1. What Is an IP Address? And how do you detect for a computer IP Adress?

Answer :
An IP address is a unique numerical identifier of every device on a network. A typical IP
address can look like this: 216.27.61.141. To detect a computer’s IP Address, go to Start –
Run – Type in CMD in the Run Dialogue Box and click OK or hit <Enter> – In the
Command Prompt Screen that comes up, type in IPCONFIG and hit <Enter>
2. What Is DHCP?
Answer :
DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is used to generate & provide IP
addresses to the computers on a network.
3. Question 5. What Are Rj45 And Rj11 Connectors?
Answer :
RJ45 connectors are used for LAN/Ethernet connections and RJ11 connectors are used for
Telephone Cable connections.
4. Question 6. What Is A Parallel Windows Installation?
Answer :
When the first installation of Windows fails to boot for some reason, another copy of
Windows is installed in teh same drive but in a different directory (so that the customer can
access to and backup his old data). This is called Parallel Installation of Windows.
5. Question 7. What Are The Components Needed To Setup A Basic Home Network?
Answer :
LAN Cards, LAN Cables, Router/Hub
6. Question 8. Difference Between A Workgroup And A Domain?
Answer :
In a Workgroup, all the computers function as Peers. But in a Domain, One computer is the
Server and the others are Clients.
7. Question 9. What Is The Difference Between Fat32 And NTFS File Systems?
Answer :
o NTFS allows compression and file encryption. FAT32 does not.
o NTFS is more secure than FAT32
8. Question 10. What Does Boot.ini Do?
Answer :
Boot.ini lists all the Operating Systems present in the computer and provide information
about which partitions they are located on.
9. Question 12. What Does A ‘?’ Sign In Device Manager Indicate?
Answer :
When this sign appears, it indicates the device is not properly installed. Such problem arises
in case of brand new plugin cards.
10. Question 13. How Will You Cope Up With A Customer, Who Complains About A
Brand New Printer And System, And Yet Failing To Get A Proper Print Copy?
Answer :
The first thing I will ask the customer, whether the system is properly connected with the
printer. The next thing would be to check the Device Driver. Many times it happens that if
you install an incorrect Device Driver, the print copy would not be clear.
11. Question 14. You Suspect That Your Computer Is Failing Because Of A Corrupt Master
Boot Record. Which Utility Is The Best To Fix This Problem?
Answer :
Recovery Console (By Using the fixmbr command)
12. Question 15. You Performed A Parallel Installation Of Windows Xp (home Edition) To
Resolve Certain Problems On A Customer’s Computer.
Answer :
After installation, the customer says she can see the previous profile folders in Documents &
Settings but when she tries to open then,she gets an “Access Denied” error.
13. Question 16. After Installation, The Customer Says She Can See The Previous Profile
Folders In Documents & Settings But When She Tries To Open Then,she Gets An
“access Denied” Error.
Answer :
Restart the Computer, Keep tapping on the F8 Key to go to the Windows Advanced Options
Menu and select the option “Last Known Good Configuration” and hit the <Enter> key.

14. Question 17. What Is The Command To Convert A Fat32 File System To Ntfs? Would
There Be Any Loss Of Data?
Answer :
The command is: CONVERT <Drive Letter>: /fs:NTFS. There will be no effect on the data.
(Data will be safe).But remember this: if you want to convert NTFS partition back to FAT32,
you will have to re-format that partition and select the FAT32 file system.

