Practice questions · IT & Cloud
CompTIA A+ (220-1201 & 220-1202): Practice Questions
Original, syllabus-based practice questions for CompTIA A+, spanning Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202). Each answer is explained, including why the other options are wrong. Filter by domain or difficulty. These are original concept checks to test understanding - not questions taken from any live exam.
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A user wants to connect a wireless keyboard directly to a tablet without any USB receiver. Which technology is designed for this kind of short-range pairing?
Correct answer: C. Bluetooth is the short-range wireless standard for pairing peripherals such as keyboards and headsets. NFC works only at tap distance and is used for payments or to initiate a pairing, not to carry ongoing input; cellular data is wide-area internet connectivity; GPS is a positioning receiver, not a connection to accessories. -
A laptop screen shows the desktop only very faintly, and the image becomes visible when a flashlight is shone on it. Which component has most likely failed?
Correct answer: A. A faint image that appears under direct light means the panel is still drawing the picture but nothing is illuminating it, which points to the backlight or the circuitry feeding it. A failed digitizer would break touch input while the image stayed bright; the Wi-Fi antenna affects wireless signal only; a failed CPU would stop the system from producing a desktop at all. -
Which smartphone setting turns off all wireless radios - cellular, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth - with a single switch?
Correct answer: B. Airplane mode is the master switch that disables every radio at once, which is why it is required on flights. Do Not Disturb only silences notifications while radios stay active; battery saver throttles performance and background activity but leaves radios on; a personal hotspot does the opposite by sharing the phone's connection with other devices. -
A smartphone runs warm and loses battery charge quickly even when the user is not touching it. Which cause should a technician investigate first?
Correct answer: D. Heat plus rapid idle drain is the classic signature of an app keeping the CPU or radios busy in the background, so checking battery-usage statistics per app is the right first move. A failing SIM causes signal or registration problems, not heat; screen resolution barely matters while the display is off; roaming affects billing and signal behaviour, not idle power draw. -
Which port does HTTPS traffic use by default?
Correct answer: B. HTTPS is web traffic protected by TLS and uses port 443 by default. Port 80 carries plain, unencrypted HTTP; port 25 is SMTP for transferring email between servers; port 53 is DNS for name resolution. Port-to-service matching like this is quick, reliable marks on Core 1. -
Which service automatically assigns an IP address, subnet mask and other settings to a device joining a network?
Correct answer: A. DHCP leases IP configuration - address, mask, gateway and DNS servers - to clients automatically when they join. DNS resolves names to addresses but assigns nothing; SNMP is used to monitor and manage network devices; FTP transfers files and has nothing to do with addressing. -
A file transfer must guarantee that every packet arrives, with acknowledgements and retransmission of anything lost. Which transport protocol provides this?
Correct answer: C. TCP is connection-oriented: it acknowledges received segments and retransmits losses, which is exactly what reliable file transfer needs. UDP is connectionless best-effort delivery with no acknowledgements; ICMP carries diagnostic messages such as ping, not application data; IP is the addressing layer underneath, which offers no delivery guarantees itself. -
What does NAT primarily do on a small-office router?
Correct answer: D. Network Address Translation rewrites the private internal addresses of outgoing traffic to the router's public address, letting many devices share one internet-facing IP. Encryption is the job of VPNs or TLS, not NAT; blocking malicious sites is content filtering or firewalling; hostname assignment is handled through DNS and DHCP options. -
Users at the far end of an office report very slow Wi-Fi, while users near the router are fine. Which action most directly fixes the problem?
Correct answer: B. Distance-dependent slowness is a radio coverage problem, and the direct fix is extending coverage with an additional access point (or repositioning the existing one). DNS settings affect name lookups everywhere, not signal strength in one corner; DHCP lease time controls how long addresses are held, not throughput; disabling the guest network does not extend radio reach. -
What does an SSID identify?
Correct answer: A. The SSID is the name an access point broadcasts so clients can find and join the wireless network. A device's hardware address is its MAC address; an IP address range is defined by a subnet, not an SSID; a DNS zone is a portion of the name system managed on DNS servers. -
Which component converts wall outlet AC power into the regulated DC voltages used by everything inside a desktop PC?
