CompTIA · Free Practice Questions · Last reviewed May 2026
30real exam-style questions organised by domain, each with the correct answer highlighted and a plain-English explanation of why it's right — and why the others are wrong.
A user reports that the touchscreen on their smartphone is unresponsive in the bottom-left corner but works everywhere else. Which component is most likely failing?
Dead pixels
Digitizer failure
The digitizer is the touch-sensitive layer that registers touches. A localized unresponsive area indicates a partial digitizer failure, which is common in damaged screens.
LCD backlight issue
Pending OS update
A user reports that their smartphone battery drains significantly faster after a recent OS update. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST to address this issue?
Replace the battery with a new one
Perform a factory reset and restore from backup
Check the battery usage statistics in the settings menu
This is the correct first step because it allows the technician to identify if a specific app or service is consuming excessive battery after the update.
Reinstall the operating system using the latest firmware
A user's smartphone running Android is unable to connect to any Wi-Fi network. The Wi-Fi toggle is grayed out and cannot be turned on. The technician has tried a soft reset and checked that Airplane Mode is off. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
Faulty Wi-Fi antenna or module
Physical damage or failure of the internal Wi-Fi antenna or the Wi-Fi chip can cause the radio to be completely unavailable, resulting in a grayed-out toggle.
Corrupted network configuration
Incorrect date and time
Disabled Wi-Fi adapter in BIOS
A user's iPhone will not charge even though the screen is cracked but still displays properly and responds to touch. The technician has cleaned the Lightning port and verified the charging cable and power adapter work with another device. Which component most likely needs replacement?
Replace the LCD assembly
Replace the digitizer
Replace the charging port flex cable
The charging port flex cable connects the Lightning port to the logic board; it is a common failure point separate from the screen.
Replace the battery
A user reports that their laptop's touchpad is not working. The technician checks Device Manager and sees the touchpad is not listed. The function key (Fn + F7) that enables/disables the touchpad does not seem to respond. The technician has rebooted the laptop. Which of the following should the technician try NEXT?
Update the touchpad driver via Windows Update
Check BIOS settings for touchpad enable/disable
The BIOS/UEFI often has a setting to enable or disable the touchpad. If it is disabled, the touchpad will not appear in the OS or respond to function keys. Checking BIOS is the appropriate next step.
Replace the touchpad hardware
Run the System File Checker (sfc /scannow)
A user's Android smartphone screen is flickering intermittently and occasionally goes black for a few seconds before returning. The phone has not been dropped or exposed to moisture. The technician has performed a factory reset, but the issue persists. Which component is the MOST likely cause of the problem?
Digitizer
Display assembly
Correct. The display assembly includes the LCD/OLED panel and the backlight. A hardware fault in this component is the most likely cause of screen flickering and blackouts, especially since a factory reset did not fix it.
Battery
Motherboard
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Practice this domainA technician is adding a wireless access point (AP) in an outbuilding connected via Ethernet to the main office network (192.168.1.0/24). After configuring the AP with a static IP of 192.168.1.250, clients can connect to Wi-Fi but cannot access the internet. The main office devices have no issues. What is the most likely cause?
The SSID on the new AP differs from the main network's SSID
The new AP has its DHCP server enabled
If the AP's DHCP server is active, it will assign IP addresses that may not have the correct default gateway or DNS settings, or it may conflict with the main DHCP server, preventing proper routing to the internet.
The Ethernet cable connecting the AP is a crossover cable
The switch feeding the AP is not configured for VLAN 1
A small office has a DHCP server that assigns IP addresses in the range 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.200. A file server needs a static IP address of 192.168.1.10. Which method should the technician use to ensure the server always receives that IP address without manually configuring the network adapter on the server?
Create a DHCP reservation on the router for the server's MAC address
This is the best practice because it combines the convenience of DHCP with the certainty of a fixed IP, and it is managed centrally on the router.
Configure the server with a static IP address of 192.168.1.10 in the operating system settings
Change the DHCP range to 192.168.1.11-200 so that .10 is excluded
Set up a port forwarding rule for the server
A company has a router with four Ethernet ports. They need to connect 12 wired devices in the same LAN segment. All devices must receive IP addresses from the same DHCP server running on the router. Which device should the technician add?
