220-1101 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Practice Test 11 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with horizontal black lines across the entire page. The toner cartridge was recently replaced with a new, genuine cartridge. Which of the following components should the technician inspect or replace NEXT?

Accepted Answer

The imaging drum. Horizontal black lines across the entire page typically indicate a defect on the imaging drum, such as a scratch, toner buildup, or a damaged organic photoconductor (OPC) layer. Since the toner cartridge was recently replaced, the drum (often integrated into the cartridge in many laser printers) may have been damaged during installation or is defective, causing it to fail to discharge properly and deposit toner in a continuous line.

Answer

The fuser assembly

Answer

The transfer roller

Answer

The pickup roller

Question 2

A user reports that their workstation experiences intermittent network drops and slow speeds. The technician checks the switch port status and notices a high number of late collisions. The workstation's network adapter is set to auto-negotiate. The switch port is also set to auto-negotiate but the technician observes that the link has negotiated at 100 Mbps half-duplex. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

Duplex mismatch between the workstation NIC and the switch port. The high number of late collisions and the link negotiating at 100 Mbps half-duplex are classic symptoms of a duplex mismatch. When both the workstation NIC and the switch port are set to auto-negotiate but the link settles on half-duplex, it indicates that one side failed to properly negotiate full-duplex, often due to a faulty auto-negotiation process or a forced setting on one side. Late collisions occur because the switch transmits at full-duplex while the workstation listens at half-duplex, causing collisions after the collision window has passed.

Answer

Faulty Ethernet cable causing excessive crosstalk

Answer

Incorrect VLAN assignment on the switch port

Answer

IP address conflict on the network

Question 3

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that cannot connect to the network. The technician sees that the Ethernet cable used is a crossover cable. The workstation's network adapter supports Auto-MDI/X. The switch port does not have any link light. Which of the following is the MOST likely reason for the lack of connectivity?

Accepted Answer

The switch does not support Auto-MDI/X. The switch port has no link light, indicating a physical layer issue. Since the workstation's NIC supports Auto-MDI/X, it can automatically correct for a crossover cable, but if the switch does not support Auto-MDI/X, the crossover cable will cause a transmit/receive mismatch, preventing link. This is the most likely reason because the cable type is known and the NIC can compensate, leaving the switch's lack of Auto-MDI/X as the culprit.

Answer

The crossover cable is faulty

Answer

The NIC driver is out of date

Answer

The cable length exceeds 100 meters

Question 4

A user reports that their workstation experiences intermittent network disconnections, often during peak office hours. The technician tests the Cat6 Ethernet cable with a continuity tester; the cable passes all four pairs. The network adapter is set to auto-negotiate and reports a link speed of 1 Gbps when connected. However, after observing the switch port, the technician notices a high number of CRC errors and late collisions. The cable runs through a dropped ceiling and is routed near fluorescent light ballasts. Which of the following should the technician do FIRST to resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Replace the network cable with a shielded (STP) cable. The high CRC errors and late collisions are classic symptoms of electromagnetic interference (EMI) corrupting the signal, which is consistent with the cable being routed near fluorescent light ballasts. Since the Cat6 cable passes continuity but the errors persist, the issue is noise, not a broken wire. Replacing the unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable with a shielded (STP) cable will protect the signal from EMI, directly addressing the root cause.

Answer

Configure jumbo frames on the workstation and switch

Answer

Replace the network interface card (NIC) in the workstation

Answer

Replace the switch with one that supports auto-MDI/X

Question 5

A user reports that their VoIP desk phone intermittently drops audio during calls. The phone is connected to a PoE switch via a Cat5e cable that runs through a drop ceiling. The switch shows the port is providing PoE and the cable length is approximately 75 meters. The technician tests the cable with a certifier and it passes. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT to resolve the issue?

Accepted Answer

Check for sources of electromagnetic interference along the cable path. The cable passes certification, ruling out physical layer faults like length or wiring issues. Intermittent audio drops in VoIP over long PoE runs through drop ceilings are often caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) from nearby electrical cables, fluorescent ballasts, or HVAC equipment. Checking for EMI sources is the logical next step before replacing hardware or upgrading cable.

