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. The boot loader file in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. During the boot loader phase - NTLDR takes control of the system - switches the CPU to protected mode - starts the file system - and reads the BOOT.INI file.






2. The conversion of data into a special format that cannot be read by anyone unless they have a software key to convert it back into its usable form.






3. Introduced in Windows 2000 - a user interface for Windows administration tools that is flexible and configurable.






4. An identifier assigned to a process when it starts.






5. A method used by several software manufacturers to combat software piracy. The formal name for Microsoft's activation is Microsoft Product Activation (MPA).






6. An area of a physical hard disk that defines space that will be used for logical drives.. (v.) To define the space to be used for logical drives using a special program - such as the Windows Setup program.






7. A heat dissipation device - usually a passive metal object with a flat surface attached to a component - such as a chip.






8. Aka New Low-profile eXtended.






9. Video RAM memory that uses a technique for using video RAM to perform Windows-specific functions to speed up the OS.






10. The protocol used by DHCP servers and clients. A DHCP server allocates IP addresses within the scope of addresses configured on the server by an administrator. DHCP clients request IP addresses and other IP configuration settings from DHCP Servers.






11. BIOS that can be electronically upgraded.






12. In the laser printing process - a wire that passes a small positive charge to paper as it travels through the printer. This positive charge attracts the negatively charged toner particles on the drum to the paper.






13. Aka hard disk drive.






14. An adapter used to connect a computer or other device to a network medium.






15. A server that manages DNS names.






16. Aka Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory.






17. The high-definition optical disc formatting standard developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association whose members include Sony - 20th Century Fox - Dell - Hewlett-Packard - and many other industry leaders.






18. On a cable network - the device used at the customer site for the analog/digital conversion.






19. The cellular network standards used by AT&T and T-Mobile.






20. A storage type in Windows that uses the partition table in the master boot record (MBR) to define disk partitions.






21. A parallel port mode in which the signals can be transmitted in both directions between the PC and parallel devices connected to the computer.






22. A portable computer small enough to fit in your hand - also referred to as a "palmtop" computer. Because it is so small - a PDA does not have the functionality of a laptop or desktop computer. In other words - a typical PDA allows you to perform only






23. Any power supply that provides high voltage - such as those in laser printers and CRTs.






24. A very old expansion bus standard - seen in the early IBM PC.






25. In a laser printer - a high-intensity lamp that - when shone on a portion of the electro-photosensitive drum - removes any remaining charge on that portion of the drum.






26. A printer that creates printed output line by line.






27. The term used for dynamic space allocation that can be formatted with a file system.






28. A type of printer that uses a film coated with colored wax that melts onto paper. These printers are similar to dye-sublimation printers but differ in two major ways: the film contains wax rather than dye - and these printers do not require special p






29. A setting on an LCD display that adjusts the viewable area of the display horizontally.






30. 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.






31. One or more chips in a computer's chipset that controls communications between the CPU and RAM on the motherboard.






32. A chip that retains system settings such as the time - keyboard settings - and boot sequence.






33. A digital video interface that has several modes - including one that offers downward compatibility with analog displays. It requires a special connector - which comes in several variations to support the DVI modes.






34. A device that stores a large amount of information - even when it is powered off.






35. Aka single inline memory module.






36. In the laser printer - the heated rollers that fuse the toner to the paper.






37. A metal strip used to cover an empty slot in order to preserve the correct air flow and keep dust out.






38. A Windows wizard that sets options for starting and running a specific old program that will not otherwise run properly in Windows.






39. A 9-pin D-shell connector.






40. In an IP packet - a value field that shows how many routers the packet can cross before being discarded.






41. The original version of the IEEE 1394 standard that supports speeds up to 400 Mbps.






42. Aka denial of service (DoS) attack.






43. A device - usually resembling a power strip - that protects equipment from power surges.






44. Aka security auditing.






45. A system by which the computer BIOS and operating system recognizes a device and the operating system automatically installs and configures a device driver.






46. Traditionally - this term only applied to the type of device described in the definition for analog modem. Now - it is also used for the digital devices in DSL and cable data communications.






47. A technology used by hard drives to speed up data transfers by using DMA channels.






48. Aka Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.






49. A network that covers a metropolitan area - usually using high-speed fiber-optic cable (operating in the gigabits-per-second range).






50. A DVI mode that supports both analog and digital video signals.