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CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Exam Cram:

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CompTIA A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Exam Cram:

By Dave Prowse
Published Oct 2, 2009 by Pearson IT Certification. Part of the Exam Cram series.

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Description

Copyright 2010
Edition: 1st

Book
ISBN-10: 0-7897-4242-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-4242-1

&>CompTIA A+ Exam Cram, Fourth Edition, is the perfect study guide to help you pass CompTIA’s newly-updated versions of the A+ exams. It provides coverage and practice questions for every exam topic. The book contains an extensive set of practice questions, including 200 printed questions in two full practice exams, while the CD-ROM test engine provides real-time practice and feedback with an additional 200 questions.

Covers the critical information you’ll need to know to score higher on your A+ exams!

Understand PC components, including motherboards, processors, memory, power, storage, audio, video, and I/O devices
Install, configure, maintain, troubleshoot, and fix desktop and notebook PC hardware
Install and configure Windows Vista and other Windows operating systems
Use Windows utilities to troubleshoot and fix operating system problems
Understand essential networking technologies, devices, protocols, cabling, and connections
Set up small office/home office networks, including Internet and Wi-Fi connections
Troubleshoot and fix failed client-side network connections
Secure computers and networks, identify security problems, and eliminate viruses and malware
Detect and solve the most common printing problems
Perform essential preventive maintenance
Master essential safety and operational procedures for PC technicians
Prepare yourself effectively for exam day

CD Features 200 Practice Questions

Detailed explanations of correct and incorrect answers
Multiple test modes
Random questions and order of answers
Coverage of each A+ exam objective



Downloads

Example(s)

Download Cram Quiz Sample
Free A+ 220-701 and 220-702 Questions

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Extras

A+ Exam Cram: Setting Up a Multiple Monitor Configuration in Windows Vista

A+ Exam Cram: Troubleshooting Memory and Hard Drives in Windows Vista

CompTIA A+ Exam Cram: Configuring Windows Vista for Hibernation and Sleep

CompTIA A+ Exam Cram: Using Windows Vista "Hidden" Programs



Sample Content

Online Sample Chapter

CompTIA A+ Exam Cram: Understanding and Testing Power Devices and Supplies

Sample Pages

Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 5 and Index)

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Target Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

About the Latest CompTIA A+ Exams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

About This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Chapter Format and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Additional Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Hands-On Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Goals for This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Exam Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

CHAPTER 1:

Introduction to Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Six-Step A+ Troubleshooting Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 1: Identify the Problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 2: Establish a Theory of Probable Cause (Question the Obvious). . . . 11

Step 3: Test the Theory to Determine the Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Step 4: Establish a Plan of Action to Resolve the Problem

and Implement the Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Step 5: Verify Full System Functionality and if Applicable

Implement Preventative Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Step 6: Document Findings, Actions, and Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . 13

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Troubleshooting Examples and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Troubleshooting Example 1: Display Issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Troubleshooting Example 2: Power Issue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Some More Troubleshooting Tidbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Additional Reading and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CHAPTER 2:

Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Motherboard Components and Form Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Motherboard Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Form Factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

The BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

BIOS, CMOS, and the Lithium Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

The POST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Accessing and Configuring the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Flashing the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Installing and Troubleshooting Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Installing Motherboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Troubleshooting Motherboards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Additional Reading and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

CHAPTER 3:

The CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

CPU 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

CPU Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Brands of CPUs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Installing and Troubleshooting CPUs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Installing CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Troubleshooting CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Additional Reading and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

CHAPTER 4:

RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

RAM Basics and Types of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

RAM Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Types of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

RAM Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Installing and Troubleshooting DRAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Installing DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Troubleshooting DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

CHAPTER 5:

Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Understanding and Testing Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Testing an AC Outlet with a Receptacle Tester . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Testing an AC Outlet with a Multimeter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Power Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Power Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Surge Protectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Uninterruptible Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Planning Which Power Supply to Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Installing the Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Troubleshooting Power Supply Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Heating and Cooling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

