A+ Sample Questions A+ Core Hardware practice questions

A+ Sample Questions
A+ Core Hardware practice questions

What should you use to clean the plastic cover on your monitor or PC? Select all that apply.
alcohol
damp sponge
lint-free cloth
WD-40
mild soap solution

Answer :C, E
Dust in a computer actually increases the size of the magnetic fields inside it. This is not good, so you must occasionaly dust, I trust. What's the best way to do this?
reverse vacuum
any small vacuum device
blow real hard on the system board
use a lint-free cloth and wipe gently
non-static compressed air

Answer :E
What's the best way to protect your hard drive data?
regular backups
periodically defrag it
run chkdsk at least once a week
run scandisk at least once a week
run a regular diagnostic

Answer :A
A CRT's grid voltage can be as high as:
110 volts
5000 volts
15,000 volts
50,000 volts
1000 volts

Answer :C
A monitor's CRT (cathode ray tube) can pack quite a wallop of a charge even if it's been turned off for several days or more Before you service a monitor, you must discharge the CRT using a tool specific for that purpose. Before you do the discharge, what must you do first?
make sure the monitor is not connected to a PC
make sure the monitor is unplugged
make sure the monitor is turned off
make sure the brighness is turned down
make sure your life insurance policy is paid up

Answer :B
ESD is least likely to cause damage to which components? Select all that apply.
keyboard
mouse
cmos chips
microprocessor
adapter cards

Answer :A, B
Which of the following are input devices only? Select all that apply.
modem
mouse
keyboard
SCSI controller
video card

Answer :A, B
Which of the following are both input/output devices? Select all that apply.
modem
SCSI controller
keyboard
mouse
monitor

Answer :A, B
Which component stores an electrical charge?
diode
rectifier
capacitor
resistor
transistor

Answer :C
On PC power supplies, the wire attached to pin one is usually:
blue or red
blue or white
red or black
red or white
white or orange

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

If the voltage on pin 1 of the power supply is not in the range of ______ volts, the PC will not boot.
10 - 20
1 - 5
50 - 110
15 - 25
2.5 - 5

Answer :E
The output voltages of a PC power supply are in the form of _____ current.
AC
DC
amperage
resistive
trickle

Answer :B
The output voltages from a PC power supply are:
+20, +110, -20, -110
+5, +12, -5, -12
+110, -110, +25, -25
+10, -10, +20, -20
+110, -15, +25, -5

Answer :B
A spike is a sharp and sudden rise in voltage It's duration is usually measured in:
nanoseconds
milliseconds
seconds
minutes
picto seconds

Answer :B
A brownout is defined as:
a slightly elevated voltage lasting from seconds to minutes or more
a slightly decreased voltage lasting from seconds to minutes or more
complete power out lasting a few minutes
alternating power out, power on lasting a few minutes
has nothing to do with electricity

Answer :B
Resistance is measured in units of:
ohms
farads
helids
amperes
volts

Answer :A
Current is measured in units of:
volts
amps
ohms
farads
diodes

Answer :B
Capacitance is measured in units of:
volts
amps
farads
neutrinos
anti-neutrinos

Answer :C
Voltage is measured:
in parallel
in series
after breaking the circuit
after checking resistance
after checking current

Answer :A
Resistance is measured:
in parallel
in series
after breaking the circuit
after checking voltage
after checking current

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

Current is measured:
in parallel
only when you turn the device off first, then connect your meter to the device in series, then turning it back on
after checking voltage
only when you turn the device off first, then touch the correct meter leads to the corresponding terminals
only on an open circuit

Answer :B
AC ripple is unwanted AC current where there should only be direct current. When AC is rectified to DC, it is difficult, if not impossible to get rid of all the AC voltage, though a certain amount is tolerable You want to measure the AC voltage in a DC circuit, so you set your meter to measure:
DC voltage
AC voltage
DC current
AC current
ripple

Answer :B
Anti-static plastic bags are:
conductive
non-conductive
part rubber, part plastic
90% non-porous
magneto-resistive

Answer :A
POST stands for:
positive operating system test
particle of static transfer
power on self test
printer online static test
printer online standard test

