220-1201 Practice Exam 58 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A user's laser printer is producing pages with a repeating horizontal line defect every 3.75 inches. Which component is most likely causing this issue?

Accepted Answer

OPC drum. A repeating horizontal line defect at a fixed interval points to a rotating component whose circumference matches that interval. The OPC (organic photoconductor) drum is the component most commonly associated with a 3.75-inch repeat distance on laser printers — a scratch, gouge, or contaminant on the drum surface produces a line at the same position on every revolution, which translates to a fixed spacing on the page.

Answer

Fuser roller

Answer

Transfer roller

Answer

Toner cartridge

Question 2

A technician is setting up a virtualized test environment where each virtual machine must have a unique MAC address and IP address, and the VMs must be able to communicate with each other and the physical network. The host has only one physical NIC. Which virtual switch configuration should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Bridged (external) virtual switch. A bridged (external) virtual switch binds the virtual switch to the host's physical NIC, allowing VMs to obtain unique MAC and IP addresses from the physical network's DHCP and communicate with both each other and external hosts. This is the only configuration that provides full connectivity to the physical LAN while giving each VM its own network identity.

Answer

Internal virtual switch

Answer

Private virtual switch

Answer

NAT virtual switch

Question 3

A user reports that they can receive emails but cannot send any. The email client is configured with SMTP on port 25. The IT team confirms that port 25 is blocked by the ISP. Which alternative port should be used for SMTP submission?

Accepted Answer

Port 587. Port 587 is the standard SMTP submission port defined in RFC 6409 for email clients to send outgoing mail. Unlike port 25, which is used for SMTP relay between mail servers and is often blocked by ISPs to prevent spam, port 587 is specifically designated for client-to-server submission and typically supports STARTTLS encryption. Using port 587 bypasses the ISP's block on port 25 while adhering to modern email security practices.

Answer

Port 110

Answer

Port 143

Answer

Port 993

Question 4

A client in a rural area has a cellular hotspot for internet but experiences frequent slowdowns. They want a more stable option that does not rely on wired infrastructure. Which technology should a technician recommend?

Accepted Answer

Fixed wireless. Fixed wireless (C) is the correct recommendation because it provides a stable, high-speed internet connection using radio waves between a fixed antenna on the client's premises and a nearby tower, without requiring any wired infrastructure. This technology is ideal for rural areas where DSL and cable are unavailable, and it offers lower latency and more consistent performance than satellite, which suffers from high latency due to geostationary orbit distances (approximately 600 ms round-trip time).

Answer

DSL

Answer

Cable broadband

Answer

Satellite

Question 5

A technician is installing a new network drop in a warehouse where there is high electromagnetic interference (EMI) from machinery. Which cable type should be used to minimize signal degradation?

Accepted Answer

Cat6a STP. Cat6a STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) is the correct choice because its individual pair shielding and overall braided shield provide robust protection against high electromagnetic interference (EMI) from warehouse machinery. The shielding effectively blocks external noise, preventing signal degradation and maintaining data integrity over longer distances, unlike unshielded cables.

Answer

Cat5e UTP

Answer

Coaxial cable

Answer

Plenum-rated cable

Question 6

A company wants to allow employees to securely access the corporate network from home using their laptops. Which network service should be deployed to provide encrypted remote access?

Accepted Answer

VPN. C is correct because a Virtual Private Network (VPN) creates an encrypted tunnel between the employee's laptop and the corporate network, typically using protocols such as IPsec or TLS. This ensures that all data transmitted over the public internet is confidential and integrity-protected, meeting the requirement for secure remote access.

Answer

DHCP

Answer

DNS

Answer

Port forwarding

Question 7

A user’s laptop connects to the corporate Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet. Other devices on the same SSID work fine. The technician checks the laptop’s IP configuration and sees an IPv4 address of 169.254.12.34. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The laptop’s DHCP client is disabled or malfunctioning. The 169.254.x.x address is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, assigned by Windows when the DHCP client fails to obtain a lease from a DHCP server. Since other devices on the same SSID work fine, the DHCP server is functional and has available addresses, isolating the issue to the laptop's DHCP client service being disabled or malfunctioning, which prevents it from requesting or renewing an IP address.

Answer

The laptop is connected to the wrong SSID

Answer

The DHCP server is out of addresses

Answer

The laptop’s wireless adapter is faulty

Question 8

A user complains that they cannot access a website by its domain name, but they can access it by typing the IP address directly. The user's computer is configured to obtain DNS automatically. What is the most likely issue?

