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






2. 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.






3. 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.






4. Aka distributed denial of service attack.






5. Aka Ethernet.






6. A version of Windows Vista that includes Windows Media Center - which supports advanced multimedia functions.






7. In a CPU - special memory that resides outside the CPU's core and is used to temporarily store instructions and data in order to increase the processing speed. Also called Level 2 (L2) cache and Level 3 (L3) cache - depending on the design of the CPU






8. A process that runs "behind the scenes" with a low priority - does not require input - and rarely creates output.






9. A logical memory address defined in a processor's address bus that allows the system to access physical RAM or ROM memory locations.






10. Aka liquid crystal display.






11. A technical standards organization.






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






13. 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.






14. A subprotocol of TCP/IP used for connectionless communications in which each packet is sent without establishing a connection.






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






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






17. A file system used by operating systems for organizing - reading - and writing optical discs.






18. A generic reference to a PC's serial communications port - in which the x represents the port number.






19. A device that uses a measurement of a body part - such as a fingerprint or retina scan.






20. A TPM is a special microchip - installed on a motherboard - that stores passwords - keys - and digital certificates. Various services - such as BitLocker can store such security data in this chip.






21. An interconnected network. The Internet is the largest example.






22. 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.






23. A printed circuit card that you add to the motherboard to enhance functionality. Also called an expansion card. Video adapters and network interface cards (NICs) are examples of adapter cards.






24. In Windows - an Advanced Options menu choice that starts Windows without several drivers and components and loads only very basic - non-vendor-specific drivers for mouse - video - keyboard - mass storage - and system services. Safe Mode also displays






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






26. 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






27. An internal bus in a CPU that connects it to memory and video.






28. Aka Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol.






29. Aka error-correcting code.






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






31. 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






32. Aka Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).






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






34. A version of Windows XP that includes Windows Media Center - which supports advanced multimedia functions.






35. A fiber-optic connector that has a snap coupling and - at 1.25 mm - is half the size of the SC connector. Also called a local connector.






36. A private internetwork.






37. Information organized as a unit into a container. The author (creator) of a file controls how much information the file contains.






38. 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.






39. This attack occurs when a massive number (up to hundreds of thousands) of computers send DoS attacks to a server - making it unavailable.






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






41. 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.






42. A mark on a building created by a war driver to specify where a hotspot exists. People "in the know" look for these marks to identify hotspots for their use.






43. Aka internal cache memory.






44. Aka nickel-cadmium.






45. The use of two or more video adapters (hence the term "GPU") to drive a single display for the purpose of increasing performance.






46. Aka continuity RIMM.






47. A key on a laptop that is pressed along with the FN key to change display modes so the output will be only to the laptop's display - only to an external display - or simultaneously to both displays. The DISPLAY MODE key is normally a function key - s






48. The former name of the Parallel AT Attachment (PATA) interface standard.






49. A set of skills - behaviors - and attitudes to use when listening to another person.






50. A 36-pin connector mounted to a device's parallel interface.