220-1201 Practice Test 12 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is deploying a new server that requires RAID 10 for data redundancy and performance. The motherboard has an onboard RAID controller. After configuring the RAID array in the UEFI RAID utility, the technician installs the OS, but the RAID volume is not visible in the OS installer. What is the most likely cause?

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

Accepted Answer

The RAID driver is missing from the OS installation media.. After configuring the RAID array in the UEFI RAID utility, the most likely reason the volume is not visible in the OS installer is that the RAID driver is missing. Operating system installers often do not include third-party RAID drivers, and loading the driver is required for the installer to recognize the logical volume.

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The RAID array was not properly initialized in the UEFI RAID utility.

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The SATA mode is set to AHCI instead of RAID in the UEFI.

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The UEFI boot mode is set to Legacy, which does not support RAID.

Question 2

A user reports that their laser printer prints pages with a repeating horizontal band of missing text about every 3 inches. The printer has a new toner cartridge and the drum is separate. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The drum unit has a scratch or defect. Repeating horizontal defects at regular intervals are classic symptoms of a damaged roller or drum. The distance between defects matches the circumference of the drum or a roller. Since the toner cartridge is new, the issue likely lies with the separate drum unit or a roller (like the transfer roller) that has a defect.

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The fuser is not reaching the correct temperature

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The toner cartridge is defective

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The paper is damp or of poor quality

Question 3

A server motherboard in a data center fails to boot after a power outage. The system has dual power supplies and ECC RAM. When power is restored, the motherboard's POST beeps continuously in a pattern that does not match any known code for that manufacturer. Which component is most likely causing this issue?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard's VRM has been damaged by a power surge. Continuous beeps that do not match standard codes often indicate a power-related issue, such as a failed voltage regulator module (VRM) on the motherboard. Power surges can damage the VRM circuitry, leading to erratic POST behavior. The dual PSUs may be fine, but the motherboard's power regulation has failed.

Answer

One of the power supplies is faulty

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The ECC RAM has detected an uncorrectable error

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The CMOS battery has been depleted

Question 4

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that fails to boot and emits three long beeps from the motherboard speaker. The power supply fan spins, and the CPU fan spins, but there is no display output. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The RAM is not detected or is faulty.. Three long beeps from a motherboard typically indicate a memory error, often that no RAM is detected or the RAM is faulty. The fact that other components power on suggests the issue is isolated to the memory subsystem.

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The CPU has failed.

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The video card is not seated correctly.

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The power supply is not providing enough power.

Question 5

A customer complains that their computer takes a long time to switch between open applications and frequently shows the 'low memory' warning. The system has 8 GB of DDR3 RAM. Task Manager shows that 7.5 GB is in use when only a few applications are open. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The system has a memory leak in one of the running applications.. A memory leak occurs when an application does not release memory after it is done using it, causing RAM usage to steadily increase. This is a common software issue that can be identified by checking which process is consuming memory in Task Manager.

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The hard drive is failing and causing the system to use excessive virtual memory.

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The RAM modules are not installed in the correct slots for dual-channel mode.

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The page file is set too small.

Question 6

A user reports that their PC boots to a black screen with a blinking cursor after installing a new SATA SSD. The old hard drive is still connected. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The boot order in BIOS is incorrect. The blinking cursor on a black screen usually indicates the system cannot find a bootable device. With two drives connected, the boot order in the BIOS may be set to the old hard drive or the new SSD may not have an OS installed.

Answer

The new SSD is defective

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The SATA cable is loose

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The power supply is insufficient

Question 7

A technician is configuring a RAID 10 array for a database server using four 500 GB SSDs. After setup, the array shows a total capacity of 1 TB instead of 2 TB. What is the most likely reason for this discrepancy?

Accepted Answer

RAID 10 uses half the total capacity for mirroring.. RAID 10 combines mirroring (RAID 1) and striping (RAID 0). With four drives, two mirrored pairs are created, so half the capacity is used for redundancy. The total usable capacity is (number of drives / 2) * drive size, which is 1 TB in this case.

Answer

The RAID controller is faulty.

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The array was accidentally configured as RAID 1.

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The drives are not all the same size.