CHAPTER 6:

Storage Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Magnetic Storage Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Hard Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Floppy Disk Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Tape Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Optical Storage Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Compact Disc (CD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Blu-Ray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

Solid-State Storage Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

USB Flash Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Secure Digital Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

CompactFlash Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

CHAPTER 7:

Installing and Upgrading Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Installing and Upgrading to Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Windows Vista Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Windows Vista Minimum Requirements and Compatibility. . . . . 167

Windows Vista Installation Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Installing Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Upgrading to Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Verifying and Troubleshooting Windows Vista Installations . . . . 178

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Installing and Upgrading to Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Windows XP Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Windows XP Minimum Requirements and Compatibility. . . . . . 185

Windows XP Installation Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Installing Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Upgrading to Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Verifying and Troubleshooting Windows XP Installations. . . . . . 192

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

CHAPTER 8:

Configuring Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Windows User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Windows Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198

Windows Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Administrative Tools and the MMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Cram Quiz Answer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

System Tools and Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Managing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

Operating System Optimization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

User Migrations and Customizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Advanced System Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Files, File Systems, and Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Working with Files and File Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Managing Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

CHAPTER 9:

Maintaining Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

Updating Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Service Packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Windows Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Maintaining Hard Disks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Hard Disk Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

Backups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Using Windows XP’s NTBackup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Creating Restore Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

CHAPTER 10:

Troubleshooting Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Repair Environments and Boot Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Windows Repair Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Boot Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Windows Tools and Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Troubleshooting Within Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Stop Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Additional Windows Errors and Error Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Restoring Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

The Six-Step Troubleshooting Process Revisited. . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Command-Line Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Windows Command Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Recovery Command Prompt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

CHAPTER 11:

Laptops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Visible Laptop

Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Laptop 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Optical Discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Expansion Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Internal Laptop

Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

System Board and CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Cram Exam Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335

CHAPTER 12:

Video, Audio, and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

The Video Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Video Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Video Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347

Video Settings and Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

The Audio Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Sound cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Installing a Sound Card and Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Audio Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Input/Output, Input Devices, and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

I/O Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Input Devices and Peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376

CHAPTER 13:

Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Printer Types and Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Types of Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Local Versus Network Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Installing, Configuring, and Troubleshooting Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Printer Installation and Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

Configuring Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Troubleshooting Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398

CHAPTER 14:

Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Networking Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Configuring IPv4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

IPv4 Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Analyzing and Configuring the Network Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Network Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Types of Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Common TCP/IP Protocols and Their Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Network Cabling and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419

Exam Cram Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420

Troubleshooting Network Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Command-Line Interface Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Troubleshooting with Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

Installing and Configuring a SOHO Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

Internet and Wireless Connectivity Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

Setting Up a SOHO Router and Wireless Network Adapters . . . 434

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

CHAPTER 15:

Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Basics of Data Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

Data Sensitivity and Security Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Usernames and Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Smart Cards and Biometrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Malicious Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Types of Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Preventing and Troubleshooting Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466

Exam Cram Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467

File Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Working with Files and Folders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Sharing Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469

Encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480

CHAPTER 16:

Safety and Professionalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481

Safety and Environmental Procedures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

Electrical Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

ESD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 484

Physical Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 486

MSDS and Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487

EMI and RFI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 488

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489

Professionalism and Communication Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Cram Quiz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491

Cram Quiz Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Additional Reading and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493

CHAPTER 17:

Taking the Real Exams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Getting Ready and the Exam Preparation Checklist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Tips for Taking the Real Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 498

Beyond the CompTIA A+ Certification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501

Practice Exam 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503

Answers at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524

Answers with Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 525

Practice Exam 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537

Answers at a Glance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558

Answers with Explanations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

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Privacy Notice

Overview

Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information

To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

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Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security

Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children

This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing

Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

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Sale of Personal Information

Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure

Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

As required by law.
With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact

Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020

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