CompTIA A+ · Domain 3 · 25% of the examCore 1 (220-1201) · Hardware
10 practice questions. Tap an option to check it, or open “Show answer” for the explanation.
1. Which display technology lights each pixel on its own with no backlight, giving true blacks but carrying a risk of burn-in from static images?
Objective 3.1Show answerHide answer
Answer: C. OLED
OLED pixels emit their own light, so they can switch fully off for true black, but they can wear unevenly and burn in. Mini-LED is still an LCD, lit by an array of very small LED backlights.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
2. A company needs to connect two buildings 8 km apart with fiber. Which cable type should it use?
Objective 3.2Show answerHide answer
Answer: B. Single-mode fiber
Single-mode fiber uses a narrow core and laser light to carry signals for many kilometers. Multimode fiber is cheaper but is limited to much shorter runs, usually a few hundred meters at modern speeds.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
3. A contractor is running network cable through the air-handling space above a drop ceiling. The fire code requires cable that produces less toxic smoke if it burns. Which cable should be used?
Objective 3.2Show answerHide answer
Answer: A. Plenum-rated
Plenum-rated cable has a fire-resistant jacket that gives off less toxic smoke, as required in air-handling spaces. Shielding protects against electromagnetic interference, not fire.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
4. A user adds a second, identical 16 GB DIMM to a desktop, but the firmware still reports single-channel memory mode. What should the technician do?
Objective 3.3Show answerHide answer
Answer: D. Move the modules to the paired slots shown in the motherboard manual
Dual-channel mode needs the modules in matching slots on each channel, often color-coded (for example A2 and B2). ECC adds error correction but has nothing to do with channel configuration, and most desktop boards don't support it anyway.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
5. A technician builds a RAID 5 array from four 4 TB drives. About how much usable capacity will the array have?
Objective 3.4Show answerHide answer
Answer: B. 12 TB
RAID 5 uses one drive's worth of space for parity, so usable capacity is (4 - 1) x 4 TB = 12 TB. 8 TB is what RAID 6 or RAID 10 would give with these four drives.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
6. A video editor wants the fastest internal SSD her motherboard supports. The board has an M.2 slot wired to PCIe lanes. Which drive should she buy?
Objective 3.4Show answerHide answer
Answer: C. M.2 NVMe SSD
NVMe drives talk directly over PCIe and reach several gigabytes per second. An M.2 SATA SSD uses the same slot shape but is limited to SATA's roughly 600 MB/s.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
7. A technician tries to turn on BitLocker on a new desktop, but Windows says it can't find a compatible TPM. The motherboard specification lists a firmware TPM. What should she do?
Objective 3.5Show answerHide answer
Answer: A. Enable the firmware TPM (fTPM/PTT) in the UEFI settings
Firmware TPMs often ship disabled, and turning the TPM on in UEFI makes it available to BitLocker. Disabling Secure Boot doesn't turn on the TPM and weakens boot security.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
8. Which power supply output voltage feeds the CPU's 8-pin EPS connector and the PCIe power connectors on graphics cards?
Objective 3.6Show answerHide answer
Answer: D. 12 V
The +12 V rail supplies most of the power for CPUs, GPUs and drive motors. The 5 V and 3.3 V rails power lower-draw logic, USB and some drive electronics.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
9. A law firm's shared multifunction printer sits in a public hallway, and confidential documents are often left in its output tray. The firm wants each job to print only once the user is at the printer and has authenticated with a badge or PIN. Which feature should be configured?
Objective 3.7Show answerHide answer
Answer: B. Secured print release with badge authentication
Secured print holds each job until the user authenticates at the device, so nothing sits unattended in the tray. Audit logs record who printed what but don't stop documents being left out.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
10. A laser printer shows a 'perform printer maintenance' message at 200,000 pages. Paper pickup has become unreliable and pages have light smudges. What should the technician do?
Objective 3.8Show answerHide answer
Answer: A. Install the manufacturer's maintenance kit and reset the maintenance counter
A maintenance kit replaces wear parts such as the fuser and the pickup and feed rollers, which fixes these symptoms, and resetting the counter clears the message. A new toner cartridge fixes faded print but not worn rollers or the maintenance warning.
Checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort) · Oct 14, 2026
Original practice questions written from CompTIA’s published exam objectives, not real exam questions. CompTIA is a trademark of CompTIA, Inc.; this site isn’t affiliated with CompTIA.