220-1101 Practice Test 13 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is installing a new M.2 NVMe SSD into a desktop computer that previously used only SATA drives. After physically installing the drive, the BIOS does not detect the new M.2 SSD. The technician confirms the M.2 slot on the motherboard supports NVMe and the drive is properly seated. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check for a BIOS update that adds NVMe support. The motherboard supports NVMe, but the BIOS may not have the necessary NVMe driver or firmware support to recognize the drive. A BIOS update often adds NVMe support for older chipsets or UEFI implementations, which is the most likely next step before troubleshooting other components.

Answer

Ensure the SATA data cables are not obstructing the M.2 slot

Answer

Inspect the device manager in Windows for uninitialized drives

Answer

Swap the M.2 drive to the other M.2 slot if available

Question 2

A technician is building a new desktop PC. After installing the CPU, cooler, RAM, and graphics card, the technician powers on the system. The fans spin, but the monitor remains black and the computer emits a series of short, repeated beeps. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAM modules are not fully seated in the memory slots.. The series of short, repeated beeps is a standard Power-On Self-Test (POST) code indicating a memory failure. Since the CPU, cooler, and graphics card are installed, but the RAM may not be fully seated in the slots, the system cannot initialize memory and halts with this specific beep pattern. This is the most common cause of such beeps on a new build.

Answer

The graphics card is not properly seated in the PCIe slot.

Answer

The CPU is not compatible with the motherboard.

Answer

The power supply unit does not provide enough wattage.

Question 3

A technician is installing a new power supply unit (PSU) into a desktop computer. The PSU has a 4+4 pin CPU power connector, but the motherboard only has a 4-pin CPU power header. Which of the following steps should the technician take to properly connect the CPU power?

Accepted Answer

Separate the connector into two 4-pin sections and connect one section to the motherboard. The 4+4 pin CPU power connector is designed to be split into two 4-pin sections for compatibility with motherboards that have either a 4-pin or an 8-pin CPU power header. Since the motherboard only has a 4-pin header, the technician should separate the connector and connect one 4-pin section to the header, ensuring proper power delivery to the CPU without overloading or damaging the connector.

Answer

Connect the full 8-pin connector to the 4-pin header

Answer

Use a 24-pin to 4-pin adapter

Answer

Leave the CPU power unconnected because the motherboard can draw power from the 24-pin connector

Question 4

A technician is replacing a CPU on a desktop motherboard. After carefully installing the new CPU and reattaching the heatsink, the technician powers on the system. After a few minutes, the system shuts down due to overheating. The technician verifies that the CPU fan is spinning and the heatsink is firmly attached. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the overheating?

Accepted Answer

No thermal paste was applied between the CPU and heatsink. The most likely cause is that no thermal paste was applied between the CPU and heatsink. Thermal paste fills microscopic air gaps between the CPU's integrated heat spreader (IHS) and the heatsink base, ensuring efficient heat transfer. Without it, air acts as an insulator, causing the CPU to rapidly overheat and trigger thermal shutdown, even if the fan spins and the heatsink is firmly attached.

Answer

The CPU is not compatible with the motherboard socket

Answer

The CPU fan is connected to the wrong motherboard header

Answer

The heatsink is installed upside down

Question 5

A technician is configuring a new VLAN for the accounting department on a managed switch. The switch is connected to a router-on-a-stick configuration for inter-VLAN routing. The technician creates VLAN 30 (Accounting) on the switch, assigns ports 6-10 to access mode in VLAN 30, and configures the switch's trunk port to the router to allow VLAN 30. The router's subinterface for VLAN 30 is configured with IP address 192.168.30.1/24. A workstation on port 6 (static IP 192.168.30.10/24) cannot communicate with a server on VLAN 20 (192.168.20.50/24) that it could reach previously when both were on the same VLAN. Other workstations in VLAN 30 can ping the router's subinterface (192.168.30.1). Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

An ACL on the router is blocking traffic from VLAN 30 to VLAN 20. The workstation can ping the router's subinterface (192.168.30.1), proving that VLAN 30 is correctly configured on both the switch and the router, and that the trunk is tagging VLAN 30 properly. The issue is that the workstation cannot reach a server on VLAN 20, which requires inter-VLAN routing through the router. Since basic connectivity to the router works, the most likely cause is an ACL on the router that is explicitly denying traffic from VLAN 30 to VLAN 20.

