Worth 23% of the CompTIA A+ (Core 2) (220-1202) exam. CertClue has 89 questions on this objective.
Many printing problems are software rather than hardware. Know which faults belong to the spooler, the driver, and permissions.
Exam tip. Restarting the Print Spooler service resolves the majority of queue-related printing faults and is the expected first step for jobs that will not clear.
Profile faults present as settings loss, sign-in failure or a temporary desktop. Distinguishing a local profile problem from a directory problem drives the fix.
Exam tip. Repeated lockouts shortly after a reset almost always come from a saved password on a phone or mapped drive, not from the user. Track down the stale credential.
Performance complaints need a resource identified before a fix is chosen. Task Manager tells you whether CPU, memory, disk or network is the constraint.
Exam tip. Answers that add hardware without identifying the bottleneck are usually wrong. The expected first step is examining resource usage.
Update failures have a small set of causes. Disk space, connectivity and corrupted update components account for most of them.
Exam tip. Check free disk space first for failed feature updates. It is the single most common cause and the easiest to confirm.
Objective 3.1 pairs Windows symptoms with fixes. The exam expects the least destructive effective action, so repair tools come before reinstallation in almost every case.
Exam tip. Reinstalling Windows is rarely the intended answer. Look for the targeted repair - Safe Mode, driver rollback, sfc or System Restore - that fixes the described fault specifically.
Recovery questions test which tool to reach for and in what order. Each option preserves a different amount of user data, and that determines the correct choice.
Exam tip. System Restore does not touch personal files, and questions test that fact directly. It is the right answer whenever a system change must be undone without data loss.
Objective 3.2 covers mobile software faults. Most are resolved by a sequence that escalates from restarting the application to a factory reset, and the exam expects the least drastic step first.
Exam tip. Factory reset is almost never the first correct answer. Look for the option that resolves the symptom while preserving user data.
Objective 3.3 covers signs that a mobile device is compromised. These symptoms differ from ordinary faults because they involve unexpected behaviour, traffic or permissions.
Exam tip. Fake security alerts demanding an install or payment are social engineering, not a real infection. The correct action is to close the browser, never to follow the prompt.
Objective 3.4 covers signs of compromise on a desktop. Recognise the symptom set, then apply the malware removal procedure rather than treating each symptom individually.
Exam tip. For any suspected ransomware, disconnecting from the network comes before every other action. Spread to network shares is the primary risk.
Applications fail to install or run for a predictable set of reasons. Identify whether the block is permissions, requirements, compatibility or a conflict.
Exam tip. If an application works for one user and not another on the same machine, suspect the user profile or permissions rather than the installation itself.
Free, with the answer and the reasoning. No account needed.
1. An application on a user's phone crashes immediately every time it is opened, while other applications work normally. What is the correct first step?
With only one application affected, the fault is scoped to that application rather than the device. Force closing and clearing its cache is the least disruptive step and frequently resolves it, with reinstalling the app as the next escalation. Factory resets, battery replacement and OS reinstallation are disproportionate.
2. A Windows computer displays a blue screen with an error code and immediately restarts whenever it's powered on. What is a common cause of this type of crash?
A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is frequently caused by faulty or incompatible drivers, failing hardware, or corrupted system files, all of which can trigger a fatal system crash. Wallpaper, monitor dimness, and unused shortcuts have no relationship to system-level crashes.
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