220-1201 Practice Test 26 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A customer reports that their desktop PC randomly shuts down when playing a graphically intensive game. The system has a 500W power supply, a high-end GPU, and a CPU with a 125W TDP. What is the most likely cause of the shutdowns?

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

Accepted Answer

The power supply is undersized for the system's peak power demands.. The random shutdowns under load suggest the power supply cannot deliver enough wattage to sustain peak power draw from the GPU and CPU. A 500W PSU may be insufficient for a high-end gaming system, causing voltage drops or thermal overload protection to trigger. Upgrading to a higher-wattage PSU with adequate +12V rail capacity would resolve the issue.

Answer

The GPU is overheating due to poor case airflow.

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The motherboard's VRM is failing due to age.

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The RAM is faulty causing memory errors during gaming.

Question 2

A customer reports their desktop PC is running extremely slow, especially when multiple applications are open. They mention they recently upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11. The system has 4 GB of RAM. What should you recommend as the most effective first step to improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Upgrade the RAM to at least 8 GB.. Windows 11 has a minimum requirement of 4 GB of RAM, but 8 GB is recommended for typical multitasking. Upgrading the RAM directly addresses the bottleneck caused by insufficient memory, which is the most likely cause of the slowdown with multiple applications.

Answer

Disable visual effects in Windows to reduce memory usage.

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Increase the size of the page file on the hard drive.

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Reinstall Windows 10 to reduce system resource requirements.

Question 3

A user reports that their computer randomly freezes and displays a blue screen error with the message 'MEMORY_MANAGEMENT'. They recently installed a new 8 GB DDR4 module alongside the existing 8 GB module. Both modules are from different manufacturers and have different CAS latencies. What is the most likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The RAM modules have mismatched CAS latencies, causing timing conflicts.. Mixing RAM modules with different specifications, especially CAS latency, can cause timing mismatches that lead to system instability and blue screen errors like MEMORY_MANAGEMENT. The system tries to run both sticks at the same timings, which can fail if the modules are not compatible.

Answer

The new RAM module is defective.

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The RAM is not seated properly in the slot.

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The motherboard does not support 16 GB of RAM.

Question 4

A technician is troubleshooting a high-end workstation that randomly freezes during heavy 3D rendering. The motherboard has an X299 chipset with an LGA 2066 socket. The CPU temperature is normal, and the RAM passes MemTest86. Which motherboard component is most likely causing the instability?

Accepted Answer

The chipset heatsink is clogged with dust. Random freezes under heavy load, with normal CPU temps and good RAM, often point to the chipset overheating. The chipset (e.g., X299) manages high-speed data transfer between the CPU, GPU, and storage; if its heatsink is clogged or the fan fails, it can overheat and cause system instability. This is a common issue in workstations with heavy I/O demands.

Answer

The CPU power phase controller

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The BIOS is outdated

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The PCIe slot is failing

Question 5

A customer reports that their new Gigabit Ethernet connection is only achieving 100 Mbps speeds. The cable run is about 75 meters through a drop ceiling. The technician checks the patch panel and wall jack terminations, which appear correct. What is the most likely cause of the speed issue?

Accepted Answer

The cable is shielded (STP) and the connectors are unshielded (UTP).. The most likely cause is that the cable is shielded (STP) but the connectors are unshielded (UTP). When STP cable is used with UTP connectors, the shielding is not properly grounded, leading to signal interference and degradation. This often results in the link falling back to 100 Mbps. The 75-meter run is within the 100-meter limit for Gigabit, and terminations appear correct, so the shield mismatch is the primary suspect.

Answer

The cable run exceeds the maximum length for Gigabit Ethernet.

Answer

The cable is Cat5 or lower, which cannot support Gigabit Ethernet at that distance.

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The wall jack is wired for T568B but the patch panel uses T568A.

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a display that shows a 'ghost' image of a previous screen that fades slowly. The monitor is a 4-year-old IPS panel. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The LCD panel has image retention or burn-in.. Ghosting or image retention on an IPS panel is often due to burn-in or temporary image persistence. This occurs when static images are displayed for long periods, causing the liquid crystals to not fully relax. It is a hardware defect that may be irreversible.

Answer

The monitor's response time setting is too low.

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The video cable is causing signal interference.

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The monitor's refresh rate is set incorrectly.

Question 7

During a deployment, you install a new graphics card into a desktop PC. After powering on, the system boots but the display is blank. The monitor is known to work, and the card's fans spin. What should you check next?

Accepted Answer

Check that the monitor cable is connected to the graphics card, not the motherboard. Fans spinning indicates the card is receiving power, but a blank display often means the monitor is not receiving a signal. The most common oversight is connecting the display cable to the motherboard's video port instead of the new graphics card's ports.

