220-1201 Practice Test 46 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A customer wants to add a dedicated graphics card to their PC for gaming. The motherboard has one PCIe x16 slot, but it is currently occupied by a Wi-Fi card. The customer asks if they can use the PCIe x1 slot for the graphics card. What should the technician advise?

Accepted Answer

No, the graphics card requires a PCIe x16 slot. PCIe x1 slots are physically shorter and provide only one lane of bandwidth, which is insufficient for a modern graphics card's performance needs. A graphics card requires a PCIe x16 slot (electrically x8 or x16) for adequate data transfer. The Wi-Fi card can be moved to the x1 slot, but the graphics card must go in the x16 slot.

Answer

Yes, but the graphics card will run at reduced performance

Answer

Yes, but only if the motherboard supports SLI

Answer

No, because the Wi-Fi card must stay in the x16 slot

Question 2

A technician is building a PC for video editing and wants to install 32 GB of RAM using four 8 GB modules. The motherboard supports dual-channel memory. Which DIMM slot configuration should the technician use to achieve the best performance?

Accepted Answer

Install two modules in channel A and two in channel B. For dual-channel memory with four modules, the motherboard typically uses slots A1, A2, B1, and B2. To enable dual-channel, matching pairs must be in the same channel (e.g., A1 and A2 for channel A, B1 and B2 for channel B). Installing all four modules in the same channel would force single-channel operation, halving memory bandwidth.

Answer

Install all four modules in the same channel (e.g., A1, A2, A3, A4)

Answer

Install one module in each channel, leaving two slots empty

Answer

Install three modules in channel A and one in channel B

Question 3

A technician is replacing a failed motherboard in a desktop PC. The original motherboard had an LGA1151 socket. The replacement motherboard has an LGA1200 socket. The technician attempts to install the original CPU but finds it does not fit. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The CPU has a different number of pins. LGA sockets are keyed for specific generations of CPUs. LGA1151 is used for 6th/7th/8th/9th gen Intel, while LGA1200 is for 10th/11th gen. The physical pin count and keying are different, so a CPU designed for LGA1151 cannot be inserted into an LGA1200 socket. The chipset is irrelevant to physical fit, and the power connector is unrelated.

Answer

The CPU is incompatible with the new motherboard's chipset

Answer

The power supply connector is different

Answer

The CPU is an AMD processor

Question 4

A technician is troubleshooting a PC that randomly freezes during boot. The technician notices that the motherboard has a 24-pin ATX power connector and an 8-pin EPS12V connector. The power supply only has a 4+4 pin CPU power cable. What should the technician do?

Accepted Answer

Combine the two 4-pin halves to form an 8-pin connector and attach it. The 4+4 pin CPU power cable is designed to be used as an 8-pin EPS12V connector by combining the two halves. This is standard for modern power supplies. Using only a 4-pin connector may cause instability under load, but the 4+4 pin cable is fully compatible. The 24-pin main connector is separate and already connected.

Answer

Connect only the 4-pin portion of the cable to the 8-pin header

Answer

Use a 6-pin PCIe power cable in the 8-pin CPU header

Answer

Leave the 8-pin header unconnected and rely on the 24-pin connector

Question 5

A technician is tasked with connecting a legacy parallel port printer to a modern motherboard that lacks a parallel port header. The motherboard has an LPT header (25-pin) but it is not populated with a bracket. What is the best way to add a parallel port?

Accepted Answer

Purchase an LPT bracket that connects to the motherboard header. The LPT header on the motherboard provides the necessary signals for a parallel port. A bracket with a ribbon cable that connects to this header is the correct solution. A USB-to-parallel adapter would work but may have compatibility issues and is not the best use of the existing header. A PCIe parallel card is an alternative but unnecessary if the header is present.

Answer

Install a USB-to-parallel adapter

Answer

Use a PCIe parallel port expansion card

Answer

Solder wires directly to the motherboard's LPT header pins

Question 6

A user reports that their new SSD is not recognized by the system. The drive is properly connected and powered. Which UEFI setting should be checked to ensure the drive is detected?

Accepted Answer

Set SATA mode to AHCI or RAID as appropriate. The correct answer is to check the SATA configuration mode. If the SATA controller is set to RAID or AHCI when the drive requires the other, or if it's disabled, the drive may not be detected. This tests understanding of how UEFI/BIOS settings affect hardware enumeration.

Answer

Enable Secure Boot

Answer

Disable the TPM chip

Answer

Change boot order to list the SSD first

Question 7

After updating the firmware on a workstation, the system fails to boot and displays a 'Boot Device Not Found' error. The hard drive is detected in UEFI settings. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The boot mode changed from Legacy to UEFI (or vice versa). A firmware update can reset UEFI settings to defaults, including boot mode. If the drive was formatted for Legacy (CSM) but the system now defaults to UEFI, or vice versa, the bootloader won't be found. This tests understanding of boot mode compatibility.

