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220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is troubleshooting a Lenovo ThinkPad…
A technician is troubleshooting a Lenovo ThinkPad that will not turn on. When the power button is pressed, the keyboard lights flash briefly, then nothing. The battery is known to be charged. After removing the battery and holding the power button for 30 seconds, the laptop still does not power on. What should the technician try next?
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
✓
Connect the laptop to a known-good AC adapter and try to power on without the battery installed.
This is a classic symptom of residual charge in the capacitors preventing a proper boot. The 'remove battery and hold power button' step discharges the system. If that fails, the next step is to test with a known-good AC adapter, as the internal charging circuit may be faulty. If that also fails, the motherboard or power button may be defective.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the CMOS battery.
Why it's wrong here
Replacing the CMOS battery is incorrect because a depleted CMOS battery primarily affects the system's ability to retain BIOS settings, such as date, time, and boot order, when the main power source is disconnected. While it can lead to boot failures if critical settings are lost, it does not typically prevent a laptop from receiving power or attempting to power on at all. A complete 'no power' symptom indicates an issue with the primary power delivery system, not the CMOS battery.
- ✓
Connect the laptop to a known-good AC adapter and try to power on without the battery installed.
Why this is correct
This isolates the issue to either the laptop's internal power circuitry or the battery/charger. If it powers on with the AC adapter, the battery or its connection is faulty. If not, the motherboard likely has a fault.
- ✗
Reseat the RAM modules.
Why it's wrong here
Reseating the RAM modules is an inappropriate first step for a 'no power' symptom. RAM issues, such as improperly seated or faulty modules, typically manifest as a system that powers on (fans spin, power lights illuminate) but fails to complete the Power-On Self-Test (POST), often resulting in a blank screen, specific beep codes, or repeated reboots. A complete lack of power, where no indicators light up and no fans spin, points to a problem with the power source or motherboard, not the RAM.
- ✗
Perform a hard reset by disconnecting the internal battery (if accessible) and holding the power button for 60 seconds.
Why it's wrong here
The technician already performed a hard reset by removing the external battery and holding the power button. Disconnecting the internal battery is a more thorough version of the same step, but it is unlikely to help if the external battery removal did not work, and it is more invasive.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Laptop Hardware and Components
Key term
Laptop
A portable personal computer that integrates a display, keyboard, touchpad, battery, and internal components into a single clamshell device for mobile computing.
Key term
Motherboard
The main circuit board inside a computer that connects all components so they can communicate with each other and receive power.
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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.