A+ Sample Questions A+ Core Hardware practice questions

A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

RS-232 is a standard that applies to:
serial ports
parallel ports
game ports
networks
digital frequencies

Answer :A
Comm ports use: (select all that apply)
9 pin male connector
14 pin female connector
25 pin male connector
edge connector
parallel connector

Answer :A, C
Before a modem transmits, it send a:
RTS
DTR
DSR
RQS
TRX

Answer :A
RTS stands for:
ready to start
ready to switch
request to send
request to scan
ready to set

Answer :C
In modem terminology, CD stands for:
collect data
call data
cease deliver
carrier detect
comm detect

Answer :D
UART is a type of serial chip. Its letters stand for:
unidirectional access regarding transmission
universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter
upper advanced real transfer
unable all restore t-bits
use all rom types

Answer :B
Select all true statements:
com1 and com3 share the same IRQ
com1 and com4 share the same IRQ
com2 and com3 share the same IRQ
com2 and com4 share the same IRQ
com1 and com2 share the same IRQ

Answer :A, D
In modems that support more than 300 baud, baud and bps do not mean the same thing.
true
false

Answer :A
"bps" stands for bits per second. Baud is the number of discrete signals per second One discrete signal can encode more than one bit. Hence, a 9600 bps modem actually operates at 2400 baud. However, in common non-techie terminology, baud and bps are used synonymously, though that is not technically correct. These are all true statements.
true
false

Answer :A
________ is the term used to refer to the process of two modems establishing communications with each other.
interacting
handshaking
connecting
linking
pinging

Answer :B A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

ISDN stands for:
internal select data nulls
integrated services digital network
interval set down next
interior sector direct none
inferior sector data net

Answer :B
Your modem does not respond when you try to dial out. You try another modem on another computer and get the same result. What is the most likely problem?
defective modem
defective computer
software bug
bad phone line
virus

Answer :D
You have a serial scanner connected to your computer configured to use com3. It is turned on. Your modem is using com1, and you can't dial out. What is the most likely problem?
everything should work ok
you have an i/o conflict
you have a conflict with IRQ 4
you have a loose connection
you have a conflict with IRQ 3

Answer :C
What is the i/o address for com1?
3e8
3bc
5f8
3f8
008

Answer :D
What is the i/o address for com2?
2vb
2f8
8f8
330
e8e

Answer :B
What is the i/o address for com3?
3e8
345
ff8
5e8
be8

Answer :A
What is the i/o address for com4?
4e7
e8e
be0
cb8
2e8

Answer :E
Before sending data, a modem sends a request to send signal, or RTS.
true
false

Answer :A
ISDN uses _______________ technology.
only digital
digital and analog
only analog
neither digital nor analog
mostly digital

Answer :A
A COM port is a _______ port.
parallel
serial
static
multi
scsi

Answer :B A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

Modems use ________________ transmission.
synchronous
asynchronous
timed interval
ata
bank

Answer :B
CD-Roms typically hold ______ of data.
100 meg
500 meg
650 meg
1000 meg
350 meg

Answer :C
The terms "red book", "yellow book", and "orange book" refer to:
scsi
ide
floppy drive technology
CD-Rom standards
none of the above

Answer :D
CD-Roms are read by _________.
magnetic heads
electronic sensors
stepper motors
laser diodes
titanium servos

Answer :D
Which of the following can cause CDs to be misread? Select all that apply.
smudges
finger prints
scratches
cracks
slight melting

Answer :A, B, C, D & E
CD-Rom drives typically have which of the following interfaces? Select all that apply.
serial
parallel
ide
scsi
esdi

Answer :A, B & C
CD-Rom drives have which connectors? Select all that apply.
molex
berg
data cable
audio cable
arcnet

Answer :A, C & D
In a computer with an eide adapter, where should you connect an ATA CD-Rom drive?
on the floppy bus
on the primary ide
on the secondary ide
on the scsi bus
none of the above

Answer :C
Your IDE CD-Rom drive is attached to the primary IDE adapter with our hard drive. How should its jumpers be set?
as a master
as a slave
as neutral
auto detect
to 001

Answer :B
What does MSCDEX.EXE do?
configures hard drives
it's a scsi driver
bios setup
It's a CD-Rom DOS driver
nothing, I just made it up

Answer :D A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

A CD-Rom drive always uses IRQ:
9
10
11
5
depends on the adapter it's attached to

Answer :E
If a computer's bios allows it, you can boot from a CD-Rom.
true
false

Answer :A
A single speed CD-Rom drive transfers data at:
1 MB per second
100 bytes per second
20 million bits per second
186,282 bits per second
150 KBs per second

Answer :E
Your CD-Rom audio cable connects to the:
speaker
sound card (or motherboard if sound is integrated with it)
power supply
hard drive
bios

