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CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & 2) Exam 2026/2027 | CompTIA | Complete Review with
Questions & Verified Answers 2026/2027
A+
Complete Domain Coverage
A+ 5 100%
QUESTIONS VERIFIED CORE DOMAINS COVERED RATIONALES INCLUDED
CATEGORIES
Section 1: Hardware & Mobile Devices
Section 2: Networking & Virtualization/Cloud
Section 3: Operating Systems
Section 4: Security & Software Troubleshooting
Section 5: Operational Procedures
STUVIAACTUALEXAM
,CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & 2) Exam 2026/2027 | CompTIA | Complete Review with Questions & Verified Answers 2026/2027
Each question is worth 1 mark. Total: 90 marks. Passing score: 50% scaled. Select the single best answer.
SECTION 1: Hardware & Mobile Devices
Q1
Q1. A technician upgrades a desktop with a new graphics card that requires additional power. After installation the system fails to POST and
the GPU fans do not spin. The PSU is a 450 W unit with a single 6-pin PCIe connector. What is the most likely cause?
A. The motherboard CMOS battery is dead
B. The PSU cannot supply adequate wattage or the correct PCIe power connectors for the new GPU
C. The CPU thermal paste was not reapplied
D. The SATA data cable was seated incorrectly
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Modern discrete GPUs often need dedicated PCIe power and sufficient total wattage. A 450 W PSU with limited PCIe connectors commonly cannot
support a power-hungry card.
Q2
Q2. A laptop user reports the battery percentage jumps from 40% to 5% within minutes and the system then shuts down. The battery is three
years old. What should the technician do first?
A. Replace the motherboard immediately
B. Run a battery health calibration/report and plan battery replacement if capacity is degraded
C. Disable battery charging in the BIOS permanently
D. Reinstall the operating system
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Sudden drops usually indicate a degraded battery. Checking health data and replacing the battery is the standard first approach before deeper
hardware work.
Q3
Q3. A desktop intermittently reboots under heavy load. Dust is visible in the case and CPU temperatures climb above 95°C in monitoring
software. What is the best immediate remediation?
A. Underclock the RAM permanently
B. Clean dust from heatsinks and fans, reseat the cooler, and verify thermal paste and airflow
C. Disable all USB ports
D. Replace the power cord only
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Thermal throttling and overheating from dust or poor cooler contact commonly cause load-related reboots. Cleaning and restoring cooling is the
priority.
Q4
Q4. A user needs the fastest possible storage for a video editing workstation. The motherboard has an M.2 slot supporting PCIe 4.0 x4.
Which drive type should be selected?
A. 5400 RPM SATA HDD
B. NVMe SSD using the M.2 PCIe interface
C. USB 2.0 flash drive
D. Optical Blu-ray drive
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: NVMe SSDs on a PCIe M.2 interface deliver the highest sequential and random performance suitable for large media workloads.
Q5
Q5. After replacing a laptop keyboard, several keys still do not register. The ribbon cable was reconnected. What should the technician
check next?
A. The laptop's Wi-Fi card
B. Ribbon cable seating, orientation, and possible damage to the cable or connector
C. The external monitor resolution
D. The system's IP address
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Keyboard failures after replacement are frequently caused by imperfect ribbon seating, reversed orientation, or a damaged flex cable.
, Q6
Q6. A laser printer produces pages with a repeating horizontal defect every few inches. What component is the most likely source?
A. The paper tray size setting
B. A damaged or dirty drum, fuser, or roller with a circumference matching the defect interval
C. The network print queue
D. The USB cable length
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Repeating defects at a consistent interval typically map to a rotating component (drum, fuser, or roller) whose circumference matches the spacing.
Q7
Q7. A technician must install a full-height expansion card in a small form-factor case that only accepts low-profile brackets. What is required?
A. A USB adapter for the card
B. A low-profile bracket for the card or a different card designed for low-profile use
C. A longer PCIe riser only
D. Disabling Secure Boot
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Full-height cards need the matching low-profile bracket (or a low-profile card) to fit SFF cases.
Q8
Q8. A smartphone will not charge with the original cable but charges with a known-good cable and adapter. What is the most likely failed
component?
A. The battery management IC on the motherboard only
B. The original charging cable or its connector
C. The cellular modem
D. The display digitizer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: If a known-good cable works, the original cable or its connector is the probable fault.
Q9
Q9. A workstation shows no display on any monitor. Motherboard diagnostic LEDs indicate a memory error. One of two DIMMs was recently
added. What is the best next step?
A. Replace the CPU immediately
B. Reseat or test DIMMs one at a time, verify compatibility and slot population rules
C. Update the graphics driver first
D. Change the monitor cable
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Memory-related POST codes after a RAM change point to seating, compatibility, or population issues that should be isolated by testing modules
individually.
Q10
Q10. A user needs to connect an external GPU to a thin laptop that has a Thunderbolt 4 port. What technology enables this?
A. VGA passthrough only
B. Thunderbolt with an external GPU enclosure (eGPU)
C. Parallel port docking
D. IR wireless display exclusively
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Thunderbolt (especially 3/4) supports high-bandwidth external GPU enclosures when the system and enclosure are compatible.
Q11
Q11. A desktop PSU has a modular design. A technician needs to power two SATA SSDs and one PCIe 8-pin GPU. Which cables should be
connected?
A. Only Molex cables for everything
B. SATA power cables for the SSDs and the appropriate PCIe power cable for the GPU
C. Floppy power connectors only
D. A single 24-pin ATX cable for all devices
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: SATA devices use SATA power connectors; discrete GPUs require dedicated PCIe power cables matching the card's connectors.
CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & 2) Exam 2026/2027 | CompTIA | Complete Review with
Questions & Verified Answers 2026/2027
A+
Complete Domain Coverage
A+ 5 100%
QUESTIONS VERIFIED CORE DOMAINS COVERED RATIONALES INCLUDED
CATEGORIES
Section 1: Hardware & Mobile Devices
Section 2: Networking & Virtualization/Cloud
Section 3: Operating Systems
Section 4: Security & Software Troubleshooting
Section 5: Operational Procedures
STUVIAACTUALEXAM
,CompTIA A+ (Core 1 & 2) Exam 2026/2027 | CompTIA | Complete Review with Questions & Verified Answers 2026/2027
Each question is worth 1 mark. Total: 90 marks. Passing score: 50% scaled. Select the single best answer.
SECTION 1: Hardware & Mobile Devices
Q1
Q1. A technician upgrades a desktop with a new graphics card that requires additional power. After installation the system fails to POST and
the GPU fans do not spin. The PSU is a 450 W unit with a single 6-pin PCIe connector. What is the most likely cause?
A. The motherboard CMOS battery is dead
B. The PSU cannot supply adequate wattage or the correct PCIe power connectors for the new GPU
C. The CPU thermal paste was not reapplied
D. The SATA data cable was seated incorrectly
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Modern discrete GPUs often need dedicated PCIe power and sufficient total wattage. A 450 W PSU with limited PCIe connectors commonly cannot
support a power-hungry card.
Q2
Q2. A laptop user reports the battery percentage jumps from 40% to 5% within minutes and the system then shuts down. The battery is three
years old. What should the technician do first?
A. Replace the motherboard immediately
B. Run a battery health calibration/report and plan battery replacement if capacity is degraded
C. Disable battery charging in the BIOS permanently
D. Reinstall the operating system
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Sudden drops usually indicate a degraded battery. Checking health data and replacing the battery is the standard first approach before deeper
hardware work.
Q3
Q3. A desktop intermittently reboots under heavy load. Dust is visible in the case and CPU temperatures climb above 95°C in monitoring
software. What is the best immediate remediation?
A. Underclock the RAM permanently
B. Clean dust from heatsinks and fans, reseat the cooler, and verify thermal paste and airflow
C. Disable all USB ports
D. Replace the power cord only
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Thermal throttling and overheating from dust or poor cooler contact commonly cause load-related reboots. Cleaning and restoring cooling is the
priority.
Q4
Q4. A user needs the fastest possible storage for a video editing workstation. The motherboard has an M.2 slot supporting PCIe 4.0 x4.
Which drive type should be selected?
A. 5400 RPM SATA HDD
B. NVMe SSD using the M.2 PCIe interface
C. USB 2.0 flash drive
D. Optical Blu-ray drive
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: NVMe SSDs on a PCIe M.2 interface deliver the highest sequential and random performance suitable for large media workloads.
Q5
Q5. After replacing a laptop keyboard, several keys still do not register. The ribbon cable was reconnected. What should the technician
check next?
A. The laptop's Wi-Fi card
B. Ribbon cable seating, orientation, and possible damage to the cable or connector
C. The external monitor resolution
D. The system's IP address
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Keyboard failures after replacement are frequently caused by imperfect ribbon seating, reversed orientation, or a damaged flex cable.
, Q6
Q6. A laser printer produces pages with a repeating horizontal defect every few inches. What component is the most likely source?
A. The paper tray size setting
B. A damaged or dirty drum, fuser, or roller with a circumference matching the defect interval
C. The network print queue
D. The USB cable length
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Repeating defects at a consistent interval typically map to a rotating component (drum, fuser, or roller) whose circumference matches the spacing.
Q7
Q7. A technician must install a full-height expansion card in a small form-factor case that only accepts low-profile brackets. What is required?
A. A USB adapter for the card
B. A low-profile bracket for the card or a different card designed for low-profile use
C. A longer PCIe riser only
D. Disabling Secure Boot
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Full-height cards need the matching low-profile bracket (or a low-profile card) to fit SFF cases.
Q8
Q8. A smartphone will not charge with the original cable but charges with a known-good cable and adapter. What is the most likely failed
component?
A. The battery management IC on the motherboard only
B. The original charging cable or its connector
C. The cellular modem
D. The display digitizer
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: If a known-good cable works, the original cable or its connector is the probable fault.
Q9
Q9. A workstation shows no display on any monitor. Motherboard diagnostic LEDs indicate a memory error. One of two DIMMs was recently
added. What is the best next step?
A. Replace the CPU immediately
B. Reseat or test DIMMs one at a time, verify compatibility and slot population rules
C. Update the graphics driver first
D. Change the monitor cable
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Memory-related POST codes after a RAM change point to seating, compatibility, or population issues that should be isolated by testing modules
individually.
Q10
Q10. A user needs to connect an external GPU to a thin laptop that has a Thunderbolt 4 port. What technology enables this?
A. VGA passthrough only
B. Thunderbolt with an external GPU enclosure (eGPU)
C. Parallel port docking
D. IR wireless display exclusively
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Thunderbolt (especially 3/4) supports high-bandwidth external GPU enclosures when the system and enclosure are compatible.
Q11
Q11. A desktop PSU has a modular design. A technician needs to power two SATA SSDs and one PCIe 8-pin GPU. Which cables should be
connected?
A. Only Molex cables for everything
B. SATA power cables for the SSDs and the appropriate PCIe power cable for the GPU
C. Floppy power connectors only
D. A single 24-pin ATX cable for all devices
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: SATA devices use SATA power connectors; discrete GPUs require dedicated PCIe power cables matching the card's connectors.