Switch
A switch adds multiple ports and keeps all devices on the same LAN segment, allowing them to obtain IP addresses from the router's DHCP server.
Hub
Access point
Modem
A technician installs a new VoIP phone that receives power via PoE from a managed switch. The phone powers on but cannot register with the call server. A PC connected to the phone's passthrough port obtains an IP address and accesses the internet normally. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the phone's failure?
The switch port is configured with a voice VLAN that the phone is not using
The switch port has a VLAN mismatch for the voice VLAN
A VLAN mismatch between the switch port (data VLAN only) and the phone (expecting voice VLAN) prevents the phone from communicating on the correct network.
The Ethernet cable between the switch and the phone is faulty
The phone's MAC address is filtered on the network
A network technician is troubleshooting a connectivity issue in a small office. A user's computer obtains an IP address starting with 169.254.x.x. The network uses DHCP from a router with IP 192.168.1.1. The technician checks the cable and sees the link light is on. The computer was working yesterday. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
The DHCP server's IP address changed
The network cable is a crossover cable
The DHCP server has exhausted its IP pool
When the DHCP server runs out of available IP addresses, new requests (or renewal attempts) fail, leading to APIPA. This is a common issue when many devices connect without proper IP address management.
The computer's network adapter is faulty
A technician is replacing a 10/100 Mbps network switch with a new Gigabit switch. After connecting all devices, the technician notices that the link LEDs on several ports are showing amber instead of green. The switch documentation states that green indicates a 1000 Mbps link, and amber indicates a 10/100 Mbps link. All connected devices support Gigabit Ethernet. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?
The devices are configured for half-duplex, causing auto-negotiation to fail.
The power supply of the switch is insufficient for all ports.
The Ethernet cables between the switch and devices are faulty or of poor quality.
Correct. A faulty or low-quality cable is the most common reason for a Gigabit connection to fall back to 100 Mbps. The cable may have damage or exceed length specifications, forcing auto-negotiation to a lower speed.
The switch is not properly configured for Gigabit mode.
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Practice this domainA technician is assembling a workstation for video editing. The motherboard has two DIMM slots and supports dual-channel DDR4-3200 memory. The user requests 32 GB of RAM. Which memory configuration will provide the best performance?
One 32 GB DDR4-3200 module
Two 16 GB DDR4-2666 modules
Two 16 GB DDR4-3200 modules
Two identical high-speed modules enable dual-channel mode at the rated 3200 MT/s, providing the best performance for video editing workloads.
One 16 GB DDR4-3200 and one 16 GB DDR4-2666 module
A technician is building a desktop computer and applies thermal paste to the CPU before installing the heatsink. The technician uses significantly more paste than recommended. Which of the following is the most likely consequence of this action?
The CPU will overheat because excess paste reduces heat transfer efficiency
Too much paste creates a thick layer that impedes heat transfer from the CPU to the heatsink, leading to higher temperatures and potential thermal throttling or damage.
The thermal paste will cause a short circuit on the motherboard
The CPU will run cooler due to better coverage
There will be no noticeable effect on system performance
A technician is upgrading a desktop computer's storage. The motherboard has one M.2 slot that supports both SATA and NVMe protocols. The user wants the fastest possible boot drive. Which type of M.2 drive should the technician select?
SATA M.2
NVMe M.2
NVMe M.2 drives connect via PCIe, supporting speeds of several GB/s. They are the fastest M.2 option and ideal for a boot drive demanding high performance.
mSATA
2.5" SSD
A technician needs to install a PCIe x4 network adapter into a desktop computer. The motherboard has the following available slots: one PCIe x16 slot (occupied by a graphics card), two PCIe x1 slots, and one PCIe x8 slot. Which slot can the technician use to install the x4 card?
Any of the PCIe x1 slots
The PCIe x8 slot
The PCIe x8 slot is physically larger than the x4 card's connector and will accept it, running the card at x4 speed.
