CompTIA A+ Core 2 (220-1202) practice questions
220 free questions with answers and explanations.
- 101.A company's IT department maintains a spreadsheet listing every workstation's serial number, purchase date, assigned user, and warranty expiration. This practice is an example of which operational procedure?Operational Procedures
- 102.A system administrator is managing a fleet of Windows 11 Enterprise workstations. They need to ensure that all users' documents and settings are redirected to a network share and that specific security policies are applied consistently across all machines. Which feature set, available in Enterprise editions, facilitates this advanced centralized management?Operating Systems
- 103.A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 10 workstation that is experiencing intermittent network connectivity issues. The technician suspects that the IP configuration might be incorrect or conflicting. Which command-line tool should the technician use to quickly display the current TCP/IP configuration of all network adapters?Operating Systems
- 104.A technician has finished remediating a malware infection, verified the system is clean, and updated the anti-malware definitions. Which of the following should the technician perform NEXT, according to the best-practice malware removal procedure, before returning the workstation to the user?Software Troubleshooting
- 105.A backup administrator wants a backup method that captures all selected data every time it runs, regardless of previous backups, to simplify restoration to a single restore point. Which backup type should be used?Operational Procedures
- 106.A data center technician discovers a small electrical fire starting in a server rack's power distribution unit. Which type of fire extinguisher should be used to safely extinguish this fire?Operational Procedures
- 107.A technician removes a piece of malware and its files from a Windows workstation, but the malicious process reappears every time the computer is rebooted, even though real-time antivirus protection is active. Where should the technician check for the persistence mechanism causing this?Software Troubleshooting
- 108.A company performs a full backup every Sunday night and a differential backup every other night of the week. On Thursday morning, the server crashes and must be restored to its most recent state. Which backups are needed to complete the restore?Operational Procedures
- 109.A technician is installing a new desktop workstation in an older office that only has a two-prong (ungrounded) electrical outlet available. Which of the following is the SAFEST action for the technician to take?Operational Procedures
- 110.A company is decommissioning several old solid-state drives (SSDs) that contained confidential financial records. A technician suggests using a degausser to erase the data. Why would this method fail to properly sanitize the SSDs?Security
- 111.A company policy requires that all employee workstations automatically lock after 10 minutes of inactivity. This setting needs to be applied consistently across hundreds of Windows 11 Pro machines in the domain. Which administrative tool is the MOST efficient way to enforce this policy?Security
- 112.A desktop begins throwing application errors immediately after an overnight Windows update installed. The system otherwise boots and runs normally. Which action should the technician try FIRST, as the least disruptive fix?Software Troubleshooting
- 113.A user reports that their Windows 11 computer is displaying a blue screen error during startup and is unable to boot into the operating system. They recently installed a new device driver. Which advanced startup option would be most appropriate to attempt to revert the system to a previous working state?Operating Systems
- 114.A technician discovers that a database containing customer personally identifiable information (PII) was accidentally exposed on a public file share. Which of the following actions should the technician take FIRST?Operational Procedures
- 115.A technician needs to create a bootable USB drive for installing a new Linux distribution. The technician wants to ensure that the entire contents of the ISO image are copied directly to the USB drive, creating a bit-for-bit clone. Which Linux command-line utility is best suited for this task?Operating Systems
- 116.A user's iPhone suddenly starts exhibiting unusual behavior: new apps appear on the home screen without being installed, the device often feels warm even when idle, and unexpected pop-up ads frequently interrupt usage. The user confirms they have not jailbroken the device. What is the MOST likely cause of these symptoms?Software Troubleshooting
- 117.A technician is implementing a planned firmware update on a company's core network switch during a scheduled maintenance window. Which document should the technician prepare that outlines the steps to revert the switch to its previous state if the update causes issues?Operational Procedures
- 118.A company is decommissioning several hard drives that contained highly sensitive financial records. The drives must be destroyed in a way that renders the magnetic data unrecoverable, and the drives will not be reused. Which method BEST accomplishes this?Operational Procedures
- 119.Before opening a desktop computer case to replace a component, a technician should attach an anti-static wrist strap. What is the PRIMARY purpose of this device?Operational Procedures
- 120.A user's PC frequently freezes, boot times have become very slow, and Windows Event Viewer shows recurring disk read errors. No malware is found. Which command should the technician run to scan for and attempt to repair bad sectors on the drive?Software Troubleshooting
- 121.A company policy requires that all employee workstations automatically lock after 10 minutes of inactivity and display a login screen. Additionally, users are required to have complex passwords that expire every 90 days. Which Windows security feature is primarily responsible for enforcing these types of settings across multiple computers in a domain environment?Security
- 122.A desktop that previously ran smoothly now takes several minutes to open applications, and the hard drive activity light stays constantly lit even when idle. Which of the following tools should the technician use FIRST to identify which process is consuming excessive disk resources?Software Troubleshooting
- 123.During a service call, a frustrated customer raises their voice and blames the technician for a recurring issue that was never actually resolved by a previous technician. Which response demonstrates the BEST professional communication technique?Operational Procedures
- 124.A small business is setting up a new wireless network. They want to ensure strong encryption and use the latest security protocols available for Wi-Fi. All new access points and client devices support the most recent standards. Which wireless security protocol should the administrator configure to meet these requirements?Security
- 125.A system administrator needs to configure a Linux server to automatically mount a shared network drive every time the server boots up, ensuring the data is always accessible. Which configuration file should the administrator edit to achieve this persistent mount?Operating Systems
