CompTIA^® A+ It Technician Exam Cram Notes : Windows 2000/xp Safe Mode With Networking And Others

When doing over the network installation, the most likely causes for failure are:

1. The domain controller may not be up and running. You need to ensure that the domain controller is running.
2. The username and password may not be correct. You need to have appropriate access rights to join a domain. Ensure that you have appropriate access rights and that you have typed in correct username and password. Note that the passwords are case sensitive in Windows 2000.

Some of the frequently encountered error codes and their corresponding error messages on a PC are given below:

Error Code----Error Message
161 - CMOS battery failure: Replace the CMOS battery
164 - Memory size error : If the error occurs after memory upgrade, run SETUP program.
201 - Memory test failed : RAM chips failed, one or more may need to be replace.
301 - Keyboard error: You may have to check the key board

59)Some of the frequently encountered problems using laser printers and probable causes are as given below:

1. Speckled pages: The causes for this may be a. The failure to clean the drum after printing properly, or b. The drum might have developed scratches

2. Blank pages: The causes for white pages may be, A. The toner would have dried out, replace the toner. B. The transfer corona, that is responsible for transferring the toner to the drum might have failed. C. The High Voltage Power Supply (HVPS) failure will also result in white pages.

3. Ghosted Images: Ghosting occurs when previously printed pages are printed again, though much lighter than the present image. The most likely cause is that the erasure lamp might not be working properly, thus leaving some charges representing the earlier image left on the photosensitive drum before new image is written. Also check the cleaning blade, which is responsible for scaping the residual toner.

4. Smudged images: If the fusing fails, the toner will not bond with the paper. Check the halogen lamp responsible for heating.

60)Some of the important commands useful in trouble shooting TCP/IP networks are:

I. Ipconfig: Displays TCP/IP configuration values, including IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.

II. Ping: This command can be used to verify whether the target ip address or host name is present. You need to specify the target IP address or host name.

III. route: Displays and manipulates route information.

iv: Tracert: Determines the route packets take to reach the specified destination.

60)Some of the important System Monitor counters are:

1. Memory>Available Mbytes: measures the amount of physical memory that is available. Typically > 4MB. If less than 4 MB, consider adding more memory.
2. Memory>Pages/Sec: Shows the number of times that the disk has been accessed, because requested information was not available in memory. If the value of the counter is not below 20, you should add more memory. A value of 4 or 5 is typical.
3. Paging File>%Usage: Indicates the % of allocated page file utilization. Should be less than 99%.
4. Processor>%Processor Time: measure the time that the processor is busy. Should be typically less than 80%
5. Processor>Interrupts/Sec: Indicates the average number of hardware interrupts that the processor receives each second. If more than 3,500, you can suspect a program or faulty hardware.
6. PhysicalDisk>%Disk Time: Measures the amount of time that the physical disk is busy servicing read or write requests. If more than 90%, you can improve the performance by adding another disk channel.
7. PhysicalDisk>%Current Disk Queue Length: indicates the number of pending disk requests that need to be processed. The value should be less than 2. The disk problems might arise from less memory, resulting in usage of excessive paging. Ensure that the memory is sufficient before attending to the disk problem.
8. LogicalDisk > %Free Space counter: Indicates the amount of logical disk's free disk space. Typical value is 10% or above.

SoundBlaster sound card uses IRQ 5, DMA 1, and I/O address 220 hex.

Other important I/O addresses are:

Port Base address (in hex)
COM4: 2E8-2EF
COM2: 2F8-2FF
COM3: 3E8-3EF
COM1: 3F8-3FF
LPT2 : 278-27F
LPT1 : 378-37F

Floppy Controller: 3F0-3F7
Hard Drive Controller, 16 bit, ISA: 1F0-1F8

61)SSID needs to be configured on the laptop for connecting to the Access Point. The DHCP server typically supplies IP address, DNS server information, and subnet mask.

SSID, short for service set identifier, a unique identifier attached to the header of packets sent over a WLAN that acts as a password when a mobile device tries to connect to the Access Point. The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another, so all access points and all devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN must use the same SSID.

Installing an authentication server or an external Firewall incurs additional costs, and not a best solution.

