220-1101 Hardware Practice Test 5 — 15 Questions

Question 1

A technician is assembling a desktop computer in a new case. After installing the motherboard and connecting all components, the computer powers on but immediately shuts down after a few seconds. The technician notices that the motherboard is touching the metal case in several places and that no standoffs were installed between the motherboard and the case tray. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the shutdown?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

There is a short circuit between the motherboard and the case.. When the motherboard touches the metal case without standoffs, exposed solder points or traces on the back of the board can contact the conductive case, creating an unintended electrical path. This short circuit typically triggers the power supply's overcurrent protection (OCP) or short-circuit protection (SCP), causing the system to power on briefly and then immediately shut down to prevent damage.

Answer

The CPU is overheating due to improper cooler installation.

Answer

The power supply unit is underpowered for the system.

Answer

The front panel power button is incorrectly wired.

Question 2

A technician is installing a new CPU into a desktop motherboard. After placing the CPU into the socket and applying a small amount of thermal paste, the technician is about to attach the heatsink. Which of the following is the correct method for securing the heatsink?

Accepted Answer

Tighten screws in a diagonal/cross pattern a little at a time. The correct method is to tighten the heatsink screws in a diagonal/cross pattern a little at a time. This ensures even pressure distribution across the CPU's integrated heat spreader (IHS), preventing uneven contact that can cause hot spots or thermal throttling. Tightening one screw fully first can tilt the heatsink, creating an air gap that reduces thermal transfer efficiency.

Answer

Tighten one screw fully, then move to the next

Answer

Apply additional thermal paste after mounting the heatsink

Answer

Use a power drill to speed up the process

Question 3

A technician is assembling a desktop computer in a new case. After installing the motherboard and connecting all components, the computer powers on but immediately shuts down after a few seconds. The technician notices that the motherboard is touching the metal case in several places and that no standoffs were installed between the motherboard and the case tray. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the shutdown?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

The 4+4 pin EPS12V power connector is not plugged into the motherboard. The 4+4 pin EPS12V connector provides dedicated power to the CPU. Without it, the CPU cannot initialize, causing the motherboard's fail-safe to power off after a few seconds and then repeatedly attempt to restart. The cooler fan spinning normally indicates the system is receiving basic power, but the CPU lacks the necessary voltage to complete POST.

Answer

The RAM modules are not fully seated in their slots

Answer

The CMOS battery is depleted

Answer

The power supply is not rated for the required wattage

Question 4

A technician is building a workstation with a motherboard that has two M.2 slots. One slot (M2A) supports both SATA and PCIe, and the other (M2B) supports PCIe only. The technician installs a SATA M.2 drive in M2B. After booting, the system does not detect the drive. Which of the following is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The M2B slot does not support SATA mode.. The M2B slot supports PCIe only, not SATA. Since the technician installed a SATA M.2 drive into that slot, the motherboard cannot communicate with the drive because the slot lacks the necessary SATA controller interface. This is a classic mismatch between drive interface and slot capability.

Answer

The M.2 drive is defective.

Answer

The SATA controller is disabled in BIOS.

Answer

The drive's firmware needs an update.

Question 5

A technician has just completed building a new desktop computer. After connecting all components and closing the case, the technician presses the power button on the front of the case, but nothing happens. No fans spin, no lights come on. The technician has verified that the power supply unit (PSU) works by testing it in another system. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Connect the front panel power switch header to the correct motherboard pins.. The most likely cause of a completely dead system (no fans, no lights) after building a new PC is that the front panel power switch is not properly connected to the motherboard. The power button on the case is a momentary switch that completes a circuit on the motherboard's front panel header; if the connector is on the wrong pins or not seated, pressing the button does nothing. Since the PSU has been verified working in another system, the next logical step is to check this simple, common wiring error before moving to more complex hardware troubleshooting.

Answer

Replace the CMOS battery on the motherboard.

Answer

Reseat the CPU in the socket.

