ICT IT Support and Troubleshooting 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A user reports that after a power outage, their PC will not POST. Which component should you check or replace FIRST?
- Hard drive
- CMOS battery and PSU (Correct answer)
- RAM modules
- CPU cooler
Correct answer: CMOS battery and PSU
Power outages can damage the PSU or corrupt CMOS settings; a dead CMOS battery can also prevent POST after power loss.
Question 2: A help desk technician receives a ticket: 'Outlook keeps asking for my password.' What is the MOST common cause?
- Corrupted Windows profile
- Cached credentials are outdated or the account password was recently changed (Correct answer)
- Antivirus blocking Outlook
- Incorrect screen resolution
Correct answer: Cached credentials are outdated or the account password was recently changed
When a user's password changes, saved credentials in Windows Credential Manager become invalid, causing repeated password prompts in Outlook.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a POST test in computer troubleshooting?
- It tests internet connectivity after booting
- It is a self-diagnostic test run by the BIOS/UEFI to verify hardware before OS load (Correct answer)
- It verifies Windows system file integrity
- It scans for malware at startup
Correct answer: It is a self-diagnostic test run by the BIOS/UEFI to verify hardware before OS load
POST (Power-On Self-Test) is executed by the BIOS/UEFI firmware to verify that essential hardware components are functioning before the OS loads.
Question 4: A user's keyboard types the wrong characters (e.g., pressing 'a' produces 'q'). What is the MOST likely cause?
- Malware infection
- Incorrect keyboard language/layout is selected (Correct answer)
- Faulty USB port
- RAM failure
Correct answer: Incorrect keyboard language/layout is selected
An incorrect keyboard layout setting (e.g., QWERTY vs AZERTY) causes keys to produce different characters than labeled.
Question 5: A technician uses the OSI model during troubleshooting. A user can ping an IP address but cannot browse websites by domain name. Which layer has the issue?
- Layer 1 – Physical
- Layer 3 – Network
- Layer 7 – Application (DNS resolution) (Correct answer)
- Layer 2 – Data Link
Correct answer: Layer 7 – Application (DNS resolution)
Being able to ping by IP but not resolve domain names points to a DNS failure at the Application layer (Layer 7) of the OSI model.
Question 6: A computer's clock resets to an incorrect date and time every time it is powered off. What is the MOST likely cause?
- Corrupted Windows installation
- Dead or failing CMOS battery on the motherboard (Correct answer)
- Incorrect Windows time zone setting
- Faulty network time protocol server
Correct answer: Dead or failing CMOS battery on the motherboard
The CMOS battery powers the real-time clock on the motherboard; when it dies, the system loses date/time settings on each power cycle.
Question 7: During troubleshooting, a technician swaps a suspected faulty component with a known-working identical part. What troubleshooting method is this?
- Divide and conquer
- Substitution method (Correct answer)
- Bottom-up approach
- Top-down approach
Correct answer: Substitution method
The substitution method involves replacing a suspect component with a known-good one to confirm or rule out that component as the cause.
ICT IT Support and Troubleshooting 5
A user reports that after a power outage, their PC will not POST.
Which component should you check or replace FIRST?