Answer

Replace the switch port

Answer

Replace the phone

Answer

Upgrade the cable to Cat6

Question 6

A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with vertical black streaks running from the top to the bottom of the page. The technician has already replaced the toner cartridge and the drum unit, but the problem persists. Which printer component should the technician inspect or replace NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Transfer roller. Vertical black streaks that persist after replacing the toner cartridge and drum unit indicate a problem with the transfer roller. The transfer roller applies a positive charge to the paper to attract the negatively charged toner from the drum; if it is damaged, worn, or contaminated, it can cause uneven toner transfer resulting in streaks. Since the toner and drum are already ruled out, the transfer roller is the next most likely culprit.

Answer

Fuser assembly

Answer

Laser scanner assembly

Answer

Paper pickup roller

Question 7

A user reports that their workstation experiences intermittent network drops and slow performance. The technician checks the switch port statistics and observes a high number of late collisions and CRC errors. The workstation's NIC is set to auto-negotiate, and the switch port is manually configured for 100 Mbps full duplex. Which two of the following are the MOST likely causes of this problem? (Select TWO).

Accepted Answer

Duplex mismatch. A duplex mismatch occurs when one side of a link is set to full duplex and the other to half duplex. In this scenario, the switch port is manually configured for 100 Mbps full duplex, but the workstation's NIC is set to auto-negotiate. Auto-negotiation on the NIC will fail to detect the manually configured switch port, causing the NIC to fall back to half duplex. This mismatch leads to late collisions (because the half-duplex side waits for a clear channel while the full-duplex side transmits without listening) and CRC errors (from corrupted frames due to collisions).

Answer

Incorrect IP configuration

Answer

Broadcast storm

Question 8

A technician is troubleshooting a server with a RAID 5 array consisting of three hard drives. The server logs show a failed drive, and the array status is 'Degraded'. The technician replaces the failed drive with a new drive of the same model and capacity. After the rebuild process completes, the array status remains 'Degraded'. The server's OS does not show any new disk errors. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the RAID controller's cache battery status. After a RAID 5 rebuild completes but the array remains 'Degraded', the most likely cause is that the RAID controller's write-back cache could not be flushed to the new drive. A failed or missing cache battery forces the controller to operate in write-through mode, which can prevent the array from returning to a healthy state even after a successful rebuild. Checking the cache battery status is the correct next step because it directly affects the controller's ability to commit cached writes and finalize the array status.

Answer

Check the S.M.A.R.T. status of the remaining original drives

Answer

Check the firmware version of the new hard drive

Answer

Check the SAS cable connecting the drives

Question 9

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that cannot connect to the network. The link light on the network interface card (NIC) is solid, and the technician can successfully ping the loopback address (127.0.0.1). Running ipconfig shows an IP address of 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the connectivity issue?

Accepted Answer

The DHCP server is unavailable or not responding. The IP address 169.254.15.200 with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 is an Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, which Windows assigns when a DHCP discovery broadcast fails to receive a response. Since the link light is solid and loopback ping succeeds, the NIC and TCP/IP stack are functional, pointing to a DHCP server that is unavailable or not responding as the root cause.

Answer

The default gateway is misconfigured

Answer

The DNS server is not resolving domain names

Answer

The NIC driver is faulty

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that cannot connect to the network. The link light on the NIC is off. The technician tests the Ethernet cable with a cable tester and it passes all four pairs. The workstation is connected to a wall jack that leads to a patch panel in the server room. The technician verifies that the patch cable from the patch panel to the switch is good. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the port status on the switch. The link light being off indicates no physical layer (Layer 1) connectivity. Since the cable tester passed all four pairs and the patch cable is verified good, the issue likely lies with the switch port itself. Checking the port status on the switch (e.g., using 'show interfaces status' or verifying PoE/administrative shutdown) is the logical next step to confirm if the port is enabled, not error-disabled, or configured correctly.

