220-1202 CompTIA A+ Core 2 2025 Exam Questions and Answers

Hash values(like SHA256) are published by vendors to verify file integrity. A match confirms the file hasn’t been tampered with.

FromTravis Everett – CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide:

“Use hash values to ensure downloaded software matches the vendor’s published version and hasn't been modified.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

VPN clients often create virtual network adapters. If the software wasn't uninstalled properly or crashed during install, leftover (often hidden) virtual adapters can prevent reinstallation. The proper solution is to delete hidden network adapters using Device Manager (with “Show hidden devices” enabled).

A. OS updates won’t fix a leftover driver or adapter issue.

B. Mapping an adapter to the software is not a standard or viable solution.

C. Firmware updates apply to physical adapters, not virtual VPN adapters.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In a domain environment, printers are typically deployed via a print server. Users can browse available printers on the server and install them directly.

All-in-One Exam Guidementions:

“In a corporate domain, printers are managed via a centralized print server. Users can select the desired printer from the server’s shared list.”

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Public Wi-Fi networks often usecaptive portals, which require accepting terms or authenticating via the pop-up page before full access is granted. Closing it prematurely stops full connection.

FromTravis Everett – All-in-One Exam Guide:

“Captive portals intercept the first HTTP request and present a login or acknowledgment screen. Without completing it, access is denied.”

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Just recognizing the device isn’t enough—audio output must be routed to it manuallyby setting it as the default playback device in sound settings.

FromMark Soper – Mike Meyers' Lab Manual:

“If audio is still playing through the internal speaker, verify that the Bluetooth headset is set as the default playback device. This can be configured under Windows Sound Settings.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Most public Wi-Fi networks requireinteraction with a captive portal(e.g., terms of use or login). Dismissing it prevents the user from gaining internet access. Reconnecting and completing the portal page is essential.

FromAll-in-One Exam Guide:

“Many public hotspots require user acknowledgment or login via a captive portal. Skipping this step results in no internet access.”

This scenario involves a mismatch in device time settings, which can affect synchronization and authentication across the network. Using aNetwork Time Protocol (NTP) serverensures all networked devices maintain accurate and synchronized clocks.

FromTravis Everett – All-in-One Exam Guide:

“NTP servers keep all devices on a network in sync. This prevents time drift, which can cause authentication issues with domain logins, certificates, and applications.” .

A VPN creates a secure tunnel from the user’s home network into the corporate network, providing the necessary routing and access controls for the laptop to reach internal file servers. Without a VPN, the device remains outside the corporate LAN and cannot directly reach protected resources.

A VPN creates a secure tunnel from the user’s home network into the corporate network, providing the necessary routing and access controls for the laptop to reach internal file servers. Without a VPN, the device remains outside the corporate LAN and cannot directly reach protected resources.

TheLocal Users and Groups Manager (lusrmgr.msc)is the utility for managing user accounts, including renaming the default Administrator.

FromQuentin Docter – Complete Study Guide:

“The lusrmgr.msc snap-in allows renaming and managing local user accounts, including the default administrator.” .

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Older tablets may not support newer app versions due toincompatible or unsupported operating systems. App developers often drop support for outdated OS versions.

FromTravis Everett – CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide:

“When an app won't install on an older device, check the OS version. Most apps require a minimum OS level for compatibility and security.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

These symptoms strongly suggest malware activity—likely from the newly installed app. The first action should be torun a malware scanto detect and isolate malicious software.

FromQuentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Study Guide:

“Signs of malware infection include rapid battery drain and overheating. The first step should be a malware scan using trusted mobile antivirus apps.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

BSOD after driver installation suggests a compatibility issue.Safe Mode allows rollback of driversthat may be causing the crash.

FromTravis Everett – CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide:

“If a BSOD occurs after a driver update, boot into Safe Mode and roll back to the previous driver version to restore system stability.”

Azero-day vulnerabilitydemands an emergency change to quickly secure the system, even if downtime is needed.

FromMike Meyers' Lab Manual:

“Emergency changes bypass standard scheduling to quickly address critical vulnerabilities that pose immediate risks.” .

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

TheDo Not Disturbsetting in Windows Notification settings allows users to suppress all notification banners and sounds during presentations or video calls.

FromTravis Everett – All-in-One Exam Guide:

“Use Windows ‘Do Not Disturb’ to prevent notifications from interrupting full-screen apps like video conferencing.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Highmemory usage (97%)suggests the system is overloaded with active processes. The technician should close unneeded applications to free up RAM and improve performance.

