IC3 Computing Fundamentals and Key Applications Flashcards

In Excel, cell D2 contains the formula =$B2*C$1. You copy D2 and paste it into cell F4. What formula will F4 contain?

Answer: =$B4*E$1

These are mixed references. Pasting from D2 to F4 moves the formula 2 columns right and 2 rows down. In $B2 the column is locked, so B stays and the row changes from 2 to 4, giving $B4. In C$1 the row is locked, so 1 stays and the column changes from C to E, giving E$1. The result is =$B4*E$1.

A user tries to copy a 6 GB video file to a brand-new 32 GB USB flash drive that is completely empty. Windows reports that the file is too large for the destination. What is the most likely cause, and what fixes it?

Answer: The drive is formatted FAT32, which limits single files to 4 GB; reformat it as exFAT or NTFS

FAT32 cannot store any single file larger than 4 GB (minus 1 byte), no matter how much free space the drive has. Many flash drives ship formatted as FAT32. Reformatting the drive as exFAT (or NTFS) removes that limit. Port speed has no effect on maximum file size, and a write-protected drive would refuse every file, not just large ones.

A Word document is mostly in portrait orientation, but page 5 needs to be landscape to fit a wide table. What is the correct way to make only page 5 landscape?

Answer: Insert a 'Next Page' section break before and after page 5's content, then change the orientation of that section only

Page orientation is a section-level setting. Putting 'Next Page' section breaks before and after the content creates its own section, which can be set to landscape while the rest stays portrait. A manual page break does not create a new section, so changing the orientation would affect the whole section. Rotating the text direction only turns the text; the page stays portrait.

A laptop slows down badly when several browser tabs and a spreadsheet are open. Task Manager shows memory use at 96% and constant disk activity even when no files are being saved. Which upgrade would most directly fix the problem?

Answer: More RAM

When physical RAM is almost full, the operating system moves data in memory to the page file on disk (virtual memory). That causes the constant disk activity and the slowdown, because disk access is far slower than RAM. Adding RAM reduces paging. A faster CPU or a graphics card would not fix a memory shortage, and the disk already has room for the page file.

A user enters =VLOOKUP("E-1042",A2:C500,3) to find an employee's department. The ID exists in column A, but the formula returns the wrong department. Column A is not sorted. What is the most likely cause?

Answer: The range_lookup argument was left out, so it defaults to approximate match (TRUE), which needs sorted data

If the fourth argument (range_lookup) is left out, VLOOKUP defaults to TRUE, which is approximate match. Approximate match assumes the first column is sorted in ascending order. On unsorted data it can stop at the wrong row and return an incorrect value without any error. Adding FALSE as the fourth argument forces an exact match. A col_index_num of 3 counts from the first column of the range, so it correctly points to column C.

A technician enables Secure Boot in a computer's UEFI firmware settings. Which threat does this feature mainly protect against?

Answer: Unsigned or tampered bootloaders and rootkits loading before the operating system starts

Secure Boot checks the digital signatures of boot components when the computer starts. It blocks unsigned or modified bootloaders, including bootkits and rootkits that try to load before the operating system and its security software. Protecting data on a stolen drive is the job of full-disk encryption such as BitLocker. Phishing and network spread are handled by other controls.