220-1101 Practice Test 15 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that randomly shuts down without warning, particularly when the user runs resource-intensive applications like video editing software. The technician has already replaced the power supply, verified that the CPU temperature remains within normal limits under load, and updated all drivers. The event logs show a kernel-power 41 error with no preceding critical errors. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Inspect the CPU socket for bent pins or improper seating. The kernel-power 41 error indicates an unexpected loss of power or system crash without a clean shutdown. Since the power supply has been replaced and CPU temperatures are normal, the next likely cause is an intermittent electrical or physical connection issue at the CPU socket. Bent pins or improper seating can cause voltage drops or signal corruption under heavy load, leading to sudden shutdowns even when temperatures are acceptable.

Answer

Replace the RAM modules with known-good sticks

Answer

Replace the CMOS battery

Answer

Reinstall the operating system

Question 2

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that emits three short beeps and then repeats after the power button is pressed. The monitor remains black and the system does not display any video. The motherboard uses an AMI BIOS. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The RAM is not properly seated or is faulty. AMI BIOS uses three short beeps to indicate a base memory (first 64KB) read/write error, which almost always points to a RAM issue. Since the system fails POST before any video output, the RAM being improperly seated or faulty is the most likely cause.

Answer

The CPU has failed

Answer

The graphics card is not seated correctly

Answer

The CPU cooler is loose and causing overheating

Question 3

A technician is troubleshooting a network issue in an office. Users connected to a specific wall jack report intermittent connectivity. The switch port corresponding to that jack shows a high number of CRC errors. The technician removes the wall plate and finds that the twisted pairs are untwisted too far back from the RJ45 connector. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the CRC errors?

Accepted Answer

The twisted pairs are not properly terminated. CRC errors indicate that frames are being received with invalid checksums, typically due to signal integrity issues. Untwisting the pairs too far from the RJ45 connector disrupts the cable's impedance and crosstalk rejection, causing bit corruption that leads to CRC errors. Proper termination requires maintaining the twist up to within 0.5 inches (13 mm) of the connector per TIA/EIA-568 standards.

Answer

The cable length exceeds 100 meters

Answer

The switch port is configured for the wrong speed or duplex

Answer

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from nearby power cables

Question 4

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?

Accepted Answer

Digitizer failure. The touchscreen's digitizer is the layer responsible for detecting touch input. When a specific region of the screen becomes unresponsive while the display itself remains functional, it indicates a localized failure of the digitizer's grid or controller, not the LCD panel.

Answer

Dead pixels

Answer

LCD backlight issue

Answer

Pending OS update

Question 5

A technician is troubleshooting a printing issue. A user can successfully ping the network printer (IP: 192.168.1.100) from their workstation on the same subnet, but when sending a print job, the printer does not respond. The printer's web interface shows it is online and ready. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Printer driver on the workstation. The user can successfully ping the printer and the printer's web interface shows it is online and ready, confirming Layer 3 (network) connectivity and that the printer itself is operational. Since the print job is not reaching the printer despite network connectivity, the issue most likely lies in how the workstation communicates the print job to the printer, which is handled by the printer driver. A corrupted, missing, or incompatible printer driver can cause the print job to fail even when basic network connectivity is fine.

Answer

Print spooler service on the workstation

Answer

Firewall settings on the printer

Answer

Network cable to the printer

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a high-end gaming desktop that randomly restarts under heavy GPU load. The technician has already replaced the power supply with a unit that provides sufficient wattage, verified that CPU and GPU temperatures are within normal limits, and tested the RAM with a memory diagnostic (no errors). The GPU is a high-end model that requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. Which of the following is the MOST likely remaining cause of the random restarts?

Accepted Answer

The GPU is connected using a single 8-pin power cable with a daisy-chain pigtail for the second connector.. The random restarts under heavy GPU load are most likely caused by using a single 8-pin PCIe power cable with a daisy-chain pigtail to supply both 8-pin connectors on a high-end GPU. Each 8-pin PCIe connector can deliver up to 150W, and the PCIe slot provides 75W, totaling 375W for a card that may draw 300W or more under load. A single cable with a pigtail forces all current through one connector and wire gauge, causing voltage drop, overheating, or triggering overcurrent protection (OCP) on the power supply, leading to restarts.

