22 Hardware & Mobile Devices Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. A laser printer produces pages whose text is sharp and correctly placed, but the toner smudges onto a user's hand whenever a finished sheet is rubbed. Which explanation best fits this symptom?

   • A.The fuser is not reaching its operating temperature, so the toner is never melted into the paper fibers.✓ Answer
   • B.The primary charge roller is failing, so the drum surface carries an uneven charge each page.
   • C.The drum cleaning roller is worn, so leftover toner from the previous rotation stays on the drum.
   • D.The transfer roller has lost its charge, so the toner is pressed onto the sheet far too hard.

   Fusing is the stage that applies heat and pressure to bond toner into the paper fibers; when the fuser runs cold the image is placed correctly but never bonds, so it rubs off. The transfer roller answer is tempting because transfer is also about moving toner, but transfer failure produces faint, patchy or blank output, not a sharp image that lifts off the page.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, laser printer imaging process and printer maintenance (fusing stage)Report a problem with this question

2. 2. In a laser printer, the laser has just written the latent image onto the photosensitive drum. Which stage comes next, and what does it accomplish?

   • A.Developing, in which toner is drawn from the cartridge onto the discharged areas.✓ Answer
   • B.Charging, in which a uniform negative charge is laid across the whole drum surface.
   • C.Transferring, in which the toner picture is pulled from the drum onto the sheet of paper.
   • D.Fusing, in which heat and pressure press the toner permanently into the paper fibers.

   The imaging sequence runs processing, charging, exposing, developing, transferring, fusing and cleaning, so the step right after the laser exposes the drum is developing, where toner is attracted to the discharged image areas. Transferring is the tempting answer because it is the next thing that happens to the visible image, but nothing can be transferred until developing has actually put toner on the drum.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, laser printer imaging process (order of the imaging stages)Report a problem with this question

3. 3. A laser printer prints the intended page, but a faint duplicate of the same image reappears a few centimetres lower on every sheet. Which conclusion does this repeating ghost support?

   • A.The tray holds paper so heavy that the transfer roller cannot keep a charge on its surface.
   • B.Residual toner is not cleared from the drum, so the previous rotation's image prints again.✓ Answer
   • C.The laser assembly is writing every line twice because its exposure timing has drifted out of step.
   • D.The fuser is running much too hot and is baking a second copy of the image into the sheet.

   The cleaning stage scrapes and discharges leftover toner after transfer; when it fails, toner still on the drum is developed again on the next revolution and prints as an echo spaced by the drum's circumference. Blaming the fuser is tempting because heat marks paper, but excess fuser heat curls or over-glosses the sheet rather than producing a second, offset copy of the image.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, laser printer imaging process and printer troubleshooting (double or echo images)Report a problem with this question

4. 4. An inkjet prints text and blue tones normally, but every photo comes out with no red or pink at all. The magenta cartridge was installed last week and the printer reports it as nearly full. What is the most likely cause?

   • A.The carriage belt has stretched, so the head no longer travels the full width of the page.
   • B.The paper type setting is wrong, so the driver has cut the ink volume for the whole page.
   • C.The printer is set to grayscale output, so all colour data is discarded before the page prints.
   • D.Dried ink has clogged the magenta nozzles in the printhead, so that channel lays down nothing.✓ Answer

   An inkjet fires ink through fine nozzles that dry out and block when idle, and a blocked colour channel disappears from the output even though the cartridge is full, which is why the head-cleaning routine exists. Grayscale output is the tempting distractor, but that setting removes every colour at once, so blue tones would be gone as well.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, inkjet printer maintenance (clean heads, replace cartridges, calibrate)Report a problem with this question

5. 5. A shipping desk must print three-part carbonless forms on which every copy has to be legible. Which printer technology fits the job, and why?

   • A.A thermal printer, because its heated element darkens each treated layer in the form set.
   • B.An inkjet printer, because its ink soaks through the top sheet and down to the copies below.
   • C.An impact printer, because its pins strike a ribbon hard enough to mark every sheet in the whole pack.✓ Answer
   • D.A laser printer, because the heat and pressure of the fuser reach through the stack of sheets.

