220-1201 Practice Exam 55 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A user reports that the multifunction printer is producing copies with a faint vertical line running down the entire page. The line appears in the same position on every copy, but printed documents from a PC do not have the line. What is the most likely cause?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

The scanner glass or scanning strip has a scratch or debris.. This question differentiates between scanner and printer issues. Since the line appears only on copies (scan then print) and not on PC prints, the problem is in the scanner assembly. A dirty or scratched scanner glass or a stuck debris on the scanning element causes consistent vertical lines.

Answer

The toner cartridge is defective and needs replacement.

Answer

The printer's fuser unit is damaged.

Answer

The network cable is faulty.

Question 2

A technician is troubleshooting a laptop that powers on but displays a black screen with no boot activity. The technician hears the fan spinning and sees the power LED is on. Which of the following steps should the technician perform next to isolate the issue?

Accepted Answer

Connect an external monitor. A black screen with power but no boot suggests a hardware issue, often with the display or memory. Connecting an external monitor can quickly determine if the problem is with the laptop's LCD panel or the video output. If the external monitor works, the internal display or its cable is likely faulty.

Answer

Reseat the RAM modules

Answer

Replace the LCD panel

Answer

Reinstall the operating system

Question 3

A technician is troubleshooting a VM that frequently crashes with a 'blue screen' error. The host is a Type 1 hypervisor running on server-grade hardware with ECC RAM. The VM was created from a template and has been stable for months. Recently, the technician added a second virtual CPU to the VM. What is the most likely cause of the crashes?

Accepted Answer

The guest OS does not support symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) properly. Adding a second virtual CPU can expose timing and synchronization issues in the guest OS, especially if the application or OS is not optimized for multi-core. This is a known cause of instability in virtualized environments.

Answer

The host's ECC RAM has detected a memory error

Answer

The VM's virtual disk is fragmented

Answer

The hypervisor's CPU scheduler is overloaded

Question 4

A customer brings in an iPhone that is running iOS 15 and complains that a newly released app crashes immediately upon launch. The app requires iOS 16 or later. What is the best solution?

Accepted Answer

Update the iPhone to iOS 16 or later.. The app crashes because it requires iOS 16 APIs and frameworks that are not present in iOS 15. Updating the iPhone to iOS 16 or later provides the necessary runtime environment, resolving the compatibility issue at the system level.

Answer

Reinstall the app from the App Store.

Answer

Restart the iPhone to clear temporary files.

Answer

Download an older version of the app from a third-party site.

Question 5

A small business owner wants to set up a guest Wi-Fi network that is isolated from the main corporate network to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. The wireless router supports multiple SSIDs. Which configuration should be applied to achieve this isolation?

Accepted Answer

Assign the guest SSID to a different VLAN. Assigning the guest SSID to a different VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) creates a logical separation between the guest traffic and the corporate network. VLANs operate at Layer 2, and by placing the guest SSID on a separate VLAN, the router can apply inter-VLAN ACLs or disable routing between VLANs entirely, ensuring that guest devices cannot access corporate resources. This is the standard method for network isolation in multi-SSID environments.

Answer

Use a different SSID name for guests

Answer

Enable WPA2 encryption on the guest network

Answer

Disable DHCP on the guest SSID

Question 6

A client wants to install a new power supply in a custom PC that uses a mini-ITX motherboard inside a compact case. The current PSU is a standard ATX unit, but the client wants to reduce clutter and improve airflow. Which form factor should you recommend?

Accepted Answer

SFX. SFX (Small Form Factor) power supplies are designed for compact cases and mini-ITX builds, offering smaller dimensions while still providing adequate wattage. ATX PSUs are too large for many small cases. TFX is for slim cases, and EPS is for servers.

Answer

ATX (standard)

Answer

TFX

Answer

EPS

Question 7

A user reports that their smartphone's wireless charging pad stops charging after a few minutes, and the phone gets very hot. The phone supports Qi wireless charging. The technician tests the pad with another phone and it works fine. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The phone case contains metal or magnetic components that interfere with charging.. Since the charging pad works with another phone, the issue is with the user's phone. A thick case, especially one with metal or magnetic components, can interfere with wireless charging and cause overheating. The correct answer is a case with metal or magnetic parts.

Answer

The phone's battery management system is faulty.

Answer

The phone's wireless charging coil is misaligned with the pad.