15. Question 19. You Are A Desktop Support Technician At Eqs. One Of The Customers
Has Just Installed A Brand New Printer For Himself. This Customer Calls You After
Some Time And Says That Every Time He Tries To Print Something, All He Gets Is
Some Garbled Text. However, The Printer Prints The Test Page Fine. What Do You
Think Is The Problem Here?
Answer :
The customer has installed an Incorrect Device Driver for the Printer. I would uninstall the
driver, from the WIndows Device Manager and install the correct Device Driver for the
Printer from the Disk that came with the Printer. (If the Disk is not available, I can still
download the correct device driver from the manufacturer’s website)
16. Question 20. If, Upon Booting Up A Computer, You See The Error Message “keyboard
Error…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?
Answer :
It could be that
1. The keyboard is not attached to the PC or
2. The keyboard has failed.
17. Question 21. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot-up Process Halts And You Get The
Error Message “non-system Disk Or Disk Error…replace And Press Any Key When
Ready…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?
Answer :
A non-bootable Floppy Disk is in the Floppy-disk drive and it should be removed.
18. Question 22. If, Upon Booting Up A Pc, You See A Message Which Says “invalid Drive
Configuration..” What Do You Think Is Causing This?
Answer :
This problem could be due to any of the following situations:
1. The Hard-Disk cable within the System Unit is not attached to the Controller
2. The Hard Disk Drive has failed
3. The Hard Disk Drive has not been partitioned.
19. Question 23. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot Process Halts And You Get The Error
Message ” C:system32config File Missing Or Corrupt” What Is This Due To?
Answer :
The Registry Hives are corrupted. They need to be repaired.
20. Question 24. You Have Norton 360. When The Firewall Is Turned On, You Are Unable
To Browse The Internet. But If You Turn Off The Firewall, You Are Able To Browse.
What Is The First Thing You Would Do To Fix This Problem?
Answer :
Reconfigure Norton Firewall to allow Internet Explorer to access the internet.

21. Question 25. Some Functions Of Bios:

Answer :
o Performs a POST (PowerOn Self Test) for all the different Hardware Components
in the System to make sure everything is working properly.
o Activating other BIOS Chips on different cards installed in the computer, for
example, SCSI and Graphics Cards.
o Provides a set of lowlevel suiting that the Operating System uses to interface
different Hardware devices.
o BIOS manages things in your computer like the Keyboard, Monitor, Serial and
Parallel Ports especially when the computer is Booting up.
o Manage the settings for Harddisk drives, System Clock etc.

22. Question 26. Sequence Of Things Done By The Bios When You Turn On Your
Computer:
Answer :
o Check the CMOS for Custom Settings.
o Load the interrupt Handlers and Device Drivers.
o Initialize Registers and Power Management.
o Perform POST (Power On Self Test).
o Display System Settings.
o Determine which devices are Bootable.
o Initialize the Bootstrap sequence.

