220-1202 Practice Test 42 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting an Android device that cannot receive SMS messages, though data and calls work fine. The user recently installed a messaging app from an unknown source. Which mobile OS feature should be checked first?

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

Accepted Answer

Check the 'Default SMS app' setting in Apps & Notifications. The core issue is that SMS messages are not being received, while data and calls work fine. On Android, SMS routing is handled by a designated 'Default SMS app.' If a third-party messaging app from an unknown source was recently installed, it may have claimed this role, but misconfigured or lacks the necessary permissions (e.g., SMS permissions) to properly receive messages. Checking the 'Default SMS app' setting under Apps & Notifications is the first logical step to ensure the correct app is assigned to handle SMS, as Android will only deliver incoming SMS to the designated default app.

Answer

Verify that the device is not in Airplane Mode

Answer

Clear the cache of the Phone app

Answer

Disable Google Play Protect

Question 2

A technician is configuring an Android phone for a user who frequently travels internationally. The user wants to ensure that data roaming is disabled to avoid high charges, but still wants to receive calls and texts while abroad. Which setting should the technician configure?

Accepted Answer

Turn off Data Roaming in the mobile network settings.. Disabling Data Roaming in the mobile network settings prevents the device from using cellular data on foreign networks, which avoids expensive roaming charges, while still allowing voice calls and SMS (which use the cellular voice and signaling channels, not the data channel). This setting is specific to roaming scenarios and does not affect the phone's ability to connect to a visited network for non-data services.

Answer

Enable Airplane Mode and turn on Wi-Fi.

Answer

Disable Mobile Data entirely.

Answer

Set the network mode to 2G only.

Question 3

A technician is troubleshooting an Android device that cannot receive SMS messages, though data and calls work fine. The user recently installed a messaging app from an unknown source. Which mobile OS feature should be checked first?

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

Accepted Answer

The phone has a randomized MAC address enabled; disable it for the network.. A MAC address of '02:00:00:00:00:00' is not a normal hardware MAC; it is a placeholder/zeroed address often seen when MAC randomization is enabled or when the device is masking its real MAC. Android uses MAC randomization by default for privacy, and some networks that filter or authenticate by MAC address will reject the device. Disabling randomized MAC for that specific network lets the phone use its permanent hardware MAC, which typically resolves the connection issue.

Answer

The phone is using a static IP configuration; change it to DHCP.

Answer

The Wi-Fi hardware is faulty; the phone needs repair.

Answer

The phone is in Airplane Mode; turn it off.

Question 4

A user reports that their Android phone is running slowly and the battery drains quickly. They have many apps installed. Which built-in Android feature should you use to identify and stop a misbehaving app that is consuming excessive CPU and battery resources?

Accepted Answer

Check the Battery Usage menu in Settings to see which app is using the most power.. The Battery Usage menu in Android Settings (Settings > Battery > Battery Usage) provides a breakdown of power consumption by app and system component, letting you identify an app that is draining the battery or consuming excessive resources. From this screen you can select the offending app and force stop it, or open its App Info page to clear its cache or uninstall it. This is the correct built-in, non-destructive way to diagnose and stop a resource-hungry app without third-party tools or a factory reset.

Answer

Use a third-party Task Killer app to automatically close background processes.

Answer

Perform a factory reset from the Recovery Mode menu.

Answer

Enable Developer Options and increase the background process limit.

Question 5

A user reports that their Android phone's screen is flickering and the touch response is erratic after they dropped it. They have already tried a reboot. Which built-in diagnostic tool should you use to test the touchscreen and display functionality without any third-party apps?

Accepted Answer

Boot the device into Safe Mode to see if the issue persists.. Safe Mode is the built-in Android diagnostic that boots the device with all third-party apps disabled. If the flickering and erratic touch persist in Safe Mode, the cause is hardware (consistent with the drop); if the symptoms disappear, a third-party app is the culprit. It requires no third-party tools and works on any Android device. Manufacturer-specific dialer codes such as Samsung's *#0*# do provide hardware test menus, but they are not universal and do not exist on many Android phones, so they cannot be the general answer for an unspecified Android device.

Answer

Open the phone dialer and enter the hardware test code (e.g., *#0*#).

Answer

Enable 'Show taps' in Developer Options.

Answer

Perform a factory reset from Recovery Mode.

Question 6

A technician is investigating a computer that has been sending spam emails from the user's account without their knowledge. The user has not installed any new software recently. The technician finds a process running that matches a known botnet client. Which two steps should the technician take first to mitigate the threat?

Accepted Answer

Disconnect the computer from the network and terminate the malicious process.. The immediate priority is to disconnect the computer from the network to stop the botnet communication and prevent further spam. Then, the technician should identify and terminate the malicious process. Scanning without disconnecting may allow continued data exfiltration.

Answer

Run a full antivirus scan and then update the firewall rules.

Answer

Change the user's email password and run a malware scan.

Answer

Reboot the computer into Safe Mode and then run a scan.

Question 7

During a security audit, you need to identify all user accounts that have been created or modified in the last 24 hours on a Windows Server. Which command-line tool can parse security event logs to extract this information?

Accepted Answer

wevtutil qe Security /q:"*[System[TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) <= 86400000]]]". The wevtutil command with the 'qe' (query-events) parameter and an XPath filter can directly query the Security event log for events created within a specific time window. The filter '*[System[TimeCreated[timediff(@SystemTime) <= 86400000]]]' retrieves events whose creation time is within the last 86,400,000 milliseconds (24 hours), allowing you to identify user accounts created or modified via event IDs such as 4720 (user created) or 4738 (user changed).