Accepted Answer

The DNS server is not responding or is misconfigured.. The user can access the website by IP address but not by domain name, which indicates that DNS resolution is failing. Since the computer is configured to obtain DNS automatically, the most likely cause is that the DNS server assigned by DHCP is not responding or is misconfigured, preventing the translation of the domain name to an IP address.

Answer

The user's computer has a static IP address that conflicts with another device.

Answer

The user's browser cache is corrupted.

Answer

The website's IP address has changed.

Question 9

A technician is configuring a small office wireless router for a client. The client wants the network to be as secure as possible while still allowing employees to connect easily with a pre-shared key. The router supports WPA2, WPA3, WPA, and WEP. Which security protocol should the technician select?

Accepted Answer

WPA3-Personal. WPA3-Personal provides the strongest security among the listed protocols by using SAE, which enhances protection against offline dictionary attacks and adds forward secrecy. It still supports a pre-shared key for easy employee connectivity. WPA2 is secure but less robust, while WPA and WEP are deprecated and vulnerable. Thus, WPA3-Personal is the correct choice for maximum security with a pre-shared key.

Answer

WPA2-PSK with AES

Answer

WPA-PSK with TKIP

Answer

WEP with 128-bit key

Question 10

A small accounting firm wants to run a legacy Windows XP application that is incompatible with Windows 11. The technician needs to provide the least disruptive solution that allows the application to run on the existing Windows 11 desktop without modifying the host OS or purchasing new hardware. Which of the following should the technician implement?

Accepted Answer

Type 2 hypervisor. A Type 2 hypervisor installs as software on the existing Windows 11 host, letting the technician create a Windows XP VM with minimal disruption. It avoids reimaging the host or buying new hardware, and the VM remains isolated. Type 1 hypervisors replace the host OS, VDI needs server infrastructure, and application virtualization cannot provide a full legacy OS.

Answer

Type 1 hypervisor

Answer

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

Answer

Application virtualization

Question 11

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that intermittently powers off after 15–20 minutes of use, especially under heavy load. The power supply is a 500 W unit that came with the case. The system has a high-end GPU and an overclocked CPU. The technician has already confirmed the wall outlet and power cable are good. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the shutdowns?

Accepted Answer

The power supply is undersized or failing, causing voltage rail sag under load.. The system powers off after sustained heavy load, which strongly suggests the power supply cannot deliver stable voltage to the high-end GPU and overclocked CPU. A 500 W unit is often insufficient for such a configuration, and aging components can worsen the issue. Replacing the PSU with a higher-capacity unit and testing under load is the correct troubleshooting path.

Answer

The RAM is mismatched, causing memory errors that crash the system.

Answer

The motherboard BIOS is outdated and does not support the GPU.

Answer

The CPU cooler is loose, causing thermal throttling and automatic shutdown.

Question 12

A user reports that their laptop's touchpad cursor jumps erratically whenever they rest their palms on the laptop while typing. The laptop is running Windows 11 and the touchpad driver is up to date. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the erratic cursor behavior?

Accepted Answer

Palm detection is disabled or not functioning properly in the touchpad settings.. Palm detection is designed to prevent accidental cursor movement when the user's palms rest on the touchpad during typing. When this feature is disabled or not working, the touchpad interprets palm contact as valid input, causing erratic cursor jumps. Adjusting or enabling palm detection in the touchpad settings directly addresses the reported behavior.

Answer

The touchpad is configured for a left-handed user.

Answer

The touchpad sensitivity is set too high, causing accidental input from palm contact.

Answer

The touchpad driver needs to be rolled back to a previous version.

Question 13

A user reports that a desktop PC randomly shuts down during intensive tasks such as gaming or video rendering. The technician notices the power supply is rated at 500W and the system includes a high-end GPU with a TDP of 250W and a CPU with a TDP of 125W. The PSU has a single 12V rail rated at 30A. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the shutdowns?

Accepted Answer

The PSU's 12V rail is insufficient to meet the combined power demand under load.. The 12V rail provides power to the CPU and GPU. With a 30A rating, it can supply 360W, but the combined TDP of the CPU and GPU is 375W, exceeding that capacity. Under intensive tasks, the PSU's overcurrent protection may trigger, causing shutdowns. The total wattage is less relevant than the 12V rail's amperage. Upgrading to a PSU with a higher 12V amperage would resolve the issue.

Answer

The PSU's total wattage of 500W is too low for the system's components.

Answer

The GPU requires a dedicated 12V rail that is not available on this PSU.

Answer

The CPU and GPU are drawing power from the 5V rail instead of the 12V rail.