   Impact printing is the only listed technology that transfers force through the paper: the pins press the ribbon and the pressure carries down through each carbonless layer, which is why impact units survive in shipping and point-of-sale work. The laser answer is tempting because fusing also uses pressure, but that pressure acts only on the single sheet passing through the fuser.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, impact printer maintenance and multipart formsReport a problem with this question

6. 6. After a workstation was rebuilt, its network laser printer began emitting page after page of random symbols and stray characters instead of the document. What should the technician correct first?

   • A.Clear the paper path and reseat the toner cartridge, then run the printer's cleaning cycle.
   • B.Raise the print quality setting to the highest resolution the printer's installed memory can hold.
   • C.Assign the printer a static address so the queue stops sending jobs to a stale address on the network.
   • D.Remove the installed driver and add the one published for that model and operating system.✓ Answer

   Garbled output means the page description the computer sent is not the language the printer expects, which is what a wrong, mismatched or corrupt driver produces, so replacing it with the driver published for that model and operating system is the fix. The address answer is tempting after a rebuild, but a wrong address stops jobs from arriving at all rather than printing them as nonsense.

   Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, printer troubleshooting (garbled print and print drivers)Report a problem with this question

7. 7. A small server has four 2 TB drives configured as a single RAID 5 array. What usable capacity does the array present, and what failure can it survive?

   • A.4 TB of usable space, and the array survives two drives failing at the very same moment.
   • B.6 TB of usable space, and the array survives two drives failing at the very same moment.
   • C.8 TB of usable space, with no tolerance for a lost drive because no parity is written at all.
   • D.6 TB of usable space, and the array keeps serving data through the loss of any one drive.✓ Answer

   RAID 5 stripes data with distributed parity and spends the equivalent of one member drive on that parity, so four 2 TB drives yield 6 TB and the parity lets the set rebuild after a single failure. Surviving two simultaneous failures is the classic confusion with RAID 6, which writes a second parity block and therefore needs four drives to give only 4 TB here.

   Source: SNIA Dictionary, definitions of RAID levels and distributed parityReport a problem with this question

8. 8. A user deleted several files by mistake this morning from a workstation whose two drives run as a RAID 1 mirror. What should the technician tell the user?

   • A.The array can be rebuilt from the healthy member, which rolls the volume back to its earlier state.
   • B.A parity block held on the mirror can reconstruct the deleted files once a rebuild has been started.
   • C.The deletion was written to both drives at once, so the files can only come back from a backup copy.✓ Answer
   • D.The second member still holds this morning's copy, so breaking the mirror will bring the files back.

   Mirroring writes every operation to both members in real time, including deletions, corruption and ransomware encryption, so RAID 1 protects against a drive dying but never against a mistake, and only a backup holds an earlier version. Breaking the mirror is the tempting move, but the surviving member is byte-for-byte identical and holds no older copy to recover.

   Source: SNIA Dictionary definition of mirroring, and CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives on RAID and data lossReport a problem with this question

9. 9. A department database server has four identical drives. The workload is write-heavy, the array must keep running if one drive dies, and giving up half the raw capacity is acceptable. Which RAID level fits best?

   • A.RAID 10, which stripes across two mirrored pairs, so writes stay fast and a drive can still fail.✓ Answer
   • B.RAID 5, which stripes with distributed parity and gives more space but recomputes parity on writes.
   • C.RAID 0, which stripes across all four drives for the fastest writes but keeps no redundancy at all.
   • D.RAID 6, which writes two parity blocks, tolerating two losses but slowing writes down even further.

   RAID 10 mirrors pairs and stripes across them, so a write costs only a duplicate write with no parity calculation, and the set stays online when a drive in either pair fails, which matches a write-heavy database that can spend half its capacity. RAID 5 is the usual runner-up because it wastes less space, but its read-modify-write parity cycle is exactly the penalty this workload cannot afford.

   Source: SNIA Dictionary, RAID level definitions (striping, mirroring and parity trade-offs)Report a problem with this question

10. 10. A technician fits an NVMe M.2 solid-state drive into a laptop's empty M.2 socket. The module seats and screws down normally, but neither the firmware nor the operating system shows any new drive. What is the most likely explanation?