Answer

The workstation's default gateway is incorrect

Answer

The trunk port is not tagging VLAN 30 correctly

Answer

The server's IP address is on a different subnet than its VLAN

Question 6

A technician is installing several wireless access points in a large office to provide Wi-Fi coverage. The access points are PoE-capable, but the existing network switches do not support Power over Ethernet. The access points are located too far from available power outlets. Which of the following devices should the technician use to provide both data connectivity and power to the access points?

Accepted Answer

PoE injector. A PoE injector is the correct choice because it inserts power into the Ethernet cable between the non-PoE switch and the PoE-capable access point, providing both data and power over a single cable. This solves the problem of the access points being too far from power outlets without requiring replacement of the existing switches.

Answer

PoE switch

Answer

Network hub

Answer

Power supply unit

Question 7

A technician is setting up a small office network. The company has a single public IP address from the ISP. The technician needs to configure the router so that multiple internal devices can share that IP address to access the internet. Which of the following settings should the technician configure?

Accepted Answer

NAT (Network Address Translation). Network Address Translation (NAT) allows multiple devices on a private network to share a single public IP address by mapping their private IP addresses and port numbers to the public IP and unique port numbers. This is the standard method for conserving public IPv4 addresses and enabling internet access for internal hosts.

Answer

Port forwarding

Answer

DMZ (Demilitarized Zone)

Answer

DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)

Question 8

A technician is configuring a small office network with a managed switch. A new employee's workstation is connected to port 12 on the switch. The workstation receives an IP address from the DHCP server and can ping the default gateway (192.168.1.1), but it cannot ping the file server at 192.168.1.50. Other workstations on the same subnet can ping the file server. The technician checks the switch configuration and sees that port 12 is assigned to VLAN 10, while all other workstations and the file server are on VLAN 1. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason the workstation cannot reach the file server?

Accepted Answer

The switch port is configured as an access port in the wrong VLAN. The workstation is on VLAN 10 while the file server and other workstations are on VLAN 1. By default, VLANs segment broadcast domains and isolate Layer 2 traffic; a device on VLAN 10 cannot communicate with a device on VLAN 1 unless a Layer 3 device (router or Layer 3 switch) routes between them. Since the switch port is configured as an access port in VLAN 10, it is the wrong VLAN assignment that prevents the workstation from reaching the file server.

Answer

The workstation's subnet mask is incorrect

Answer

The workstation's firewall is blocking traffic

Answer

The DHCP server assigned an IP from a different scope

Question 9

A technician is repairing a smartphone with a cracked digitizer but a functional LCD. The technician needs to safely separate the digitizer from the LCD without causing further damage. Which tool is most appropriate for this task?

Accepted Answer

Spudger (plastic opening tool). The digitizer is the touch-sensitive layer on top of the LCD. To separate it without damaging the underlying LCD, a plastic spudger is used because it is non-conductive, non-marring, and thin enough to gently pry the adhesive bond between the layers. Metal tools or hammers would shatter the glass or puncture the LCD.

Answer

Phillips head screwdriver

Answer

Soldering iron

Answer

Claw hammer

Question 10

A technician is setting up a new workstation. After connecting the Ethernet cable, the link light on the NIC and the switch port are solid green. The technician runs ipconfig and sees an IP address of 169.254.3.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. The workstation cannot ping the default gateway or any other network devices. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is unavailable or unreachable. The 169.254.x.x address with a /16 subnet mask is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, assigned by Windows when a DHCP server is unreachable. The solid link lights confirm Layer 1 connectivity is good, so the issue is that the workstation cannot obtain a valid IP from a DHCP server, preventing communication with the default gateway.

