NCII PC HARDWARE – ANSWER KEY

Questions and Acceptable Answers

1. You have just installed Windows 98. During testing, if fails to start after the
“Starting Windows 98: message appears. What should you do to troubleshoot this
problem? Name at least two ways.
Answers:
a. Type WIN/D:M add the command prompt to start windows.
b. Press F8 when Windows is restarting and select safe mode.

2. You have configured a dual-boot system consisting of Windows 98 in FAT32

partition and Windows 2000 using NTFS partition. You checked your Windows
2000 installation and it looked good. However, when you boot to Windows 98 you
cannot see the files in the NTFS partition. What might be the source of the
problem?
Answer:
 Windows 98 is not compatible with NTFS.

3. You successfully install Windows 2000 Professional and want to check your drives
for errors. Name one way of checking for errors.
Answer:
 Open the Control Panel, click Administrative Tools, click Computer
Management, and within the Storage tab, click Disk Defragmenter.

4. You want to set up a dual-boot scenario between Windows 98 and Windows 2000.
How would you do this?
Answer:
 Partition your hard drive. Install Windows 98 first. Then install Windows 2000
in a second partition.

5. A customer complains that his hard disk is making lots of noise. After examining
the computer and hearing the noise for yourself, you notice that the high-pitched
noise seems to be coming from the fan in the power supply. Which component(s)
should be replaced?
Answer:
 Power supply. The first logical choice, since the noise is coming from the
power supply, is to check the power supply.

6. What part of an HP LaserJet printer is malfunctioning if you receive a “50

Service” error?
Answer:
 Fuser. The part of an HP LaserJet printer that is malfunctioning if you receive a
“50 Service” error is the fuser.

7. A customer complains that he can’t get his computer to work. When he turns it
on, he gets no video and hears a series of beeps. The beeps are in the sequence
of one long beep, then two short beeps. You tell the customer to bring the
machine in. Upon further examination you are able to identify the problem. What
should be your next step? What is the error?
Answer:
 Replace the video card. When a computer is turned on and there is no video
and a series of beeps, and the beeps are in the sequence of one long beep,
then two short beeps, it means there is something wrong with the video card.
 Check first to see that it is seated properly and in the proper slot for its bus
type. If this checks out fine, replace it with a known good card and turn the
machine back on. If this solves the problem, then the issue was a bad card
and it needs to be permanently replaced.

8. What is indicated by a “201” error at system startup?

Answer:
 Bad memory. Most error codes that begin with a 2 indicate a memory error of
some sort.