    • A.The firmware's storage mode is set to AHCI, which holds the module to half of its rated speed.
    • B.That socket is keyed and wired for SATA modules and supplies none of the lanes NVMe needs.✓ Answer
    • C.The data cable feeding that socket was left unplugged when the laptop's base cover was refitted.
    • D.The module has to be partitioned on another machine first, because firmware cannot list a raw drive.

    An M.2 socket is defined by its keying and by which host interface the board actually wired to it, so a SATA-only socket can accept a module that fits mechanically while offering no PCIe lanes for an NVMe device to talk over. The AHCI answer is tempting because that setting really does govern storage behaviour, but a mode that slowed a drive would still leave the drive visible.

    Source: PCI-SIG M.2 specification, socket keying and host interface optionsReport a problem with this question

11. 11. A workstation has slowed to a crawl, its drive gives a repeating click, and the drive's own self-monitoring reports an impending failure. What should the technician do first?

    • A.Defragment the volume so the heads stop travelling and the clicking noise has a chance to stop.
    • B.Flash the drive to the newest firmware release, which clears the stored self-monitoring warnings.
    • C.Copy the user's data to another volume right away, then replace the drive with a healthy one.✓ Answer
    • D.Run a full surface scan with repair so the failing sectors are mapped out and the drive settles.

    A clicking mechanical drive with a self-monitoring failure prediction is already dying, and every extra minute of use risks the data, so the technician preserves the data first and replaces the hardware second. A repairing surface scan is the tempting choice, but it forces hours of heavy reading and writing on a failing mechanism and often finishes the drive off before the data is safe.

    Source: ATA command set standard, S.M.A.R.T. self-monitoring reporting; CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives on drive failure symptomsReport a problem with this question

12. 12. A desktop board has four memory slots in two colours, labelled A1, A2, B1 and B2. The technician is fitting two identical modules and wants dual-channel operation. Where should the modules go?

    • A.Either pair of slots will do, because the memory controller detects and pairs the modules itself.
    • B.One module in A1 and one in A2, because the board pairs neighbouring slots into a single channel.
    • C.One module in A1 and one in B1, the paired slots the board's manual marks for a two-module build.✓ Answer
    • D.Both modules in A1 and A2, filling the first channel completely before the second one is touched.

    Dual channel needs one module reachable on each of the controller's two channels, and vendors mark those slots by colour and by the A and B labels, so a two-module build goes into A1 and B1. Filling A1 and A2 is the intuitive mistake, but that puts both modules on the same channel and the system falls back to single-channel bandwidth even though all the memory is counted.

    Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, RAM channel configurations; motherboard manual slot-population guidanceReport a problem with this question

13. 13. A server is specified with ECC memory. What does that give it over the non-ECC modules fitted in a typical desktop?

    • A.It doubles each module's transfer rate by moving data on both edges of the memory clock signal.
    • B.It detects and corrects single-bit errors as they occur, provided the board and processor support it.✓ Answer
    • C.It corrects any number of flipped bits in a word, so a failing module can never crash the server.
    • D.It encrypts the contents of memory so a module pulled from the server cannot be read elsewhere.

    Error-correcting memory stores extra check bits with every word, which lets the controller correct a single flipped bit on the fly and flag larger errors, and it only works when the board and processor support the feature. Claiming it fixes any number of bad bits is the tempting overstatement: standard ECC corrects one bit and merely detects two, which is why a truly failing module still has to be replaced.

    Source: JEDEC ECC SDRAM module standards, single-error correction and double-error detectionReport a problem with this question

14. 14. A technician tries to fit a spare DDR4 module into a DDR5 desktop board and finds that it will not seat in the slot. Why does the module refuse to go in?

    • A.The module needs a firmware update to be recognised before the slot will accept it mechanically.
    • B.The notch in the module's contact edge sits at a different point for each DDR generation.✓ Answer
    • C.The slot needs a small adapter that converts the older module's pin count to the newer count.
    • D.The module runs at a higher voltage, so a jumper beside the slot has to be moved over first.

