CompTIA Practice Test Hardware 5

Question 1

A user's system freezes randomly and blue-screens. Memory diagnostics pass but the issue persists. What should the technician investigate NEXT?

Accepted Answer

Check CPU temperature and thermal paste condition

Answer

After ruling out RAM, thermal throttling or CPU overheating due to dried thermal paste or a failing cooler is the next most common cause of random BSODs and freezes.

Question 2

Which BIOS feature, when enabled, allows the operating system to manage CPU power states and reduce power consumption at idle?

Accepted Answer

EIST / SpeedStep / Cool'n'Quiet

Answer

Intel EIST (SpeedStep) and AMD Cool'n'Quiet/CPB are CPU power management features that dynamically lower clock speed and voltage at idle to reduce power draw.

Question 3

A technician needs to connect an older VGA monitor to a new laptop that only has a USB-C port. What is the correct adapter path?

Accepted Answer

USB-C to VGA active adapter directly

Answer

A USB-C to VGA active adapter handles the digital-to-analog conversion directly, providing the cleanest and simplest connection path.

Question 4

What is the purpose of a write-blocker device when a technician is performing forensic imaging of a hard drive?

Accepted Answer

It prevents any writes to the evidence drive, preserving its integrity

Answer

A write-blocker is a forensic tool that passes read commands to a drive while blocking all write commands, ensuring the evidence drive remains unaltered.

Question 5

A workstation has four RAM slots and 32GB installed as 2x16GB. The user wants 64GB total. What upgrade path maintains dual-channel operation?

Accepted Answer

Add two 16GB modules to the two empty slots

Answer

Adding two matched 16GB modules to the remaining two slots creates a 4x16GB configuration (64GB total) that maintains dual-channel across all four populated slots.