220-1201 Practice Test 48 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A multifunction printer is connected to a network via Ethernet and also has a USB port for direct printing. A user plugs a USB flash drive into the printer to print a PDF, but the printer does not recognize the drive. The drive works on other computers. What is the most likely cause?

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

Accepted Answer

The USB flash drive is formatted as NTFS, which the printer does not support.. Multifunction printers often have limitations on USB drive compatibility. The most common issues are the file system format (e.g., exFAT vs. FAT32) or the drive's power draw. Many printers only support FAT32 formatted drives, and some USB 3.0 drives may not be recognized due to power or protocol differences.

Answer

The PDF file is password-protected.

Answer

The printer's USB port is only for service use.

Answer

The printer's IP address is conflicting with another device.

Question 2

A customer reports that their external USB 3.0 hard drive is only achieving transfer speeds of about 35 MB/s, far below the expected 5 Gbps. The drive is connected to a USB 3.0 port on the front of the computer case. What is the most likely cause of this performance issue?

Accepted Answer

The front-panel USB port is internally connected to a USB 2.0 header on the motherboard.. This question tests understanding of USB standards and cable/connector compatibility. USB 3.0 (5 Gbps) requires a cable with 9 pins, but if the case's front-panel header or cable is wired for USB 2.0 only (4 pins), the device will fall back to USB 2.0 speeds (480 Mbps, ~35 MB/s). The correct answer is that the front-panel USB port is internally connected to a USB 2.0 header.

Answer

The drive is formatted with FAT32 instead of NTFS.

Answer

The hard drive is failing and needs to be replaced.

Answer

The USB 3.0 driver is not installed in the operating system.

Question 3

A technician is configuring an MFP for a law firm that requires secure printing. Users must enter a PIN at the device to release their print jobs. The MFP supports hard drive encryption and secure print release. Which feature should the technician enable to ensure print jobs are not stored unencrypted on the MFP's hard drive?

Accepted Answer

Hard drive encryption. Secure print release only holds jobs until the user enters a PIN, but the data may still be stored on the hard drive. Hard drive encryption ensures that even if the drive is removed, the data is unreadable. Both features together provide comprehensive security.

Answer

Secure Print (PIN release)

Answer

IPsec for network printing

Answer

User authentication via LDAP

Question 4

A small business owner wants to add a second internal hard drive to a desktop computer for nightly backups. The existing drive is a 2.5-inch SATA SSD. The motherboard has one free SATA port and one free power connector from the PSU. Which type of drive should the technician install to maximize compatibility and reliability?

Accepted Answer

A 3.5-inch SATA HDD. This question tests basic knowledge of SATA interfaces and form factor compatibility. A 3.5-inch SATA HDD is the standard choice for bulk storage in a desktop, and it uses the same SATA data and power connectors as the existing SSD. The other options either have incompatible connectors or are not standard internal drives.

Answer

A 2.5-inch SATA HDD

Answer

An M.2 SATA SSD

Answer

A 2.5-inch PATA (IDE) HDD

Question 5

A user reports that their computer cannot access any network resources, but the link light on the NIC is solid. The technician suspects a faulty cable. Which tool can quickly test the cable's continuity and detect a broken wire?

Accepted Answer

Cable tester. A cable tester sends a small electrical signal through each conductor in the cable and checks for a return signal on the correct pin. If a wire is broken, the tester will indicate an open circuit, confirming the fault. This is the fastest and most direct way to verify continuity in a copper Ethernet cable.

Answer

Multimeter

Answer

Toner and probe

Answer

Crimper

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that fails to boot after the user installed a new M.2 NVMe SSD. The computer powers on, but the screen remains black and no BIOS splash screen appears. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The motherboard's BIOS is outdated and does not support NVMe boot.. This question tests understanding of M.2 installation and BIOS/UEFI configuration. Many motherboards require a specific UEFI setting (CSM disabled, UEFI boot enabled) or a BIOS update to support NVMe as a boot device. The most common issue is that the motherboard's firmware does not recognize the NVMe drive without a BIOS update.

Answer

The M.2 drive is not fully seated in the slot.

Answer

The M.2 drive is a SATA type but the slot only supports NVMe.

Answer

The power supply unit is insufficient to power the new drive.

Question 7

A technician is troubleshooting a VM that fails to boot with the error 'Operating system not found.' The VM was created from a template that uses a virtual SCSI controller. The technician verifies that the ISO file is attached to the virtual DVD drive and the boot order is set to DVD first. What is the most likely cause of the error?

Accepted Answer

The virtual DVD drive is not connected to the VM’s IDE controller.. This error often occurs when the VM cannot find a bootable device. Even with the ISO attached, if the virtual DVD drive is not connected to the correct controller or is not enabled, the VM will not boot from it. The correct answer points to a common oversight: the virtual DVD drive may be on a different controller or not attached.

Answer

The virtual SCSI controller is not compatible with the guest OS.