Correct answer: D. The PSU takes AC from the outlet and produces the regulated DC rails that feed the motherboard, drives and cards. The GPU renders graphics and is itself a consumer of that power; the chipset routes communication between components; the CMOS battery only preserves firmware settings and the clock while the machine is unplugged. -
A technician is upgrading the memory in a laptop. Which module form factor should they purchase?
Correct answer: C. Laptops use SODIMMs, the small-outline form factor designed for portable devices. Full-size DIMMs are physically too large and fit desktops; registered ECC modules are for servers and would neither fit nor be supported; SIMM is an obsolete form factor from much older systems. -
Which storage option offers the fastest data transfer in a modern laptop?
Correct answer: B. NVMe drives communicate over PCIe lanes, bypassing the SATA interface entirely, which makes them the fastest common option. A SATA SSD is fast but capped by the SATA interface; a mechanical hard drive is the slowest internal choice; USB 2.0 is an old external interface far slower than any internal option here. -
Which RAID level mirrors data across two drives so that either drive can fail without data loss?
Correct answer: A. RAID 1 writes identical copies to both drives, so one can fail and the data survives. RAID 0 stripes for speed and loses everything if either drive dies; RAID 5 also survives one failure but works by striping with parity across three or more drives, not mirroring two; JBOD simply concatenates disks with no redundancy at all. -
A desktop powers on and the fans spin, but the screen stays blank and the machine emits a repeating pattern of beeps. What do the beeps most likely indicate?
Correct answer: C. Beep patterns at power-on are POST codes: the firmware has detected a hardware problem, commonly memory or graphics, before the operating system ever loads. OS corruption produces on-screen errors later in boot, after POST passes; a loose monitor cable gives a blank screen but no beeps; a full hard drive does not prevent display output or trigger beep codes. -
Which connector is used for wired Ethernet on desktops and laptops?
Correct answer: D. RJ45 is the 8-pin connector on Ethernet cables and network ports. RJ11 is the smaller telephone and DSL connector with fewer pins; F-type coaxial connectors carry cable TV and cable-modem signals; USB-A connects peripherals and would only carry Ethernet through a separate adapter. -
Which cloud service model provides virtual machines, storage and networks that the customer configures and manages themselves?
Correct answer: A. Infrastructure as a Service rents out raw building blocks - virtual machines, storage, networking - and leaves their configuration to the customer. SaaS delivers a finished application with nothing to build; PaaS provides a managed platform where you only deploy code; a community cloud is a deployment model describing who shares the infrastructure, not a service model. -
What is a hypervisor?
Correct answer: B. A hypervisor is the software layer that creates virtual machines and shares the physical hardware between them. It is not a backup tool, which copies data for recovery; not a firewall, which filters traffic; and not a remote-desktop client, which merely displays another machine's session rather than running machines itself. -
A company keeps sensitive workloads in its own private data centre but shifts overflow demand to a public provider at peak times. Which cloud deployment model is this?
Correct answer: D. Combining a private environment with public-cloud capacity, and moving work between them, is the definition of a hybrid deployment. A purely public or purely private model uses only one side of that combination, and a community cloud is infrastructure shared by organisations with common requirements, which is not what is described. -
According to the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology, what is the first step when a user reports a fault?
Correct answer: C. The methodology starts with identifying the problem: questioning the user, gathering symptoms and asking what changed. Establishing a theory is deliberately the second step, only after the facts are collected; implementing a solution before diagnosis risks fixing the wrong thing; documentation is the final step, once the outcome is verified. -
A technician has established a theory of probable cause for a fault. Under the CompTIA methodology, what comes next?
Correct answer: B. After forming a theory, the methodology says to test it and confirm the actual cause before acting. Documenting comes last, after verification; replacing the component skips straight to a fix that may be wrong and wastes parts; escalation only happens if testing disproves the theory and the technician cannot form a new one. -
A PC reboots at random moments, and opening the case reveals heavy dust buildup over the fans and heatsink. What should the technician suspect first?
Correct answer: A. Dust that blocks fans and heatsinks traps heat, and thermal protection then shuts the system down or reboots it, so overheating is the natural first suspect given the visible evidence. A failing network card would break connectivity rather than restart the machine, and an outdated browser or weak wireless signal cannot cause spontaneous reboots. -
A workstation can reach every device on its own subnet but cannot reach anything on the internet. Which network setting is the most likely culprit?
