220-1201 Practice Exam 58 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A technician is configuring a new workstation for video editing. After installing a high-end GPU and additional RAM, the system powers on but the screen is blank. The motherboard has diagnostic LEDs; the VGA LED is lit. What is the most likely issue?

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

Accepted Answer

Loose GPU power cables. A lit VGA diagnostic LED indicates the motherboard is not detecting the GPU. This is common when the GPU is not fully seated in the PCIe slot or when additional power cables are not connected. The technician should reseat the GPU and ensure all power connectors are attached.

Answer

Incompatible RAM

Answer

Faulty CPU

Answer

Monitor set to wrong input

Question 2

A user reports that their external monitor connected via HDMI shows a blurry image and the text is hard to read. They have tried a different HDMI cable and the issue persists. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The display resolution is set below the monitor's native resolution.. When an external monitor displays a blurry image with hard-to-read text, the most likely cause is that the display resolution is set below the monitor's native resolution. Each LCD monitor has a fixed native resolution (e.g., 1920x1080), and running at any other resolution forces the monitor to scale the image, which introduces blurriness and loss of sharpness. Since the user already tried a different HDMI cable, the cable is not the issue, and a low refresh rate typically causes flickering or motion artifacts, not static blur.

Answer

The HDMI cable is defective.

Answer

The monitor's refresh rate is set too low.

Answer

The graphics driver is corrupted.

Question 3

During a BIOS update on a workstation, the power is interrupted, and now the system fails to POST. The motherboard has a backup BIOS chip. What is the most efficient way to recover the system?

Accepted Answer

Switch the motherboard's dual BIOS jumper to the backup position. Many motherboards have a dual BIOS feature where a backup chip stores a factory-default firmware. Switching to the backup BIOS restores functionality without needing external tools. This scenario tests knowledge of BIOS recovery mechanisms and the importance of redundant firmware.

Answer

Replace the motherboard

Answer

Use a USB flash drive with the correct BIOS file and press a recovery key combination

Answer

Remove the CMOS battery for 30 minutes

Question 4

A customer reports that their new laptop cannot connect to the company's Wi-Fi network, but other devices connect fine. You need to check if the laptop's wireless adapter is functioning properly and can see available networks. Which tool should you use?

Accepted Answer

Wi-Fi analyzer. A Wi-Fi analyzer (option C) is the correct tool because it can scan for available wireless networks, display their SSIDs, signal strengths, and channels, and verify whether the laptop's wireless adapter is detecting any networks at all. This directly addresses the need to check if the adapter is functioning and can see the company's Wi-Fi, isolating the issue to the laptop's wireless hardware or configuration rather than the network itself.

Answer

Cable tester

Answer

Loopback plug

Answer

Multimeter

Question 5

A technician is configuring a new printer on a network with the IP 172.16.0.50 and subnet mask 255.255.0.0. The router's LAN IP is 172.16.0.1. A workstation with IP 172.16.1.10 can ping the printer, but a workstation with IP 172.17.0.10 cannot. What is the most likely reason?

Accepted Answer

The workstation with IP 172.17.0.10 is on a different network and needs a router to reach the printer.. The workstation with IP 172.17.0.10 has a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0, so it considers its local network to be 172.17.0.0/16. The printer's IP 172.16.0.50 is on the 172.16.0.0/16 network. Since these are different classful networks (172.16.0.0 vs 172.17.0.0), the workstation will send traffic to its default gateway (the router) for delivery. If the router is not configured to route between these subnets, or if the workstation lacks a default gateway, the ping fails. Option B correctly identifies that the workstation is on a different network and requires a router to reach the printer.

Answer

The printer's subnet mask is wrong.

Answer

The printer has a duplicate IP address.

Answer

The default gateway on the printer is missing.

Question 6

A user reports that their laptop's keyboard types random characters when certain keys are pressed. The laptop has not been dropped or spilled on. What is the most likely hardware issue?

Accepted Answer

The keyboard has an internal short or faulty controller.. A keyboard with an internal short or faulty controller can cause erratic behavior like typing random characters when keys are pressed. This occurs because the short or controller failure disrupts the matrix scanning process, sending incorrect key codes to the system. Since the laptop was not dropped or spilled, physical damage like a loose ribbon cable is less likely, making an internal component failure the most probable hardware cause.

Answer

The keyboard driver is corrupted.

Answer

The keyboard ribbon cable is loose.

Answer

The operating system has a malware infection.

Question 7

A technician needs to install a CPU that supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a new motherboard. The motherboard manual lists support for only DDR5. Which of the following is the best course of action?

