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 menu that opens from the Start button on the taskbar.






2. 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.






3. Aka lit pixel.






4. 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.






5. 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.






6. In a CPU - the component that is primarily responsible for directing all the activities of the computer and the interactions of its components.






7. A variation of the PGA CPU packaging that was used with Pentium CPUs.






8. 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.






9. The first physical sector on a floppy disk or the first sector on a hard drive partition. The boot record contains information about the OS. The boot record on a primary active partition is used to start the operating system. Also called the boot sec






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. Aka routing information protocol.






12. A grouping of wires built into a PC that - based on certain protocols - transfers data - control signals - and power to printed circuit boards (adapter cards) that are plugged into connectors in the expansion bus. Technicians often use the termsexpan






13. The signal in a television transmission that contains the brightness of the image.






14. The Microsoft Website from which you can download updates to Windows.






15. A single dot on a display screen. A contraction of "Picture Element."






16. Aka double-data rate (DDR) SDRAM.






17. Aka Windows Internet Naming Service.






18. A CPU power-saving mode that allows a CPU to reduce its speed without losing its place so it does not stop working altogether. SMM also allows the CPU to trigger power saving in other components.






19. A memory error-checking method in which the parity bit is used to ensure that the total number of 1s in the data stream is odd.






20. A memory error-checking method in which the parity bit is used to ensure that the total number of 1s in the data stream is even.






21. A security service in which authentication credentials are encrypted (user name and password) before transmission over a network.






22. A security account that exists in a local security accounts database.






23. In a Microsoft Windows network - an administrative organization with a centralized security accounts database maintained on one or more special servers called domain controllers. This centralized database contains accounts for users - groups - and co






24. A cooling fan mounted directly on the case - as opposed to a power supply fan - which is inside the power supply.






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






26. In networks - when data can travel in either direction - but only in one direction at a time.






27. A protocol that allows routers to update their list of routes dynamically. RIP dates to the 1980s and is considered obsolete; even though - it has been updated a few times and is still supported by most routers.






28. Aka Integrated Drive Electronics.






29. 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.






30. Also called mirroring - this RAID array type provides fault tolerance because all the data is written identically to the two drives in the mirrored set.






31. In a CPU - special memory that resides within the CPU's core and is used to temporarily store instructions and data in order to increase the processing speed. Also called L1 cache.






32. A utility in Windows NT for gathering and viewing performance data involving memory - disks - processors - network - and other objectives.






33. Unsolicited messages sent over an instant messaging service - such as Windows Messenger.






34. An Advanced Options choice that will temporarily disable the Automatically Restart option on the Advanced page of System Properties.






35. Aka external cache.






36. Aka audio modem riser.






37. Aka External Serial ATA.






38. The practice of forcing a CPU or other computer component to run at a higher clock rate than the manufacturer intended.






39. Aka systray.






40. A pen-sized tool that has a plunger at one end. When pressed - the plunger causes small - hooked prongs to extend from the other end of the tool for retrieving dropped objects from inside a computer.






41. The box that houses the main computer system.






42. Aka front side bus.






43. One of many low-level instructions built into the control unit of a CPU. Also called a microprogram.






44. A chip that works with a serial port - converting outgoing data from parallel to serial and incoming data from serial to parallel.






45. An LCD display characteristic that indicates the amount of time in milliseconds (ms) it takes for a single pixel to go from the active to the inactive state and back again.






46. A dedicated computer that stores data and provides print services or other capabilities to network clients.






47. In a laptop - a compartment that holds a single media device that is switchable with another.






48. A CRT video setting - also known as vertical hold - that holds the image vertically on the screen.






49. A modulator/demodulator device that allows computers to communicate with one another over existing phone lines.






50. Aka expansion bus.