CompTIA · Free Practice Questions · Last reviewed May 2026
36real exam-style questions organised by domain, each with the correct answer highlighted and a plain-English explanation of why it's right — and why the others are wrong.
A user reports that their computer is running slowly and the hard drive activity light is constantly on. The technician checks Task Manager and sees that disk usage is at 100%. What is the most likely cause?
Malware infection that is encrypting files in the background
Insufficient RAM causing the system to use the hard drive as virtual memory excessively
High disk usage with constant activity often indicates insufficient RAM causing excessive paging.
A failing hard drive that needs to be replaced immediately
The hard drive is almost full and needs to be defragmented
A technician is setting up a small office network. Which device should be used to connect multiple computers and allow them to communicate with each other?
Router
Modem
Switch
A switch connects devices on a local network and forwards frames based on MAC addresses.
Hub
A user wants to ensure that a document cannot be edited by others. Which file property should be set?
Archive
Hidden
System
Read-only
Read-only prevents modifications to the file.
A company wants to implement a solution that allows employees to access internal applications from home without installing software on their personal devices. Which technology should be used?
Remote Desktop Services (RDS)
Thin client
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
VDI provides a full desktop experience accessible via a web browser without installing software.
A technician is troubleshooting a user's inability to access the internet. The user can ping the default gateway but cannot ping external websites. What is the most likely issue?
Firewall is blocking all outbound traffic
Default gateway is down
IP address is misconfigured
DNS server is not configured or is unreachable
Pinging external sites by name fails if DNS is not resolving.
A database administrator needs to ensure that a transaction either completes fully or not at all. Which property of database transactions is this?
Atomicity
Atomicity guarantees that a transaction is treated as a single unit, which either completes fully or not at all.
Isolation
Consistency
Durability
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Practice this domainA user reports that their computer is unable to access the internet, but can access local network resources. Which of the following is the most likely cause?
Windows Firewall blocking outbound traffic
Incorrect default gateway
The default gateway is needed to route traffic outside the local subnet.
DNS server not responding
Faulty Ethernet cable
A technician needs to set up a small office network with 15 computers. The computers should be able to communicate with each other and share a single internet connection. Which device is required to enable internet sharing?
Modem
Hub
Router
A router connects multiple networks and provides NAT for internet sharing.
Switch
A company's server room is experiencing intermittent overheating. The administrator notices that the perforated floor tiles are blocked by equipment. What is the most likely consequence of this obstruction?
Reduced cooling efficiency and hot spots
Perforated tiles deliver cold air; blocking them creates hot spots and reduces cooling.
Increased electrical load on the UPS
Increased humidity levels
Reduced battery backup time
A technician is troubleshooting a network slowdown. The technician suspects a loop in the network. Which of the following protocols would prevent such a loop?
STP
STP prevents loops by disabling redundant paths.
DNS
NAT
DHCP
A small business wants to set up a wireless network. Which of the following is the BEST security method to use?
WEP
WPA2
WPA2 provides strong encryption.
MAC address filtering
Disable SSID broadcast
A company has a server that hosts a critical database. The server uses RAID 5 with three disks. One disk fails. What is the immediate impact on data availability?
Data is available only after replacing the disk
The server will shut down
All data on the array is lost
Data is still available, but performance may degrade
RAID 5 uses parity; with one disk missing, reads are slower.
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Practice this domainA user reports that a spreadsheet application crashes every time they try to open a specific file. The file was created in a newer version of the software. What is the most likely cause?
The computer does not have enough RAM.
The file was saved in a format incompatible with the installed version.
Newer file formats may cause crashes in older versions due to unsupported features.
The file is corrupted.
The user does not have permission to access the file.
A small business needs to share documents among employees and allow real-time collaboration. Which type of application is best suited?
Using email to send attachments back and forth.
Implementing a cloud-based productivity suite.
Cloud suites like Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 allow simultaneous editing and sharing.
Using a web browser to access public documents.
Installing a local office suite on each workstation.
A software developer writes code that stores sensitive user data. To comply with data protection regulations, which application-level security measure should be implemented?