System Restore automatically track changes to your computer and creates restore points before major changes are to occur. To create a restore point, System Restore takes a full snapshot of the registry and some dynamic system files. For example, restore points are created before new device drivers, automatic updates, unsigned drivers, and some applications are installed.

To create a System Restore Point in Windows XP, use the sequence, Start | All Programs |Accessories | System Tools, and then click System Restore.

System Restore takes a "snapshot" of critical system files and some program files and stores this information as restore points. You can use these restore points to return Windows XP to a previous state.

On a Network card, the absence of a link LED represents a problem at the Physical layer of the OSI protocol.

62)The automatic restart option in Windows XP is enabled by default. As a result, if there is any major error, the Operating System will automatically restart. This can be disabled using System applet in the Control Panel.

The battery is supposed to provide backup in the event of any power failure, typically up to 2 hours or more.

The best ways to find whether a new hardware is supported by your Windows OS is to check the manufacturer's documentation first, and then the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).

The BIOS password is stored in CMOS memory that is maintained while the PC is powered off by a small battery, which is attached to the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual to find the jumper that clears the BIOS password. Alternatively, if you remove this battery, all CMOS information (including the BIOS password) will be lost.

The command "format a: /s" can be used to format the floppy disk in drive A, and at the same time make it bootable.

The customer was obviously concerned when he reported the matter to you. Appropriate action would be to apologize to the customer, and assure him that it would not happen again. You need to report this to the manager, so that necessary action is taken to educate the technician that misused the office time.

The customer would be expecting you at the specified time. It is appropriate to call the customer over phone, and inform him that you would be late. Sending an email may not be the best option, since the customer may not see his/her email often. Your colleague may not convey the message to your customer appropriately.

63)The default spool folder is located at: Systemroot\System32\spool\printers. For example, if the OS is residing on C drive, the default location will be: "C:\\WINNT\System32\spool\printers".

You can access this location through:

You can access this location through:
Start -> Printers -> File -> Server Properties -> Advanced tab. Type in the new spool location over the default location.

The default subnet masks for various classes of IP address are given below:

Class A: 255.0.0.0
Class B: 255.255.0.0
Class C: 255.255.255.0

64)The Device Manager provides the status of the devices installed in the system.

The Device Manager lists all the hardware devices installed on your system. You can also update any existing drivers, as well as change the hardware settings. You use Add/ Remove Hardware to install new hardware. Accessibility options is primarily used to configure the keyboard, display, and mouse options on a computer to accommodate the users who are physically handicapped. The Add/ Remove Programs is used to install / uninstall 3rd party software. This is also used for installing / uninstalling Windows 2000 optional components.

The following are most commonly used modem commands:

Modem commands-Command function
ATA ....................... Answer the phone
ATD ....................... Dial the phone, ATDT for Tone dialing, ATDP for Pulse dialing
ATH ....................... Hang up
ATZ ....................... Reset
AT&F ....................... Reset modem parameters and settings to factory defaults
AT&W ..................... Write the current parameter values and settings

65)The following are the 6 steps in the ElectroPhotographic (EP) print process of Laser Printer:

1. Cleaning: Cleaning the photosensitive drum includes residual toner left on the drum and removing the electrical charges left out on the drum. The physical cleaning is done with a rubber blade and the electrical charge cleaning is done with erasure lamps.

2. Charging: The next step in printing, is to charge the photo sensitive drum with high negative charge, this is done with the help of a corona wire.

3. Writing: A laser (type 3) sweeps the entire length of the drum, creating the static image of the matter to be printed. The places where the laser travel, the highly charges are nutralized. Other places of the drum, it remains highly negatively charged.

4. Developing: Now drum gets in close proximity to the toner. Because the toner is negatively charged, it gets attracted to the areas where the drum is neutral. It will not be attracted to the places where the drum is highly negatively charged. Thus the image of the page to be printed formed on the photosensitive drum.

5. Transferring: Now, the toner on the drum gets attracted toward the paper, by using highly positive charges developed on the surface of the paper. The "transfer corona" is used to generate highly positive charge on the paper surface and to attract the toner from the drum. Thus the image of the page to be printed formed on the paper. But still, the toner is loose and can get easily smeared.

6. Fusing: In order to permanently bond the toner particles to the paper, the paper is passed through rollers. One of the rollers, the non stick roller is heated by a high intensity lamp, generating the heat necessary to bond the toner to the surface of the paper.