    Each DDR generation is electrically different and is keyed with its notch in its own position so a module physically cannot enter a slot built for another generation, which prevents damage rather than merely discouraging the swap. The firmware answer is tempting because firmware really does control what a board recognises, but no software setting can change a physical key.

    Source: JEDEC DDR SDRAM module standards, module key notch position by generationReport a problem with this question

15. 15. A build needs a capture card, a graphics card, a sound card, a network card and a storage controller, all in full-size expansion slots. Which board form factor should the technician specify?

    • A.MicroATX, whose shorter board leaves room for at most four expansion slots at the rear edge.
    • B.Any of the three, because slot count is set by the chipset rather than by the board's outline.
    • C.Mini-ITX, whose single expansion slot suits compact builds that need one add-in card at most.
    • D.ATX, whose full-size layout carries as many as seven expansion slots along the rear edge.✓ Answer

    Board form factors set the physical width available for the rear card bracket area, and the full-size layout is the only one of the three with room for the number of slots this build needs. MicroATX is the tempting compromise because it uses the same mounting holes and power connectors, but its shorter board simply stops after four slot positions.

    Source: ATX and microATX motherboard specifications, board dimensions and expansion slot countsReport a problem with this question

16. 16. A desktop switches off without warning at unpredictable moments, sometimes seconds after a cold boot while it sits idle. Firmware reports normal processor temperatures and the heat sink is clean. Which cause fits this pattern?

    • A.A failing power supply, since its output drops out regardless of the load or of how warm the machine is.✓ Answer
    • B.Dried thermal paste, since the processor cuts power once it has been under load for a while.
    • C.A dead real-time clock battery, since the board loses its settings and restarts to reload them.
    • D.A clogged intake filter, since the starved airflow makes the system protect itself and shut down.

    A thermal shutdown has a signature: it follows sustained load, it comes after the machine has warmed up, and firmware or monitoring shows a high temperature, whereas a supply whose rails collapse cuts power at random even from a cold idle desktop. Dried thermal paste is the tempting pick because overheating causes shutdowns too, but a cold machine at idle has not had time to overheat.

    Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, troubleshooting power problems and random shutdownsReport a problem with this question

17. 17. Right after a technician replaced a CPU cooler, the processor hits its thermal limit within a minute of any load, though the fan spins and case airflow is unchanged. What is the best next action?

    • A.Lift the cooler, clean both surfaces, spread a thin fresh layer of paste and reseat it evenly.✓ Answer
    • B.Turn on temperature monitoring in firmware so the board can start regulating the processor's heat.
    • C.Fit a power supply of higher wattage so the processor is no longer starved of current under load.
    • D.Set the fan profile to its most aggressive curve so the new cooler moves air fast enough to cope.

    Heat only leaves the processor through the contact between die and heat sink base, so paste that is too thick, dried, missing or unevenly compressed by a crooked mount insulates instead of conducting, and reseating is the direct fix for a fault that appeared with the install. A steeper fan curve is tempting, but no amount of airflow helps when the heat is not reaching the fins in the first place.

    Source: Processor thermal design and cooler installation guidance; CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives on cooling and overheatingReport a problem with this question

18. 18. A monitor with built-in speakers is connected to a desktop by a DVI cable. The picture is perfect but the speakers stay silent, and the sound settings list only the desktop's own audio device. What explains this?

    • A.The graphics driver is out of date and has stopped passing the audio stream along that cable.
    • B.DVI carries video only, so the sound needs its own cable from the computer's audio output.✓ Answer
    • C.The monitor sits on the wrong input, so it shows one port's picture beside another port's sound.
    • D.The monitor's speakers are muted in its own menu, which also hides it from the sound settings.

    The digital video interface was defined to carry display data alone, so a monitor connected that way can never receive audio and never appears as a playback device; only interfaces that multiplex audio with video, or a separate audio lead, will feed those speakers. The driver answer is tempting because drivers do expose audio endpoints, but a driver cannot add a signal path the cable standard does not define.