Accepted Answer

Install DDR5 RAM as the motherboard supports it. Memory controllers are integrated into the CPU, but the motherboard's memory slots and BIOS determine which type is supported. If the board only supports DDR5, using a CPU that supports both will still require DDR5 modules.

Answer

Install DDR4 RAM because the CPU supports it

Answer

Update the BIOS to enable DDR4 support

Answer

Use a different CPU that only supports DDR5

Question 8

A customer wants to connect two buildings that are 200 meters apart with a high-speed network link. Which cabling solution is most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Fiber optic cable. Fiber optic cable is the most appropriate solution for connecting two buildings 200 meters apart because it supports high-speed data transmission over long distances without signal degradation. Unlike copper cables, fiber is immune to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and can easily exceed the 100-meter distance limit of twisted-pair cabling, making it ideal for inter-building links.

Answer

Cat6a copper cable

Answer

Coaxial cable

Answer

Wireless bridge

Question 9

A graphic designer wants to connect three 4K monitors to a single workstation for a video editing suite. The workstation has a graphics card with one HDMI 2.0 port, one DisplayPort 1.4, and one DVI-D port. The monitors all support HDMI and DisplayPort. Which configuration will allow all three monitors to display at 4K resolution simultaneously?

Accepted Answer

Connect one monitor via HDMI, one via DisplayPort, and use a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter for the third. The graphics card has one HDMI 2.0 port and one DisplayPort 1.4 port. While the card has only one DisplayPort, it can support multiple displays through a DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST) hub. By using an MST hub, you can connect a monitor directly via DisplayPort and another via a DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, both using the single DisplayPort port. The HDMI port connects the third monitor. All connections support 4K at 60 Hz: HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 natively, and the DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter, if active and HDMI 2.0 compliant, preserves 4K resolution. The DVI-D port is single-link DVI and limited to 1920x1200, so it cannot drive a 4K monitor.

Answer

Connect one monitor via HDMI, one via DisplayPort, and one via DVI-D

Answer

Use a DisplayPort hub to connect all three monitors to the single DisplayPort

Answer

Replace the graphics card with one that has three DisplayPorts

Question 10

A customer reports that their desktop PC, which originally had 8 GB of RAM, is now very slow after they installed a second 8 GB stick. The system boots and shows 16 GB in the BIOS, but the OS only reports 8 GB usable. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard only supports up to 8 GB of RAM.. The most likely cause is that the motherboard has a 8 GB maximum memory limit, often due to chipset or BIOS limitations. Even if the BIOS detects 16 GB installed, the OS cannot address beyond the supported limit, resulting in only 8 GB usable. This is a common occurrence on older motherboards or those with a 32-bit UEFI.

Answer

The new RAM stick is faulty and needs to be replaced.

Answer

The RAM is not fully seated in the slot.

Answer

The new RAM stick is incompatible with the existing module, causing the system to run in single-channel mode and limiting usable memory.

Question 11

A customer reports that their new VoIP phone cannot register with the company's call server, but their computer on the same switch port works fine. The network uses VLANs for voice and data traffic. Which protocol must be configured on the switch port to separate the voice traffic from the data traffic?

Accepted Answer

802.1Q. 802.1Q is the IEEE standard for VLAN tagging, which allows a single switch port to carry traffic for multiple VLANs. In this scenario, the switch port must be configured as an 802.1Q trunk or use a voice VLAN feature that tags VoIP traffic with a specific VLAN ID, separating it from the untagged data traffic. This ensures the VoIP phone can communicate with the call server on its designated voice VLAN while the computer continues to work on the data VLAN.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Answer

ARP

Question 12

A technician is migrating a database from an on-premises server to a cloud platform. The database contains sensitive customer information. The company requires that data be encrypted both at rest and in transit. Which combination of technologies should the technician implement?

Accepted Answer

TLS for in transit and AES-256 for at rest. For data in transit, TLS/SSL encrypts communication between the application and the database. For data at rest, the cloud provider's encryption feature (e.g., AWS EBS encryption or Azure SQL TDE) encrypts the stored data. AES-256 is a common encryption standard for at-rest data, but it must be implemented by the provider's service.

Answer

SSL for at rest and IPsec for in transit

Answer

VPN for in transit and hashing for at rest

Answer

SSH tunneling for at rest and TLS for in transit

Question 13

A technician is troubleshooting a user's laptop that cannot obtain an IP address via DHCP. The laptop shows an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address of 169.254.x.x. Other devices on the same network obtain IPs correctly. Which protocol should the technician verify is functioning on the laptop?