Answer

The Ethernet cable is faulty

Answer

The workstation's subnet mask is incorrect

Answer

The NIC driver is corrupted

Question 11

A technician is building a new computer. After installing the CPU, RAM, and a dedicated graphics card, the system powers on (fans spin, power LED on) but there is no display on the monitor. The monitor is connected to the motherboard's integrated video port using an HDMI cable. The motherboard's diagnostic LEDs show a solid white light on the VGA LED. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Move the monitor cable to the dedicated graphics card's video port.. The system powers on with fans spinning and a VGA LED lit, indicating the motherboard is not detecting a display output. Since a dedicated graphics card is installed, many motherboards automatically disable the integrated video ports. Moving the monitor cable to the dedicated graphics card's video port is the correct first step to establish a display connection.

Answer

Replace the graphics card.

Answer

Reseat the CPU.

Answer

Update the motherboard's BIOS to the latest version.

Question 12

A technician is installing a new M.2 NVMe SSD in a desktop computer. After installation, the computer boots to the BIOS/UEFI, but the SSD is not listed in the boot device list or among the storage devices. The technician has confirmed the SSD is properly seated in the M.2 slot and that the motherboard supports NVMe drives. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

A. The most likely cause is that the M.2 slot shares bandwidth with other SATA ports, and when an NVMe SSD is installed, it may disable certain SATA ports. If the SSD is not detected in the BIOS/UEFI, it often indicates a hardware configuration conflict rather than a physical installation issue. The technician should check the motherboard manual to see if the specific M.2 slot disables SATA ports or requires a specific BIOS setting to enable NVMe detection.

Answer

B

Answer

C

Answer

D

Question 13

A technician is setting up two virtual machines on a Type 1 hypervisor. The VMs need to communicate with each other using private IP addresses, and the traffic must remain within the physical host—it must not traverse the physical network. The hypervisor host is connected to the physical network via a single NIC. Which of the following should the technician configure to meet these requirements?

Accepted Answer

An internal virtual switch. An internal virtual switch on a Type 1 hypervisor allows VMs to communicate using private IP addresses while keeping all traffic within the physical host. Since the switch does not connect to the host's physical NIC, traffic never leaves the host, meeting the requirement that it must not traverse the physical network.

Answer

A virtual network interface card (vNIC) on each VM connected to a bridged adapter

Answer

A NAT network adapter for each VM

Answer

A VLAN ID on the physical switch port that connects to the hypervisor host

Question 14

A technician is building a PC for a video editor. The motherboard has one PCIe x16 slot and one PCIe x4 slot. The technician installs a high-end graphics card in the x16 slot. The system powers on but displays no video output. The graphics card's fans spin, and the LED on the card lights up. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

The graphics card's power connectors. The high-end graphics card's fans spinning and LED lighting up indicate the card is receiving power from the PCIe slot, but many modern GPUs require additional power from the PSU via 6-pin or 8-pin PCIe power connectors. If these supplemental power cables are not connected, the card will not output video despite appearing powered on. This is the most common cause of no display with a new GPU installation and should be checked first.

Answer

The BIOS boot order

Answer

The RAM module seating

Answer

The PCIe slot configuration in BIOS

Question 15

A technician is setting up a small office network with a wireless router serving as the DHCP server and an unmanaged 24-port switch. All desktop computers are connected to the switch via Ethernet cables. The computers can access the internet without any issues, but they cannot see each other in the network discovery list or ping each other by IP address. The technician checks the IP configuration on one computer and finds it has an IP address of 192.168.1.10 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. The technician can ping the router (192.168.1.1). Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The Windows firewall on each computer is blocking inbound connections.. The computers can access the internet and ping the router, confirming that the DHCP server is correctly assigning IP addresses, subnet masks, and default gateways, and that the switch is forwarding traffic properly. The inability to ping each other by IP address or see each other in network discovery strongly indicates that the Windows firewall on each computer is blocking inbound ICMP and NetBIOS/LLMNR traffic, which are required for ping responses and network discovery. This is a common default behavior of Windows Firewall in certain network profiles (e.g., Public), which blocks inbound connections unless explicitly allowed.

Answer

The DHCP server is not assigning the correct default gateway.

Answer

The switch is not properly forwarding broadcast traffic between ports.

Answer

The computers are receiving IP addresses from different VLANs.