23. Question 27. A User Calls And Says That Whenever He Starts His Computer, It Boots
Up Only In Safe Mode. There Is No Other Error Message. What Would You Do To Fix
This Problem?
Answer :
Go to Msconfig and select Normal Mode and Restart the Computer.
24. Question 28. A User Complains That Whenever He Connects Any Usb 2.0 Device To His
Computer, He Gets The Error Message “usb Device Not Recognized…” What Could Be
The Possible Reason For This?
Answer :
The USB Port could be faulty.
25. Question 29. A User Complains That He Is No Longer Able To Hear Any Sound From
His Computer – After He Downloaded Some Updates From The Microsoft Website.
What Could Be The Possible Reason For This?
Answer :
The Windows Audio Service is Disabled. Enable it.
26. Question 30. A Customer Reports That His Windows Xp Professional Portable
Computer Is Not Able To Connect To Any Network Resource And Is Also Not Able To
Authenticate On The Network’s Active Directory Domain The Computer Was Fine
Yesterday. No Other Person In The Organization Is Facing This Problem. What Is The
First Thing You Would Do To Fix This Problem?
Answer :
Ask the user to RightClick on the Network Connection icon and select “Repair” from the
Menu.
27. Question 31. A Customer Has Recently Upgraded From Windows 98 To Windows Xp
Professional. After The Upgrade, It Takes Longer For Windows, Menus, Submenus
And Other Use Interface Features To Open. She Wants Them To Open Faster. How
Can You Help This Customer?
Answer :
Use System in Control Panel and select the option “Adjust for Best Performance” in the
Performance Options dialogue box.
28. Question 32. You Are A Desktop Support Technician. A User Calls And Complains
That Till Yesterday He Was Able To View His Cd Drive In His Computer. But Today
When He Turned On His Computer, He Is Not Able To View The Cdrom Drive In “my
Computer”. What Can Be Done To Fix This Problem?
Answer :
Open the Windows Registery Editor and Delete the Upper and Lower Filter Keys.
29. Question 33. What Does The Term Uac Stand For?
Answer :
UAC stands for User Access Control. For more information read this article.
30. Question 34. What Is The Command To Start Windows System Restore From The
Command Line?
Answer :
rstrui.exe
31. Question 35. If You Turn On A Pc And The Bootup Process Halts And You Get The
Error Message “nonsystem Disk Or Disk Error…replace And Press Any Key When
Ready…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?
Answer :
A nonbootable Floppy Disk is in the Floppydisk drive and it should be removed.
32. Question 37. You Are Configuring Power Management On Your Windows Xp
Computer. With Acpi, Power Management Should Be Under The Exclusive Contol Of:
Answer :
The Operating System
33. Question 38. Which File Must Be Located In The Root Folder Of The Active Partition
For Dual Booting Of Windows Xp And Windows Me To Boot?
Answer :
Boot.ini
34. Question 39. A Customer Calls And Says He Is Unable To Get Online. He Uses A Cable
Connection To Connect To The Internet On A Windows Xp Computer. You Ping
127.0.0.1 On His Computer And Get The Results That All The Packets Are Lost. What
Should You Do Next?
Answer :
Rebuild the TCP/IP Stack in the users computer
35. Question 40. Very Frequently, Users In Your Office Put Floppy Disks In The Drives
And Forget To Take Them Out. This Results In Boot-up Problems And Results In
Support Requests. How Would You Stop This Computer From Looking In The A: Drive
For Boot Files First.
Answer :
Change the Boot Order in BIOS.
36. Question 41. After Restarting Your Windows Xp (professional) Computer, Your
Monitor Shows A Blank, Blue Screen. You Remember That A New Video Driver Was
Just Installed. What Would Be The Best Way To Fix This Problem?
Answer :
Restart the Computer, Keep tapping on the F8 Key to go to the Windows Advanced Options
Menu and select the option “Last Known Good Configuration” and hit the <Enter> key.