Answer

Replace the graphics card

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Update the BIOS

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Reseat the RAM

Question 8

A technician is deploying several Android tablets for use as point-of-sale (POS) terminals. The tablets must run a custom POS app in kiosk mode, preventing users from accessing other apps or settings. Which configuration method should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Use a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution to configure kiosk mode.. This question tests knowledge of mobile device management (MDM) and kiosk mode deployment. The correct approach is to use an MDM solution to lock the device into a single-app kiosk mode, which is a standard enterprise feature for dedicated devices.

Answer

Enable Developer Options and set the app as the default launcher.

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Install a third-party launcher and hide all other apps.

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Root the tablets and modify the system partition to block other apps.

Question 9

A small business uses an MFP that also functions as a network scanner. Users can scan to a shared folder on a Windows PC, but some users get an 'Access Denied' error when scanning. Other users can scan successfully. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The MFP's scan-to-folder credentials do not have write permissions to the shared folder.. Scan to folder requires the MFP to have write permissions to the shared folder. If the MFP uses a generic service account, that account must have appropriate NTFS and share permissions. The issue is likely permission-related for the MFP's credentials.

Answer

The network switch port is faulty.

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The MFP's firmware is outdated.

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The Windows firewall is blocking the MFP.

Question 10

A customer reports that their new desktop PC runs for exactly 30 minutes and then shuts down. After the shutdown, the system won't power back on for several minutes. What is the most likely BIOS/UEFI-related cause of this behavior?

Accepted Answer

The BIOS thermal protection feature is triggering due to CPU overheating.. This scenario describes thermal shutdown protection. The BIOS/UEFI monitors CPU temperature via sensors and will shut down the system to prevent damage if temperatures exceed safe thresholds. The delay before restarting allows the CPU to cool down.

Answer

The BIOS has a power-on password enabled.

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The BIOS is set to the wrong CPU multiplier.

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The UEFI boot order is set to network boot first.

Question 11

A user reports that their PC emits a continuous series of short beeps and will not display anything on the screen. The system was working fine after a recent RAM upgrade. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The new RAM is incompatible or faulty. Continuous short beeps typically indicate a power supply failure or a motherboard power issue. However, given the recent RAM upgrade, it is more likely that the new RAM is incompatible or not seated correctly. The technician should first reseat the RAM and try the original modules to isolate the problem.

Answer

The CPU is overheating

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The graphics card is not seated properly

Answer

The motherboard is shorting against the case

Question 12

A user complains that their PC is running slowly and the fan is constantly running at high speed. Task Manager shows the CPU is consistently at 100% usage even when idle. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

A background process is consuming CPU cycles, such as a mining script or system update. High CPU usage at idle is often due to background processes, such as malware or a runaway application. The constant high fan speed indicates the CPU is generating excess heat from this activity.

Answer

The CPU is overheating due to dried thermal paste

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The power supply is failing and cannot provide enough power

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The CPU has been overclocked beyond its limits

Question 13

A technician is troubleshooting a VoIP phone that intermittently drops calls. The phone uses SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) for signaling and RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol) for audio. Which ports are typically used by these protocols?

Accepted Answer

SIP: 5060, RTP: 16384-32767. SIP typically uses port 5060 (UDP or TCP) for signaling, and RTP uses a range of UDP ports (often 16384-32767) for audio streams. Port 80 is HTTP, port 443 is HTTPS, and port 1720 is H.323 (another VoIP protocol).

Answer

SIP: 80, RTP: 443

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SIP: 1720, RTP: 5060

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SIP: 443, RTP: 80

Question 14

A company's web server is accessible from the internet, but users report that the website loads slowly. The server's public IP is 203.0.113.10, and the internal IP is 192.168.1.10. The network administrator notices that the router's port forwarding rule is set to forward port 80 to 192.168.1.10:8080. What is the likely cause of the slow performance?

Accepted Answer

The port forwarding rule uses the wrong internal port. Port forwarding should map external port 80 to the server's internal port 80, not 8080 unless the server listens on 8080. If the server listens on port 80, the mismatch causes connection delays or errors as the router forwards to a closed port. Correcting the internal port resolves the issue.

Answer

The DNS server is misconfigured

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The NAT table is full

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The DHCP scope is exhausted

Question 15

A company is migrating its fleet of 100 desktops from Windows 10 to Windows 11. The IT department needs to enable TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot on each system via the UEFI. Some older systems have TPM disabled by default. Which UEFI setting must be changed to enable TPM?

Accepted Answer

Enable TPM in the UEFI security settings and set the boot mode to UEFI.. TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is often disabled by default in the UEFI firmware. It must be enabled in the security settings of the UEFI. Additionally, the system must be set to UEFI mode (not Legacy) with Secure Boot enabled for Windows 11 compatibility.

Answer

Update the UEFI firmware to the latest version from the manufacturer.

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Disable the integrated graphics to free up resources for TPM.

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Set the SATA controller to RAID mode.