Hardware

A technician needs to reinstall the operating system on a workstation using a bootable USB flash drive. After inserting the drive and powering on, the system boots directly into the existing OS instead of the installer. What should the technician configure in the UEFI/BIOS to resolve this?

A user reports that every time their desktop is unplugged overnight, the system clock resets to a date in the past and the BIOS/UEFI prompts them to re-enter setup or press F1 to continue booting. The computer otherwise runs normally once it starts. Which component should the technician replace to resolve this issue?

A technician is building a workstation with a liquid all-in-one (AIO) CPU cooler. The motherboard has several 4-pin fan headers labeled CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT, AIO_PUMP, and SYS_FAN. To ensure the cooler's pump runs at a constant full speed and the system does not trigger a fan-error warning at boot, where should the technician connect the pump's power lead?

A technician installs four identical 8 GB DIMMs (32 GB total) into a workstation with four memory slots. After booting, the BIOS/UEFI and operating system report only 16 GB of usable RAM. All modules test good individually in a known-working slot, and the board's manual lists a maximum supported capacity of 128 GB. What is the MOST likely cause?

A technician assembles a new workstation. When they press the power button, the case fans spin briefly and the RGB lighting flashes, but the system fails to POST and no video appears. The 24-pin motherboard connector is fully seated and the GPU has its PCIe power cables attached. What is the MOST likely cause of this failure?

A technician is installing a new AMD Ryzen processor into a desktop motherboard. The CPU has an array of metal pins protruding from its underside, and there is a small gold triangle printed on one corner of the chip. What is the correct action to ensure proper installation?

A technician is called to a workstation that powers on normally but shuts down abruptly within a few minutes of heavy CPU usage. UEFI hardware monitoring shows the CPU temperature climbing rapidly toward its thermal limit before shutdown. The CPU fan is spinning at full speed, and all case fans function. Upon inspection, the heatsink is firmly seated but was recently removed and reinstalled by another technician. What is the MOST likely cause?

A technician is installing two identical 8GB DDR4 memory modules into a motherboard that has four DIMM slots arranged in two colors: slots 1 and 3 are black, and slots 2 and 4 are blue. The goal is to enable dual-channel memory operation for maximum bandwidth. Where should the technician install the two modules?

A technician installs an add-on M.2 NVMe SSD into the second M.2 slot on a desktop motherboard. After booting, they notice that two of the board's SATA ports no longer detect the drives that were previously connected to them. All other hardware works normally. What is the MOST likely cause?

A technician is installing a new dedicated graphics card into a desktop workstation. The card has a long edge connector with a small notch near the front. Which motherboard slot must the technician use to seat this card correctly and achieve full bandwidth?

A technician has finished a custom build, but when the power button on the case is pressed, nothing happens—no fans spin and the board never posts. The PSU switch is on, the 24-pin and EPS connectors are seated, and briefly shorting the two POWER SW pins on the motherboard header with a screwdriver successfully boots the system. What is the MOST likely cause?

A user reports that after you installed a new high-end graphics card, the system posts and displays the desktop, but during 3D games the screen shows random colored blocks and the system occasionally freezes. The card's fans spin and the monitor is connected to the card's DisplayPort output. Which action should you check FIRST?

A user reports that their inkjet printer, which sat unused for several weeks, now feeds paper and appears to print but produces pages that are almost completely blank or have missing color bands. The ink cartridges are new and properly seated, and the printer reports no errors. What is the MOST likely cause?

A user reports that every page from their laser printer has a thin vertical black line running down the same spot on each sheet, regardless of the document being printed. Cleaning the printer and running a test page produces the same defect. Which component is the MOST likely cause?

A technician is connecting an older projector to a conference room laptop. The projector has only one input port: a blue, D-shaped connector with 15 pins arranged in three rows. Which cable does the technician need to connect the laptop to this projector?

A technician connects a new monitor to a workstation's dedicated graphics card using a DisplayPort cable. The monitor powers on but displays a 'No Signal' message, then goes into sleep mode. The graphics card has both DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, and the monitor supports both. The PC boots normally, as confirmed by the sound of the OS loading. What is the MOST likely cause the technician should check FIRST?

A technician is building a compact home theater PC and needs a motherboard that will physically fit the smallest available case while still providing at least one PCIe expansion slot. Which motherboard form factor should the technician select?

A technician installs a new multifunction printer that must send scanned documents directly to users' email inboxes using the company's mail server. Printing and copying work fine, but every attempt to use the scan-to-email feature fails with a 'server not responding' error. Which configuration must the technician verify on the printer to resolve this?

A technician is installing a new high-end graphics card into a workstation. The card's documentation states it requires two 8-pin PCIe power connectors and a minimum 750W power supply. The system currently has a 500W unit that only provides a single 6-pin PCIe connector. What should the technician do before installing the card?

A busy office laser printer has recently started pulling multiple sheets at once and jamming several times per day. The paper is fresh from a sealed ream, the tray guides are set correctly, and the printer reports no toner or fuser errors. Which action is MOST likely to resolve the repeated multi-feed and jam issue?