    Source: Digital Visual Interface (DVI) specification, signal content of the linkReport a problem with this question

19. 19. A dropped phone shows a clear, correctly coloured image across the whole screen, but taps and swipes anywhere on the glass do nothing at all. Which repair does this point to?

    • A.Replace the charging port, since the touch layer takes its reference voltage from that assembly.
    • B.Replace the display panel, since a cracked panel stops reporting touches to the operating system.
    • C.Replace the digitizer, the touch-sensing layer over the panel, since the image itself is intact.✓ Answer
    • D.Replace the battery, since a weak cell cannot supply the current that the touch controller draws.

    Touch input and image output are separate layers: the digitizer senses contact while the panel produces the picture, so a perfect image with dead touch isolates the fault to the digitizer. Replacing the display panel is the tempting answer because both parts are often sold as one bonded assembly, but the symptom itself shows the panel is working exactly as it should.

    Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, mobile device troubleshooting (digitizer and display issues)Report a problem with this question

20. 20. A user's laptop no longer sits flat and its bottom cover is bulging; the battery pack underneath has visibly expanded. How should the technician handle it?

    • A.Chill the pack in a freezer for several hours so the swelling shrinks before it goes back in service.
    • B.Discharge the pack fully and recharge it a few times, which lets the swollen cells settle back down.
    • C.Clamp the cover shut with longer screws so the pack is pressed back towards its original shape.
    • D.Stop using the machine, lift the pack out without pressing it, and send it for hazardous-waste recycling.✓ Answer

    A swollen lithium-ion pack has vented gas from damaged cells and is a fire hazard, so it is removed from service without pressure or puncture and handed to hazardous-waste recycling rather than a normal bin. Charge cycling is the tempting fix because it addresses real capacity problems, but charging a vented pack adds energy to cells that have already failed chemically.

    Source: U.S. EPA guidance on lithium-ion battery handling and recycling; CompTIA A+ Core 1 objectives on swollen batteriesReport a problem with this question

21. 21. A user with a thin ultrabook asks for a memory upgrade. The service manual states that the memory is soldered to the system board. What should the technician do?

    • A.Order denser modules of the same generation and swap them for the ones fitted at the factory.
    • B.Quote a replacement machine ordered with more memory, since soldered chips cannot be swapped.✓ Answer
    • C.Fit a matching module in the laptop's spare slot, which the manual reserves for a second module.
    • D.Set up a fast flash drive as an extra memory cache, which the system counts as installed memory.

    Thin machines often solder memory chips directly to the board to save height, which fixes the capacity at the configuration ordered, so the honest answer is a replacement system specified with more memory. Swapping in denser modules is the tempting habit from serviceable laptops, but there is no socket in this design and desoldering board-level chips is not a field repair.

    Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, mobile device hardware and replacement (SODIMM versus soldered memory)Report a problem with this question

22. 22. A photo editor needs colour that stays accurate when colleagues look at the screen from the side. Which panel technology should the technician recommend, and what is its trade-off?

    • A.An IPS panel, whose colour and brightness hold steady well off-axis at the cost of some response speed.✓ Answer
    • B.An OLED panel, whose per-pixel black is superb but which risks burn-in from static editing toolbars.
    • C.A VA panel, whose deep contrast comes with slower transitions and some colour drift off-axis.
    • D.A TN panel, whose very fast response comes with colour that shifts as soon as you move off-centre.

    In-plane switching aligns the liquid crystals parallel to the panel so the image keeps its colour and brightness across wide viewing angles, which is why colour-critical work specifies it and accepts slightly slower response. A vertical-alignment panel is the tempting alternative because its contrast looks better on a showroom floor, but its colour and gamma shift once the viewer moves off the centre line.

    Source: CompTIA A+ Core 1 exam objectives, display panel technologies (IPS, TN, VA and OLED characteristics)Report a problem with this question

Practice questions written to the published CompTIA A+ Core 1 and Core 2 exam objectives and to standard IT support practice. CompTIA and A+ are marks of CompTIA; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by CompTIA. The exam objectives are revised periodically — confirm the current objectives and exam requirements with CompTIA before testing. About the CompTIA A+ certification →