Comptia Itf Study Guide

True

Desktop computer—you could also call this a Personal Computer (PC) or a workstation. An All-in-one PC also uses peripheral devices, with the obvious exception of a monitor.

A tablet or smartphone or possibly a hybrid laptop/tablet. Notetaking is supported by a touchscreen-based device.

There is no room for expansion and you are paying for components and design (maximum portability) you do not need.

Touchscreen or mini keyboards are not optimized for writing lots of text, though it is possible to attach them as peripheral devices

Modern cars and medical devices are unlikely to interface via a hub. Home automation hubs link to kitchen and domestic appliances, streaming media players, and potentially security systems.

Verify that the environment is suitable and that the installation will be safe.

You do not want to leave trailing wires over walkways so you need to consider the position of power outlet(s) and where peripheral devices will be placed. You also want to ensure adequate air flow around the system unit.

Ensure that they can be used without exerting strain, especially on the arms/wrists and back/neck. Ensure that cabling is not a trip hazard. Avoid locations that cause excessive screen glare.

Yes—passwords are case-sensitive

Look for the shortcut in Start Menu or Start Screen—not all programs add shortcuts on the Desktop.

Press Alt+Tab—this shows previews of the window. Windows can also show previews of the window contents when pointing at the taskbar icon.

Use the mouse scroll wheel (or if it doesn't have one drag the scroll button in the scroll bar).

Interface between the user and the computer

A driver (or device driver).

Linux, Chromium, or Android.

Desktop computers/workstations and laptops.

False—Windows 10 is better described as a version than edition and there have been 64-bit editions of Windows versions since Windows XP.

Open the Network object from Explorer and locate the server (computer) hosting the file.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL). In fact, Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is now preferred in web standards documentation but URL is more widely known and used.

Ctrl+F5.

The registry is a database of configuration settings supporting the Windows OS. Linux uses individual text files to store settings.

This is often called "killing" the process.

Task Manager allows you to start and stop services but the Services snap-in also allows you to configure service properties.

cron is widely used to run tasks automatically in Linux.

Use of virtual memory or a pagefile, where disk space is used to supplement system RAM.

The disk must contain at least one partition, typically allocated a drive letter, and the partition must be formatted with a suitable file system.

A Command Line Interface allows the user to interact with the OS using typed commands or scripts rather than a GUI.

User Access Control (UAC). UAC means that the user must input their credentials or click through an authorization prompt before the configuration change can be made

a) False—ordinary users can change their own password but cannot change anyone else's.

Determine if anything has changed—this is one of the most useful troubleshooting techniques.

This is escalating the problem. You might escalate a problem to more experienced staff or seek help with a solution plan that is beyond your authority to put into action.

It would be best to double-check you have connected the cables correctly (especially power).

Yes, many lockup problems are caused by overheating. The first step would be to clean the fan exhaust vents of dust.

The model number or a service code.

A product support or community forum.

Use more search keywords (ideally with 'uncommon' words) or search for an exact phrase by enclosing it in quotes.

Yes—you use an advanced search form or use the site: operator (for example 'certification site:comptia.org').

Hexadecimal. Each hex digit can store 16 bits of information. A single decimal digit stores 4 bits while binary obviously stores 1 bit.

0100 1011 in binary and 4B in hex. Hex notation is often indicated using 0x to precede the hex digits, so you may see this written like 0x4b. To work out the answer without a calculator, write out the place values for each notation system. For binary you'd have columns for 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 and put a 1 in each column you need to add up to 75 and a 0 in the others. For hex you only need 16 and 1 (75 divided by 16 is 4 remainder 11, which is represented as "B" in hex).

Integer.

Char stores a single textual character in a fixed length field (typically 1 byte). A string is a variable length field for storing a sequence of characters.

Unicode can represent millions of characters (glyphs). ASCII's 7-bit data structure can only support 128 characters, some of which are non-printable control characters.

Patent provides the best protection as it can enforce ownership even if someone tries to write the algorithm in a slightly different way. Software code is often protected both by patent and by copyright however.