Answer :C
POST is done when the PC is: (select all that apply)
warm booted
first turned on
CTRL-ALT-DELETE booted
restarted with the reset button
giving a numeric error code

Answer :A, C
The POST routine, which counts system board ram first, is stored in:
ram
microprocessor
rom bios
cmos
8259 POST controller

Answer :C
A 1xx (x can be any digit) POST error code indicates a problem with the:
video
ram or rom
hard drive
system board
first adapter card

Answer :D
A 2xx POST error code indicates a problem with:
ram or rom
hard drive
system board
second adapter card
cmos battery

Answer :A
A 3xx POST error code indicates a problem with:
mouse
keyboard
floppy drive
video adapter
monitor

Answer :B
A 4xx, 5xx, or 24xx POST error code indicates a problem with:
hard drive
IRQ controller
video adapter
keyboard
floppy drive

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

OK, last numeric error code check: A 17xx indicates a problem with:
cmos
rom bios
DMA controller
hard drive or controller
power supply

Answer :D
A 6xx indicates a problem with the:
floppy drive (see, I kept my word)

Answer :A
A parity error usually indicates a problem with:
memory
hard drive
hard drive controller
i/o controller
power supply

Answer :A
How many bits in a byte?
16
8
255
10
2 to the 9th power

Answer :B
PCMCIA stands for "personal computer memory card international association". Just take my word for it. This association sets forth the standards for the PC card PC cards are: (select all that apply)
hot swappable
not hot swappable
plug and play
not plug and play
used only in mainframes

Answer :A, C
Type one PC cards:
are used only in desktops
are no longer being produced
are the thinnest of the PC cards
don't exist
have their own power source

Answer :C
To start the setup program (or cmos setup), there is usually a key or set of keys you must press simultaneously. Some of the ones used by various PCs are listed below. Select all that are correct.
CTRL-ALT-ENTER
CTRL-ALT-DELETE
CTRL-ALT-S
DELETE
F10

Answer :A, C, D & E
The floppy drive uses which DMA (direct memory access) channel?
5
4
1
9
2

Answer :E
You do a DIR on a diskette, remove it and insert another, and get the same DIR listing from the first diskett. This is known as a "phantom" directory, and it is caused by: (select all that apply)
line 34 on the floppy cable is bad
bad microprocessor
defective diskette
defective floppy drive
failing hard drive

Answer :A, D
The power connector on a floppy drive is called a:
berg connector
molex connector
has no formal name
mini-molex
hybrid connector

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

On most floppy cables, the order for the connectors is:
adapter, drive A, drive B
adapter, tape drive connector, drive A
adapter, drive B, drive A
adapter, drive A or B, drive A or B
depends on cmos settings

Answer :C
The print from a dot-matrix printer is light and uneven. This is most likely caused by:
defective printhead
worn ribbon
paper not advancing properly
defective carriage assembly
worn platten

Answer :B
The print from a dot-matrix printer is sometimes light, sometimes dark. This is most likely caused by:
worn ribbon
paper not advancing properly
worn platten
defective printhead
defective carriage assembly

Answer :B
On a dot-matrix printer, regular lube maintainence should be followed, but this component should never be lubed:
platten bearings
carriage rails
printhead
paper advance bearings
carriage bearings

Answer :C
When you move a mouse, the mouse pointer is positioned via:
GPS
analog pulses
pressure sensors
friction detectors
pulses of light

Answer :E
Your laser printer is on, you hear the fan running, but it won't print. What is the first thing you should check?
that all the cables are connected securely
that the correct print driver is installed
that the printer is online
that the printer has paper
that the printer is not jammed

Answer :C
In laser printing, there are six steps the printer follows. What comes between the conditioning phase and the developing phase?
transer phase
writing phase
fusing phase
cleaning phase
nothing

Answer :B
During the laser printer's conditioning phase a uniform charge of _______ is placed on the photosensitive drum.
+1000 volt
+600 volts
-600 volts
-1000 volts
+ 12 volts