Install a firewall on the server.
Run regular antivirus scans.
Use encryption for data storage and transmission.
Encryption renders data unreadable without a key, ensuring confidentiality.
Require multi-factor authentication for login.
A user wants to create a presentation with slides, animations, and speaker notes. Which application type should they use?
Word processing software.
Database software.
Spreadsheet software.
Presentation software.
Presentation applications like PowerPoint or Keynote provide the required features.
An employee receives an email with an attachment that claims to be an invoice. The employee is unsure of the sender. What is the best practice?
Delete the email and report it to the IT department.
Deleting removes the threat; reporting allows IT to warn others.
Forward the email to a personal email for later review.
Reply to the sender requesting confirmation.
Open the attachment to verify its contents.
A company uses a legacy application that only runs on Windows 7. The IT department plans to upgrade to Windows 10. What is the best approach to ensure compatibility?
Use Windows 10 compatibility mode for the application.
Compatibility mode allows the app to run as if on an older OS.
Replace the legacy application with a modern equivalent.
Run the application in a virtual machine with Windows 7.
Install the application directly on Windows 10 without changes.
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Practice this domainA junior developer is tasked with fixing a bug where a variable is unexpectedly undefined. The developer suspects the variable is not within scope. Which programming concept describes where a variable can be accessed?
Loop
Scope
Scope determines the visibility and lifetime of a variable within a program.
Data type
Function
A development team is using version control for their project. They need to isolate a new feature from the main codebase until it is complete. Which version control operation should they perform?
Merge
Commit
Branch
Branching creates a separate workspace for developing a feature independently.
Push
A software application is experiencing performance degradation. The team suspects a memory leak. Which development practice should be used to identify the source of the leak?
Unit testing
Debugging
Profiling
Profiling tools track resource usage, including memory allocation, to identify leaks.
Code review
A developer needs to store a list of employee names. Which data structure is most appropriate?
String
Array
An array can hold multiple values of the same type, like a list of names.
Boolean
Integer
A web application is not responding to user input. The developer checks the code and finds an infinite loop. Which change will fix the infinite loop?
Remove the loop body
Add a break statement
Add a counter variable that increments and check it in the condition
A counter limits the number of iterations, ensuring the loop eventually ends.
Change from a for loop to a while loop
A team is developing a new feature using an Agile methodology. The product owner wants to see a working version of the feature after each iteration. Which practice best supports this request?
Code review
Continuous integration
Continuous integration ensures that code changes are integrated and built frequently, providing a working version.
Refactoring
Writing comprehensive documentation
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Practice this domainA small business owner wants to protect sensitive customer data stored on a laptop that is frequently used on public Wi-Fi networks. The owner is considering implementing a security control that ensures data remains confidential even if the laptop is stolen. Which of the following is the BEST control for this scenario?
Use a VPN when connected to public Wi-Fi
Install antivirus software
Implement full-disk encryption
Full-disk encryption protects data at rest by encrypting the entire drive, so data is unreadable without the decryption key.
Require a strong password for user login
A security analyst is reviewing user permissions and discovers that several users have been granted more privileges than necessary to perform their job functions. The analyst wants to apply the principle of least privilege. Which TWO actions should the analyst take? (Choose TWO.)
Grant full administrative access to a single IT administrator
Audit current permissions to identify unnecessary privileges
Auditing helps identify where excessive privileges exist, which is a necessary first step.
Create role-based access control (RBAC) groups that match job functions
RBAC aligns permissions with job roles, ensuring users have only the access needed.
Allow users to request temporary elevation of privileges for specific tasks
Remove all permissions from users and add them back only when requested
A help desk technician receives an alert from the security monitoring system showing multiple events like the one in the exhibit. The technician is investigating a possible brute-force attack. Based on the exhibit, which of the following is the primary attack vector being used?
VPN brute-force attack
RDP brute-force attack
Logon Type 10 indicates a remote interactive logon, commonly used by RDP.