Answer

The wireless charging pad is not Qi-certified.

Question 8

A customer is moving into a new apartment building that has a fiber optic terminal in the basement. They want the fastest possible internet. What equipment will the technician need to install inside the apartment to complete the connection?

Accepted Answer

An Optical Network Terminal (ONT). Fiber optic internet requires an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) to convert the optical signal from the fiber line into electrical signals that standard Ethernet equipment can use. The ONT is typically installed inside the customer's premises and connects to the fiber terminal in the basement via a fiber patch cable, providing the fastest possible internet speeds.

Answer

A cable modem

Answer

A DSL modem

Answer

A satellite modem

Question 9

A technician is building a high-performance workstation for video editing. The user needs fast read/write speeds for large 4K video files and wants the OS and applications on the same drive. The motherboard has one M.2 slot (PCIe 4.0 x4) and four SATA III ports. Which storage configuration should the technician recommend?

Accepted Answer

Install one M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD for both OS and video files.. This question tests understanding of NVMe versus SATA performance. For video editing, extremely fast sequential read/write speeds are critical. An M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 drive offers speeds up to 7,000 MB/s, far exceeding SATA SSDs (about 550 MB/s). The correct answer is to use the M.2 slot for a single fast drive.

Answer

Install one SATA III SSD for the OS and one SATA III HDD for video files.

Answer

Install two SATA III SSDs in a RAID 0 array for the OS and video files.

Answer

Install one M.2 SATA SSD for the OS and one SATA III HDD for video files.

Question 10

A user wants to connect their laptop to a 4K TV for a movie marathon. They have a USB-C port on the laptop but the TV only has HDMI. Which accessory is required?

Accepted Answer

A USB-C to HDMI adapter.. USB-C supports DisplayPort Alternate Mode, which allows video signals to be transmitted over the USB-C connector. A USB-C to HDMI adapter converts the DisplayPort signal from the laptop into an HDMI signal compatible with the TV, enabling 4K video output. This is the standard solution for connecting a USB-C laptop to an HDMI-only display.

Answer

A USB-C to DisplayPort adapter.

Answer

A USB-C to VGA adapter.

Answer

A USB-C to Ethernet adapter.

Question 11

A customer reports that their laptop connects to the office Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet. Other devices on the same network work fine. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The laptop's default gateway address is incorrect. The laptop can connect to the Wi-Fi network but cannot access the internet, while other devices work fine. This points to a client-side configuration issue. The default gateway is the router that forwards traffic from the local subnet to external networks; if the laptop's default gateway address is incorrect, its packets cannot leave the local subnet, breaking internet access while local connectivity remains.

Answer

The laptop's DNS server address is set to a public DNS like 8.8.8.8

Answer

The laptop's IP address is set to a static address in the same subnet as the router

Answer

The office Wi-Fi network is using a different SSID than expected

Question 12

A user reports that their iPad's Safari browser crashes immediately upon opening, but other apps work fine. They have already restarted the device. What should the technician do next?

Accepted Answer

Clear Safari's history and website data in Settings.. Clearing Safari's history and website data removes corrupted cached files, cookies, or local storage data that can cause the browser to crash on launch. Since other apps work fine, the issue is isolated to Safari's stored data, not the entire system. This is the recommended first troubleshooting step for a single-app crash after a restart.

Answer

Perform a factory reset on the iPad.

Answer

Update iOS to the latest version.

Answer

Disable all Safari extensions.

Question 13

A company deploys several tablets for field technicians that need to connect to a private LTE network via a SIM card. One tablet connects to the network but has very slow data speeds. Other tablets in the same area work fine. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The tablet is using the wrong APN configuration.. The most likely cause is an incorrect APN configuration. The APN (Access Point Name) defines the gateway between the LTE network and the internet, including required authentication and IP settings. If the APN is wrong, the tablet may still attach to the LTE network but will experience severely degraded data throughput because the packet data protocol (PDP) context cannot establish a proper data session.

Answer

The tablet's Wi-Fi is interfering with the LTE signal.

Answer

The tablet's SIM card is not fully inserted.

Answer

The tablet's battery saver mode is enabled.