The PCIe x16 slot after removing the graphics card
A PCI slot
A technician is building a high-performance gaming PC. The motherboard has four DDR4 DIMM slots, and the technician installs two 8 GB modules in slots A2 and B2 (dual-channel configuration). The PC boots and works, but the BIOS shows only 8 GB of RAM. The technician reseats the modules and tries different slots, but the issue persists. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
The RAM modules are not compatible with the motherboard
The CPU cooler is installed too tightly, causing memory controller issues
Windows 10 has a memory limit for the edition installed
One of the RAM modules is faulty
A faulty RAM module will not be detected by the system. Since the technician has tried reseating and different slots, the most logical conclusion is that one of the modules is defective.
A technician is building a desktop computer and has installed a SATA solid-state drive (SSD). After connecting the SATA data cable and power cable, the computer boots to the BIOS, but the SSD is not listed in the SATA devices. The technician has verified that the SATA cable is securely connected to both the drive and the motherboard and that the power supply is functioning. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?
Format the SSD using a different computer.
Check the BIOS settings to ensure the SATA port is enabled.
Correct. SATA ports can be disabled in the BIOS. If the port is disabled, the drive will not be detected. Checking the BIOS configuration is the appropriate next step after verifying physical connections.
Update the motherboard chipset drivers.
Replace the CMOS battery.
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Practice this domainA company wants to migrate its on-premises email server to the cloud. The IT director insists that the new solution require no management of the underlying operating system, application server, or patching. Which cloud service model should the organization choose?
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Software as a Service (SaaS)
SaaS delivers a complete, ready-to-use application. For email, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace are examples. The provider handles all backend management, including OS patches, making it ideal for this requirement.
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
A company wants to migrate a custom-developed web application to the cloud. The IT team needs full control over the operating system, middleware, and runtime environment but does not want to manage physical hardware or the underlying virtualization layer. Which cloud service model should the organization choose?
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
IaaS delivers virtual machines and storage where the customer can install and configure the OS, middleware, and applications as needed, while the provider handles physical infrastructure.
Desktop as a Service (DaaS)
A company hosts a critical database server on-premises. They want to migrate to a cloud solution that allows them to retain full administrative control over the operating system, database software, and security patches, but they do not want to manage the physical server hardware, rack space, or network cabling. Which cloud service model should they choose?
IaaS
With IaaS, the cloud provider handles physical hardware, and the customer manages the OS, middleware, and applications. This fits the requirement for full administrative control without hardware management.
PaaS
SaaS
DaaS
A company runs its e-commerce platform on a private cloud but expects a large traffic spike during a promotional event. They want to automatically add additional virtual servers from a public cloud provider during the peak and release them afterward. Which cloud computing characteristic best describes this capability?
High availability
Elasticity
Elasticity allows the infrastructure to automatically expand and contract computing resources in response to workload changes.
Fault tolerance
Resource pooling
A company uses a private cloud with 10 virtual servers running on a single hypervisor host. The VMs are configured with dynamic memory allocation. Recently, performance has degraded, and the hypervisor shows 90% memory utilization. The IT team wants to add two more VMs without purchasing additional hardware. Which of the following is the most likely limiting factor?
The hypervisor's CPU core count
The storage I/O bandwidth
The total physical RAM installed in the host
With 90% memory utilization, the hypervisor has very little free RAM. Adding more VMs will require memory overcommit, which relies on swapping to disk, causing severe slowdowns. Physical RAM is the likely limiting factor.
The network interface card speed
A company runs multiple virtual machines (VMs) on a single hypervisor host for development and testing. Users report that the VMs are performing poorly. The administrator checks the host and sees that CPU utilization is at 40% and memory utilization is at 50%, but disk I/O latency is extremely high. The host has a single SATA SSD that stores all VM disk files. Which of the following actions would MOST likely improve performance?
Add more RAM to the hypervisor host.
Add additional CPU cores to the hypervisor host.
Use a separate SSD for each VM to distribute I/O load.
Correct. By isolating each VM's disk files on separate SSDs, the I/O workload is distributed, reducing contention and latency. This addresses the root cause of the disk bottleneck.
