220-1101 Practice Test 16 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that intermittently loses network connectivity. The workstation has an integrated Gigabit Ethernet NIC. During an outage, the technician checks the network adapter status in the operating system and sees 'Network cable unplugged' even though the cable is securely connected to both the workstation and the switch. The technician has already replaced the Ethernet cable, the switch port, and the NIC driver. The issue occurs more frequently when the workstation's power supply is under heavy load (e.g., during gaming). Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The power supply unit (PSU) is failing and cannot provide stable voltage to the motherboard under load, causing the integrated NIC to drop link.. The intermittent loss of connectivity under heavy PSU load, combined with the 'Network cable unplugged' message despite a known-good cable and switch port, points to voltage instability from a failing PSU. When the PSU cannot maintain stable voltage to the motherboard, the integrated Gigabit Ethernet NIC may drop its link because the PHY (physical layer transceiver) requires a clean power rail to maintain the 1000BASE-T signal. This is a classic symptom of a failing PSU causing link drops under load, not a cable or driver issue.

Answer

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) from power cables running near the Ethernet cable is disrupting the signal.

Answer

The workstation has a duplicate IP address on the network, causing intermittent disconnections.

Answer

The switch port is experiencing a broadcast storm, flooding the network interface.

Question 2

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer's power supply to support a new graphics card. The new PSU has a 24-pin main connector and two 8-pin PCIe power cables. However, the motherboard requires an 8-pin CPU power connector, and the PSU does not have any 4+4 pin or 8-pin CPU cable. Which of the following is the BEST solution?

Accepted Answer

B) Purchase a power supply that includes the required 8-pin CPU power cable. Option B is correct because the motherboard’s 8-pin CPU power connector (EPS12V) and the PCIe power connector deliver different voltages and pinouts. PCIe cables supply +12V on three pins and ground on five, while an 8-pin CPU cable supplies +12V on four pins and ground on four. Forcing a PCIe cable into the CPU header can cause a short circuit or damage the motherboard. The only safe solution is to purchase a power supply that includes the dedicated 8-pin CPU cable.

Answer

A) Use one of the PCIe power cables to power the CPU connector

Answer

C) Use a molex to 8-pin CPU adapter

Answer

D) The CPU will function correctly without the 8-pin power connector

Question 3

A technician is upgrading a desktop PC with a new SATA SSD. After installing the SSD and connecting the SATA data cable to the motherboard and the power cable from the PSU, the system boots but the SSD is not detected in the BIOS. The technician has verified the SATA cable is firmly connected at both ends and the drive is listed in the motherboard's manual as compatible. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Enable the SATA port in the BIOS settings.. The SSD is not detected in the BIOS despite being properly connected and compatible. The most likely cause is that the SATA port to which the drive is connected is disabled in the BIOS settings. Many motherboards allow individual SATA ports to be turned off, and checking this setting is a standard first troubleshooting step before replacing hardware or updating firmware.

Answer

Replace the SATA data cable with a known-good one.

Answer

Update the motherboard's firmware.

Answer

Connect the SSD to a different SATA power cable from the PSU.

Question 4

A technician replaced the cracked display on a smartphone. After reassembly, the touchscreen works perfectly, but the physical home button (which also houses the fingerprint sensor) does not respond to presses. The display and touch functionality are normal. Which of the following components is MOST likely the cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The home button flex cable. The home button flex cable is the dedicated connection for both the physical button's tactile input and the fingerprint sensor. Since the display and touchscreen work fine, the digitizer and LCD cables are intact, and the battery connector is not related to button functionality. A damaged or improperly seated home button flex cable would prevent the button from registering presses while leaving other functions unaffected.

Answer

The digitizer flex cable

Answer

The battery connector

Answer

The LCD cable

Question 5

A technician sets up a small office network. The router is configured with DHCP providing addresses in the 192.168.1.0/24 range. A new employee's laptop obtains an IP address of 192.168.1.50, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and default gateway 192.168.1.1. The laptop can ping other local workstations and the router (192.168.1.1), but cannot access any external websites by domain name or IP address. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The router's WAN connection is not properly configured or is down.. The laptop can ping the local router (192.168.1.1) and other local workstations, which confirms that the laptop's IP configuration (address, subnet mask, default gateway) is correct and that the local LAN is functioning. However, the inability to reach any external websites by either domain name or IP address indicates that the router cannot forward traffic beyond its local subnet. The most likely cause is that the router's WAN connection is not properly configured or is down, preventing any outbound traffic from reaching the internet.