Answer

eventvwr

Answer

net user

Answer

diskpart

Question 8

A technician is configuring a company-issued Android tablet for a kiosk mode in a retail store. The tablet must only run the store's inventory app and prevent users from accessing other apps or settings. Which built-in Android feature should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Lock Task mode (dedicated device mode). Android's built-in kiosk mode is Lock Task mode (also called dedicated device mode), which locks the device to a single app or set of apps and prevents users from accessing other apps, the home screen, recent apps, notifications, and system settings. It is typically configured through a device policy controller (e.g., Android Enterprise dedicated device mode). Screen Pinning is a user-level feature that temporarily locks the screen to one app; it can be exited with a PIN/password and does not provide the full system-level restrictions required for a retail kiosk.

Answer

Guest Mode

Answer

Developer Options > Force GPU Rendering

Answer

Do Not Disturb

Question 9

A security audit reveals that a Windows 10 workstation has an unauthorized local user account. You need to remove this account from the command line without using the GUI. Which command should you use?

Accepted Answer

net user UnauthorizedUser /delete. The `net user UnauthorizedUser /delete` command correctly removes a local user account from the command line. The `net user` command is designed to manage local user accounts, and the `/delete` switch removes the specified account from the local Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. This is the standard Windows CLI tool for deleting a local user without using the GUI.

Answer

net localgroup Administrators UnauthorizedUser /delete

Answer

wmic useraccount where name='UnauthorizedUser' delete

Answer

gpresult /r

Question 10

A customer complains that their Windows 11 laptop frequently freezes after waking from sleep. You suspect a driver issue and need to view detailed hardware and driver information to diagnose the problem. Which administrative tool should you open first?

Accepted Answer

Device Manager. Device Manager is the correct tool because it provides a centralized view of all hardware components and their associated drivers. You can expand categories like 'System devices' or 'Batteries' to check for driver conflicts, outdated drivers, or power management settings that could cause freezing after sleep. It also allows you to update, roll back, or disable drivers directly, which is essential for diagnosing wake-from-sleep issues.

Answer

Disk Management

Answer

System Configuration (msconfig)

Answer

Event Viewer

Question 11

A technician is assigned to install new accounting software on a user's computer. The user is a senior manager who is very busy. The technician arrives and the manager says, 'Just make it work, I don't have time for questions.' Which action is MOST professional?

Accepted Answer

Explain that you need just two quick questions to avoid problems later, and keep it brief.. The most professional action because it balances respect for the manager's time with the need to gather critical information. Asking two quick, targeted questions—such as verifying the software version compatibility with the OS or confirming the required database connection string—can prevent installation failures or post-installation issues that would waste even more of the manager's time. This approach demonstrates proactive problem-solving and aligns with CompTIA's emphasis on effective communication and professionalism.

Answer

Proceed with the installation without asking any questions to respect their time.

Answer

Insist on a full meeting to discuss requirements.

Answer

Install the software and leave a note with questions for later.

Question 12

A technician is dealing with a zero-day malware infection that has evaded all signature-based antivirus scans. The malware is polymorphic, changing its code each time it infects a new system. Which approach is most likely to detect and remove this type of malware?

Accepted Answer

Employ a heuristic-based or behavior-based malware removal tool.. Heuristic and behavior-based detection tools analyze the actions and code patterns of malware rather than relying on static signatures. Since polymorphic malware changes its code with each infection, signature-based detection fails, but behavioral analysis can identify malicious activity such as registry modifications, process injection, or network anomalies. This approach is effective against zero-day threats because it detects anomalies without needing prior knowledge of the specific malware variant.

Answer

Update the antivirus to the latest signature definitions and run a full scan.

Answer

Use a bootable antivirus rescue disk to scan the system before the OS loads.

Answer

Reinstall the operating system from a known-good backup.

Question 13

A user calls the help desk because their MacBook Pro running macOS Sonoma suddenly shows a folder with a flashing question mark when booting. They were not performing any system updates. Which macOS tool or feature should you use to attempt to repair the startup volume?

Accepted Answer

Boot to Recovery mode and run Disk Utility First Aid. A flashing question mark folder at boot on a Mac indicates that the startup volume is not found or is corrupt. Booting to Recovery mode (by holding Command-R at startup) and running Disk Utility First Aid allows you to verify and repair the volume's directory structure and file system, which is the appropriate first step to resolve this issue without reinstalling macOS.

Answer

Use the Terminal command 'sudo fsck -fy' at boot

Answer

Reinstall macOS from Internet Recovery

Answer

Enable Target Disk Mode on the Mac

Question 14

A technician is writing a batch script to automate the installation of a software package on multiple Windows workstations. The script needs to check if the software is already installed before attempting installation. Which scripting construct should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

An if statement. An if statement is the correct construct to check a condition (whether the software is already installed) and branch the script accordingly. It allows the script to test for the software's presence and skip installation if found. This is fundamental conditional logic in scripting.

Answer

A for loop

Answer

A variable

Answer

A while loop

Question 15

A user reports that their Android phone's screen is unresponsive to touch, but the buttons and notification LED still work. They have already performed a forced restart. What should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Boot the phone into Safe Mode to check if the issue persists.. Safe Mode is the correct next step because it boots Android with only system apps, disabling all third-party apps. If the touchscreen works in Safe Mode, the issue is caused by a downloaded app; if it still fails, the problem is hardware or system-level. This is a non-destructive diagnostic step that isolates the cause before committing to a factory reset or hardware replacement.

Answer

Replace the screen assembly.

Answer

Perform a factory reset from the recovery menu.

Answer

Update the phone's firmware using a computer.