Correct answer: D. The default gateway is the router address used to leave the local subnet, so working local traffic combined with no external access points straight at a wrong or missing gateway. A disabled switch port or duplicate MAC would disrupt local communication too; a DNS problem would break name lookups but is not what a 'full cache' does, and connections by IP address would still work. -
Which command-line tool checks whether a remote host is reachable across the network?
Correct answer: B. ping sends echo requests to a target and reports whether replies come back, making it the standard first test of reachability. Disk Management handles partitions and volumes; Device Manager manages hardware and drivers; chkdsk examines a local disk for file-system errors - none of those three touches the network at all. -
A laser printer produces pages with vertical white streaks where nothing is printed. Which component should the technician check first?
Correct answer: C. White streaks mean toner is not reaching parts of the page, and the usual cause is a cartridge that is low, clogged or unevenly distributed, so it is checked first. The Wi-Fi module affects whether jobs arrive, not how they look; the duplexer only flips pages for two-sided printing; the output tray simply collects finished pages and cannot alter print quality. -
Which Windows tool shows live CPU, memory and process usage, and lets a technician end an unresponsive task?
Correct answer: A. Task Manager displays real-time processes and resource usage and can end tasks, making it the first stop for a frozen application. Disk Management works on partitions and volumes, not processes; Registry Editor edits configuration data and is risky for routine work; Credential Manager stores saved usernames and passwords. -
A technician needs to create and format a new partition on a second internal drive in Windows. Which built-in tool is designed for this?
Correct answer: B. Disk Management is the Windows tool for initialising disks and creating, formatting, shrinking or extending partitions. Device Manager handles drivers and hardware devices but not volumes; Task Scheduler automates running programs at set times; Event Viewer only records logs of what has already happened on the system. -
Which file system is the standard for internal Windows system drives, with support for permissions and encryption?
Correct answer: D. NTFS is the default Windows file system and supports access permissions, encryption, journaling and large volumes. FAT32 is a legacy format without permissions and with a small maximum file size; exFAT is designed for flash drives and cross-platform interchange rather than system drives; XFS is a Linux file system that Windows does not use. -
Where should a technician look in Windows to review a record of recent application crashes and system errors?
Correct answer: A. Event Viewer stores the application and system logs where crashes, warnings and errors are recorded with timestamps, which is exactly what post-incident review needs. File Explorer browses files rather than logs; Personalization settings only change appearance; Task Manager's Startup tab lists boot-time programs but keeps no error history. -
A Windows PC boots to a black screen after a graphics driver update. Which startup option loads Windows with minimal drivers so the technician can roll the driver back?
Correct answer: C. Safe Mode starts Windows with a minimal set of generic drivers, bypassing the faulty graphics driver so it can be rolled back or removed. BitLocker recovery only unlocks an encrypted drive with a recovery key; fast startup and hibernation are power-management features that resume a saved state and would reload the same broken driver. -
Which built-in macOS feature provides automatic full-system backups to an external drive?
Correct answer: B. Time Machine performs automatic, versioned backups of the whole system to an external or network drive and restores files from any point kept. Mission Control manages windows and desktops; Spotlight is the system-wide search feature; Keychain stores passwords and certificates - none of the three creates backups. -
Malware that encrypts a victim's files and demands payment to restore access is called:
Correct answer: D. Ransomware's defining behaviour is encrypting data and demanding payment for the key. Spyware secretly collects information about the user; a rootkit hides deep in the system to conceal an attacker's presence; a keylogger records keystrokes to steal credentials - none of them locks files behind a ransom demand. -
An email that appears to come from a bank asks users to click a link and confirm their password. What type of attack is this?
Correct answer: C. A fraudulent message impersonating a trusted sender to harvest credentials is phishing. A brute-force attack guesses passwords by trying combinations rather than asking for them; shoulder surfing is physically watching someone type; an evil twin is a rogue wireless access point that mimics a legitimate network, not an email lure. -
In the accepted malware-removal sequence, what should a technician do immediately after identifying malware symptoms on a PC?
