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 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.






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






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






4. Aka Small Outline DIMM.






5. Aka Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory.






6. Aka Advanced Technology eXtended.






7. Aka floating-point unit.






8. A tool for migrating user data and settings from one Windows computer to a computer running Windows XP.






9. Aka nickel-cadmium.






10. 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.






11. The type of electrical current delivered by a battery in which the electrons flow in only one direction.






12. A type of printer that transfers ink to paper by causing a print head to strike a printer ribbon containing ink against the paper.






13. The use of deceit and trickery to persuade someone to hand over money or valuables.






14. The act of electronically upgrading BIOS.






15. In a CPU - the speed at which it can potentially execute instructions - measured in millions of cycles per second






16. Aka External Serial ATA.






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






18. A scaled-down laptop in the ultra-portable category - designed for Internet access. Aka also ultra-portable and mini-notebook.






19. A system resource that certain devices - such as sound cards and hard drives - can use to move data between the device and system RAM without involving the processor.






20. In the laser printing process - the step at which the heat-sensitive toner is fused to the paper by heated fusing rollers.






21. A term applied to a CPU - motherboard - or other components that conform to the newer 64-bit architecture. Also referred to as 64-bit.






22. 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.






23. Aka nickel metal hydride.






24. An Advanced Options menu choice that appears under certain circumstances. When available - selecting this option will return to the OS Choices menu (OS Loader menu).






25. Aka synchronous dynamic RAM.






26. A file attribute that is given to a file to indicate it should not be visible in Windows Explorer unless View settings override the attribute and allow the file to be shown.






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






28. The classic PC serial port that complies with the Recommended Standard-232 (RS-232) in its circuitry - cabling - and connector design - and transfers data one bit at a time.






29. A square snap coupling for fiber-optic cable - about 2.5 mm wide - used for cable-to-cable connections or to connect cables to network devices. It latches with a push-pull action similar to audio and video jacks.






30. A local bus designed for video only - it provides a direct link between the processor and the video card - giving the video card direct access to main memory.






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






32. A communications system - owned and operated by the telephone companies - that multiplexes voice and data signals onto digital transmission line.






33. An organization that creates specifications for infrared wireless communication.






34. In Windows Vista and Windows 7 - an Advanced Options menu choice that starts Windows normally - except that the video mode is changed to the lowest resolution - using the currently installed video driver. This option does not switch to the basic Wind






35. Aka capture card.






36. A laptop is a small - easily transported computer - generally weighing less than 7 pounds and with roughly the same dimensions as a 1- to 2-inch-thick stack of magazines. Laptops computers have an all-in-one layout in which the keyboard - and often t






37. The use by the operating system of a portion of hard disk as memory.






38. [1] On computer circuit boards - a very tiny slide that indicates two states.. [2] In a network - a network device - much like a hub - except that a switch takes an incoming signal and sends it to only the destination port - avoiding collisions and m






39. Fiber-optic cable in which multiple light waves can pass simultaneously. Usually larger in diameter than single-mode fiber; and each wave uses a certain portion of the fiber cable for transmission.






40. A video mode that most often consists of a combination of 640






41. Aka radio frequency.






42. Aka random access memory.






43. Two disk drives used for RAID 1 - in which data is written to both drives at the same time - a practice called mirroring.






44. Memory that does not require power to keep stored data intact. Also called flash memory.






45. A primary partition that is marked for use by the system during startup. Windows operating systems can only be booted from an active partition.






46. The original digital discs created in 1995 for storing video.






47. An arrangement of pins on a processor in which the pins are offset in a way that allows for a higher pin density than PGA.






48. A device used with a laptop. The port replicator remains on the desktop with external devices connected to ports on it. A laptop then needs only one connection to the port replicator to have access to the peripherals.






49. A cell phone with Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) functions built in.






50. Aka power-on self-test.