Operational A + (Plus) Hardware Interview Questions & Answers:

1. Which is LEAST likely to interfere with upgrading to a newer DOS Version?
A. ROM BIOS
B. Video controller
C. Compressed drives
D. Existing backup files
E. None of the above

Option B
Video controller

2. Resistance is measured:
A. in parallel
B. in series
C. after breaking the circuit
D. after checking voltage
E. after checking current

Option C
after breaking the circuit

3. Which is the most difficult environmentally to dispose of?
A. floppy drives
B. hard drives
C. power supplies
D. CRTs
E. system boards

Option D
CRTs

4. A customer has just installed a new cd-rw. the system was working fine before the installation, but now the cdrom does not work, what should you suggest that the customer do?
A. flash or upgrade the BIOS
B. check the CONFIG.SYS
C. add cdrw in the device manager
D. check the jumper setting on the cd-rw
E. None of the above

Option D
check the jumper setting on the cd-rw

5. During boot-up, the memory test:
A. Is a superfluous step that should be ignored
B. Checks and verifies that contiguous memory is installed
C. Is an operational error
D. Displays what memory is installed, but nothing else
E. None of the above

Option A
Is a superfluous step that should be ignored

6. When we are testing a fuse, we should set the Volt-OHM meter to what scale?
A. AC
B. DC
C. AMPS
D. OHMS
E. None of the above

Option D
OHMS

7. What is the best ground for a conductive work bench?
A. AC outlet
B. Ground to bench
C. To the motherboard
D. To the PC's Chassis
E. None of the above

Option A
AC outlet

8. After displaying the directory of a floppy disk, a different floppy is inserted into the drive. The contents of the original floppy continue to display regardless of the director requests on the other floppies placed in the drive. You remove the drive in question and install it into your test system, and it does not exhibit the problem. You should next replace the:
A. System's floppy drive device driver
B. Original IDE controller
C. Floppy drive ribbon cable
D. System's power supply
E. None of the above

Option C
Floppy drive ribbon cable

9. What resistance in ohms should be displayed when testing a speaker in a computer?
A. Q Ohms
B. 16 Ohms
C. -200 Ohms
D. Unlimited Ohms
E. None of the above

Option B
16 Ohms

10. Which best describes a fragmented hard drive:
A. The platters are bad
B. Data files are corrupted
C. Clusters of data are damaged
D. Files are not stored in consecutive clusters
E. None of the above

Option D
Files are not stored in consecutive clusters

11. An anti static strap uses a small _____ to make sure you do not become the least path of resistance to the ground?
A. capacitor
B. diode
C. transistor
D. resistor
E. None of the above

Option D
resistor

12. Which provides the fastest access to large video files?
A. Optical drives
B. IDE hard drives
C. SCSI hard drives
D. EIDE hard drives
E. None of the above

Option C
SCSI hard drives

13. You can place an ISA device in an EISA slot.
A. True
B. False

Option A
True

14. Your IDE hard drive is not spinning up when you turn on the PC. What is the most likely problem.
A. bad data cable
B. incorrect jumper setting on drive
C. loose molex connector
D. virus
E. tfad system board

Option C
loose molex connector

15. What are the IRQ's for sound card?
A. IRQ8
B. IRQ4
C. IRQ5
D. IRQ7
E. None of the above

Option C
IRQ5

16. A 2xx POST error code indicates a problem with:
A. RAM or ROM
B. hard drive
C. system board
D. second adapter card
E. CMOS battery

Option A
RAM or ROM

17. What is the file extension used by WIN95 to back up registry file when windows starts?
A. .dat
B. .dao
C. .bak
D. .tmp
E. None of the above

Option B
.dao

18. When you boot a PC and don't hear any beep, this could suggest which of the following?
A. The monitor is turned off
B. Keyboard not plugged in
C. Normal PC boot
D. Bad or disconnected speaker
E. None of the above