37. Question 42. You Need To Dual-boot A Computer With Windows Xp And Windows
Me. You Need All The Partitions To Be Accesible From Both The Operating Systems.
Which File System Would You Use In This Scenario?
Answer :
FAT32
38. Question 43. A Customer Complains That He Keeps Getting The Error Message “hal.dll
Missing Or Corrupt”. Which File Needs To Be Repaired/rebuilt To Rectify The Issue?
Answer :
BOOT.INI
39. Question 44. Which Utility Is Used To Do A Software Clean Boot?
Answer :
Msconfig
40. Question 45. What Do You Mean By Packaging A Microprocessor? What Are The
Different Packaging’s Available?
Answer :
The process of packaging a microprocessor to the computer motherboard is known as a
microprocessor. The different types of microprocessor’s packaging are
 o PGA
o SPGA
o SECC
o LGA
41. Question 46. Explain The Cache Memory? What Is The Advantage Of A Processor
Having More Cache Memory?
Answer :
Cache memory is the memory area between Processor and Ram. If the cache memory
increases, the speed of the system will also increases.
42. Question 47. What Is Over Clocking? What Are The Advantages Of Over Clocking?
Answer :
It is a process where the computer component is forced to run at a higher clock rate.
The advantages of over clocking are:
o Increases the CPU’s performance
o It is costsaving
o Makes PC games and Applications to run faster
43. Question 48. What Is Chipset? How Is It Different From Processor And Motherboard?
Answer :
Chipset is one of the processing devices in a computer. It is a number of integrated circuits,
designed to control how information travels between other components and processor. It is a
group of microchip to work as a unit to perform one or more related functions. While
motherboard is where all other components like CPU, Memory, Sockets for external
connectors and drives are attached. Chipset is a built in feature of otherboard. While,
processor is a main integrated circuit block, which does the function according to the
instruction of a computer program. It is based on the logical, arithmetical and input/output of
the system.
44. Question 49. What Is Heat Sink And What Is The Use In The System?
Answer :
To lower the temperature of a device, a heat sink component is used. It is there on the
microprocessor and if it is not functioning well then the computer will shut down
automatically.
45. Question 50. What Is Jumper And Why You Need It?
Answer :
Jumper is a metal bridge that closes an electric circuit. A jumper consists of a plastic plug that
fits over a pair of protruding pins. It is used to change the board’s parameters.
46. Question 51. What Are The Different Types Of Dram?
Answer :
The different types of DRAM are SRAM, VRAM, SGRAM, DDRSDRAM
47. Question 52. What Might Be The Problem When You Don’t See The Display?
Answer :
o Power related issues
o Heat sink related issues
o CPU fan related issues
o Improper Jumper settings
48. Question 53. What Is Sata?
 Answer :
SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is high speed computer bus
interface designed to connect the host bus adapters to mass storage devices, such as hard disk
drives and optical drives.
49. Question 54. What Is The Blue Screen Of Death (bsod)?
Answer :
A Blue Screen of Death (or just a Blue Screen Error) is an indication of a Critical System
Problem wherein the Computer freezes altogether and does not respond to anything.To rectify
this problem, try Restarting the computer or Booting into Safe Mode.
50. Question 55. Why Are Device Drivers Required?
Answer :
A Device Driver (or just Driver) is a piece of software which is requied to run every
Hardware Component present in the computer.
51. Question 56. What Is A Data Cable?
Answer :
A Data Cable is a Thin Plastic bandlike cable used to connect the DataDevices like Harddisk
drives, Floppy Disk Drives, CD/DVDROM drives with the motherboard. Data Cables are
primarily used for Data Transfer.
52. Question 57. What Is Ping?
Answer :
Ping is a command that checks the connectivity with an IP address.
53. Question 58. What Is The Difference Between Crt (cathode Ray Tube) And Lcd (flat
Screen Monitors)?
Answer :
CRT Monitors: The Monitor has a picture tube and uses a lightgun to highlight pixels on the
screen.
LCD Monitors: These monitors do not have a picture tube and contain a layer of liquid
crystals on an Electronic Board.
54. Question 59. What Does The Term Usb Stand For?
Answer :
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. It allows devices to be connected or disconnected from
a computer without shutting down or restarting the computer. The current version of USB is
2.0.
55. Question 60. Lights On A Modem / Lan Card
Answer :
Generally, there are 04 lights. They indicate the following:
o Power Light: Shows if the device (Modem)is getting Power Supply or not.
o Link Light: Indicates if the device is getting broadband/internet signals properly
from the ISP.
o Data Light: Indicates wether the internet is working or not.
o Connectivity Light: Indicates the Modem is connected to a PC or not.

Depending on the job requirements, you could include practical problems from all the
relevant knowledge domains, For example:
Active Directory:

Demonstrate creating a user, placing the user in the proper OU, setting up the
environment (home directory/drive, logon hours, etc).

Describe the functional intent of an existing Group Policy Object, and then describe how
that GPO would be applied, including any filters or restrictions. Then ask the applicant
to define a new GPO that does something relevant to the environment.

I also like to throw in the occasional trick. So, maybe ask the applicant to describe how
to change the password of the local administrator account on a domain controller.

Hardware:

Demonstrate the proper removal and replacement of a failed drive from a RAID array (I
would not use production hardware for this!!).

Walk the applicant through a troubleshooting scenario. I like to use bad RAM as the
failure because the symptoms can be so ambiguous. This is to get a feel for the
applicant's abilities to solve problems.

Networking:
Have the applicant define a new DHCP scope and set scope options such as default
gateway, domain suffix, DNS servers, etc. Make sure the applicant is able to explain
what each setting does.

Have the applicant identify the problem in a routing table, and then explain why it is a
problem and how to fix it.

Network Services:

Describe a scenario where users are unable to send email. Have the applicant walk
through the troubleshooting steps. You would be surprised how many jump right to
rebooting the SMTP server.

Describe a scenario where users are unable to access a particular file within an
accessible file share. Have the applicant walk through the troubleshooting steps.