Question 14

A company is migrating its on-premises file server to a public cloud provider. The IT team must ensure that the shared storage remains accessible to multiple virtual machines simultaneously and that the data is replicated across multiple geographic regions for disaster recovery. Which two of the following should the team implement? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Configure a cloud file storage service with SMB protocol support.. A cloud file storage service with SMB support enables multiple VMs to access the same share concurrently, and enabling cross-region replication ensures the data is copied to a secondary region for disaster recovery. Together they satisfy shared access and geographic redundancy. Block storage, RAID across zones, and VPN gateways do not meet both requirements.

Answer

Attach the same block storage volume to all VMs using iSCSI.

Answer

Deploy a VPN gateway between the on-premises network and the cloud.

Answer

Create a RAID 5 array across multiple cloud availability zones.

Question 15

A user wants to use their smartphone to make contactless payments at retail stores. The phone supports NFC. Which of the following must be configured on the phone to enable this functionality?

Accepted Answer

A mobile payment service with a linked credit card.. NFC contactless payments require a mobile payment service, such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay, with a linked payment card. The service handles tokenization and communicates with the terminal via NFC. Bluetooth pairing, USB OTG, or QR scanner apps are not involved in this process. Thus, configuring a payment service is the essential step.

Answer

Install a QR code scanner app.

Answer

Bluetooth pairing with the payment terminal.

Answer

Enable USB OTG on the phone.

Question 16

A technician is replacing a failed hard drive in a desktop PC. The user wants the fastest possible storage for the operating system and frequently used applications. The motherboard has available M.2 slots and SATA ports. Which of the following should the technician install?

Accepted Answer

An M.2 NVMe SSD. The user requires the fastest storage for the OS and applications. An M.2 NVMe SSD uses the PCIe interface, providing far greater speed than SATA SSDs or mechanical drives. Since the motherboard has M.2 slots, this is the correct choice to meet the performance need.

Answer

A 5400 RPM SATA hard drive

Answer

A 7200 RPM SATA hard drive

Answer

A SATA SSD

Question 17

A small business wants to add a guest wireless network that allows visitors to access the internet but prevents them from reaching internal company resources. The existing network uses a single wireless router with a default configuration. Which of the following should a technician implement?

Accepted Answer

Configure a separate guest SSID and enable client isolation or a guest VLAN on the wireless router.. A separate guest SSID with client isolation or a guest VLAN isolates guest traffic from the internal network, preventing access to company resources while allowing internet access. This is the most effective and standard solution for the scenario. Other options either do not provide isolation or only add superficial security.

Answer

Change the default SSID and disable SSID broadcast to hide the guest network.

Answer

Set up MAC filtering to allow only known guest devices on the wireless network.

Answer

Enable WPA3-Personal on the guest SSID and place it on the same VLAN as the corporate network.

Question 18

A user reports that their workstation cannot connect to any network resources. The technician notices the network cable is plugged into the wall jack and the NIC, but the link light is off. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

The patch cable and wall jack for physical damage or loose connection.. The link light off indicates a physical layer problem. The first step is always to check the physical connection: cable, wall jack, and NIC port. This is the most efficient troubleshooting step and aligns with the bottom-up troubleshooting methodology. Other options are higher-layer issues that would not cause the link light to be off.

Answer

The IP address configuration on the workstation.

Answer

The firewall rules on the workstation.

Answer

The DNS server settings in the operating system.

Question 19

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that fails to boot. The system powers on, but no video appears and the motherboard emits a repeating beep pattern. The technician suspects a RAM issue. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST to resolve the problem?

Accepted Answer

Reseat the memory modules in their slots.. Beep codes during POST often indicate a memory problem. The first and simplest step is to reseat the RAM modules, which re-establishes proper contact and can resolve the issue without parts replacement. This approach is non-invasive and aligns with standard troubleshooting methodology: start with the easiest and most likely solution before escalating.

Answer

Replace the CMOS battery.

Answer

Update the BIOS to the latest version.

Answer

Replace the power supply with a higher-wattage unit.

Question 20

A company has a network with multiple VLANs. Users on VLAN 10 need to access a server on VLAN 20, but they cannot. The technician verifies that the switch ports are correctly assigned and the server is reachable from other VLANs. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The router or Layer 3 switch is not configured to route between VLAN 10 and VLAN 20.. Inter-VLAN routing requires explicit configuration on a Layer 3 device. If VLAN 10 cannot reach VLAN 20 while other VLANs can, the routing between those specific VLANs is likely missing or misconfigured. This is the most probable cause given the symptoms. Other options would cause broader connectivity issues.

Answer

The default gateway on VLAN 10 is misconfigured.

Answer

The subnet mask on the server is incorrect.

Answer

The DNS server is not resolving the server's hostname for VLAN 10 clients.