- 126.A company's security policy states that all employees must be uniquely identified and their actions auditable. When a new employee joins, they are assigned a distinct username. This username, along with a password, is used to verify their identity before granting access to network resources. Which fundamental security concept is primarily being implemented here?Security
- 127.A user reports that their web browser is displaying frequent pop-up advertisements, even on legitimate websites, and sometimes redirects to unexpected pages. They also notice new, unfamiliar toolbars installed. Which type of malware is MOST likely causing these symptoms?Security
- 128.A user's Android smartphone becomes uncomfortably hot even while sitting idle and not charging. In the running processes list, the technician finds an unfamiliar app consuming continuously high CPU usage in the background. Which of the following is the MOST likely explanation?Software Troubleshooting
- 129.A graphic designer is using a macOS workstation and needs to quickly free up system memory to improve the performance of a demanding application. Which of the following utilities would be most effective for identifying and quitting memory-intensive processes?Operating Systems
- 130.A new administrative assistant needs to manage user accounts, installed programs, and network settings on a Windows 10 workstation. Which Windows feature provides a centralized location for configuring these system settings?Operating Systems
- 131.A technician is setting up a new Windows workstation for a user who will primarily be performing data entry and accessing approved web applications. The company's security policy dictates that users should only have the minimum necessary access rights to perform their job functions. Which of the following security principles is being applied?Security
- 132.A technician needs to configure a Linux server to automatically mount a network share at boot time. The network share uses the NFS protocol. Which configuration file should the technician edit to ensure the NFS share is mounted persistently?Operating Systems
- 133.A technician is unpacking a new expansion card and notices it arrived inside a metallic-looking bag. What is the primary purpose of this type of packaging?Operational Procedures
- 134.A technician runs 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' on a Windows workstation with a corrupted boot configuration, but the tool reports 'Total identified Windows installations: 0' even though Windows is clearly installed on the drive. Which command should the technician run FIRST to have the tool search all disks for compatible installations before rebuilding the BCD?Software Troubleshooting
- 135.A system administrator needs to manage user accounts, installed software, and system services on multiple Windows 11 workstations from a central web-based interface. Which Microsoft tool is specifically designed to provide this centralized, browser-based management for Windows servers and clients?Operating Systems
- 136.A small business purchased a single retail license for a graphic design application intended for use on one workstation. An employee wants to install the same software on their personal laptop for occasional remote work. Which action complies with software licensing requirements?Operational Procedures
- 137.An IT manager is reviewing security logs and notices a high volume of failed login attempts for a specific user account on a critical server. These attempts occur rapidly from various IP addresses and follow a sequential pattern (e.g., 'password1', 'password2', 'password3'). Which type of attack is MOST likely occurring?Security
- 138.A user's smartphone shows 'Unable to Update' for several apps in the app store, even though the device is connected to Wi-Fi. What is the MOST likely cause?Software Troubleshooting
- 139.A system administrator is configuring security for a new file server that will store highly confidential company documents. The server runs Windows Server 2022. The administrator wants to encrypt the entire system drive, including the operating system, to ensure data confidentiality even if the physical drive is removed from the server. Which Windows feature should be enabled?Security
- 140.During malware remediation on a Windows workstation, a technician disables System Restore before running removal tools. Which of the following BEST explains the reason for this step?Software Troubleshooting
- 141.A network administrator is configuring a new wireless access point (AP) for a small office. They want to implement the strongest possible wireless encryption standard currently available for personal use, without requiring an authentication server. Which protocol should be selected?Security
- 142.A technician needs to quickly view the current network configuration, including the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway, of a Linux workstation. Which command-line tool should the technician use?Operating Systems
- 143.A client reports that whenever they open their web browser, it redirects to unfamiliar search pages, and a new toolbar has appeared that they did not install. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?Software Troubleshooting
- 144.A developer is setting up a new Linux development environment. They need to install a specific package that is not available in the default repositories and requires compiling from source. After downloading the source code, which common command-line tool or sequence of commands is typically used to configure, compile, and install software from source in a Linux environment?Operating Systems
- 145.A data center manager notices increased dust accumulation inside server chassis, leading to overheating concerns. Which environmental control should be implemented FIRST to address this issue?Operational Procedures
- 146.A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 11 desktop that randomly displays a blue screen with various stop codes, including 'MEMORY_MANAGEMENT' and 'PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA'. The issue occurs intermittently and is not tied to any specific application or action. What is the MOST likely cause of these symptoms?Software Troubleshooting
- 147.A user reports that all files on a shared network drive suddenly have a '.locked' extension and a ransom note demanding cryptocurrency payment has appeared. What should the technician do FIRST?Software Troubleshooting
- 148.A technician needs to perform a clean installation of Windows 11 on a new solid-state drive (SSD) for a client. The client wants to ensure that the drive is formatted with a file system that supports advanced features like self-healing, data integrity checks, and improved performance for very large files, which are common in their video editing workflow. Given these requirements, which file system should the technician choose during installation?Operating Systems
- 149.A technician runs a full antivirus scan on a workstation and finds no infected files, yet the system exhibits suspicious behavior such as unexpected outbound network connections. The technician suspects fileless malware abusing legitimate tools like PowerShell for persistence and execution. Which tool would be MOST useful for identifying this malicious activity?Software Troubleshooting
- 150.A company is implementing a new policy for user authentication. They want to ensure that even if one authentication method is compromised, unauthorized access is still prevented. To achieve this, users will be required to provide something they know, something they have, and something they are. Which security concept is being implemented?Security