Accepted Answer

DHCP. The laptop has an APIPA address (169.254.x.x), which is assigned when a DHCP client fails to receive a DHCPOFFER from any DHCP server. Since other devices on the same network obtain IPs correctly, the DHCP server and network infrastructure are functional, so the issue is isolated to the laptop's DHCP client service or its ability to send and receive DHCP messages (UDP ports 67/68). The technician must verify that the DHCP protocol is functioning correctly on the laptop, including checking that the DHCP client service is running and that no firewall is blocking DHCP traffic.

Answer

DNS

Answer

ARP

Answer

ICMP

Question 14

A user cannot connect to a remote server using RDP. The network team confirms that the firewall allows outbound traffic on all ports. Which port is typically used for RDP and should be verified on the server side?

Accepted Answer

Port 3389. RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) uses TCP port 3389 by default. Since the firewall allows outbound traffic on all ports, the issue is likely that the server-side firewall or the RDP service is not listening on port 3389, or the port is blocked inbound on the server's firewall. Verifying that port 3389 is open and the RDP service is running on the server is the correct next step.

Answer

Port 22

Answer

Port 23

Answer

Port 5900

Question 15

A technician is configuring a new file server and wants to ensure that when users type \fileserver in File Explorer, it resolves to the correct IP address. The network uses a Windows domain with Active Directory. Which network service should the technician configure to allow hostname resolution for this server?

Accepted Answer

DNS. DNS (Domain Name System) is the correct service because it resolves hostnames (like \fileserver) to IP addresses in a Windows domain environment. When a user types \fileserver in File Explorer, the client queries DNS to obtain the server's IP address, enabling SMB file sharing. Active Directory relies on DNS for service location and name resolution, making it the mandatory service for this task.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

WINS

Answer

NAT

Question 16

A technician is setting up a small network for a home office. The router's WAN port receives a public IP of 203.0.113.5 from the ISP. The technician configures the LAN with a private IP range. Which of the following is a valid private IP address for the technician to assign to a workstation?

Accepted Answer

192.168.1.10. (192.168.1.10) is correct because it falls within the private IPv4 address range defined by RFC 1918 for Class C networks (192.168.0.0/16). Private IP addresses are reserved for internal LAN use and are not routable on the public internet, making them appropriate for a workstation behind a router performing NAT.

Answer

172.32.1.10

Answer

203.0.113.10

Answer

169.254.1.10

Question 17

A user complains that they cannot access a website by its domain name, but they can access it by typing the IP address directly. The user's computer is configured to obtain DNS automatically. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The DNS server is not responding or is misconfigured.. The user can access the website by IP address but not by domain name, which indicates that DNS resolution is failing. Since the computer is configured to obtain DNS automatically, the most likely cause is that the DNS server assigned by DHCP is not responding or is misconfigured, preventing the translation of the domain name to an IP address.

Answer

The user's computer has a static IP address that conflicts with another device.

Answer

The user's browser cache is corrupted.

Answer

The website's IP address has changed.

Question 18

A customer reports that their new laptop can connect to websites using IP addresses but cannot resolve domain names like 'www.example.com'. Which networking tool should be used to verify the DNS server configuration on the laptop?

Accepted Answer

ipconfig /all. The ipconfig /all command displays the full TCP/IP configuration, including the DNS server addresses assigned to the laptop's network adapter. Since the user can reach websites by IP address but not by domain name, the issue is likely with DNS resolution; ipconfig /all allows verification of whether the DNS server is correctly configured or pointing to an unreachable server.

Answer

ping 8.8.8.8

Answer

nslookup www.example.com

Answer

tracert 8.8.8.8

Question 19

A customer reports that their Android phone's email app crashes whenever they try to open an attachment from a work email. The app worked fine last week. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The email app's cache or data is corrupted.. The most likely cause is that the email app's cache or data has become corrupted. This corruption can prevent the app from properly processing attachments, even though it worked previously. Clearing the app's cache or data typically resolves such crashes without affecting the email server or requiring an OS update.

Answer

The email server is blocking attachments.

Answer

The phone's operating system needs to be updated.

Answer

The attachment is too large for the phone to handle.

Question 20

A technician is setting up a mobile point-of-sale system for a small retail store. The tablet needs to be mounted on the counter and remain powered throughout the day. Which two accessories are essential for this deployment?

Accepted Answer

A stand and a charging dock.. A stand securely mounts the tablet on the counter at an ergonomic viewing angle, while a charging dock provides continuous power to keep the tablet operational throughout the day without battery depletion. These two accessories directly address the deployment requirements of fixed mounting and uninterrupted power for a stationary point-of-sale system.

Answer

A rugged case and a Bluetooth keyboard.

Answer

A screen protector and a stylus.

Answer

A portable battery pack and a car charger.