66)The IRQ numbers and relevant Standard Device Assignment are given below. It is important to memorize these values before going to the exam, as there would be 5-10 questions on IRQs, and conflicts.

IRQ----Standard Device Assignment
0-System timer
1-Keyboard
2-Cascade to IRQ9. Can't be used.
3-COM ports 2 and 4
4-COM ports 1 and 3
5-Parallel Port LPT2. Very often used for sound cards.
6-Floppy drive controller
7-Parallel Port, LPT1
8-Real time clock
9-Unassigned (Also redirected from IRQ2)
10-Available
11-Available. SCSI adapter will usually use this IRQ.
12-Mouse or touch pads
13-Math co-processor.
14-Primary hard-disk IDE controller
15-Secondary hard-disk IDE controller.

The ISP provides the information on the SMTP, and POP server addresses. You need to feed this information to the mail client while configuring to send and receive e-mail.

The manufacturer specifies the field replaceable parts, and usually in a printer, the print heads and toner catridges are the only FRUs (Field Replaceable Parts).

The most likely cause for excessive paging is insufficient Memory. Increase the physical Memory on your computer.

The Windows 2000 Performance tool is composed of two parts:

3. System Monitor, and
4. Performance Logs and Alerts.

With System Monitor, you can collect and view real-time data about memory, disk, processor, network, and other activity in chart (graph), histogram, or report form.

Through Performance Logs and Alerts you can configure logs to record performance data and set system alerts to notify you when a specified counter's value is above or below a defined threshold.

67)The most likely cause for sporadic movement of mouse is dirt. If dirt has entered the mouse, clean the dirt with IPA, or cotton wetted in soap water.

The most likely problem is conflicting IRQs. Since the mouse is working until the modem is used, the IRQ/IO address of modem may be conflicting with that of the mouse.

If the hard-disk is making sound, the most likely problem is that the hard disk read/write head is scratching the disk surface. It often results in the total failure of the disk. If you find that you can still read/write to the disk, backup the hard disk and replace immediately.

The most probable cause that the screen is dumping garbled characters is that the communication settings are not correct. Check the speed, parity, start/stop bits etc. If the serial port parameters are correct, then you need to check the cable, such as straight/cross cable and the pin connections.

The motherboard displayed has the following expansion slots:

PCI slots : 5 (distinguished by white color, usually the number of PCI slots available on a motherboard varies from 3 to 6)
ISA slots: 2 (distinguished by black color, longer than PCI slots, placed next to PCI slots.)
AGP slot: 1 ( The single slot, next to 5 white PCI slots is AGP slot in brown color. Note that there will be only one AGP slot)

The nickel cadmium battery, known as NiCad , used to be the most common type of laptop battery. NiCad batteries could easily be ruined by being left on the charger after they had reached full charge, or by being recharged before they were completely dead. The latter problem, called the "memory effect," meant that if you recharged your laptop battery before it had run completely down, it would remember the point at which you put it back on the charger, and only discharge that far the next time you used it.

The nickel metal hydride (NiMH) laptop battery could hold considerably more power than NiCad, but they still had something of a memory effect, although to a lesser extent

Lithium ion (Li-Ion) is the latest technology for laptop batteries.They are considerably lighter and does not exhibit memory effect. The Li-Ion laptop battery lasts considerably longer than its predecessors. If your laptop supports Li-Ion battery, then it is a recommended choice.

68)The problems such as video card, network card, and modem card can be resolved by booting to Safe Mode. While in Safe Mode, troubleshoot the problem.

The Registry contains the important information about the devices and applications. Any failure to backup the registry may require re-installation of the complete system.

The revised drive assignment looks as follows:

Drive 1: C (Primary Partition), E (First logical Drive), F (Second logical Drive)
Drive 2: D (Primary Partition), G( for Logical drive on Extended Partition)

In addition, please note the following:

DOS, Windows3.1 Windows 95/ 98 operating systems share the following criteria:

6. Each can have only one primary partition per hard disk
7. The primary partition is automatically assigned a drive letter
8. Each hard disk can have only one Extended partition
9. You can create one or more logical drives in the Extended partition.
10. The drive letters are assigned manually to logical drives.