FromMike Meyers' Lab Manual:

“When memory usage is near capacity, close all non-essential programs. This can dramatically improve response time without needing hardware upgrades.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Managed Detection and Response (MDR)involves outsourcing security monitoring to a third-party that uses multiple tools and analytics.

FromTravis Everett – All-in-One Exam Guide:

“MDR providers handle threat detection and response using a combination of advanced tools, analytics, and expert personnel.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

In enterprise environments, network-based deployment solutions (such as Windows Deployment Services or SCCM) allow administrators to push images across the network to hundreds of devices efficiently. These tools support hardware-specific drivers (for different vendor classes) and can accommodate user-group configurations using task sequences or answer files.

A and B (xcopy and robocopy) are file-level tools and not designed for full OS image deployment.

C. Using local tools per device is inefficient for large-scale rollouts (800 devices).

D. Network-based deployment is the industry standard for this scale.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The ext4 (Fourth Extended Filesystem) is the most widely used default filesystem in modern Linux distributions. It is designed for high performance, scalability, and reliability, and is supported by all mainstream Linux kernels.

A. exFAT is used for cross-platform external drives, not native Linux systems.

B. APFS is Apple's proprietary filesystem for macOS and iOS.

D. NTFS is the default filesystem for Windows, not Linux.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A synthetic full backup combines the last full backup with subsequent incremental backups to create a new full backup without re-reading data from the source system. This method significantly reduces the backup window and network impact. It is especially useful when traditional full backups are too time-consuming.

A. Changing the backup window only shifts timing, not duration.

B. Incremental weekly backups would lack a proper full recovery point and aren't ideal alone.

C. Storage space isn't the bottleneck in backup speed—it’s read/write operations and network load.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Mobile Device Management (MDM) is used to control, monitor, and enforce policies on mobile devices. It allows IT teams to restrict app installations, push approved apps, and monitor device compliance. Deploying MDM would prevent unauthorized applications, such as password crackers, from being installed on company-managed devices.

A. Group Policy is for managing Windows environments and not applicable to smartphones.

B. PAM (Privileged Access Management) controls administrative access, not app installation.

C. Anti-malware can help detect malicious apps but doesn’t prevent their installation proactively.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

To prevent external access, the technician should avoid exposing the surveillance system’s port to the public internet. Port mapping (also known as port forwarding) is the method used to control which internal devices and ports are accessible from the outside. By not configuring port forwarding for the device, external login attempts are effectively blocked.

B. Subnetting organizes IP addresses but doesn't directly restrict access.

C. A static IP ensures consistent addressing but does not secure access.

D. Content filtering is used to restrict web content, not to block access to a web interface.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

An MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet), now commonly referred to as SDS (Safety Data Sheet), is a document that provides detailed information on the properties of a particular substance. It includes safety guidelines and emergency procedures related to handling, exposure, fire hazards, and first aid—not installation or configuration instructions.

For a battery backup (UPS device), the MSDS would include emergency procedures such as what to do in case of a chemical spill, exposure to battery acid, or fire hazard due to overheating or chemical leakage. This ensures the safety of personnel and complies with hazardous materials handling regulations.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

3G networks generally do not provide the bandwidth required for seamless HD video streaming. With only two signal bars and a 3G connection, the mobile device likely cannot maintain the necessary data throughput, resulting in timeouts or buffering failures. This is a classic symptom of insufficient network speed or signal strength.

A. Lack of Wi-Fi may contribute, but the root cause is the low mobile bandwidth, not the Wi-Fi state.

B. A website subscription lapse would return an account error, not a timeout.

D. Full device storage can affect downloads but not streaming from the internet.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

An "OS Not Found" error typically indicates that the computer is attempting to boot from a drive that doesn't contain a valid operating system or bootable partition. The presence of a USB drive might be confusing the boot order. Therefore, the first step a technician should take is to verify and adjust the boot sequence in the system’s firmware (BIOS or UEFI). It's possible that the USB drive is being prioritized over the internal hard drive, which may cause the system to miss the OS entirely.

A. Running data recovery tools is premature before confirming boot order.

B. Repartitioning the disk would destroy existing data—this should not be done until confirmed the OS is actually missing.

D. Switching between UEFI and BIOS (legacy mode) might help in rare cases, but it is not the first step in standard OS boot issue troubleshooting.

