCSI stands for?
A: Small Computer Systems Interface
136: A label with the term “WARNING!” on it
means what?
A: A Potential for personal injury
137: A path of circuitry that connects the CPU
to the expansion slots is called?
A: A Bus
138: What type of measurement is used for
CPU speed?
A: MHz
139: When you begin to diagnose a computer
problem, what is the best way to differentiate
between a hardware and a software problem?
A: Boot from a "clean boot" diskette.
140: Which is a feature of EIDE devices?
A: ATAPI compliant
141: What data access width is used by Micro
Channel Architecture (MCA)?
A: 16 & 32 bit
142: Which system board has a 64-bit bus?
A: PCI
143: On a hard disk, Tracks are divided into?
A: Sectors
144: Which processor chip was the first with
the ability to multitask?
A: 386
145: Which type of 486 chip runs twice as fast
internally?
A: 486DX2
146: Which type of 486 chip runs at 33mhz on
the system board and 99mhz internally?
A: 486dx4
147: Which processor chip was the first to be
considered fault tolerant?
A: Pentium
148: Which peripheral port provides the
FASTEST throughput to a laser printer?
A: Parallel port
149: Which hardware component controls
serial port communications?
A: UART 16550
150: On a 16-bit ISA bus, IRQ2 us elevated to
which higher level interrupt?
A: 9
151: A part of a computer or other electronic
device that can be readily replaced in the field
on a service call, and does not require any
soldering or other special equipment is called?
A: Field Replaceable Unit (FRU)
152: What is thinnest PCMCIA card, measuring
3.5 mm in thickness?
A: TYPE I
153: Which processor chip has a disabled math
coprocessor on board?
A: 486SX
154: What does the acronym RTS stand for?
A: Request To Send
155: What computer chip holds the computer’s
configuration information?
A: CMOS
156: What does CMOS stand for?
A: Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor.
157: Which processor uses Socket 7?
A: Pentium
158: Which type of PCMCIA card supports Hard
Drives?
A: Type III
159: In the Binary numbering system, a (1)
represents a jumper being shorted and a (0)
represents a jumper being open. On a three-bit
jumper block on a SCSI drive, how would an ID
of logical 3 be set?
A: 011
158: Which of the following statements is true?

A: Each SCSI device must have its own ID

159: When connecting a ribbon cable to a
connector, how do you know which direction to
plug it in?
A: The colored line in the cable goes to pin #1
160: Resistance is measured in?
A: Ohms
161: What does the statement "Current Drive is
no longer valid" mean?
A: Your current drive is either a network drive that is
no longer connected, or a disk drive with no disk in
it.
162: How can you disable bus mastering for a
PC card?
A: BIOS on the card.
163: Which of the following items would
require you to comply with EPA disposal
guidelines?
A: Battery
164: The ESD wrist strap is designed to protect
PC Components or Service Technicians ?
A: Both
165:. Which processor uses slot 1?
A: Pentium II
166: What does the term BIOS stand for?
A: Basic Input/Output System
167: Which part of the laser printer should not
be exposed to sunlight?
A: Photosensitive Drum
168: The stage of laser printing where the
image is transferred from drum to paper is
called?
A: Transfer Stage
169: Which component of the laser printer
must be vacuumed or replaced during
preventive maintenance?
A: Ozone filter
170: To prevent toner from sticking to a laser
printer’s heat rollers you should apply?
A: Oil
171: During preventive maintenance on a dot
matrix printer, you should never lubricate?
A: Print head pins
172: What 2 items would you use to clean
plastic covers on printers?
A: Mild, soapy water clean, lint free cloth
173: If you notice your dot matrix printer is
starting to print faint, patchy and intermittent
characters, what would probably fix the
problem?
A: Change the ribbon
174: ESD damage can be caused by?
A: Placing an I/O Controller Card in a non-conductive
plastic bag
175: What device prevents power
interruptions?
A: Battery backup units (UPS)
176: What is the best way to protect your
computer during an electrical storm?
A: Disconnect all external cables and power cords
177: Can a monitor hold a charge even after
you have unplugged it?
A: Yes
178: What should you do first when
troubleshooting a faulty monitor?
A: Check the connections to the power source and to
the computer.
