220-1201 Timed Practice Test 3 — 10 Questions

Question 1

A user reports that their VoIP phone works but the connected PC cannot access the network. The phone is connected to the wall jack, and the PC is connected to the phone's passthrough port. What is the most likely cause?

10 minute time limit — choose an answer to begin.

Accepted Answer

The switch port is not configured for the data VLAN, so the PC cannot get an IP address.. The VoIP phone and PC share a single physical switch port via the phone's passthrough port. For the PC to access the network, the switch port must be configured as a trunk (or access port with voice VLAN) carrying both the voice VLAN (for the phone) and the data VLAN (for the PC). If the switch port is not configured for the data VLAN, the PC will not receive an IP address from the DHCP server and cannot communicate on the network, even though the phone works because it uses its own voice VLAN.

Answer

The PC's network cable is faulty.

Answer

The VoIP phone's passthrough port is disabled.

Answer

The PC's network adapter is set to a static IP address that conflicts with the phone.

Question 2

A technician is configuring a new server and needs to install ECC (Error-Correcting Code) RAM. The motherboard supports both ECC and non-ECC DDR4 memory. The technician installs ECC RAM, but the system boots and reports that ECC functionality is disabled. What is the most likely reason for this?

Accepted Answer

The CPU does not support ECC memory.. ECC RAM requires a compatible CPU and motherboard chipset to function. If the CPU does not support ECC, the system may still boot with the RAM installed but will run it in non-ECC mode, disabling the error correction feature.

Answer

The ECC RAM is not seated properly.

Answer

The BIOS needs to be updated to enable ECC support.

Answer

ECC RAM requires a registered (buffered) type to function.

Question 3

A technician is building a new PC for a graphic designer who needs to run Windows 11. The technician installs a 2 TB NVMe SSD and 32 GB of RAM. During Windows installation, the installer reports that the drive cannot be used because it uses the MBR partition table. What UEFI setting or action should the technician change?

Accepted Answer

Convert the drive to GPT using the diskpart utility during installation.. Windows 11 requires UEFI with GPT partition table and Secure Boot. The error indicates the drive is using MBR, which is incompatible with UEFI. The technician should either convert the drive to GPT using diskpart or reinitialize it as GPT during installation.

Answer

Enable Legacy BIOS mode in the UEFI to support MBR.

Answer

Disable Secure Boot in the UEFI settings.

Answer

Update the UEFI firmware to the latest version.

Question 4

After installing a second hard drive in a desktop PC, the system boots but the new drive does not appear in File Explorer. The drive is listed in Disk Management as 'Unknown' and 'Not Initialized'. What should the technician do first?

Accepted Answer

Initialize the disk in Disk Management.. This scenario tests initial steps for adding a new storage device. The drive must be initialized and partitioned before it can be used. The correct first step is to initialize the disk using a partition style like GPT or MBR.

Answer

Replace the SATA cable.

Answer

Format the drive immediately.

Answer

Update the motherboard chipset drivers.

Question 5

A technician is deploying a new VoIP phone and needs to ensure the Ethernet cable connecting the phone to the wall jack provides sufficient power for the phone to operate. The network switch supports Power over Ethernet (PoE). Which tool can verify that PoE is active on the cable?

Accepted Answer

PoE tester. A PoE tester is specifically designed to detect the presence and voltage of Power over Ethernet on a cable, confirming that the switch is delivering power. Unlike a standard cable tester, it checks for the DC voltage (typically 48V) that powers the VoIP phone, ensuring the phone will operate without needing a separate power adapter.

Answer

Multimeter

Answer

Cable tester

Answer

Loopback plug

Question 6

A customer reports that their desktop computer, used for video editing, frequently runs out of memory and slows down. They want to upgrade the RAM but are not sure which type is compatible. The motherboard manual lists support for DDR4-3200 and DDR4-2666. The system currently has two 8 GB DDR4-2666 modules installed. What is the best upgrade to maximize performance and capacity?

Accepted Answer

Replace the two 8 GB modules with two 16 GB DDR4-3200 modules.. Mixing RAM speeds forces all modules to run at the slowest speed, so adding DDR4-3200 modules would cause them to downclock to 2666 MHz, wasting potential performance. The best upgrade is to replace the existing modules with a matched kit of DDR4-3200 modules, ensuring full speed and capacity. This scenario tests understanding of RAM speed compatibility and the importance of matched modules for optimal performance.

Answer

Add two 8 GB DDR4-3200 modules to the existing RAM.

Answer

Replace the two 8 GB modules with two 16 GB DDR4-2666 modules.

Answer

Add two 16 GB DDR4-2666 modules to the existing RAM.

Question 7

A user reports that their LCD monitor intermittently goes black for 2-3 seconds, then returns to normal. This happens randomly, not during any specific activity. The monitor's power LED stays green during the blackouts. Which component is most likely failing?

Accepted Answer

The monitor's backlight or inverter is failing. A green power LED during blackouts indicates the monitor is receiving power and signal, but the backlight is failing. Intermittent backlight failure is a common issue in aging CCFL or LED-backlit LCDs, often due to failing capacitors or inverter. The correct answer identifies the backlight or inverter as the culprit, as the display logic is still working.

Answer

The video cable is loose

Answer

The graphics card is overheating

Answer

The monitor's power supply is failing

Question 8

A technician is setting up a new wireless network in a crowded office building. Users report that their laptops frequently disconnect from the Wi-Fi and have slow speeds, even when close to the access point. The technician scans the area and sees many overlapping Wi-Fi networks. What is the best solution to improve performance?

Accepted Answer

Change the access point to a less congested channel.. In a dense environment with many overlapping networks, channel congestion is a major cause of interference and disconnections. Changing the access point to a less congested channel reduces co-channel interference and improves stability and throughput.

Answer

Increase the transmit power of the access point.

Answer

Disable SSID broadcast to hide the network.

Answer

Replace the access point with a higher-gain antenna model.

Question 9

A user reports that their laptop cannot connect to the internet, but other devices on the same wired network work fine. The technician checks the IP configuration and sees the laptop has an IP address of 169.254.3.12. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is not responding. The IP address 169.254.3.12 falls within the Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) range (169.254.0.0/16), which Windows assigns when a DHCP discovery broadcast fails to receive a response. Since other devices on the same wired network work fine, the issue is isolated to this laptop's inability to reach the DHCP server, most likely due to a local configuration problem or a faulty network interface.

Answer

The DNS server is unreachable

Answer

The default gateway is misconfigured

Answer

The network cable is faulty

Question 10

A user has a laptop that supports Thunderbolt 3 and wants to connect two external 4K monitors at full resolution. They currently have a single USB-C hub that only supports DisplayPort over USB-C. What is the most likely limitation?

Accepted Answer

The hub does not support Thunderbolt 3 bandwidth.. Thunderbolt 3 supports up to 40 Gbps bandwidth, which is required to drive two 4K monitors at full resolution (60 Hz) over a single connection. A standard USB-C hub that only supports DisplayPort over USB-C is limited to USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) or USB 3.2 (20 Gbps) bandwidth, which is insufficient to carry two uncompressed 4K video streams simultaneously. Therefore, the hub itself is the bottleneck because it lacks Thunderbolt 3 controller and bandwidth capabilities.

Answer

The laptop's graphics card cannot drive two 4K monitors.

Answer

The monitors are not compatible with USB-C.

Answer

The user needs a USB-C to HDMI adapter for each monitor.