Answer

Replace the NIC

Answer

Re-terminate the wall jack

Answer

Change the workstation's IP address to static

Question 11

A technician is troubleshooting a workstation that has intermittent network connectivity. The workstation is connected to a wall jack via a Cat6 cable. The wall jack is connected to a patch panel in the server room. The technician replaces the NIC and the cable to the workstation, but the issue persists. The technician then uses a loopback plug on the wall jack and tests connectivity from the patch panel using a toner and probe; the tone is clear. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the switch port configuration for speed/duplex mismatch.. The technician has already verified the cable path from the wall jack to the patch panel is good (clear tone) and replaced the NIC and workstation cable. Since the issue persists and the physical layer appears intact, the next logical step is to check for a speed/duplex mismatch on the switch port. A mismatch can cause intermittent connectivity, packet loss, and performance issues even when the link is physically up, because the switch and NIC negotiate different duplex settings (e.g., one half-duplex, one full-duplex) leading to collisions and retransmissions.

Answer

Replace the patch cable from the patch panel to the switch.

Answer

Replace the switch port.

Answer

Check the grounding of the wall jack.

Question 12

A user reports that their desktop monitor displays 'No Signal' after the user moved the desk. The technician observes that the monitor's power LED is on, the computer's fans are spinning, and the power light on the PC case is lit. The video cable (HDMI) is securely connected at both ends. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check the monitor's input source setting. The monitor's power LED is on and the HDMI cable is securely connected, but the screen shows 'No Signal'. This indicates the monitor is receiving power but not detecting a video input. The most likely cause after moving the desk is that the monitor's input source setting changed (e.g., from HDMI to DisplayPort or VGA) due to accidental button presses during the move. Checking and correcting the input source is the quickest, non-invasive step before replacing hardware.

Answer

Replace the video card

Answer

Reseat the RAM modules

Answer

Test the HDMI cable with a known-good device

Question 13

A network technician is troubleshooting an issue where users in the Sales department cannot access a file server located in the Engineering department. The network consists of multiple switches connected via fiber optic cables. The technician verifies that the file server is online and can be pinged by its IP address from a Sales workstation. However, when attempting to access the file server by its hostname (\fileserver\share), the access fails. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

DNS server settings on the workstations. The issue is that the file server is reachable by IP address but not by hostname. This indicates that name resolution is failing, and DNS is the service responsible for translating hostnames to IP addresses. Since the workstation can ping the server's IP, connectivity and routing are working, so the first thing to check is the DNS server settings on the workstations to ensure they are configured with a valid DNS server that can resolve the hostname 'fileserver'.

Answer

The default gateway configuration

Answer

VLAN configuration on the switches

Answer

The file server's firewall settings

Question 14

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that was functioning normally before the user cleaned the inside with compressed air. After reassembly, the PC powers on (fans spin, LEDs light) but there is no video output and no POST beeps. The technician has already reseated the RAM, GPU, and all power cables. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Clear the CMOS by removing the battery or using the jumper. Clearing the CMOS is the correct next step because the compressed air may have dislodged dust or created a static discharge that corrupted the BIOS/UEFI configuration, causing the system to fail POST without beeps. Reseating components already addressed loose connections, so the issue likely lies in the stored firmware settings, which a CMOS reset will restore to defaults.

Answer

Check the power supply voltages with a multimeter

Answer

Replace the motherboard

Answer

Replace the CPU 4+4 pin power cable

Question 15

A technician is troubleshooting a desktop PC that randomly shuts down after about 30 minutes of use. The technician has already swapped the power supply unit (PSU) with a known-good 550W unit, but the issue persists. The system is running a standard productivity workload with no overtaxing of components. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

CPU cooler thermal paste application and cooler seating. Since the PSU has already been replaced with a known-good unit and the system is not under heavy load, the most likely cause of a consistent 30-minute shutdown is thermal throttling or overheating due to poor CPU cooler contact. Dried-out or improperly applied thermal paste, or a cooler that is not seated evenly, can cause the CPU to reach critical temperature thresholds (typically around 100°C for modern Intel/AMD processors) after a period of sustained operation, triggering an automatic shutdown to prevent damage.

Answer

RAM module seating and memory diagnostics

Answer

Motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaking

Answer

Hard drive health using S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics