Computer Hardware and Software Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: To connect and allow communication between all the components of a computer

The motherboard is the main circuit board of a computer. It holds the processor socket, memory slots, expansion slots and the chipset, and it carries the buses along which all the components communicate. Its chipset determines much of what a board can do - which processors it accepts, how much memory and of what type, and how many devices can be attached. It was traditionally divided into a northbridge handling fast connections to memory and graphics, and a southbridge handling slower peripherals, though most of the northbridge function has since moved onto the processor itself. The board also carries the BIOS or UEFI firmware chip and the CMOS battery that preserves its settings. The other options describe different components: storage is the hard disk or SSD, calculation is the CPU, and converting mains alternating current to the low-voltage direct current the components need is the job of the power supply unit.

Answer: B

Correct answer: serial

A COM port is a communications, or serial, port - it sends one bit at a time. The parallel port is LPT.

Answer: B

Correct answer: video card

The machine is running - lights and noises - but nothing reaches the screen, so the fault is in the display path, and the video card is the part to take. A dead hard drive or supply would produce different symptoms.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Power on Self Test

The POST runs at power-up and inventories the machine: it counts memory, reads the date and time from CMOS, and detects the ports and display adapters present.

Answer: A

Correct answer: 1

A Type III card is twice the thickness of a Type II, so it occupies both slots of the usual pair. A laptop with two Type II slots therefore takes one Type III card.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Loopback plug

A loopback plug joins a port's output pins to its input pins, so software can send data and check that the same data returns. That tests the port itself with nothing attached to it.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 14

IRQ14 is taken by the primary IDE controller, which is present on every such system, so it is never available for a modem. IRQs 5 and 10 are commonly free.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Printhead

The printhead pins must run dry: oil collects paper dust and jams them, and they rely on airflow for cooling. The rails and bearings are the parts that do need lubrication.

Answer: C

Correct answer: farads

Capacitance is measured in farads, though practical capacitors are rated in microfarads and picofarads.

Answer: B

Correct answer: ATH

ATH hangs up - H for hook, as in on-hook. ATZ resets the modem instead.