Answer

The motherboard BIOS needs to be updated to support the GPU.

Answer

The RAM is not installed in the correct dual-channel slots.

Answer

The operating system power plan is set to Power Saver.

Question 7

A technician is troubleshooting a user's workstation that can ping other computers on the local network but cannot access any websites. The user's router is configured with DHCP and DNS is set to automatic. The technician runs ipconfig /all and sees the workstation has an IP address of 192.168.1.45 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and a default gateway of 192.168.1.1. The technician successfully pings 8.8.8.8 from the workstation. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The workstation has a manually configured DNS server that is unreachable. The workstation can ping 8.8.8.8 (a public IP address) successfully, which confirms that IP routing, the default gateway, and the physical network layer are all working correctly. However, it cannot access websites by name, which points to a DNS resolution failure. Since the router is set to automatic DNS but the workstation has a manually configured DNS server that is unreachable, the workstation will fail to resolve domain names into IP addresses, even though it can reach external IPs directly.

Answer

The subnet mask is incorrect

Answer

The network cable is faulty

Answer

The router's DHCP server has exhausted its IP address pool

Question 8

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that has intermittent network connectivity. The link light on the NIC flashes on and off irregularly. The workstation is connected to a 1 Gbps switch port. The technician runs a loopback test on the NIC, which passes. The cable is a known-good Cat6 cable. The technician checks the switch port configuration and finds it is hard-coded to 100 Mbps full duplex. The workstation NIC is set to auto-negotiate. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

Duplex mismatch. The loopback test passed, ruling out a faulty NIC. The known-good Cat6 cable eliminates a bad cable. The switch port is hard-coded to 100 Mbps full duplex while the workstation NIC is set to auto-negotiate. This creates a duplex mismatch: auto-negotiation on the NIC fails to detect the fixed setting on the switch, causing the NIC to fall back to half-duplex while the switch remains full-duplex, leading to intermittent connectivity and irregular link light behavior.

Answer

Faulty NIC

Answer

Bad cable

Answer

Incorrect VLAN assignment

Question 9

A user dropped their iPhone, and now the screen displays vertical lines and the touch input is unresponsive in the affected area. The display still shows images and colors correctly in the unaffected areas. Which component is MOST likely damaged?

Accepted Answer

Digitizer. The digitizer is the touch-sensitive layer that detects touch input. When it is damaged, the screen may still display images correctly, but touch input in the affected area becomes unresponsive. The vertical lines are a common symptom of a cracked or damaged digitizer, as the conductive traces that map touch coordinates are broken.

Answer

LCD panel

Answer

Backlight

Answer

Logic board

Question 10

A technician is upgrading a workstation used for video editing. The current configuration includes an M.2 SATA SSD in the only M.2 slot on the motherboard, which supports both SATA and PCIe NVMe devices. The user wants the fastest possible storage performance for large video files. Which of the following upgrades will provide the GREATEST performance improvement without replacing the motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Replace the M.2 SATA SSD with an M.2 NVMe SSD. The M.2 slot on this motherboard supports both SATA and PCIe NVMe devices. Replacing the current M.2 SATA SSD with an M.2 NVMe SSD directly upgrades the interface from SATA (6 Gb/s, ~550 MB/s) to PCIe (up to 4 GB/s for Gen3 x4), providing the greatest performance improvement for large video files without replacing the motherboard.

