easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A customer reports that their laptop's touchpad…
A customer reports that their laptop's touchpad is unresponsive after they spilled a small amount of liquid on the keyboard. The laptop still powers on and the keyboard works. What is the most likely issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
The 220-1201 exam often tests the distinction between software/driver issues and physical hardware damage after a spill, tempting candidates to choose a driver or BIOS setting when the real cause is a broken physical connection.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The touchpad ribbon cable is damaged or disconnected.
The most likely issue is that the liquid spill has physically damaged or disconnected the touchpad's ribbon cable, which connects the touchpad to the motherboard. Since the keyboard still works, the spill likely affected only the touchpad's dedicated connection path, not the main keyboard controller or system board. A damaged ribbon cable is a common consequence of liquid ingress, even if the laptop powers on normally.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The touchpad driver is corrupted.
Why it's wrong here
A liquid spill primarily causes physical damage to hardware components, such as electrical shorts or corrosion, rather than direct corruption of software drivers. While a driver issue could theoretically occur, it is not the immediate or most probable consequence of liquid contact with internal circuitry. Software problems typically arise from system instability, faulty updates, or malware, not direct water exposure to hardware.
- ✓
The touchpad ribbon cable is damaged or disconnected.
Why this is correct
Liquid can cause immediate electrical shorts or long-term corrosion on the delicate metallic traces of a flexible flat cable (FFC) or flexible printed circuit (FPC) ribbon cable. This damage disrupts the electrical signals between the touchpad sensor and the motherboard, leading to complete unresponsiveness. Furthermore, liquid can degrade the cable material or compromise the retaining clip, causing the cable to become disconnected from its port.
- ✗
The battery is swollen and pressing on the touchpad.
Why it's wrong here
A swollen battery expands due to internal chemical reactions, typically causing physical deformation of the laptop chassis, which can include bulging the touchpad area. While this physical pressure might make the touchpad difficult to use or click, it does not directly cause an electronic unresponsiveness of the sensor itself. Furthermore, battery swelling is a gradual process, not an immediate consequence of a liquid spill.
- ✗
The touchpad is disabled in the BIOS.
Why it's wrong here
BIOS settings are firmware configurations that require deliberate user interaction to modify and are stored in non-volatile memory. A liquid spill, while capable of causing electrical shorts and hardware damage, would not spontaneously alter a BIOS setting to disable a peripheral like the touchpad. Such a change would be a software-level configuration, not a physical consequence of liquid damage to the system.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1201 exam.