Question 8

A user reports that their iPhone's Maps app shows incorrect GPS location, often placing them several blocks away. Other location-based apps like Uber work correctly. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The Maps app has been denied location access in Settings.. This scenario distinguishes between device-wide GPS issues and app-specific problems. Since other apps use location correctly, the issue is likely with the Maps app's configuration, such as incorrect location permissions or a software glitch within the app.

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The iPhone's GPS antenna is damaged.

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The iPhone is in Airplane Mode.

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The Maps app needs to be reinstalled from the App Store.

Question 9

During a network upgrade, a new switch is installed. After connecting all devices, one workstation cannot obtain an IP address via DHCP, while all other workstations on the same switch work fine. What is the first step to troubleshoot this issue?

Accepted Answer

Check if the network cable is securely connected and the link lights are on.. When a single workstation fails to get an IP address but others succeed, the problem is likely with that workstation or its cable. Checking the physical connection is the quickest and easiest first step before moving to software or configuration checks.

Answer

Replace the network cable.

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Restart the DHCP service on the router.

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Assign a static IP address to the workstation.

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting a server that uses a hardware RAID controller with four SSDs in RAID 10. The server randomly freezes and the event log shows 'Lost communication with drive' errors. The drives pass SMART tests. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAID controller firmware is corrupted.. Intermittent communication errors with drives that pass SMART tests often point to a faulty RAID controller, cable, or backplane. Since the drives themselves are healthy, the issue is likely with the controller or its connection to the drives.

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The SSDs are experiencing write amplification.

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The SSDs need to be defragmented.

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The server's power supply is failing.

Question 11

A user reports that their PC emits a single short beep and then nothing happens. The screen remains blank, and the keyboard and mouse do not light up. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The graphics card is not fully inserted into the PCIe slot.. A single short beep typically indicates a successful POST on many BIOS versions. If the system beeps but then fails to display anything, the issue is likely with the video subsystem, such as a faulty graphics card or loose connection.

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The RAM is not seated properly.

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The power supply is delivering insufficient power.

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The motherboard CMOS battery is dead.

Question 12

You are deploying a new VoIP phone and need to ensure the Ethernet cable from the wall jack to the phone is properly terminated and has no shorts. The cable appears to be wired correctly but you want to confirm. Which tool should you use?

Accepted Answer

Cable tester. A cable tester verifies continuity, pin-to-pin wiring, and detects shorts or opens in an Ethernet cable. Since the question states the cable appears correctly wired but you need to confirm proper termination and absence of shorts, the cable tester is the correct tool for this passive copper cable validation.

Answer

Toner probe

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Loopback plug

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Multimeter

Question 13

A customer brings in a PC that was working fine until they moved it to a new desk. Now it powers on but immediately shuts off after 2 seconds. The technician notes that the CPU fan does not spin at all. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The CPU fan header is disconnected from the motherboard.. Immediate shutdown after power-on is often a protection mechanism triggered by a missing CPU fan signal. The CPU fan not spinning at all suggests the fan connector is loose or unplugged, which is common after moving a PC.

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The power supply is failing under load.

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The CPU is not seated properly.

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The case power button is stuck in the pressed position.

Question 14

A technician is troubleshooting a server that uses a RAID 6 array with six 4 TB HDDs. One drive fails, and after replacement, the rebuild process is taking much longer than expected. The array is still online. What is the most likely reason for the slow rebuild?

Accepted Answer

The large capacity of the drives and the double parity overhead are causing the slow rebuild.. RAID 6 uses double parity, requiring more calculations during rebuild. Additionally, large-capacity drives (4 TB) take longer to rebuild because the entire drive surface must be read and written. The rebuild process also competes with normal I/O, slowing it further.

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The replacement drive is of a different RPM.

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The RAID controller is faulty.

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The array is performing background consistency checks.

Question 15

A user reports intermittent network drops. You suspect the issue might be with the network interface card (NIC) itself. You need to test the NIC's ability to send and receive data without connecting it to the network. Which tool should you use?

Accepted Answer

Loopback plug. A loopback plug (or loopback adapter) is the correct tool because it connects the transmit (TX) and receive (RX) pins of the NIC, allowing it to send data to itself. This tests the NIC's ability to transmit and receive frames without requiring a network connection, isolating the NIC as the potential fault point.

Answer

Cable tester

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Toner probe

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Multimeter