SSH brute-force attack
Web application attack
You are the IT security administrator for a mid-sized law firm that handles sensitive client data. The firm has a mix of Windows 10 workstations, a Windows Server 2019 domain controller, and a network printer. All users have standard user accounts. The senior partner recently received a phishing email that appeared to be from a known client, requesting that he click a link to review a document. He clicked the link and entered his domain credentials on a fake login page. Shortly after, the firm's file server began encrypting files and displaying a ransom note. The incident response team isolated the infected server and restored files from backup. However, the senior partner now reports that he cannot access the file server from his workstation. He receives an 'Access Denied' message. You check his account in Active Directory and find that his account is not locked out and the password is correct. The file server is back online and accessible by other users. You verify that the senior partner's workstation has network connectivity and can ping the file server. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause of the access issue?
The senior partner's password was changed during incident response, and his workstation has cached old credentials
After credential compromise, passwords are often reset. The workstation may be using cached old credentials, causing authentication failure despite network connectivity.
The senior partner's account was disabled by the automatic containment script
The ransomware modified the file server's permissions to deny access to the senior partner's account
The senior partner's workstation IP address was blacklisted on the file server
Which TWO of the following are examples of social engineering attacks?
Adware
Spoofing
Tailgating
Tailgating is a social engineering attack where an unauthorized person follows an authorized individual into a restricted area.
Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack that uses deceptive emails or messages to trick users into revealing sensitive information.
Shoulder surfing
Refer to the exhibit. A security analyst reviews the NTFS permissions on the C:\Shared folder. Which user or group has the ability to delete files created by other users?
Users
Users have Modify (M) permissions, which include the ability to delete files and subfolders, even those created by other users.
No user or group
Admin
Everyone
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Practice this domainA user needs to store customer information including name, address, and order history. Which database type is most appropriate?
Hierarchical database
Flat-file database
NoSQL database
Relational database
Relational databases use tables, keys, and relationships to efficiently store and query structured data like customer info and orders.
A database analyst is designing a schema for a library system. Each book can have multiple authors, and each author can write multiple books. Which relationship type should be used?
Many-to-one
One-to-many
Many-to-many
Many-to-many is correct because a book can have multiple authors and an author can write multiple books, requiring a junction table.
One-to-one
A database administrator is troubleshooting a slow query on a large table. Which index type would improve performance for an exact match search on a single column?
Clustered index
B-tree index
B-tree indexes are ideal for exact match and range queries, providing fast lookup.
Bitmap index
Hash index
A developer writes a query: SELECT * FROM Employees WHERE Department = 'Sales'. Which statement about this query is true?
It sorts results by Department
It returns all columns for employees in Sales
SELECT * returns all columns, and the WHERE clause filters for Sales department.
It returns only the Department column
It returns all rows from the Employees table
A database designer wants to ensure that no two employees have the same email address. Which constraint should be applied to the Email column?
UNIQUE
UNIQUE constraint ensures no duplicate email addresses.
PRIMARY KEY
CHECK
FOREIGN KEY
A database administrator notices that a transaction that updates two tables is failing halfway, leaving data inconsistent. Which property of ACID ensures that the database returns to its original state if the transaction fails?
Consistency
Durability
Isolation
Atomicity
Atomicity guarantees that all parts of a transaction succeed or none do, allowing rollback on failure.
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Practice this domainThe FC0-U61 exam has 75 questions and must be completed in 60 minutes. The passing score is 650/1000.
Multiple-choice and performance-based questions covering IT security, networking, and operations. Some questions are performance-based (PBQs), asking you to complete tasks in a simulated environment.
The exam covers 6 domains: IT Concepts and Terminology, Infrastructure, Applications and Software, Software Development Concepts, Security, Database Fundamentals. Questions are weighted by domain — higher-weight domains appear more on your actual exam.
No. These are original exam-style practice questions written against the official CompTIA FC0-U61 exam objectives. They are not copied from the real exam. Courseiva focuses on genuine understanding, not memorisation of braindumps.
Courseiva tracks your accuracy per domain and routes you toward weak areas automatically. Free, no account required.