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






2. Also called striping with distributed parity or striping with interleave parity - this RAID method involves a set of disks in which every time data is written to disk - a portion is written to each disk in turn - creating a "stripe" of data across th






3. A service on a laptop that configures a card after socket services has recognized it.






4. The traditional transmission system for television video signals - which combines the color and brightness information with the synchronization data into one signal. The TV circuitry then separates the two signals from the composite signal.






5. Aka zero insertion force (ZIF) socket.






6. 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






7. A magnetic mass storage device primarily used for backing up data from computers.






8. Aka Gigabit Ethernet.






9. A type of switched network used by phone companies.






10. One of the main protocols of the TCP/IP protocol suite - IP manages logical addressing of network packets so routing protocols can route the packets over the network.






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






12. A type of solid-state storage that is portable - about the size of a flattened thumb - and usually has a USB interface. Also called a flash drive or jump drive.






13. A video signaling method in which analog video information is transmitted as two or more discrete signals. Two general types of component video are RGB Video and S-Video.






14. Aka process priority level.






15. An adapter card used to run a special diagnostic test on a computer as it is powering up. These tests usually go beyond those performed by the system BIOS-based POST.






16. A connector used to attach coaxial cables to computers and network equipment. Origin of the term may be "Bayonet-Neill-Concelman" or "British Naval Connector."






17. The PCMCIA standard that succeeds the PC Card.






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






19. The generic term for a pointing stick.






20. Aka digitizing tablet.






21. An encryption technology introduced in Windows Vista Enterprise and Ultimate editions - Windows Server 2008 - and also in Windows 7 Ultimate and Enterprise editions. It encrypts the entire boot volume.






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






23. A device that converts DC current to AC. An inverter is required in a laptop to provide the AC current required by the display.






24. A power supply standard that has both the 20-pin connector for the motherboard and a 4-pin 12 V connector.






25. The redirection of incoming traffic to the requesting internal hosts that initiated the communication with an external host.






26. Aka input/output.






27. A dark spot on an LCD screen caused when a transistor is permanently off.






28. A communications network made up of personal computing devices - such as computers - telephones - and personal digital assistants.






29. A diagram showing the purpose of each wire in a connector.






30. A special-purpose computer designed for a certain task and installed within a device.






31. A virtual tunnel created between two endpoints over an untrusted network. The tunnel is created by encapsulating the packets within special packets for the tunnel. Other security methods are also usually applied to a VPN - such as encrypting the data






32. A type of solid-state storage that is commonly used in a variety of devices - such as digital cameras.






33. An area on the top left of the Windows XP Start menu containing shortcuts to Windows Update and programs for browsing the Internet and using e-mail.






34. A power supply that converts between alternating current and direct current.






35. Aka distributed denial of service attack.






36. A password that meets certain criteria in order to be difficult to crack. One definition of a strong password is one that contains at least eight characters - includes a combination of letters - numbers - and other symbols ( _ - - - $ - and so on) an






37. Aka interrupt request line.






38. One of the two main protocols of the TCP/IP protocol suite - TCP breaks the data into chunks - called datagrams. Each datagram also contains information - stored in a header - which is used by the TCP protocol on the receiving end to reassemble the c






39. A portion of a program that can run separately from and concurrently with other portions of the program. Also called thread of execution.






40. Fiber-optic cable that allows only a single light wave to pass down the cable.






41. In Windows - a security account that contains one or more local user accounts - and when a computer is a member of a Windows domain - may also contain domain user or group accounts.






42. Also called 1000Base-T - this networking standard supports speeds up to 1 Gbps.






43. An LCD technology based on thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. An active matrix display has a transistor at every pixel - which enables much quicker display changes than passive matrix displays and produces a display quality comparable to a CRT.






44. A rectangular connector with a locking clip on one side and a number designation that refers to the size rather than the number of wires.






45. A more advanced and more expensive alternative to a port replicator. In addition to the ports normally found on a port replicator - a docking station may include full-size expansion slots and drives.






46. Aka continuity RIMM.






47. Aka lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery.






48. Aka file allocation table.






49. A WAN connection that uses an analog modem rather than a network card and uses standard phone cables rather than network cables.






50. A Windows display setting that allows you to adjust the number of colors - or color depth - used by the display.