179: When you measure an unknown voltage
source, you should always start the meter set
on the _________ setting possible to prevent
damage to the meter.
A: Highest
180: How many Ohms should your meter
register if you are testing a good circuit?
A: 0
181: What is happening during the initial
memory test at boot-up?
A: The system is checking to see that contiguous
memory is installed.
182: Your computer determines the amount of
memory present, the date/time, and which
communication ports and display adapters are
installed during what phase?
A: Power On Self Test (POST)
183: What is a common complication when
adding a 1.6GB IDE hard drive to an older
system?
A: The System BIOS needs to be upgraded.
184: If your hard drive light is constantly
blinking while you are using one of your
applications, this could be a sign of what?
A: That you need to add RAM
185: How can you best prevent ESD when
working on a computer?
A: Place components on an anti-static mat Wear a
grounding wrist strap.
186: A grounding wrist strap contains what?
A: A resistor
187: This symbol represents what?

|
_______|_______
__________
___

A: A Ground
188: Which is both a 16 and 32 bit bus?
A: EISA
189: The DC voltage on most circuit boards is?
A: +5 volts
190: What type of controller will support both
internal and external CD-ROMs?
A: SCSI
192: How many pixels does a standard VGA
display have in its native graphics mode?
A: 640x480 pixels
193: When the files on your hard drive are not
stored in consecutive clusters, it is said to be?
A: Fragmented
194: What command would you type to fine out
how much and what type of memory you have
available?
A: MEM
195: You just bought a new video card. What is
an important question to answer before
installing ?
A: What are the available IRQ's
196: How long should you wait for the CRT to
discharge before opening the case?
A: 60 minutes or more.
197: What can be used to ensure your power
supply is not interrupted?
A: Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS)
198: When is the risk of ESD the greatest?
A: During low humidity (Dry) and cold.temperatures.
199: A user calls and says his PC was working
fine yesterday but he turned on this morning
and he is getting an error that reads "Invalid
System Disk". What could be the problem?
A: Floppy in drive A:
200: What would it mean if you did not hear
any beeps when you boot your computer?
A: Bad or disconnected speaker.
201: What is the cheapest way to access the
Internet?
A: Dial Up access
202: If a monitor only displays blue or green,
or combinations of blue and green, what is the
problem?
A: The RED electron gun is broken.
203: When you power up the monitor, it
displays a “301” error code, what is the
problem?
A: Keyboard
204: What type of output device should never
be hooked up to a switch box?
A: Laser printer
205: Does it matter which lead of a voltmeter is
connected to an AC circuit?
A: No
206: Does shadowing normally occur in
conventional or extended memory?
A: Extended
207: What does Full Duplex mean?
A: Simultaneous Transmit and Receive
208: Do PCI cards need IRQs?
A: No. PCI cards don't use IRQs, they use "Interrupt
Levels", numbered A,B,C and D.
209: If the output from the power supply drops
from +12 Volts to +11.3 Volts, what should you
do?
A: Nothing, a slight power drop or increase is
acceptable.
210: The resolution of a monitor will always
ultimately be determined by what?
A: The number of triads
211: What is the correct handshake signals
used in serial data transfers?
A: Data Terminal Ready and Data Set Ready
(DTR/DSR)
212: How many DMA channels are on a 16-bit
ISA system?
A: 8
213: What is the maximum length for a narrow,
slow, SCSI-2 chain?
A: 20 ft.
214: What is the first step to be performed
after installing a new blank hard drive?
A: Partition the hard drive.
215: What product must you use to clean the
rubber rollers on a printer?
A: Denatured Alcohol
216: What type of connection ports do most
modems have?
A: RJ-11
217: In the AT type PCs, the system BIOS is
most commonly located where in memory?
A: The 64K just below address FFFFF.
218: In Inkjet technology, the droplets of ink
are deflected towards the paper by what?
A: Electrically charged plates
219: External modems are usually connected to
which type of ports?
A: Serial
220: What does EMI stand for?
A: Electromagnetic Interference
221: If a laser printer keeps grabbing more
than one sheet of paper at a time, the problem
is most likely?
A: Paper has picked up too much moisture.
222: What are the 3 types of modem
transmission protocols?