Answer :B
This statement is in autoexec.bat:
c:\dos\cdrom\mscdex /d:cdrom001 /l:e /m:10 /v

This statement is in config.sys:
device=c:\cdrom\atapicd.sys /d:cd001

Your CD-Rom drive is not working. What is wrong?
the "v" switch in autoexec.bat is invalid
the device name is not the same in both files
the "m" switch in autoexec.bat is set too high
config.sys is not using the dos directory
nothing, it should work

Answer :B
Which of the following are SCSI issues? Select all that apply.
unique id settings
limited cable length
parity
passive termination
active termination

Answer :A, B, C, D & E
On some older SCSI adapters, the boot hard drive must be set to id#: (as a side note, some of the older IBM SCSI PCs had to have the boot hard drive set to id 6, but this question deals primarily with most other PC makes and clones)
2
3
0
9
11

Answer :C
You have a PC with a SCSI adapter built into the system board It has only one connection (internal), which is used for your hard drive, CD-Rom drive, and tape drive. Your boss wants to connect a SCSI scanner to the PC, so you install a SCSI adapter with an external connection to support the scanner. Now you have a PC with two SCSI adapters. SCSI adapters normally use id# 7, which the onboard adapter is set for. The adapter you installed should: (select all that apply)
use a different id
use id 7 also
not use an id
use a different IRQ
be checked for fleas

Answer :B, D
You run a super wing-ding diagnostic program on your PC, and it reports that your hard drive, microprocessor, ram, and video card have seen better days. To resolve this problem you should:
replace each part one at a time, rerunning the diagnostic before replacing the next part.
check to see if you have a software problem
replace everything at once and rerun the diagnostic
get another copy of the diagnostic program
run an exhaustive memory check

Answer :B
Whenever you have a hardware resource conflict, it will more likely be an IRQ conflict rather than an i/o conflict because:
there are alot more i/o addresses than IRQs.
the bios sometimes has more of a problem controlling IRQs
i/o addresses cannot conflict
software tends to correct i/o conflicts
software tends to mess up IRQs

Answer :A A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

SCSI adapters usually don't need drivers, just the devices that interface with them.
true
false

Answer :B
Most SCSI-2 devices will work fine with SCSI-1 adapters.
true
false

Answer :A
Single-ended SCSI or "regular" SCSI has one wire for each signal that needs to be sent along the SCSI bus. Differential SCSI has two wires for each signal that is sent. Differential SCSI cable lengths can be up to 25 meters. How long can single-ended SCSI cables be?
up to 50 meters
up to 100 meters
up to 6 meters
up to 14 meters
up to 3 meters

Answer :C
Your PC has both internal and external SCSI devices connected to one SCSI host adapter. Which devices should be terminated? Select all that apply.
the last internal device on the chain
the last external device on the chain
the host adapter
the host adapter and one external device
the PC

Answer :A, B
How many devices can connect to the typical SCSI adapter? Assume is has only one data connector.
7
8
20
10
depends on whether both internal and external devices are used

Answer :A
How many devices can be used on a single SCSI bus? Keep in mind that the SCSI host adapter counts as a device.
7
8
20
10
see number 54

Answer :B
What is the jumper setting on a SCSI device to configure it to use the fourth SCSI id? Remember, SCSI ids start with zero.
010
110
011
101
001

Answer :C
Which type of interface provides for the fastest data transfer?
IDE
SCSI
parallel
serial
ISA

Answer :B
In addition to i/o port addresses, SCSI adapters also use a range of rom addresses for their onboard bios.
true
false

Answer :A
SCSI-2 cables have how many pins?
40
25
50
72
100

Answer :C A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

IDE cables have how many pins?
25
50
100
40
65

Answer :D
You are about to install a second IDE hard drive in a PC that has only one IDE adapter. Your first hard drive will still be the boot drive. How should the second drive be configured?
as a master
as a secondary
as a slave
as a primary
as auto-select

Answer :C
What is the maximum number of IDE drives that EIDE will support?
15
3
4
2
0

Answer :C
You are installing an IDE hard drive that will be your boot drive.
Which is the correct order of steps that need to be followed?
jumper properly, auto-detect(or configure manually) in cmos, low level format, high level format, partition
jumper properly, auto-detect(or configure manually) in cmos, partition, high level format with /s switch
jumper properly, partition, auto-detect(or configure manually in cmos, high level format with /s switch
jumper properly, auto-detect in cmos, regular format
jumper properly, partition, low level format, high level format

Answer :B
You are installing a SCSI hard drive that will be your boot drive. Which is the correct order of steps that need to be followed?
jumper for id 0, cmos setup, low level format, high level format
set id jumpers to all zeros, high level format, partition
set id jumpers to all zeros, partition, high level format
jumper for id 0, cmos setup, partition, high level format
set id jumpers to all zeros, high level format, partition