An MSDS providessafety and emergency procedures, such as what to do if a battery leaks or catches fire. It is not a technical or setup guide.

FromTravis Everett – CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide:

“An MSDS contains safety information, including handling, storage, and emergency procedures related to potentially hazardous components like UPS batteries.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Image deployment is the fastest and most efficient method for installing operating systems on multiple machines. It involves creating a pre-configured image of an OS and deploying it across systems using tools like Windows Deployment Services (WDS) or third-party imaging solutions. This method saves time and ensures consistency across all devices.

A. Physical media is slow and not scalable.

B. Mountable ISOs are useful but still require manual installation.

C. Manual installation is time-consuming and not suitable for large-scale deployment.

This is part of theuser educationstep after a security incident to prevent future occurrences.

FromQuentin Docter – Complete Study Guide:

“User education and awareness is a crucial part of preventing phishing attacks. After an incident, it is vital to train users on recognizing suspicious messages.” .

Screensaver lockshelp protect unattended workstations.

BIOS passwordsprevent unauthorized changes at startup or during boot.

FromQUENTIN DOCTER - COMPTIA A+ COMPLETE study GUIDE:

“Applying a BIOS password adds a pre-boot security layer. Screensaver locks help protect logged-in sessions during idle times.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

High battery drain is often due to apps running in the background or using GPS during travel. Thefirst stepshould always be tocheck battery usage statisticsto see if an application is misbehaving.

FromAll-in-One Exam Guide:

“Travel conditions can increase app activity, especially navigation or social media. Check app battery usage before assuming hardware faults.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

When an iOS device approaches full storage capacity, performance can be significantly impacted. iOS requires a buffer of free space to perform background processes efficiently.

From theAll-in-One Exam Guide:

“iOS devices need several gigabytes of free space to maintain optimal performance. Near-full storage can cause sluggish operation and failures in updates or background tasks.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The symptoms suggest abrowser hijacker. Thefirst stepsshould be toremove any malicious extensionsandreset the startup pageto restore normal behavior.

FromAll-in-One Exam Guide:

“Browser hijackers often install as extensions and change homepage settings. Removing these extensions and resetting the startup configuration typically resolves the issue.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Once a malware incident has been confirmed, the immediate next step is to contain the threat. Quarantining infected systems prevents the malware from spreading to other devices and isolates the malicious code for further analysis or remediation.

B. Educating end users is important but occurs later in the incident response process.

C. Disabling System Restore is part of cleanup, not containment.

D. Updating and scanning should occur after the system is quarantined to prevent further infection or spread.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The scenario involves an application that should retrieve data from a local database server but is failing to do so. This likely indicates a problem in communication between the application and the database server (such as a network issue, port misconfiguration, or service unavailability). The correct troubleshooting approach involves testing the network/service connectivity between the client and the database.

Let’s examine the options:

A. ipconfig:This command displays IP configuration details for Windows systems, such as IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway. While useful for diagnosing general network issues, it does not test service connectivity or the availability of a specific application port/service.

B. nslookup:Used to query DNS servers to resolve domain names to IP addresses. However, since the question references a local server (likely accessed via IP or static hostname), DNS is probably not involved. Also, it does not test application/service availability.

C. netstat:Displays active TCP connections, listening ports, and routing tables. It helps determine whether the local system is listening for or maintaining any network connections, but it does not initiate a connection to test availability. It’s diagnostic but not interactive for service testing.

D. curl:This is the most appropriate tool for this scenario. curl is used to test connectivity to services over protocols like HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, and more. If the application retrieves data via a web interface or API (common in database-driven applications), curl can be used to test if the application can successfully reach and retrieve data from the server. It provides immediate, testable feedback on whether the server and service are available and responsive.

Example usage:

curlhttp://localhost:8080/api/data

This command would test whether a local server's application programming interface (API) is available and responding on port 8080.

CompTIA A+ 220-1102 Reference Points:

Objective 2.4: Given a scenario, use appropriate tools to troubleshoot and support Windows OS issues.

Objective 3.3: Use appropriate tools to troubleshoot and resolve issues.

The CompTIA A+ Core 2 study guide references curl as a useful command-line utility for testing connectivity and troubleshooting application access to services.

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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The recurring print issue suggests theprint spooler service is not set to start automatically, causing it to stop between sessions. Ensuring it is set tostart automaticallyand manuallystarting the servicewill resolve the issue.