A: Xmodem
Ymodem
Zmodem
223: If the characters printed on a dot matrix
appear chopped off at the top, what is the
likely problem?
A: Misaligned printhead
224: How many 72 pin SIMMs are needed to
make a bank on a Pentium PC?
A: 2
225: What is the most popular type of modem
protocol?
A: Zmodem
226: Will you ever find ISA slots on a laptop
PC?
A: No
227: What does the term MODEM stand for?
A: Modulator Demodulator
228: What is the fasted type of expansion bus?
A: PCI
229: Most Pentium CPUs run on what voltage?
A: 3.3 Volts
230: You have just replaced the toner cartridge
in a laser printer. The first few sheets come out
smudged. What should you do to fix this?
A: Run a few blank sheets trough until smudging
stops.
231: What 2 types of ports can a mouse use?
A: PS/2
Serial
232: How many logical drives can an EIDE hard
disk be divided into?
A: 24
233: A laser printer generates a totally black
sheet. What could cause this?
A: No power to the primary corona
234: The distance between two adjacent
phosphors of the same color on the CRT screen
is known as?
A: Dot pitch
235: How often should you clean a CD-ROM
laser?
A: Never touch the laser in a CD-ROM
236: The decimal equivalent of the binary
number 0111 is?
A: 7
237: When you send print to your laser printer,
the sheets come out blank. What is most likely
the cause?
A: No power to the transfer corona.
238: When testing household current, you
should read how many volts between the
neutral and the ground?
A: 0
239: What IRQ does LPT2 use?
A: 5
240: You boot a computer and get the message
“No ROM basic, system halted”. What is the
problem?
A: There is no active partition
241: A bi-directional parallel cable is also
known by what specification?
A: IEEE 1284
242: If your monitor only shows a single line,
what is probably the problem?
A: Bad yoke coil
243: When cleaning the keys on a keyboard,
you should use?
A: All- purpose cleaner.
244: An error code 20 on an HP laser printer
signifies what?
A: Memory overflow
245: Improper installation of the floppy drive
ribbon cable can cause permanent damage to
your PC?
A: False
246: What are the P8 and P9 connectors?
A: They connect the power supply to the
motherboard.
247: Transferring multiple bits of data over
several conductors at one time is what type of
communication?
A: Parallel
248: When a power cable and a printer cable
get too close together, what might occur?
A: EMI
249: Should you plug a laser printer into a
UPS?
A: No
250: What is the primary advantage of parallel
communication over serial?
A: Speed
251: Every VGA video card has what?
A: RAM
252: Intermittent lockups and reboots are a
sign of what?
A: Bad power supply
253: Standard US household current is?
A: 120 Volts AC, 60 Hz
254: What is the I/O address is used for COM3?

A: 3E8
255: What is are the 3 types of networks?
A: LAN
WAN
MAN
256: The base, emitter, and collector are all
parts of what?
A: Transistor
257: What type of electrical device allows
current to only flow in one direction?
A: Diode
258: What type of processor has built in math
coprocessor and cache?
A: Pentium
259: How often does Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
need to be refreshed?
A: Every 16 milliseconds
260: What is the electrical symbol for a
resistor?
A: A zig zag line /\/\/\/\
261: In an IDE hard drive the minimum storage
unit is called a?
A: Sector
262: What must be installed at the end of a
SCSI chain?
A: Terminating resistor
263: The acronym HDI stands for?
A: Head to disk interference
264: With a dot matrix printer, light then dark
print is most commonly caused by?
A: Erratic ribbon advancement
265: Your client gets garbage characters when
trying to print a document. Which of the
questions listed below could you ask? (choose
all that apply)
A: Occurrence (how often)?
Do you have a sample?
What applications are being used?
Where is the printer located?
266: Which of the following should be
considered when storing laser printer paper?
(choose all that apply)
A: Location
Temperature
Humidity
267: Which bus type was introduced by IBM
and was not accepted by the industry?
A: MCA
268: What device takes advantage of EMF
spooling?
A: Printer
269: What device can you use to prevent power
surges to your computer?
A: Surge Suppressor
270: What is the purpose of the Modem?
A: Turns digital signals into analog signals and vice
versa.