The roller/ball at the bottom of the mouse collects dirt over a period of time. The mouse movement appears very shaky, and intermittent if this happens. By cleaning the ball/roller, this problem can be solved.

The Services snap-in is used for managing services on a Windows 2000/XP computer.

A service is a process or set of processes that adds functionality to Windows by providing support to other programs. Every service in Windows 2000 has three states, which users can control with the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Snap-in:

1. Disabled. These services are installed but not currently running.
2. Set to manual. These services are installed but will start only when another service or application needs its functionality.
3. Set to automatic. These services are started by the operating system after device drivers are loaded at boot time

The Services snap-in can be access from the Administrative Tools MMC using Computer Management snap-in or Services snap-in.

The switch /s will make all the files and sub directories to be marked as archive.

The use of compressed air is most appropriate. Use of vacuum cleaner may tend to create ESD. A nylon brush also creates electrostatic charges. Soap water is not recommended to clean PCAs.

69)The utility is available with Windows 98, ME, XP, and can be copied to windows 2000. The Microsoft System Configuration Utility, (or MSCONFIG for short) is a small program that lets you see what programs are interacting with your computer when it starts. You can chose what programs you want to turn on or off simply by checking or un-checking the checkboxes.

The five tabs in MSCONFIG that you will see are called General, Startup, Boot.INI, Win.INI, and System.INI. The '.INI' means that these pages refer to a certain type of file. An INI file is an initialization file.

SERVICES are similar to the programs listed in startup. You can manage which services are loaded at the start-up.

BOOT.INI is where you can configure Boot Options, such as SAFEBOOT, NOGUIBOOT, BOOTLOG, and SOS.

WIN.INI is the old windows location for storing system settings back in windows 3.0

SYSTEM.INI is the old windows location for listing system files to be loaded, such as drivers and fonts.

The Windows 2000 Performance tool is composed of two parts:

1. System Monitor, and
2. Performance Logs and Alerts.
With System Monitor, you can collect and view real-time data about memory, disk, processor, network, and other activity in chart (graph), histogram, or report form.

Through Performance Logs and Alerts you can configure logs to record performance data and set system alerts to notify you when a specified counter's value is above or below a defined threshold.

Thermal printers require a special kind of paper, called thermal paper. This paper is sensitive to heat, and the printing is produced by thermal heat applied on the paper by the print head.

This utility is useful when you suspect there may be a problem with a Windows XP system file. For example, you get a dialog box informing you of a problem with a .dll file, or your program will just not load. It is therefore worth checking to see if there are any corrupt system files using scannow sfc.

To do this, go to the Run box on the Start Menu and type in: sfc /scannow

This command will immediately initiate the Windows File Protection service to scan all protected files and make sure of their correctness, replacing any files that it finds with a problem.

70)To achieve proper USB connectivity six basic system elements must be present and working correctly.

1) Support from the BIOS
2) Support from the Operating System
3) Physical USB ports
4) A USB Device
5) The correct USB cable for the device
6) Drivers either from the OS and/or the peripheral maker

To clean a keyboard soak it in a distilled demineralized water as soon as possible after the spill. Take precaution to remove the keyboard before doing so, and dry it before connecting back.

71)To connect a USB device,

1. The computer supports USB.
2. The USB should be enabled in the BIOS,

If both the above conditions are met, USB Controller is listed in the Device Manager. If it's not listed in the Device Manager, you can suspect that the USB was not enabled in the BIOS.

To insert a new file extension, you use Windows explorer, and select the application. Then, Tools -> Folder Option -> File Types. Configure the extension appropriately.

To make all files in the directory myfiles to be read only, the command is "ATTRIB C:\MYFILES +r".

To measure DC current, open the circuit at the point where you want to measure the current. Place the multimeter probes in series with the circuit.

To obtain BIOS string ID:

1. Power off the system
2. Either unplug your keyboard or hold down one of the keys on the keyboard
3. Power-on the system and you should get a keyboard error
4. The string in the lower left hand corner of your computer screen represents the BIOS String ID.

It is also possible to read the BIOS information by going to the BIOS set-up of the PC by pressing appropriate key (usually Del key) during boot up.

Upgrading the firmware in a computer is done by flashing the BIOS.

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