Answer

The hard drive has failed due to the update

Answer

Secure Boot is blocking the bootloader

Answer

The CMOS battery needs replacement

Question 8

A technician is tasked with enabling hardware-level virtualization on a desktop to run a virtual machine. Which UEFI setting must be enabled?

Accepted Answer

Enable Intel VT-x or AMD-V. Intel VT-x or AMD-V is the hardware virtualization feature that must be enabled in the CPU configuration section of UEFI. Without it, virtual machines will run slowly or fail to start. This tests knowledge of common UEFI settings for virtualization.

Answer

Enable Secure Boot

Answer

Enable Execute Disable Bit (XD/NX)

Answer

Set SATA mode to AHCI

Question 9

During a routine hardware upgrade, a technician installs a new graphics card. The system powers on but no display appears. The old card works fine. What UEFI setting should be checked first?

Accepted Answer

Change the primary video adapter from onboard to PCIe. If the system has integrated graphics and a discrete card, the UEFI may default to the integrated output. Changing the primary video adapter to PCIe/ PEG forces the system to use the new card. This tests understanding of video initialization order in UEFI.

Answer

Disable Secure Boot

Answer

Enable CSM (Compatibility Support Module)

Answer

Update the UEFI firmware to the latest version

Question 10

A customer complains that their computer takes a very long time to boot and sometimes shows a 'CMOS Checksum Error' before starting. What is the most likely hardware issue?

Accepted Answer

The CMOS battery is depleted. A CMOS checksum error indicates that the BIOS/UEFI settings are not being retained, often due to a failing or dead CMOS battery. This causes time/date resets and boot delays as the firmware re-detects hardware. This tests knowledge of common CMOS-related symptoms.

Answer

The hard drive is failing

Answer

The RAM module is faulty

Answer

The UEFI firmware is corrupted

Question 11

A technician needs to boot a laptop from a USB drive to run a diagnostic tool. The USB is plugged in but the system skips it and boots from the internal SSD. Which UEFI setting is most likely preventing the USB boot?

Accepted Answer

Disable Secure Boot. If Secure Boot is enabled and the USB is not signed or UEFI-bootable, the system may ignore it. Alternatively, the boot order may not include USB. This tests understanding of boot security and order settings.

Answer

Enable Fast Boot

Answer

Set SATA mode to RAID

Answer

Disable the TPM

Question 12

After replacing a motherboard, a technician installs Windows but the system will not boot from the SSD. The drive is detected in UEFI. The technician recalls the previous motherboard used Legacy BIOS. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The UEFI is set to UEFI mode but the drive uses MBR. If the new motherboard defaults to UEFI mode but the SSD was formatted with an MBR partition table (for Legacy), the system cannot boot. Changing to Legacy/CSM mode or reinstalling with GPT is needed. This tests understanding of partition table and boot mode compatibility.

Answer

The SSD is not getting power

Answer

Secure Boot is blocking the Windows bootloader

Answer

The CMOS battery is dead

Question 13

A technician is configuring a new workstation for a secure environment. The policy requires that only signed operating systems can boot. Which UEFI feature should be enabled?

Accepted Answer

Enable Secure Boot. Secure Boot ensures that only software signed with trusted certificates can boot. This prevents unauthorized bootloaders and rootkits. This tests knowledge of UEFI security features.

Answer

Enable Legacy Boot (CSM)

Answer

Enable TPM

Answer

Set boot order to network first

Question 14

A technician is troubleshooting a server that randomly resets the time and date to 2000 after being powered off for a few hours. The system otherwise boots and runs normally. Which component is most likely failing?

Accepted Answer

The CMOS battery needs replacement. The CMOS battery maintains the real-time clock and UEFI settings when power is off. If it fails, the time resets and settings may be lost. This tests the ability to distinguish between battery failure and other hardware issues.

Answer

The power supply unit is failing

Answer

The motherboard clock crystal is defective

Answer

The UEFI firmware has a bug

Question 15

A technician upgrades a workstation from Windows 10 to Windows 11, but the installation fails with an error that the system does not support TPM 2.0. The CPU is compatible. What must the technician do in UEFI to resolve this?

Accepted Answer

Enable the TPM device in UEFI security settings. Windows 11 requires TPM 2.0, which may be disabled in UEFI by default. The technician must enable the TPM device in the security settings. This tests knowledge of TPM configuration and its role in system requirements.

Answer

Enable Secure Boot and set it to Windows UEFI mode

Answer

Disable CSM and set boot mode to UEFI only

Answer

Update the UEFI firmware to the latest version