Test your basic knowledge |

Comptia A + Certification

Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Aka enhanced capabilities port (ECP) mode.






2. Cable that consists of pairs of wires twisted around each other. The twists help to boost each wire's signals and make them less susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI).






3. A file system in which one of the basic structures is a table used for allocating space. This table is called the file allocation table (FAT).






4. An Intel standard for motherboards targeted to the low-end consumer market that includes built-in components - while saving space and fitting into a smaller case.






5. In Windows - an Advanced Option that is only available in Windows Servers in the role of domain controllers - although it appears on the menu in non-domain controllers.






6. Aka Wireless Fidelity.






7. A specialized type of scanner that reads bar codes - which are patterns of bars of varying widths printed on labels or directly on items. The bar pattern is converted into a numeric code that is transmitted to a computer as data.






8. A large burst of electromagnetic energy - as from a nuclear explosion - that has the potential to damage communications and power lines within a large geographic area - depending on the size and location of the pulse.






9. In an operating system GUI - a tiny graphic representing an application - folder - disk - menu item - or other entity.






10. Unsolicited e-mail.






11. Used to represent the luminance signal in S-Video.






12. The sudden and uncontrolled movement of electricity from an object with a greater charge to one with a lesser charge. Also called static electricity.






13. A remote KVM switch that uses either Cat 5 or USB cabling. The distance it can be from the computers it controls is a function of the length limits of the cabling; it normally uses a proprietary protocol and special hardware.






14. A misnomer - referring to the BIOS settings that are stored in a CMOS chip.






15. A fraudulent method of obtaining personal and financial information through the use of pop-ups or e-mail messages that purport to be from a legitimate organization - such as a bank - credit card company - or retailer.






16. Erasable programmable read-only memory. A ROM chip that is erasable and reprogrammable through the use of specialized software.






17. A small program - such as those that can be run from the Windows Sidebar.






18. An extension of the SATA standard for external SATA devices - with speeds triple that of USB 2.0.






19. A special modifier key on a laptop keyboard that when pressed together with certain alphanumeric keys - changes the output of the pressed key. It is often called the function key.






20. A motherboard form factor introduced in 2003 by Intel as the successor to ATX.






21. A type of memory checking in which every eight-bit byte of data is accompanied by a ninth bit (the parity bit) - which is used to determine the presence of errors in the data. The two types of parity are odd and even.






22. Software instructions stored in ROM chips. It exists on most PC components and on the motherboard.






23. A display device that contains a cathode ray tube and uses an electron gun to activate phosphors behind the screen at the front of the tub.






24. A 4-pin connector that - in addition to a 20-pin connector - is part of motherboard power connector that follows the ATX 12V standard.






25. The first type of RAM available. It is very fast - compared to DRAM - but also very expensive.






26. A virus that gains access to a computer by masquerading as a harmless program that a user innocently installs on the computer.






27. A utility that provides remote terminal emulation for connecting to computers and network devices running server software that can respond - without needing to be concerned with the actual operating system running on either system.






28. Things used for authentication - such as something you know - something you have - or something you are. Authentication involves one or more of these factors and can - therefore - be one-factor - two-factor - or three-factor authentication.






29. Dual inline package. A very tiny slide that indicates two states. Motherboard and other circuit cards often have one or more groupings of DIP switches for configuring options.






30. A metal plate behind the front of a CRT monitor that focuses the electron beams from the gun.






31. Local area networking using radio waves that includes several implementations based on the IEEE 802.11 group of standards.






32. A coherent and concentrated light beam - also simply called a laser.






33. Aka Rambus Dynamic RAM.






34. A mode for parallel ports that allows access to special features in the PC called DMA channels. This mode is approximately ten times faster than regular bidirectional mode and is designed for printers and scanners.






35. The appropriate responses that you make during a conversation.






36. Aka Advanced Communications Riser.






37. Aka Small Outline DIMM.






38. The bus within a CPU that connects the CPU to external components.






39. Aka asynchronous transfer mode.






40. The type of connector used in the ExpressCard interface.






41. A category of software that runs surreptitiously on a user's computer in order to gather information without the user's permission and then sends that information to the people who requested it.






42. Introduced in 1993 - the most common expansion bus architecture in PCs in the mid 1990s. It transfers data in parallel over a data bus that is either 32- or 64-bits wide.






43. A network in which all of the computers essentially operate as both servers (providing access to shared resources) and clients (accessing those shared resources).






44. DRAM that runs at the speed of the system bus (up to 100-133 MHz).






45. A utility for migrating data from many computers - or if you need to perform what Microsoft calls a "wipe-and-load migration" from and to the same computer. Available in Windows XP - Vista - and Windows 7.






46. A device that in its traditional configuration as a local KVM switch connects a single keyboard - video display - and mouse to two or more computer systems - allowing the user to switch control from one computer to another.






47. A specialized chip that controls DMA channels.






48. Any type of computer that you can easily transport and that contains an all-in-one component layout.






49. Slang for motherboard.






50. A connector that is slightly larger than an RJ-11 connector and contains eight wires. RJ-45 connectors most commonly attach twisted-pair cables to Ethernet network cards.