220-1201 Practice Test 26 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that displays vertical colored lines across the screen immediately after booting. The lines appear even before the operating system loads. What is the most likely cause?

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

Accepted Answer

The graphics card is failing or has defective video memory.. Vertical lines appearing during POST (pre-OS) indicate a hardware-level issue, most commonly a failing graphics card (GPU) or a damaged video memory. Since the problem occurs before Windows loads, it is not a driver or software issue. Testing with a known-good GPU or reseating the existing one is the recommended step.

Answer

The monitor's refresh rate is set too high in the BIOS.

Answer

The video cable is not securely connected to the monitor.

Answer

The operating system's display driver is corrupted.

Question 2

A technician is configuring a new router for a branch office. The ISP provides a public IP of 203.0.113.10/30 for the WAN interface. How many usable IP addresses does the technician have for devices on the WAN link?

Accepted Answer

2. A /30 subnet mask (255.255.255.252) provides 4 total addresses: one network, one broadcast, and two usable. This is commonly used for point-to-point WAN links to conserve public IPs.

Answer

4

Answer

6

Answer

1

Question 3

A technician is configuring a cloud-based virtual machine for a web server. The VM needs to handle traffic spikes automatically without manual intervention. Which cloud characteristic should be enabled?

Accepted Answer

Elasticity. This scenario tests the concept of elasticity in cloud computing. Elasticity allows resources to automatically scale up or down based on demand, which is ideal for handling traffic spikes. Scalability is a broader term that can include manual scaling, while high availability and fault tolerance focus on uptime, not automatic adjustment to load changes.

Answer

High availability

Answer

Fault tolerance

Answer

Scalability

Question 4

A company's internal DNS server is not resolving hostnames for clients. The technician verifies that the DNS service is running and the firewall allows traffic on port 53. However, clients still cannot resolve names. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The firewall is blocking TCP port 53. DNS uses both UDP and TCP on port 53. While initial queries typically use UDP, responses that are truncated (e.g., due to large DNSSEC records or many resource records) require TCP to complete the resolution. Since the technician verified that the firewall allows traffic on port 53 (likely only UDP) and the DNS service is running, the most likely issue is that the firewall is blocking TCP port 53, preventing the fallback TCP connection needed for successful name resolution.

Answer

The firewall is blocking UDP port 53

Answer

The DNS server is using port 5353 instead of 53

Answer

Clients are using the wrong DNS server IP

Question 5

A technician is tasked with deploying a virtualized environment for a small office using a single server. The server has 64 GB RAM, two 6-core CPUs, and a RAID 10 array. The technician needs to run four VMs: a domain controller (4 GB), a file server (8 GB), a web server (4 GB), and a database server (16 GB). After deployment, the database server is performing poorly. The technician notices that the hypervisor has allocated 2 virtual CPUs to each VM. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the database server’s poor performance?

Accepted Answer

The database server VM should have more virtual CPUs allocated, such as 4 vCPUs.. The database server is likely CPU-starved because it has only 2 vCPUs while other VMs also have 2 vCPUs, leading to contention on the physical cores. The correct answer involves adjusting CPU allocation to match workload demands. This tests understanding of CPU scheduling in virtualization.

Answer

The RAID 10 array is not fast enough for database I/O.

Answer

The hypervisor is using a Type 2 hypervisor, causing overhead.

Answer

The virtual switch is configured for 100 Mbps instead of 1 Gbps.

Question 6

A user complains that their wired connection drops randomly for a few seconds then reconnects. The technician suspects electromagnetic interference (EMI) from nearby power cables. Which tool can best confirm the presence of excessive EMI on the network cable?

Accepted Answer

Spectrum analyzer. A spectrum analyzer is the correct tool because it can detect and measure electromagnetic interference (EMI) by analyzing the frequency spectrum of signals radiated from the cable. This allows the technician to identify excessive EMI from nearby power cables. A standard cable tester checks for continuity, wire mapping, and basic crosstalk but does not directly measure external EMI. A multimeter measures electrical properties like voltage and resistance, not interference. A loopback plug is used to test network ports by sending data back to the device; it does not detect interference.

Answer

Multimeter

Answer

Cable tester

Answer

Loopback plug

Question 7

A company has a network with the IP range 172.16.0.0/16. They need to create 8 separate subnets for different departments, each with at least 1000 usable hosts. What subnet mask should be used?