Option D
Bad or disconnected speaker

19. How can you totally protect a PC from damage during an electrical storm?
A. Disconnect the AC power cable
B. Disconnect all external cables and power cords
C. Use a surge protector
D. Turn off the AC power
E. None of the above

Option A
Disconnect the AC power cable

20. ESD damage can be caused by:
A. Placing an IC in a non-conductive plastic bag
B. Placing an IC on a grounded mat
C. Repeated sags in current supplied from outlets
D. Touching metal on the chassis
E. None of the above

Option A
Placing an IC in a non-conductive plastic bag

21. Which of the following is a type of preventative maintenance used on a hard drive?
A. Disk check diagnostics
B. Head alignment diagnostics
C. Initializing
D. Uninstalling programs
E. None of the above

Option A
Disk check diagnostics

22. On a leased line installation a known good external modem shows no carrier detect light. Where is the problem most likely to be?
A. In the modem
B. In the phone line
C. In the computer
D. In the DTC equipment
E. None of the above

Option B
In the phone line

23. You run a super wing-ding diagnostic program on your PC, and it reports that your hard drive, microprocessor, RAM, and video card have seen better days. To resolve this problem you should:
A. replace each part one at a time, rerunning the diagnostic before replacing the next part.
B. check to see if you have a software problem
C. replace everything at once and rerun the diagnostic
D. get another copy of the diagnostic program
E. run an exhaustive memory check

Option B
check to see if you have a software problem

24. The 34-pin connection on an I/O card is for?
A. floppy drive
B. SCSI drive
C. IDE drive
D. zip drive
E. None of the above

Option A
floppy drive

25. You have a 15 pin female connector with the pins in two rows. What could you connect with this?
A. Serial device
B. Parallel device
C. MIDI device
D. Video device
E. Joystick

Option E
Joystick

26. A Type 1 PCMCIA card is:
A. The same physical size as other PCMCIA cards but configured differently
B. The thinnest PCMCIA card, measuring 3.5mm in thickness
C. The thickest PCMCIA card, measuring 10.5mm in thickness
D. An old standard that is not compatible with the newest laptops
E. None of the above

Option B
The thinnest PCMCIA card, measuring 3.5mm in thickness

27. Which hardware component controls serial port communications?
A. ROM BIOS
B. CPU
C. DMA823
D. UART 16550
E. None of the above

Option D
UART 16550

28. Why does a successfully mapped network drive disappear every time you boot the computer?
A. The computer you are connected to has moved
B. You didn't click reconnect on log on
C. The map statement is not in the autoexec.bat file
D. The last drive was not set correctly
E. None of the above

Option C
The map statement is not in the autoexec.bat file

29. What command is used to hand up a MODEM when using the "AT Answer Command set"?
A. ATZ
B. ATD
C. ATR
D. ATH
E. None of the above

Option D
ATH

30. In ROM BIOS, the acronym BIOS stands for:
A. Basic Intuitive Output Set
B. Basic Input Organizational System
C. Basic Input Output System
D. Basic Industry Operating System
E. None of the above

Option C
Basic Input Output System

31. What should he used to extinguish a computer fire?
A. fire hose
B. class a extinguisher
C. class c extinguisher
D. silver foam water
E. None of the above

Option C
class c extinguisher

32. Modems use _____ transmission.
A. Synchronous
B. Asynchronous
C. Timed interval
D. PPP
E. None of the above

Option B
Asynchronous

33. What command is used to reset a MODEM when using the
A. ATR
B. ATZ
C. DTR
D. DCE
E. None of the above

Option B
ATZ

34. During the boot process, a system first counts memory from where?
A. Expansion memory board
B. Video adapter
C. System board
D. Cache
E. None of the above

Option C
System board

35. After you service a laser printer, you notice dirty print. Which of the following would correct the problem.
A. Clean the developer tank
B. Reset the printer
C. Run several blank pages
D. Clean the laser diode
E. None of the above

Option C
Run several blank pages