Answer

Test the power supply using a multimeter.

Question 6

A technician is building a workstation for video editing. The motherboard has four DDR4 DIMM slots and supports dual-channel memory. The technician installs two 16 GB modules in slots 1 and 2, and two 8 GB modules in slots 3 and 4. The system boots and recognizes all 48 GB of RAM, but the memory bandwidth is lower than expected. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The memory is operating in single-channel mode because the capacities per channel are mismatched.. Dual-channel memory requires matched capacities per channel. With 16 GB in slots 1 and 2 (channel A) and 8 GB in slots 3 and 4 (channel B), the total capacity per channel is 32 GB vs. 16 GB. This mismatch forces the memory controller to fall back to single-channel mode, halving the theoretical bandwidth and causing the lower-than-expected performance.

Answer

The RAM modules are not compatible with the motherboard.

Answer

The CPU does not support 48 GB of RAM.

Answer

The BIOS needs to be updated to enable dual-channel mode.

Question 7

A technician is replacing a failed hard drive in a server that uses RAID 1 (mirroring). The server has hot-swappable drive bays, and the operating system continues to function with the remaining drive. Which of the following steps should the technician perform FIRST to restore fault tolerance?

Accepted Answer

Remove the failed drive, insert a new drive of equal or larger capacity, and allow the RAID controller to rebuild the mirror automatically. In a RAID 1 (mirroring) configuration with hot-swappable bays, the failed drive can be removed and a new drive of equal or larger capacity inserted while the system remains online. The RAID controller will automatically detect the new drive and rebuild the mirror, restoring fault tolerance without manual intervention or backup restoration. This is the standard first step because it leverages the hot-swap capability and the automatic rebuild feature of RAID 1.

Answer

Replace both hard drives and restore the data from a recent backup

Answer

Format the new drive in the server's file system before inserting it

Answer

Remove the failed drive, insert a new drive, and launch the RAID configuration utility to designate the new drive as a hot spare

Question 8

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 9

A technician is building a new desktop computer. After installing the CPU, heatsink, RAM, and connecting all cables, the system powers on but displays no video. The motherboard has integrated graphics. The technician hears a series of short beeps. What should the technician check first?

Accepted Answer

The RAM. The series of short beeps is a common POST (Power-On Self-Test) code indicating a memory failure. Since the motherboard has integrated graphics and the system powers on, the CPU and power supply are likely functioning. The RAM is the most probable cause because improper seating or faulty modules prevent the system from completing POST and initializing video output.

Answer

The power supply

Answer

The CPU

Answer

The video cable

Question 10

A technician builds a new workstation. After installing the CPU, heatsink, RAM, and a discrete video card, the system powers on (fans spin, lights come on) but the monitor shows 'No Signal'. The technician verifies the monitor works with another computer. The motherboard has integrated graphics, and the technician tries connecting the monitor to both the integrated port and the discrete video card port; neither produces a display. The system emits no beep codes. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Clear the CMOS by removing the battery or using the jumper. The system powers on with no display and no beep codes, which strongly indicates a POST failure that prevents the motherboard from initializing video output. Clearing the CMOS resets the BIOS/UEFI settings to factory defaults, which can resolve issues caused by incorrect configuration (e.g., a setting that disables integrated graphics or a corrupted video initialization parameter). This is a standard first step when no display is present and all basic connections are verified.

Answer

Reseat the CPU and reapply thermal paste

Answer

Replace the RAM modules one at a time

Answer

Check the power supply connections to the discrete video card

Question 11

A technician is building a new desktop computer for a graphic designer. After installing the motherboard, CPU, RAM, and a high-end discrete GPU, the system powers on (fans spin, LEDs light) but the monitor displays 'No Signal' when plugged into the GPU. The technician verifies the monitor works with another computer. Which of the following should the technician check FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Verify that the PCIe power cables from the power supply are properly connected to the graphics card. The most common cause of a 'No Signal' error when a discrete GPU is installed is that the PCIe power cables from the power supply are not connected or are insufficiently seated. High-end GPUs require dedicated 6-pin or 8-pin PCIe power connectors; without them, the card may power its fans and LEDs via the PCIe slot but cannot initialize the display output. Since the monitor works with another computer, the issue is isolated to the GPU's power delivery, making this the logical first check.