Answer

The laptop's DNS server configuration is incorrect.

Answer

The default gateway is not set correctly on the laptop.

Answer

A firewall on the router is blocking all outbound traffic from the laptop.

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a network printer issue. The printer is connected via Ethernet to a managed switch. Users on some workstations can print without problems, but users on other workstations cannot. On a problematic workstation, the technician can ping the printer's IP address successfully and can access the printer's built-in web interface. When attempting to print a test page, the job appears in the local print queue on the workstation but never reaches the printer. The printer's event log shows no errors or rejected jobs. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The printer driver on the workstation is incorrect or corrupt.. The printer is reachable via ping and web interface, confirming Layer 3 connectivity is fine. The job appears in the local print queue but never reaches the printer, and the printer logs show no errors, which points to a local issue on the workstation. An incorrect or corrupt printer driver can cause the print job to be spooled locally but fail to render or transmit properly to the printer, even though network connectivity is intact.

Answer

The printer's IP address is in a different subnet from the workstation.

Answer

The workstation's firewall is blocking the printer traffic.

Answer

The switch port for the printer is assigned to a different VLAN than the workstation.

Question 7

A technician is upgrading the memory in a desktop computer that has a motherboard supporting DDR4 RAM with a maximum speed of 3200MHz. The technician installs two 8GB modules rated at 3600MHz. What will be the effective speed of the memory?

Accepted Answer

3200MHz. The motherboard supports a maximum memory speed of 3200MHz, so even though the installed modules are rated at 3600MHz, the system will automatically downclock the memory to the highest supported speed of the motherboard, which is 3200MHz. This is because the memory controller operates at the motherboard's rated speed, and any faster modules will run at that lower speed to ensure stability.

Answer

3600MHz

Answer

2933MHz

Answer

The system will not boot due to incompatibility

Question 8

A technician is upgrading a desktop computer with a high-end graphics card that requires an 8-pin PCIe power connector. The existing power supply unit (PSU) only has 6-pin PCIe connectors available. Which adapter should the technician use to safely provide power to the new graphics card?

Accepted Answer

6-pin to 8-pin PCIe. The correct adapter is a 6-pin to 8-pin PCIe adapter because the existing PSU already provides a 6-pin PCIe power connector, which shares the same +12V and ground pinout as the 8-pin PCIe connector but with fewer sense pins. This adapter simply adds the two extra pins (typically ground and a sense pin) to meet the 8-pin connector's physical and electrical requirements, allowing the high-end graphics card to draw up to 150W safely.

Answer

Molex to 8-pin PCIe

Answer

SATA to 8-pin PCIe

Answer

4-pin to 8-pin ATX

Question 9

A user reports that their Android smartphone is getting very hot while charging and the battery drains rapidly even when idle. The charger and cable are known to be functional. The technician opens the device and notices the battery is slightly bulging. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the symptoms?

Accepted Answer

Defective battery. A bulging battery indicates internal chemical degradation, often due to lithium-ion cell failure from overcharging, age, or manufacturing defects. This swelling can cause internal short circuits, leading to excessive heat generation during charging and rapid self-discharge even when idle. Since the charger and cable are known functional, the battery itself is the most likely root cause.

Answer

Faulty charging port

Answer

Failed power management IC

Answer

Damaged screen

Question 10

A technician notices a constant high-pitched whine coming from the power supply area of a desktop computer. The computer boots and operates normally under all workloads. The technician has already checked that all fans are free of obstructions and that no cables are touching the fan blades. Which of the following components is most likely causing the noise?

Accepted Answer

Power supply coil whine due to electrical resonance. A constant high-pitched whine from the power supply area, especially when the system operates normally under all workloads, is characteristic of coil whine. This occurs when electrical current passes through an inductor (coil) in the power supply, causing the coil's windings to vibrate at a frequency within the audible range due to electrical resonance. Since the noise is not mechanical (fans are clear) and the system functions correctly, coil whine is the most likely cause.