271: The major difference between ESD and
EMI is?
A: EMI is recoverable, ESD is not.
272: You are testing a household electrical
outlet. If you test the ground & neutral wires,
you should get what reading?
A: 0
273: Unused memory in the reserved area is
called?
A: UMB (Upper Memory Blocks)
274: The 384K of memory region between 640K
and 1MB is called?
A: Upper or Reserved Memory
275: Which of the following is not internet
related?
A: X.400
276: What is the purpose of a Thermal Fuse?
A: In case the low voltage power supply overheats.
277: You get a call from a user complaining
that his computer consistently locks up after
only 5 minutes of operation. What is the
possible cause?
A: Faulty power supply
278: What types of Cache memory are available
on a Pentium Pro CPU?
A: L1 & L2
279: The EIDE specification allows a maximum
of how many hard drives?
A: 4
280: The most common size of floppy drive in
use today is?
A: 3 ½ “, 1.44 MB
281: Floppy drive letters are determined by?
A: Position of the drive on the floppy cable.
282: The ROM chip located on the motherboard
stores?
A: System BIOS
283: How many bytes are stored in a hard drive
sector?
A: 512
284: What is a common connector for a serial
port?
A: DB9
285: Which device can protect against power
sags?
A: UPS
286: A customer calls and says that his monitor
light is on but he has no display. His PC
apparently seems to boot OK and is running.
What is the first thing you would do?
A: Check the monitor adjustment controls
287: What tool would you use to properly
discharge the CRT ?
A: High voltage probe
288: The video BIOS is normally located at
what memory address?
A: C0000 - C7FFF
289: What would you use to clean the
printhead on a dot-matrix printer ?
A: Denatured Alcohol
290: What size is the FAT for a floppy drive?
A: 12-bit
291: What is the most common way to access
the CMOS Setup program?
A: Press DEL key at boot-up
292: How much memory could the 8086
processor address?
A: 1 MB
293: An old IBM PC gives you a POST error
code of 1701. What does this point to?
A: Hard Drive Controller
294: Where are the Upper memory blocks
located?
A: Reserved Memory
295: What is the one thing that all Viruses’ try
to do?
A: Copy itself
296: When servicing a dot matrix printer, which
component gets very hot ?
A: Printhead
297: What action will enable more applications
to run simultaneously?
A: Add RAM
298: What DMA channel does a floppy drive
use?
A: 2
299: The monitor power LED is 'on' but the
monitor screen is completely dark. The least
likely cause of the problem is:
A: System RAM problem
300: How may standard levels of interrupts are
provided on the 8-bit ISA bus (XT-class
computer)?
A: 8
301: What specifies your hard disk
configuration?
A: ROM BIOS
302: After doing a low-level format, what
would be the next step in configuring the hard
drive in a system?
A: Partition hard disk
303: After displaying the directory of a floppy
disk, a different floppy is inserted into the
drive. The contents of the original floppy
continues to display regardless of the director
requests on the other floppies placed in the
drive. You remove the drive in question and
install it into your test system, and it does not
exhibit the problem. You should next replace
the what?
A: Floppy drive ribbon cable
304: During the boot process, a system first
counts memory from where?
A: System board
305: A customer attached an external drive to
his notebook computer but the computer is not
recognizing it. What should be considered?
A: The cables are attached firmly?
The external drive has been pre-loaded with the
appropriate software?
The external drive was attached before the computer
was on?
The external drive is turned on?
306: Suppose that you have a "solid" failure,
and the maintenance package identifies several
possible field replaceable units (FRUs) that will
resolve the problem. What should you do after
turning the power off?
A: Replace the indicated parts, one at a time in the
recommended sequence, until the problem is
resolved; return unused FRUs to stock.
307: When considering replacement of a PC's
power supply, one should be concerned about?
(choose two)
A: Voltage and ampere rating
Size and shape, on/off switch placement, and
wattage
308: Which components could cause a blank
screen?
A: Power supply
Video card
CPU
RAM
309: A keyboard locks up intermittently even
when replaced with a new keyboard. What is
the LEAST likely cause of the problem?
A: A second bad keyboard
310: What questions could be asked to
determine if a problem is software or hardware
related? (choose all that apply)
A: Does the computer BEEP during the boot phase?