Accepted Answer

255.255.224.0. To support 8 subnets with at least 1000 usable hosts each, you need to borrow enough bits from the host portion to create 8 subnets (2^3 = 8) while leaving at least 10 host bits (2^10 - 2 = 1022 usable hosts). Starting from /16, borrowing 3 bits gives a /19 prefix, which translates to subnet mask 255.255.224.0. This mask provides exactly 8 subnets and 8190 total hosts per subnet (2^13 - 2 = 8190), well exceeding the 1000-host requirement.

Answer

255.255.240.0

Answer

255.255.248.0

Answer

255.255.192.0

Question 8

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 9

A technician is configuring a workstation for a video editing application that requires 64 GB of RAM. The motherboard has four slots and supports up to 128 GB. The technician has four 16 GB DDR4-3200 modules. What is the most important consideration when installing these modules?

Accepted Answer

Ensure all modules are from the same manufacturer and have the same speed and timings.. When installing four identical RAM modules, the key consideration is ensuring they are all from the same matched set or have identical specifications (speed, timings, voltage) to maintain stability and performance. Mixing modules from different manufacturers or batches can cause instability even if they have the same rated speed. Additionally, the technician should install them in the correct slots for dual-channel operation, but the primary concern is compatibility.

Answer

Install the modules in slots 1, 2, 3, and 4 in any order.

Answer

Install the modules only in the first two slots to leave room for future upgrades.

Answer

Set the RAM voltage to the maximum supported by the motherboard.

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting why a new employee cannot log into the company's VPN. The VPN uses RADIUS for authentication. Other employees can connect successfully. Which is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The new employee's account is not configured in the RADIUS database.. Since other employees can connect successfully, the VPN server, RADIUS server, and network connectivity between them are functional. The issue is isolated to the new employee, making it most likely that their account has not been added to the RADIUS database. RADIUS authenticates users against a local or directory-based user store; if the account is missing, authentication will fail for that user alone.

Answer

The VPN server's IP address has changed.

Answer

The RADIUS server is not reachable from the VPN server.

Answer

The DNS server is not resolving the VPN server's hostname.

Question 11

A security audit reveals that an internal file server is listening on multiple ports, including 137, 138, 139, and 445. The auditor recommends disabling older protocols. Which port is associated with SMB over TCP/IP directly (without NetBIOS)?

Accepted Answer

445. Port 445 is the correct answer because it is used by Microsoft SMB (Server Message Block) for direct TCP/IP communication without the need for NetBIOS. This is known as SMB over TCP (or SMB Direct), which operates as a transport protocol directly over TCP, bypassing the NetBIOS layer. Ports 137, 138, and 139 are associated with NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT), which is the older protocol stack that the auditor recommends disabling.

Answer

137

Answer

139

Answer

443

Question 12

A user reports that their RAID 5 array with three 2 TB drives is missing one drive in the RAID configuration utility. The technician finds that the missing drive is not detected by the system BIOS. What should the technician do next?

Accepted Answer

Check the SATA cable and power connection to the missing drive.. If a drive is not detected in BIOS, the issue is at the hardware level—cable, power, or drive failure. The next step is to check connections. This tests systematic troubleshooting of RAID hardware.

Answer

Initialize the missing drive in Disk Management.

Answer

Replace the RAID controller.

Answer

Rebuild the array using the remaining two drives.

Question 13

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 14

A technician is troubleshooting an Android phone that fails to connect to a corporate Wi-Fi network using WPA2-Enterprise with PEAP. The phone connects to other Wi-Fi networks without issue. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The CA certificate for the network is not installed or trusted.. WPA2-Enterprise with PEAP requires the phone to validate the server's identity using a CA certificate. If the CA certificate is missing or untrusted, the EAP-TLS handshake fails, preventing connection even though the phone can connect to other (non-Enterprise) networks. This is the most common cause of such failures in corporate environments.

Answer

The Wi-Fi adapter is faulty.

Answer

The phone's date and time are incorrect.

Answer

The phone is using a static IP address.

Question 15

A technician is troubleshooting a laptop that cannot connect to a 5 GHz Wi-Fi network, but it connects to 2.4 GHz networks without issue. The laptop supports dual-band Wi-Fi. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The laptop's Wi-Fi driver is outdated or misconfigured for 5 GHz.. Since the laptop connects successfully to 2.4 GHz networks but fails on 5 GHz, the hardware is functional for 2.4 GHz, but the driver or configuration may not support the 5 GHz band properly. An outdated or misconfigured Wi-Fi driver is the most likely cause because it can fail to enable the 5 GHz radio or negotiate 802.11a/n/ac protocols correctly.

Answer

The 5 GHz router is too far from the laptop.

Answer

The 5 GHz network is using WEP encryption.

Answer

The laptop's Wi-Fi card is only 2.4 GHz capable.