Answer

Reseat the graphics card in the PCIe slot

Answer

Replace the HDMI or DisplayPort cable

Answer

Update the motherboard BIOS to the latest version

Question 12

A technician is building a gaming PC. The motherboard has a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot occupied by a PCIe 3.0 graphics card, and an M.2 slot that supports PCIe 4.0 x4. The user wants to install a high-performance NVMe SSD. Which of the following is the BEST practice for installing the NVMe SSD to maximize performance?

Accepted Answer

Install the SSD in the dedicated M.2 PCIe 4.0 slot. The M.2 slot supports PCIe 4.0 x4, which provides up to 8 GB/s bandwidth, perfectly matching a high-performance NVMe SSD. Installing the SSD in this dedicated slot avoids any bottleneck from the PCIe 3.0 graphics card or slower interfaces, ensuring maximum sequential read/write speeds.

Answer

Use a PCIe 3.0 x1 expansion card for the SSD

Answer

Connect the SSD via a SATA III cable to a SATA port

Answer

Use a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot with an adapter

Question 13

A technician is building a workstation with a motherboard that has four DIMM slots arranged as two channels (slots 1/2 for channel A, slots 3/4 for channel B). The technician installs two identical 8 GB DDR4 modules in slots 1 and 2. The system POSTs successfully and shows 16 GB of RAM, but subsequent memory benchmarks indicate that the memory bandwidth is only half of the expected value. Which of the following should the technician do to resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Move one of the RAM modules to slot 3. The motherboard has two memory channels: channel A (slots 1 and 2) and channel B (slots 3 and 4). Installing both modules in slots 1 and 2 places them on the same channel, which prevents dual-channel interleaving. This halves the memory bandwidth because the CPU can only access one module at a time per channel. Moving one module to slot 3 (channel B) enables dual-channel mode, doubling the effective bandwidth.

Answer

Enable XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) in the BIOS

Answer

Replace both modules with single-rank modules

Answer

Increase the memory voltage in the BIOS

Question 14

A technician replaced a failed power supply in a desktop computer with a higher wattage unit. The computer now powers on for one second then shuts down. The technician has verified all cable connections are secure and the PSU passes the paperclip test. What should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

The voltage selector switch on the PSU.. The voltage selector switch on the PSU must match the local mains voltage (115V for North America, 230V for Europe/Asia). If set to 230V while plugged into a 115V outlet, the PSU will briefly start but immediately shut down due to undervoltage protection. The paperclip test only verifies the PSU fan spins, not that it delivers correct voltages under load.

Answer

The motherboard BIOS settings.

Answer

The CPU fan header connection.

Answer

The front panel power switch.

Question 15

A technician is building a new desktop computer. After installing the CPU, RAM, and a high-end graphics card, the system powers on but shuts down after about 10 seconds. The CPU fan spins erratically during this time. The technician has verified the CPU is supported and properly seated. The heatsink came with pre-applied thermal paste. Which of the following should the technician check NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Ensure the CPU fan cable is connected to the CPU_FAN header. The CPU fan cable must be connected to the motherboard's CPU_FAN header, not a chassis fan header, because the system monitors the CPU_FAN header for a tachometer signal. If the fan is connected elsewhere, the motherboard detects no fan RPM on the CPU_FAN header and may shut down after a few seconds to prevent CPU overheating, even if the fan is spinning. The erratic fan behavior suggests the fan is receiving power but not being properly controlled or monitored by the CPU_FAN header.

Answer

Replace the CPU with a known-good unit

Answer

Remove and reseat the graphics card

Answer

Check the RAM modules are in the correct slots