Did peripheral devices initialize, i.e. printers?
Will hardware components pass diagnostics?
311: Which of the following would be a logical
first step in trouble shooting a PC?
A: Define the circumstances of the problem
312: During the normal PC boot process, what
is activated first?
A: ROM BIOS
313: What is the first thing you could do to
check for damage to a printer after receiving it?

A: Unbox it and examine it for physical damage.

314: When measuring AC (Alternating Current)
with a multimeter, is it important to maintain
the proper polarity.
A: False
315: Which FRU can be considered both an
input and output device?
A: SCSI Host adapter
316: HIMEM.SYS gives you any kind of error
during startup. This usually means what?
A: Bad RAM
317: Memory addresses located in the first
640K of memory are known as?
A: Conventional Memory
318: Extended memory is also called?
A: XMS
319: Which driver allows you to access HMA?
A: HIMEM.SYS
320: How many pins does a narrow SCSI-2
cable have?
A: 50
321: What are the 3 basic components of hard
drive geometry?
A: Cylinders
Heads
Sectors/Track
322: When not in use, it is very important to
keep 5 1/4 diskettes where?
A: In their protective sleeves
323: How many Megabytes is a 2 x 32 SIMM?
A: 8 (2 X 32 = 64/8)
324: What device uses IRQ15?
A: Secondary Hard Drive Controller
325: The TWO primary performance restraints
for mass storage devices are?
A: Disk Access speed
Rate of transfer
326: If you have a device using IRQ2, then you
should not have any other device using which
other IRQ?
A: IRQ9
327: How large is the reserved memory area?
A: 384K
328: System software stored on non-volatile
memory chips (ROM) is called?
A: Firmware
329: In a 16-bit environment, what is the most
clusters a partition can have?
A: 64K
330: What is the 8042 chip used for?
A: Keyboard controller
331: If you replace the battery and the date &
time clock is still malfunctioning, then you
probably have what type of problem?
A: Bad motherboard
332: What is the maximum number of floppy
drives you can have on any one PC?
A: 2
333: When configuring a new network interface
card for installation, what would be a valid I/O
address?
A: 360
334: Can you use a standard multimeter for
measuring a monitors high voltage output?
A: No
335: Should a Computer technician attempt to
open a power supply in order to repair it?
A: No
336: When do you need to use Line
Conditioners?
A: When you have severe power problems.
337: Do Surge Suppressors offer really good
protection for computer equipment?
A: No
338: If you check a good 4 amp fuse with the
ohmmeter set at 20 what reading would you
get?
A: 0.0
339: How much memory did the 8086 and 8088
computers have?
A: 640k
340: How much memory could a 80286
computer address?
A: 16MB
341: How would you clean a floppy drive?
A: Denatured alcohol
342: What code is entered on the FAT table to
designate the last cluster a file uses?
A: FFFF
343: What code is entered on the FAT table to
designate a bad cluster?
A: FFF7
344: You have a old PC with a MFM hard drive
which boots occasionally for no reason. How
would you fix this?
A: Back it up and then perform a low-level format.
345: What SCSI feature allows multiple devices
to be chained together?
A: All devices have unique IDs.
346: Which type drives get logical letter
assignment first, SCSI or IDE?
A: IDE
347: How much memory could a 386 or above
computer address?
A: 4GB
348: If you have a laser printer connected to
your PC, which one would you turn on first?
A: Laser printer
349: If your monitor is making a high pitched
noise, what might the problem be?
A: Bad video controller
350: At what location on the hard drive will you
find Master boot record?
A: Cylinder 0, Head 0, Sector 1
351: A customer complains his printer doesn't
work but the light is on. What is the first thing
you should do to correct the problem?
A: Make sure the printer is on-line.
352: Toner particles have what type of charge?
A: Negative
353: You are testing a household electrical
outlet. If you test hot & neutral wires, you
should get what reading?
A: 110-120v
353: You are testing a household electrical
outlet. If you test hot & ground wires, you
should get what reading?
A: 110-120v
354: Which will cause more damage to your
computer system components, EMI or ESD?
A: ESD
355: Which components in your PC is most
susceptible to ESD damage?
A: CMOS
RAM
I/O controller cards
356: Which COM port does the mouse usually
use?
A: COM1
357: After replacing a motherboard, what
should you do with the adapter cards?
A: Put them all back in their original slots.
358: Why would you never want to test
computer circuits with a standard Ohmmeter?
A: Ohmmeters provide their own current which may
damage internal components.
359: Which type of fire extinguisher would you
use to fight a computer or electrical fire?
A: Class C
360: What do you set your Volt-Ohm meter to
in order to test a fuse?
A: Ohms
361: Which is the easiest component to
environmentally recycle?
A: Toner Cartridge
362: Which part of the computer is most likely
to be effected by EMI?
A: CMOS
363: If the digital multimeter is set for DC, Ohm
and 20k, what will it read while measuring a
good 2 amp fuse?
A: 0.00
364: What does this symbol represent?
A: SCSI Port
365: What is not typically considered a FRU?
A: System Chassis
366: What PC part would require you to follow
EPA guidelines when you dispose of it?
A: CMOS battery
367: What do you use to discharge the CRT?
A: resistor
368: When replacing a power supply in a
computer, how do the black wires connect to
the mother board?
A: They face each other on the insides of the plugs.
369: If your monitor has random dots on it, the
problem most likely is with the?
A: Video Card
370: Which of the following devices can send
and receive information from other devices?
(Choose 2)
A: Serial Port
Parallel port
371: What causes “Soft” memory errors?
A: Random program events
372: What causes “Hard” memory errors?
A: Bad SIMM or Short in circuit
373: How many electron guns does a color
monitor use?
A: 3
374: What is the best ground source for a
conductive work bench?
A: AC Outlet
375: The Keyboard uses what IRQ?
A: IRQ1
376: On a wall outlet, which side is neutral?
A: The longer slot
377: The SCSI boot drive must be have which
ID?
A: 0
378: The binary address of the SCSI host
adapter is usually?
A: 0111
379: How much data can a 5” CD store?
A: 650MB
380: A PC with a 486DX2 processor runs
internally at 50Mhz. What speed would its
external logic be running?
A: 25Mhz
381: Which device provides the fastest access
to large video files?
A: SCSI hard drives
382: When connecting two external SCSI hard
disks to a computer, where can you connect the
second hard drive?
A: Any open SCSI port on the computer
An open SCSI port on the first hard drive
383: When installing a SCSI CD-ROM drive, you
must set the CD-ROM SCSI adapter to what?
A: An unused SCSI address.
384: Which device provides the fastest data
access time?
A: RAM
385: What does the CPU do? (choose all that
apply)
A: Executes program instructions
Performs math functions
Controls input/output operations
386: What specification covers PC hard cards?
A: PCMCIA
387: Which would you have to upgrade to
install an EIDE drive?
A: Controller board
388: Which peripheral port provides the
FASTEST throughput to laser printers?
A: Parallel
389: A 25-pin female connector on the back of
your computer will typically be?
A: Parallel Port
390: COM1 is typically represented by which of
port?
A: 9 pin male
391: A 14.4 modem should transmit at _____
bits per second.
A: 14,400-15,000
392: A modem could be attached to which port?

A: ASYNC port
393: A customer has one printer on LPT1 and
wants to add another printer. To which port
could it be connected?
A: COM1
LPT2
COM2
394: What is a type of preventive maintenance
used on a hard drive?
A: Disk check diagnostics
395: Which should you use for cleaning Mylar-
protected LCD screens?
A: Alcohol-impregnated wipes
396: It is most important to keep hard drives
and diskettes away from? (choose two)
A: Magnetic devices
Temperature extremes
397: What questions would you ask to
determine if the display is working?
A: Is there a video cursor or action on the screen?
Did the computer beep or chime?
Is there high voltage static on the screen? Is the
video display brightness and contrast turned up?
398: Which monitor would provide the highest
level of performance?
A: VGA
399: A multimeter can be use to perform tests
on which of the following? (choose all that
apply)
A: To test a capacitor
Testing diodes
Testing transistors
400: In order for a modem to accept data,
which of the following signals must be present?
(choose all that apply)
A: Carrier detect
Receive data
401: What part of the PC performs the POST?