Answer

The ISO file is corrupted or incomplete.

Answer

The VM’s BIOS is set to UEFI instead of legacy BIOS.

Question 8

A company wants to consolidate five physical servers into one host to reduce power and cooling costs. Each server runs a different operating system. Which virtualization technology should be used to achieve this?

Accepted Answer

Use a Type 1 hypervisor like VMware ESXi on a single host. Server consolidation uses a Type 1 hypervisor (bare-metal) to run multiple VMs directly on hardware, maximizing resource utilization. This is the standard approach for data center virtualization.

Answer

Install a Type 2 hypervisor on each physical server

Answer

Migrate all applications to a single OS using compatibility layers

Answer

Use containerization instead of virtualization

Question 9

A user reports that a virtual machine running on a workstation is extremely slow, especially during high I/O operations. The host has 16 GB of RAM, an SSD, and a quad-core CPU. The VM is configured with 8 GB RAM and 4 vCPUs. What is the most likely cause of the performance issue?

Accepted Answer

The VM has too many virtual CPUs assigned. This question tests resource allocation awareness. Over-allocating vCPUs can cause contention as the hypervisor tries to schedule multiple virtual CPUs on limited physical cores, leading to performance degradation. The correct answer is to reduce the vCPU count.

Answer

The host does not have enough RAM for the VM

Answer

The SSD is too slow for virtualization

Answer

The VM is using a dynamic disk instead of a fixed-size disk

Question 10

A small business runs a legacy application that requires Windows 7. The company wants to upgrade all desktops to Windows 11 while still running that application. Which virtualization solution would allow the application to run on the new OS without compatibility issues?

Accepted Answer

Use a Type 2 hypervisor such as VirtualBox to run Windows 7 as a virtual machine. This scenario tests understanding of application virtualization, where a legacy OS runs as a guest on a modern host. Using a Type 2 hypervisor like VirtualBox allows Windows 7 to run inside Windows 11, solving the compatibility problem without hardware changes.

Answer

Install Windows 7 in a dual-boot configuration

Answer

Deploy Windows 11 and use Windows 7 compatibility mode

Answer

Replace the legacy application with a cloud-based alternative

Question 11

A company is migrating a critical application from a physical server to a virtual machine. The application requires a static MAC address tied to its license. The technician performs a P2V migration and starts the VM, but the application fails to activate. The technician verifies that the VM has the same MAC address as the original physical server. What is the most likely cause of the activation failure?

Accepted Answer

The VM's BIOS UUID has changed from the physical server. Even with the same MAC address, the hypervisor presents a different hardware abstraction layer (e.g., motherboard chipset, BIOS) than the physical server. Many license activation mechanisms check multiple hardware identifiers, not just the MAC address.

Answer

The virtual switch is set to NAT, blocking the license server

Answer

The VM has insufficient RAM allocated

Answer

The hypervisor does not support the application's OS

Question 12

A technician is configuring a virtual machine to host a database server that requires consistent high disk I/O performance. The host uses a RAID 10 array of SSDs. Which virtual disk type should the technician select to minimize overhead and maximize performance?

Accepted Answer

Fixed-size virtual disk. A fixed-size virtual disk (also called thick provisioning) allocates all required space at creation, reducing fragmentation and I/O overhead compared to dynamically expanding disks. This is best for performance-sensitive workloads like databases.

Answer

Dynamically expanding virtual disk

Answer

Differencing virtual disk

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Thin provisioned virtual disk

Question 13

A user reports that their PC randomly restarts during boot-up, sometimes before the Windows logo appears. They have already tried reseating the RAM. Which component should be tested next?

Accepted Answer

Test the power supply unit. Random restarts during early boot, especially before the OS loads, often point to a failing power supply. The PSU may not be providing stable voltages under the initial power draw of the system. Using a multimeter to test voltage outputs or swapping with a known-good PSU is the next step.

Answer

Replace the motherboard

Answer

Reinstall the operating system

Answer

Check for BIOS updates

Question 14

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that powers on but displays nothing on the monitor. The monitor is on and connected via HDMI. The technician hears one short beep from the motherboard speaker. What should the technician do next?

Accepted Answer

Reseat the graphics card. One short beep typically indicates a successful POST, meaning the CPU, RAM, and motherboard are likely functional. The issue is therefore probably with the display subsystem: the video card or its connection. The technician should reseat the GPU or try a different video output port.

Answer

Replace the RAM modules

Answer

Test the monitor on another computer

Answer

Flash the BIOS

Question 15

A customer says their laptop battery no longer charges. The laptop works when plugged into AC power, but the battery icon shows '0% available (plugged in)'. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

Defective battery. When a laptop runs on AC but the battery shows 0% and does not charge, the battery has likely reached the end of its life cycle. Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time and lose capacity; eventually they can no longer hold a charge. The solution is to replace the battery.

Answer

Faulty AC adapter

Answer

Dead CMOS battery

Answer

Corrupted battery driver