Answer :C
In order to place this charge on the drum, the primary corona wire must emit a charge of:
+15000 volts
-110 volts
+110 volts
-6000 volts
+6000 volts

Answer :D
The transfer corona uses a/an ______ charge to attract the toner to the paper.
negative
positive
alternating
magnetic
electronic pulse

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

Your laser printer gives you an error code 50. This is usually caused by a defective:
formatter board
DC controller
fuser assembly
high voltage power supply
laser unit

Answer :C
Laser printer toner is composed primarily of: (select all that apply)
particles of plastic resin
saw dust
talc
ash
iron oxide (rust)

Answer :A, E
You plug a power supply's connectors onto the system board You know you did it correctly because:
the two sets of black wires are facing the outside edge of the system board
the two sets of black wires are together in the middle
one set of black wires is outside, one is toward the inside
all are facing the power supply
it doesn't matter as long as they can be plugged in

Answer :B
An important first step in troubleshooting which component in a laser printer is causing a jam is to:
note where in the paper path the paper stops
check all voltages
look up error codes
turn the printer off, then on again
remove the jammed paper

Answer :A
Select the best choice for cleaning laser toner from clothing:
warm soapy water
alcohol
dry clean
clean cloth with cool water
pure dishwashing detergent

Answer :D
During the fusing process, toner is:
dry pressed into the paper
electrically bonded to the paper
melted into the paper
glued to the paper
high pressure sprayed onto the paper

Answer :C
On the PC side, the printer port is a:
25 pin female serial connector
15 pin female parallel connector
25 pin male serial connector
15 pin female serial connector
25 pin female parallel connector

Answer :E
ISA is a ___ bit technology.
8/16
16/32
4/8
12/24
32/64

Answer :A
A device which supports DMA is able to i/o with memory by and large bypassing the CPU. Bus mastering takes this a step further by allowing a bus-master device to take charge of the data bus and send data to other devices, including memory, and also allows two bus master devices to talk to each other without requiring the services of the CPU. Does ISA support bus mastering?
no
yes
yes, but only one device
yes, but only in a Pentium
yes, in a DX, but not an SX

Answer :B
EISA and MCA devices do not have jumper settings. How are they configured? Select all that apply.
CMOS setup
Windows setup
through DOS
dip switches
EISA configuration utility or IBM reference diskette (MCA)

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

You can have EISA and MCA devices in the same PC.
true
false

Answer :B
PCI devices do not have jumper settings or dip switches. How are they configured? Select all that apply.
CMOS setup
an installation utility from the manufacturer
through DOS
Windows setup
they are always self-configuring

Answer :A, B
You can place an ISA device in an EISA slot.
true
false

Answer :A
You can place an EISA device in an ISA slot.
true
false

Answer :B
You can only place an MCA device in an MCA slot.
true
false

Answer :A
Select each bus architecture that supports 32 bit data transfers.
ISA
EISA
MCA
PCI
PCMCIA

Answer :B, C & D
Select each bus architecture that supports bus mastering.
EISA
PCI
VLB
MCA
PCMCIA

Answer :A, B & D
A switching power supply steps down voltage by means of:
transformers
a network of resistor conduits
turning off and back on in rapid cycles
a network of capacitors
there is no such thing

Answer :C
Pick the correct choice for the 8088 CPU.
16 bit word size, 8 bit data path
8 bit word size, 8 bit data path
16 bit word size, 16 bit data path
4 bit word size, 8 bit data path
8 bit word size, 16 bit data path

Answer :A
Pick the correct choice for the 80386SX CPU.
16 bit word size, 16 bit data path
32 bit word size, 16 bit data path
8 bit word size, 32 bit data path
32 bit word size, 8 bit data path
32 bit word size, 32 bit data path

Answer :B
Pick the correct choice for the 80486DX CPU.
32 bit word size, 16 bit data path
64 bit word size, 32 bit data path
32 bit word size, 32 bit data path
32 bit word size, 16 bit data path
32 bit word size, 64 bit data path

Answer :C
What is the first CPU to include an internal math coprocessor?
386DX
486SX
486DX
Pentium
Pentium Pro

Answer :C