A: ROM BIOS
402: What error code identifies a floppy drive
problem?
A: 601
403: Can EMI affect the display on a monitor?
A: YES
404: In a laser printer which component will
not cause a paper jam?
A: Scanner unit
405: What resistance in Ohms should be
displayed when testing a speaker in a
computer?
A: 0
406: On an AT computer, which IRQ could not
be used for a network card?
A: 1
407: DMA is managed with a controller chip on
the system board. How many channels can a
single controller chip manage?
A: 4
408: On a floppy cable, the connector with the
twist will be come which drive letter?
A: A
409: You have a printer on LPT1, you want to
install another printer. To which port should it
be connected?
A: LPT2
410: On a leased line installation a known good
external modem shows no carrier detect light.
What is most likely the problem?
A: Phone line
411: To clean the plastic case of a PC you
would use?
A: Damp cloth
All purpose cleaner
412: Which processor chip was introduced in
1984 and has 130,000 transistors?
A: 80286
413: The_____ chip is found in most AT class
computers.
A: 80286
414: Which was the first processor chip to have
onboard cache?
A: 486
415: What type of bus is used in laptops?
A: PCMCIA
416: To avoid ESD when working on a PC, you
should? (choose two)
A: Assure that you and the PC are at the same
electrical charge level
Use anti-static spray liberally
417: ESD potential decreases with the use of
what?
A: A wrist strap
418: ESD would cause the most damage to
which component?
A: Expansion board
419: One of the major components of a PC is
the Central Processing Unit (CPU) which can be
best described as:
A: The area where all of the processing takes place.
420: Which type of system board is the MOST
likely will be best if you want maximum
performance and future compatibility?
A: PCI
421: What REQUIRES an anti-static bag for
transport?
A: I/O controller
422: Which was the first interface to embed the
controller within the drive housing?
A: IDE
423: Which type of interface can exchange data
without the use of microprocessor?
A: SCSI
424: The host adapter of a SCSI interface is
usually set to what ID?
A: 7
425: How many pins do Dot matrix printers
commonly use?
A: 9 or 24
426: How does a thermal printer produce
images?
A: With heat and special thermal paper
427: Using paper that is to coarse in a laser
printer can cause what problem?
A: Premature wear to the paper path
428: Which bus type can reach a peak transfer
rate of 33Mbps?
A: EISA
429: What type of expansion bus does an AT
bus support?
A: 8 and 16 bit slots
430: What is the highest binary number that
can be referenced on a three position jumper
block?
A: 7 (0111)
431: What is the problem with an interlaced
monitor?
A: It can flicker and cause eye strain.
432: In a normal text mode a monitor can
display?
A: 80 columns by 25 lines.
433: The resolution for the CGA standard
monitor is?
A: 320x200-4 colors
434: The resolution for the VGA standard
monitor is?
A: 640x480-16 colors
435: The resolution for the SVGA standard
monitor is?
A: 800x600-16 colors
436: The resolution for the XGA standard
monitor is?
A: 640x480-65,536 colors
437: Of the two types of keyboards Capacitive
and Switch, which is more prone to failure?
A: Switch
438: When referring to keyboards, what does
debouncing mean?
A: Cleans up electrical noise.
439: A mode of data transmission characterized
by regular time periods and no start or stop
bits is called?
A: Synchronous
440: Which serial data transmission mode is
faster, synchronous or asynchronous?
A: Synchronous
441: Does a byte equal one character or one
word?
A: One character.
442: You have two modems connected over a
phone line and one modem is dropping
characters. What is the most likely problem ?
A: The modem is not configured correctly.
443: Which prong on the AC plug is the Phase
side?
A: The shorter one
444: A Power Supply is rated in?
A: Watts
445: The fusing unit of a laser printer uses
what 2 elements to bond the image to the
paper?
A: Heat and Pressure
446: Why should you change an ink jet
cartridge instead of refilling it?
A: With a new cartridge you are also replacing the
jets
447: You have a printing resolution of 200dpi.
What does that mean?
A: 200 dots per inch
448: The transfer corona wire in a laser printer
has what type of charge?
A: Positive
449: A printwire can be found in what type of
printer?
A: Dot Matrix