Answer

Add a second 2.5-inch SATA SSD and configure them in RAID 0

Answer

Replace the M.2 SATA SSD with a larger 2.5-inch SATA SSD

Answer

Install a PCIe SATA controller card and add another SATA SSD

Question 11

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer with two additional 8GB DDR4-3200 RAM modules. The motherboard has four DIMM slots and supports dual-channel memory. The technician installs the two new modules in slots 1 and 2 (the two slots closest to the CPU). The existing 8GB DDR4-3200 module remains in slot 3. The system boots and recognizes 24GB of RAM, but the technician notices in the BIOS that the memory is running at 2133MHz instead of 3200MHz. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The memory modules are not installed in paired slots for dual-channel operation, limiting speed.. The motherboard supports dual-channel memory, which requires modules to be installed in specific paired slots (typically slots 1&3 or 2&4) to operate in dual-channel mode. By placing the two new modules in slots 1 and 2, and the existing module in slot 3, the system falls back to single-channel mode and often defaults to a lower JEDEC standard speed (2133MHz) rather than the XMP-rated 3200MHz. This is because the memory controller cannot maintain the higher speed across mismatched channel configurations.

Answer

The memory modules are defective.

Answer

The motherboard does not support 3200MHz with four modules installed.

Answer

The CPU does not support DDR4 memory.

Question 12

A technician is upgrading the RAM in a desktop computer. After installing two new identical DDR4 modules into the appropriate slots, the computer powers on but does not display any video and emits a series of short beeps. The technician verifies that the modules are compatible with the motherboard and are firmly seated. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Test the modules one at a time. The series of short beeps indicates a memory-related POST failure. Since the modules are compatible and seated correctly, the most likely issue is a defective module or a slot problem. Testing each module individually in a known-good slot isolates the faulty component without introducing unnecessary variables.

Answer

Replace the power supply

Answer

Replace the CPU

Answer

Update the BIOS

Question 13

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that randomly reboots when the user performs disk-intensive operations, such as copying large files. The technician has replaced the power supply and tested the RAM (no errors). The hard drive passes S.M.A.R.T. tests. The motherboard capacitors appear normal. The technician suspects a thermal issue but CPU and GPU temps are normal. Which component should the technician check next?

Accepted Answer

The voltage regulator modules (VRMs) on the motherboard, which may be overheating under load.. The VRMs regulate voltage to the CPU and can overheat under sustained load, especially during disk-intensive operations that also stress the CPU. Overheating VRMs can cause voltage instability or thermal shutdown, leading to random reboots even when CPU/GPU temperatures appear normal. This matches the symptom pattern after ruling out PSU, RAM, and storage issues.

Answer

The SATA data cable, which may be faulty causing intermittent disconnects.

Answer

The case fans, which may not be providing adequate airflow to the chipset.

Answer

The operating system power plan settings, which may be set to balanced.

Question 14

A technician is troubleshooting a user's workstation that has intermittent network connectivity. The technician observes that the Ethernet link light on the workstation's NIC flashes irregularly and occasionally stays off for a few seconds. The cable passes a wiremap test. The switch port is configured for auto-negotiation. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

Electromagnetic interference from nearby power cables.. The intermittent flashing and occasional off periods of the Ethernet link light, combined with a passing wiremap test, strongly indicate that the signal is being corrupted by external interference. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from nearby power cables can disrupt the differential signaling on twisted-pair copper cabling, causing link drops and flapping link lights even when the physical wiring is intact. This matches the symptom of a link light that flashes irregularly and stays off for seconds, as the NIC and switch repeatedly lose and re-establish the link due to noise.

Answer

The cable is too long (exceeds 100 meters).

Answer

The workstation's IP address is a duplicate.

Answer

The NIC driver is out of date.

Question 15

A technician needs to replace a cracked LCD screen on an Android smartphone. After disassembling the phone and disconnecting the old screen, which of the following should the technician do FIRST before installing the new screen?

Accepted Answer

Remove or disconnect the battery. The correct first step before installing a new screen is to remove or disconnect the battery. This ensures the device is completely powered off and eliminates the risk of short circuits or electrostatic discharge (ESD) that could damage the new LCD or other sensitive components during installation. Even if the phone appears off, residual charge in capacitors can cause damage if the battery remains connected.

Answer

Connect the new screen and test the display immediately

Answer

Apply adhesive to the frame to secure the new screen

Answer

Update the smartphone's firmware to the latest version