Question 14

A customer reports that their wireless printer stops responding when the microwave is in use. The printer is connected via Wi-Fi to a dual-band router. Which troubleshooting step should the technician take first to resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Connect the printer to the 5 GHz network. The microwave oven operates in the 2.4 GHz ISM band, generating broadband interference that disrupts Wi-Fi communication on that frequency. Connecting the printer to the 5 GHz network avoids this interference entirely because the 5 GHz band is not affected by microwave emissions, providing a clean channel for the printer.

Answer

Replace the printer with a wired model

Answer

Change the router’s 2.4 GHz channel

Answer

Update the printer firmware

Question 15

A technician is setting up a new Android tablet for a warehouse worker who uses a barcode scanner app that requires constant Wi-Fi. The warehouse has multiple access points with the same SSID. The tablet frequently disconnects and reconnects as the worker moves around. What should the technician configure to improve connectivity?

Accepted Answer

Enable the 'Wi-Fi roaming' or 'aggressive handover' setting in the tablet's advanced Wi-Fi options.. Enabling 'Wi-Fi roaming' or 'aggressive handover' configures the tablet to actively scan for stronger access points and initiate a faster re-association when signal strength degrades. This setting reduces the disconnection/reconnection cycles common in multi-AP environments with the same SSID by triggering a proactive handoff before the current link is lost.

Answer

Set the tablet to use a static IP address.

Answer

Disable the tablet's Bluetooth radio.

Answer

Configure the tablet to prefer the 2.4 GHz band over 5 GHz.

Question 16

A technician is upgrading a workstation from DDR3 to DDR4 memory. The motherboard currently has two DDR3 DIMM slots occupied. What must the technician verify before installing the new memory?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard has DDR4 DIMM slots. DDR3 and DDR4 have different notch positions and voltage requirements, so they are not interchangeable. The motherboard must physically support DDR4, which means it must have DDR4 DIMM slots. The CPU socket type and chipset are secondary; the key factor is the motherboard's memory generation support.

Answer

The CPU supports DDR4 memory

Answer

The power supply has a 4-pin connector for memory

Answer

The chipset supports dual-channel configuration

Question 17

A user reports that their cloud-based file synchronization service stopped updating files after a recent OS update. The technician verifies the service is running and the internet connection is active. What should the technician check next?

Accepted Answer

Check the sync client's authentication status. Cloud file sync issues often stem from authentication problems, such as expired credentials or session tokens. Since the service is running and connectivity is fine, the most likely cause is that the user's login token expired and needs re-authentication. Checking the sync logs would reveal the authentication failure.

Answer

Reinstall the sync client application

Answer

Disable the firewall temporarily

Answer

Increase the storage quota on the cloud account

Question 18

During a security audit, a technician discovers that an internal web server is responding on port 8080 instead of the standard HTTP port. What is the most likely reason for this configuration?

Accepted Answer

The server is configured as a web proxy or alternate HTTP server.. Port 8080 is commonly used as an alternate HTTP port, often for web proxy servers or secondary HTTP servers. This allows administrators to run a separate HTTP service without conflicting with the standard port 80, which is frequently used for caching proxies or development environments.

Answer

The server is running HTTPS on a non-standard port.

Answer

The server is running an FTP service.

Answer

The server is using a custom application protocol.

Question 19

A user complains that their laptop's touchpad cursor jumps erratically while typing. They have cleaned the touchpad surface, but the issue persists. Which configuration change should you try first?

Accepted Answer

Enable the 'Ignore accidental touches' or 'PalmCheck' feature in the touchpad settings.. Erratic cursor movement while typing is a classic sign of palm rejection not working correctly. The most common fix is to enable the 'disable touchpad while typing' feature in the touchpad settings. This prevents accidental input from the user's palms during typing.

Answer

Increase the touchpad sensitivity in the operating system settings.

Answer

Update the touchpad driver from the manufacturer's website.

Answer

Disable the touchpad entirely and use an external mouse.

Question 20

A user reports that their laptop can see several neighboring Wi-Fi networks but cannot see their own office's SSID, which is a 5 GHz-only network. Other users in the same office can connect without issue. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The laptop only supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi.. The user's laptop can see neighboring 2.4 GHz networks but not the office's 5 GHz-only SSID, while other users connect fine. This indicates the laptop's wireless adapter lacks 5 GHz support, making option C correct because 5 GHz-only networks are invisible to 2.4 GHz-only adapters.

Answer

The router's SSID broadcast is disabled.

Answer

The laptop's wireless adapter is set to airplane mode.

Answer

The office router is using WPA3 encryption.