Answer :C
On a flat data cable, a red or blue stripe means:
ground
high voltage
null connection
pin 1
that it's an IDE or SCSI cable

Answer :D
Which of the following would be considered an FRU? Select all that apply.
hard drive
system board
ram
DMA controller
level 2 cache simm

Answer :A, B, C & E
Which of the following would not be considered an FRU?
hard drive
IRQ controller
any soldered IC
floppy drive
system board

Answer :A, B
You have a system that periodically locks up. You have ruled out software, and now suspect that it is hardware. What should you do first that could help you narrow it down to the component at fault?
rotate the ram
replace the ram
replace the level 2 cache simm
disable the CPU cache in cmos
replace the CPU

Answer :D
You have a PC with no video on a known good monitor. Pick the best order you should follow in tracking down the problem.
replace the video card, replace the monitor, replace the power supply, replace the system board, try a different monitor
check that PC and monitor are plugged in, check that monitor brightness is turned up, check that PC fan is running, remove all option cards
check PC supply voltages, replace video card, replace CPU
check that everything's plugged in, replace system board
check that everything's plugged in, replace hard drive, replace ram

Answer :B A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

Most PCs give a single beep on bootup to indicate they are ok hardware wise. You boot your PC and don't get a beep. What should you check first?
system board
ram
microprocessor
power supply
speaker

Answer :E
What beep codes could indicate a system board or power supply failure? Select all that apply.
steady short beep
no beep
one long continuous beep tone
steady long beeps
one long, two short beeps

Answer :A, B, C & D
Your PC is continuously rebooting itself. Select all of the following that could be causing the problem.
bad PC power supply
faulty power at AC outlet
bad system board
defective adapter card
corrupt operating system

Answer :A, B, C, D & E
You have an old PC that you decide to upgrade with a 1 gig IDE hard drive You find that you can't configure cmos to see the entire hard drive. The best you can do is 540 meg. What is the fix?
get a newer PC
manually input the sectors, cylinders, and heads of the hard drive
put multiple partitions on the hard drive
make the bios think it's a SCSI drive
use a device driver that makes the bios see the drive as simply a block storage device, or upgrade the bios if possible

Answer :E
A sound card typically uses which IRQ?
6
5
15
1
it doesn't use an IRQ

Answer :B
Your IDE hard drive is not spinning up when you turn on the PC What is the most likely problem.
bad data cable
incorrect jumper setting on drive
loose molex connector
virus
bad system board

Answer :C
You have a PC with no video. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be causing the problem?
defective ram (bank zero)
defective microprocessor
crashed hard drive
loose video card
low AC outlet power

Answer :C
I once had a PC with no video. I replaced the system board, CPU, and video card, and still had no video. I then replaced the IDE cable and fixed the problem. Am I telling the truth?
no, you're just pulling everyone's leg
you betcha!

Answer :B
A virus can mimick just about any hardware symptoms you can think of.
true
false

Answer :A
A static jolt of as little of ____ volts can fry most any PC integrated circuit.
200
30
1000
200
500

Answer :B A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

A human cannot feel a static discharge as high as ____ volts.
200
2000
10000
50000
50

Answer :A
ESD is ___________.
electronic stasis device
electrostatic discharge
electric surge device
electronic system driver
forget it, I can't think of any more words for these letters

Answer :B
What's the best way to prevent damaging your PC with static electricity?
place your PC on a rubber mat
wear leather soled shoes
periodically touch a safe ground point on the PC to discharge yourself
static electricity doesn't really hurt a PC
wear an ESD wrist strap

Answer :E
What is EMI? (uh, oh - here we go again)
electro-magnetic interference
electronic maintainence inquiry

Answer :A
You're on your PC at midnight and an electric storm pops up. What's the best way to protect your PC.
you don't worry; you have a lightning rod on your house
you don't worry; you've got a surge protector on your PC
you don't worry; you've got a surge protector on your PC and phone line to your modem
unplug the PC and remove phone line from the modem
stop standing on it

Answer :D
Something as small as a ________ on a drive platter can cause your hard drive to crash. Select all that apply.
human hair
dust particles
finger print
a .001 micron high imperfection
accumulation of smoke particles

Answer :A, B, C & E
When your hard drive crashes from any of the correct selections in the question above, or from dropping it, it is known as head-to-disk interference, or HDI.
true
false
A
You should never put floppy drives, hard drives, or even VCR tapes or cassette tapes on top of speakers (or near any other source of magnetism) because of:
RFI
EMI
EXE
FYI
IOU

Answer :B
Static electricity thrives is which type of environment?
cold and humid
warm and humid
warm and dry
cold and warm
cold and dry

Answer :E
Which is the most difficult environmentally to dispose of?
floppy drives
hard drives
power supplies
CRTs
system boards

Answer :D