Answer

Faulty CPU fan bearing

Answer

Defective power supply capacitor

Answer

Loose mounting screw vibrating

Question 11

A technician upgrades a desktop computer by installing two new 16GB DDR4 memory modules into the available slots. When the computer is powered on, it emits a series of long beeps and no video is displayed. The technician has verified that the memory is an approved type for the motherboard and that it is installed in the correct slots according to the manual. Which of the following should the technician try NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Test each memory module individually.. The series of long beeps typically indicates a memory error. Since the technician has already verified compatibility and correct slot installation, the next logical step is to isolate the fault by testing each module individually. This will determine if one module is defective or if there is a slot issue, without introducing unnecessary variables like BIOS updates or CPU reseating.

Answer

Update the BIOS to the latest version.

Answer

Reseat the CPU.

Answer

Replace the power supply.

Question 12

A technician sets up a small office network with a wireless router (with integrated DHCP) connected to an unmanaged 24-port switch. All desktop computers are connected to the switch via Ethernet cables. The computers can access the internet without issues, but they cannot ping each other by IP address. The technician checks one computer and sees an IP address of 192.168.1.10 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0, and can ping the router at 192.168.1.1. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The router has client isolation enabled on the LAN.. The router has client isolation enabled on the LAN, which prevents devices connected to the same LAN segment from communicating with each other. This feature is commonly found on wireless routers to enhance security, but it also applies to wired clients behind the router. Since the computers can ping the router (192.168.1.1) and access the internet, but cannot ping each other, client isolation is the most likely cause.

Answer

The switch is not forwarding broadcast frames between ports.

Answer

The computers have an incorrect subnet mask configuration.

Answer

The DHCP server has run out of IP addresses.

Question 13

A technician upgrades a workstation's RAM from 8GB to 16GB by installing two matching 8GB DDR4-3200 modules in the correct dual-channel slots (A2 and B2) on the motherboard. The system boots, but the POST beep code indicates a memory error. The technician tests each module individually in slot A2 and both modules work fine. When both modules are installed in A2 and B2, the error returns. The technician has confirmed the motherboard supports 32GB total and the modules are on the manufacturer's Qualified Vendor List (QVL). Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

One of the DIMM slots is defective. The correct answer is C because the technician tested each module individually in slot A2 and both worked, but the error occurs only when both slots A2 and B2 are populated. This isolates the problem to slot B2, indicating it is defective. A faulty DIMM slot prevents the dual-channel memory configuration from initializing correctly, triggering the POST memory error.

Answer

The memory controller is faulty

Answer

The BIOS needs an update to support the new RAM

Answer

The power supply is insufficient for the additional RAM

Question 14

A technician updated the BIOS on a desktop computer to resolve a compatibility issue with a new GPU. After the update, the computer will not boot. The CPU fan spins, the power LED is lit, but there are no POST beeps and no display output. The technician has already removed the CMOS battery for five minutes and reinstalled it, but the problem persists. The motherboard has a USB BIOS Flashback port and a dedicated Flashback button on the rear I/O panel. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Use the USB BIOS Flashback feature to reinstall the previous BIOS version. The correct next step is to use the USB BIOS Flashback feature to reinstall the previous BIOS version. Since the system has power (CPU fan spins, power LED lit) but no POST or display, and removing the CMOS battery did not resolve the issue, the BIOS update itself is likely corrupted or incompatible with the hardware. USB BIOS Flashback allows recovery of the BIOS without a working CPU or RAM by reading a firmware file from a USB drive, making it the appropriate tool to revert to a known-good BIOS version.

Answer

Replace the motherboard

Answer

Remove and reseat the CPU

Answer

Use a multimeter to test the power supply voltages

Question 15

A technician is upgrading a desktop PC with a new graphics card that requires two 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The existing power supply unit (PSU) has two 6+2 pin PCIe cables. The technician connects both 6-pin connectors from the cables to the card. The system powers on, but the graphics card is not detected, and its fans spin briefly then stop. The technician has verified that the card is properly seated in the PCIe slot and that the PSU is rated for 500W, which should be sufficient for the system. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the issue?

Accepted Answer

The PSU's +12V rail cannot provide enough current for the graphics card under load.. The 6+2 pin PCIe cables are electrically identical to 6-pin connectors when the extra 2 pins are detached, so they are fully compatible. The brief fan spin followed by stop indicates the graphics card is detecting insufficient power delivery, likely because the PSU's +12V rail cannot sustain the required current under load, causing the card's protection circuitry to shut down.

Answer

The 6+2 pin PCIe cables are not designed for the new card's power requirements.

Answer

The graphics card requires a single 12-pin connector, not two 6-pin connectors.

Answer

The motherboard does not have a PCIe x16 slot that supports the card.