Correct answer: A. Once malware is identified, the system is quarantined - disconnected from the network - so the infection cannot spread while it is dealt with. Reinstalling the OS is a last resort, not an automatic next step; educating the user is deliberately the final step of the sequence; System Restore is re-enabled near the end, after remediation, having been disabled during cleanup. -
Which Windows feature prompts for confirmation before a program is allowed to make system-level changes?
Correct answer: B. UAC interrupts with an elevation prompt whenever software attempts changes that affect the whole system, enforcing least privilege for everyday accounts. Windows Hello handles biometric and PIN sign-in; Storage Sense automatically frees disk space; Night Light merely shifts screen colours in the evening - none of them gates administrative actions. -
Which wireless security protocol is the strongest choice when configuring a modern home router?
Correct answer: C. WPA3 is the current Wi-Fi security standard, with stronger encryption and protection against password-guessing than its predecessors. WEP is thoroughly broken and trivial to crack; the original WPA relies on outdated TKIP encryption; an open network sends traffic unencrypted, and MAC filtering is easily bypassed by spoofing an allowed address. -
What is the main security benefit of enabling multifactor authentication (MFA)?
Correct answer: A. MFA requires a second, different factor - something you have or are - so an attacker holding only the password still cannot get in. It does not eliminate passwords, which usually remain one of the factors; disk encryption is a separate control such as BitLocker; and filtering phishing emails is done by mail security, not by the login process. -
A Windows application crashes every time it is opened, even after the PC is rebooted. Other programs work normally. What is the most proportionate first repair step?
Correct answer: D. A fault confined to one application calls for an application-scoped fix first: run its repair option or reinstall it. Reinstalling the whole operating system is a last resort far out of proportion to the symptom; memory failures would cause crashes across many programs, not just one; the firewall governs network traffic and does not stop a program launching. -
A PC has become sluggish and shows constant pop-up advertisements, even when no browser window is open. What is the most likely cause?
Correct answer: B. Pop-ups appearing outside the browser plus general slowness are classic signs of adware or a potentially unwanted program, which routes the technician into the malware-removal sequence. A failing CMOS battery causes clock and firmware-setting resets; display drivers do not generate advertisements and do not 'expire'; desktop clutter has no meaningful effect like this. -
A desktop shows the message 'Operating system not found' when powered on. What should the technician check first?
Correct answer: C. This message means the firmware could not find a bootable drive, so the first checks are whether the drive appears in the firmware at all and whether the boot order points to it (or to a leftover USB stick). Graphics drivers load long after boot succeeds, and printer or wallpaper settings live inside the operating system that has not even started. -
A smartphone app keeps freezing after a recent update. What is the simplest first step to try?
Correct answer: A. Force-stopping the app and clearing its cached data is quick, reversible and often resolves post-update misbehaviour, so it comes first. A factory reset erases the whole device and is wildly out of proportion at this stage; the battery has nothing to do with one app freezing; replacing the operating system is drastic, often unsupported, and unnecessary. -
Before replacing RAM inside a desktop, which precaution best protects the components from electrostatic discharge (ESD)?
Correct answer: D. A grounded anti-static wrist strap keeps the technician and the equipment at the same electrical potential, so no damaging static discharge can jump to the components. Carpet generates static and makes things worse; the machine should be powered off and unplugged before opening, not left on; rubber gloves insulate but do nothing to drain the charge a body carries. -
During a repair, a technician discovers material on a customer's PC that appears to be illegal. What should the technician do first?
Correct answer: B. Correct procedure is to stop, report through the defined channel (supervisor or designated contact) and preserve the evidence with a documented chain of custody. Deleting it destroys evidence and may itself be unlawful; confronting the customer compromises any investigation; copying it to a personal drive breaks the chain of custody and creates serious legal exposure. -
What does an acceptable use policy (AUP) define?
Correct answer: C. An AUP sets the rules of behaviour for company IT: what employees are allowed and forbidden to do with systems, networks and data. Backup retention belongs in a backup or data-retention policy; cable wiring standards are technical specifications, not usage policy; warranty terms are set by vendors in their own agreements. -
Why does change management require a documented rollback plan before a change is approved?
Correct answer: D. A rollback plan is the pre-agreed path back to a known-good state, so a failed change becomes a short outage instead of a crisis. It does not exist to speed up meetings; testing is still required before and after the change; and it complements backups rather than replacing them - the rollback may in fact depend on those backups.
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