Enable memory overcommitment on the hypervisor.
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Practice this domainAfter a power outage, a desktop computer will not power on. The PSU fan does not spin, and no LEDs are lit. The technician tests the power supply with a PSU tester; all voltages are within spec. A multimeter reading at the motherboard's power button header shows 3.3V when the button is pressed. The power supply is also confirmed to work when tested in another system. What is the most likely cause?
The motherboard has failed
Given that the PSU is good and the power button sends the correct signal, the motherboard is the remaining component that controls the power-on sequence. A damaged motherboard (e.g., from a power surge) will not start the system.
The power supply is still faulty despite the tester showing good voltages
The power button is faulty
The BIOS has become corrupted
A network printer is set to a static IP address. Users report that print jobs spool on their workstations but never print. The technician confirms the printer is powered on, the network cable is connected, and the printer's self-test page prints successfully. The technician can ping the printer's IP address from a workstation. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?
The printer's print queue is paused or the printer is in an 'Offline' state on the print server
This is the likely cause because the printer is online and responsive, but the print server may have the queue paused or set to offline, preventing jobs from reaching the printer.
The printer driver on the workstations is incorrect
The printer's static IP address conflicts with another device on the network
The network cable is faulty
A user reports that after moving their desktop computer to a new desk, the network connection no longer works. The technician notices that the Ethernet cable is plugged into the computer and the wall jack, but the link lights on the computer's NIC and the wall jack are off. The cable is a flat-style Cat5e cable that came with the computer. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
The cable is damaged from bending
Flat cables have thinner conductors and less protection. Bending or pinching during the move can break the internal wires, causing loss of link lights.
The cable is not Cat6
The wall jack is not terminated properly
The NIC is disabled in the OS
A network laser printer displays 'Replace imaging drum' on its control panel. The technician installs a new imaging drum, but the next day the message reappears and users report faded prints. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
The printer firmware is out of date
The drum was not reset after installation
Most laser printers require accessing a menu or using software to reset the drum life counter after installing a new drum.
The toner cartridge is low
The main logic board is failing
A user reports that their desktop computer can connect to the local network and access shared folders, but cannot browse the internet. Other computers on the same network work fine. The technician checks the IP configuration and sees the computer has a valid IP address of 192.168.1.100 with a default gateway of 192.168.1.1. The computer can successfully ping 192.168.1.1 and 8.8.8.8, but cannot ping 'google.com'. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?
Check the proxy settings in the web browser.
Verify that the DNS server address is configured correctly on the workstation.
Correct. Since the user can ping the DNS server IP but not resolve hostnames, the DNS client configuration or the DNS server itself is the problem. Checking the DNS settings is the appropriate first step.
Replace the network cable connecting the computer to the wall jack.
Disable the Windows Firewall on the computer.
A user reports that their desktop computer intermittently loses network connectivity. The computer uses a USB Wi-Fi adapter. The technician notices that the adapter feels warm during use and the connection drops most often when the computer has been running for a while. Other devices on the same wireless network work fine. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?
Wireless interference from nearby devices
A faulty USB cable connected to the adapter
The USB port not providing enough power
Insufficient power from the USB port can cause the adapter to overheat and reset, leading to intermittent connectivity. This is common when a high-power USB device is connected to a low-power port or a port with degraded voltage.
A driver conflict with the Wi-Fi adapter
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Practice this domainThe 220-1101 exam has 90 questions and must be completed in 90 minutes. The passing score is 675/1000.
Multiple-choice and performance-based questions on hardware, operating systems, troubleshooting, networking, and security fundamentals. Some questions are performance-based (PBQs), asking you to complete tasks in a simulated environment.
The exam covers 5 domains: Mobile Devices, Networking, Hardware, Virtualization and Cloud Computing, Hardware and Network Troubleshooting. Questions are weighted by domain — higher-weight domains appear more on your actual exam.
No. These are original exam-style practice questions written against the official CompTIA 220-1101 exam objectives. They are not copied from the real exam. Courseiva focuses on genuine understanding, not memorisation of braindumps.
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