FromMark Soper – Mike Meyers' Lab Manual:

“The print spooler is essential for print services. If it isn’t configured to start automatically, users may experience recurring failures.”

“Manually starting the service or setting it to 'Automatic' in the Services panel resolves persistent print availability problems.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) define the mandatory steps and expectations technicians must follow during support calls. This includes documentation standards such as logging user info, asset details, and issue descriptions in the ticketing system. Implementing SOPs ensures consistency and accountability.

A. SLAs define response/resolution times but not documentation practices.

B. Call categories organize types of issues but don't guide technician actions.

D. Knowledge base articles provide solutions to known problems but don't ensure proper ticket documentation.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The first step in the IT change management process is to identify and propose the change. In this case, the technician notices a need (end-of-life network switches), so the appropriate action is to formally propose a change. This proposal would be documented and submitted for approval before any planning or implementation occurs.

According to the CompTIA A+ 220-1102 objectives under Operational Procedures (Domain 4.0), the change management process follows these typical steps:

Submit a change request (Propose the change)

Review and approval (Approve the change)

Planning and scheduling (Schedule the change)

Implementation

Documentation and review

Therefore, proposing the change is the correct first step in accordance with standard ITIL-based change management practices.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Background applications can significantly drain a smartphone’s battery, even when the device is idle. A technician should first review which apps are running in the background and consuming power through the battery usage section of the OS. Disabling or restricting power-hungry apps often resolves poor battery life.

A. Storage usage doesn’t significantly affect battery life.

B. End of software support is unrelated to battery performance unless it's causing inefficient processes, which would still be secondary.

C. Charger wattage affects charging speed, not battery life after charging.

Removing users from thelocal admin groupprevents them from installing unauthorized software.

FromQuentin Docter – Complete Study Guide:

“Local admin privileges allow users to install unauthorized apps. Removing them from this group restricts installations and helps prevent malware.” .

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

When an OS is no longer receiving updates, it is generally because it has reachedend of life (EOL), meaning the vendor has ceased support.

FromQuentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide:

“End-of-life refers to the point when an OS vendor no longer issues updates or support. Systems at EOL pose security risks and must be upgraded or isolated.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

SSO issues are often related to cached session data, cookies, or browser artifacts. The fact that the user can access the company portal but not one specific SaaS tool suggests a session or token problem. Using a private/incognito browsing window allows a clean session to be initiated, which often resolves SSO conflicts.

A. Reenrolling MFA is not related unless access issues stem from failed multifactor authentication.

C. Bypassing SSO may not be possible depending on the SaaS tool and company policies.

D. Factory resetting a device is a last resort and unnecessary in this case.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) apps, especially time-based one-time password (TOTP) apps (e.g., Google Authenticator, Authy), rely on accurate time synchronization between the device and the authentication server. If the user recently traveled internationally, the device may have incorrect date/time settings due to time zone changes or failed synchronization, leading to MFA failure.

The most logical and non-intrusive first step is to verify and correct the date and time settings. This aligns with basic troubleshooting principles—start with the simplest and most likely cause before taking more drastic action.

First Chat Response:When the user mentions setting up a new router, the best initial response to maintain a helpful and professional tone is:

>Select reply:"I am happy to assist you today."

Second Chat Response:When the user states that they need to set up basic security settings:

>Select reply:"Is this the first router in your office?"

Third Chat Response:After learning it's a replacement router and the user is logged into the router's web page:

>Select reply:"The first thing you need to do is change the default password."

Fourth Chat Response:For the response about password settings:

>Select reply:"Create a new password with an uppercase, a lowercase, and a special character."

Fifth Chat Response:When the router prompts to reboot:

>Select reply:"Yes, reboot please."

Study Guide Reference: The CompTIA A+ Core 2 guide highlights the importance of changing default credentials and using strong password policies, particularly in SOHO environments where routers are often targeted.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Persistent pop-ups urging antivirus updates are likelyscareware or adware. The correct approach is toverify existing antivirus settings, run a trusted security scan, and avoid interacting with unknown pop-ups.

FromQuentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide:

“Users should verify antivirus status using trusted tools before responding to alerts. Fake updates are common vectors for malware.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Windows doesn't natively support many Linux file systems (like ext4).Reformatting to exFATmakes the drive readable/writable on both Linux and Windows.

FromAll-in-One Exam Guide:

“For cross-platform compatibility, exFAT is recommended as it supports large files and is recognized by Windows, macOS, and Linux (with exFAT drivers).”