Digital Rights Management (DRM).

Insights are the "end product" of the analytic process. Humans need a suitable reporting format to make best use of insights.

That it works with the version of Windows that you have and that your computer meets the system (hardware) requirements.

Use the program's Compatibility tab to use settings for the older Windows version.

Installing an application requires administrator privileges and is an action protected by User Account Control. If you were logged on as an administrator already, you might have to enter the password on a domain; if you were logged on as an ordinary user, you would have to enter the administrator's user name and password.

Use the Turn Windows features on or off dialog from Programs and Features.

Try using the Repair option in Programs and Features (if available) or re-installing the program

The computer may be bundled with pre-installed software that you do not want

Usually via the Help > About menu.

Open source means that the programming code used to design the software is also made available (and you must make it available in turn if you sell or distribute any part of it). Freeware means the software product costs nothing to use but this does not mean that the code is made available too or that you could modify the software and distribute it yourself.

Remote Desktop.

Project management software.

Pseudocode.

Interpreted languages do not need to be compiled. They run within the context of an interpreter which converts the code to machine code during runtime.

Markup doesn't provide instructions for the CPU to run as such. Markup is a way of using nested tags within a document to describe its structure and contents

Programming identifiers.

A vector is a variable size container while an array is a fixed size one.

A conditional branch, such as an If...Then statement.

A loop performs one or more instructions until (or while) a condition is met.

A procedure does something while a function does something and then returns a value to the main program.

Properties, attributes, and methods.

Batch files, Windows PowerShell scripts, and VBScripts.

True.

If data is stored on the server not on the local workstation, it is easier to apply access controls and to back it up.

Each table stores information about records (rows in the table) in fields (columns in the tables).

Query.

Excel is an example of a flat file system. These do not scale well, and usually support a single user only. RDBMS platforms enable many hundreds or thousands of users to connect concurrently, and can support very large datasets. Also, an RDBMS can enforce data types for each column and validate information entered as fields and records.

Structured Query Language (SQL) is used to query RDBMS-based database platforms.

Each table contains a primary key whose value is unique for each record in the table. A foreign table can use the value of a primary key as a relation, storing the value in a foreign key field.

Images and text files and other document formats are unstructured data.

Key/value pair databases and markup language document stores.

Manipulation language—it depends on the structure of a table (columns, data types, and constraints) being established already.

Programmatic access.

This could be described as a two-tier application. It could be redeveloped as a three-tier application by specifying presentation, application, and data layers.

A mass storage device such as a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid State Drive (SSD), or flash memory. You could also mention optical discs (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray).

The motherboard—it is difficult and expensive to replace.

False—sound functions are often provided by the motherboard chipset.

Makes more system memory accessible. A 64-bit CPU and OS is also required to run 64-bit applications, but there are not too many of these yet. 64-bit software is more reliable and a bit faster than 32-bit software.

Around 2 GHz; budget models might run as low as 1 GHz while the fastest run up to about 3 GHz.

PCIe x16—this is a type of PCI Express slot that uses 16 'lanes'. Each lane can transfer 250 MBps (or 500 MBps for PCIe 2 and 1 GBps for v3).

A heatsink or heat spreader removes heat from the component by convection with no power required. However, it is usually necessary to cool the heatsink or heat spreader itself and this is likely to require active cooling (a fan).

Historically, by pressing the appropriate key during startup (ESC, DEL, F1, F2, or F10). Modern PCs often use fast boot modes that require some other means of booting to the firmware setup program.

False—they are now much more likely to use USB or wireless (Bluetooth or other RF) interfaces.

Partly false—the connectors for the host (PC) and device use different form factors (there are also normal size and mini or micro device connectors). A new reversible Type C connector is starting to be used however.

Bandwidth on the USB bus is shared between all devices.

1920x1200 as this is a widescreen format.

False—there is also DisplayPort and Thunderbolt and some DVI formats also support HD resolutions.

Probably not, as this connector is VGA, which supports analog output only. It is possible to buy converters however.

Open the Settings app or Control Panel.

The keyboard is set to use a UK layout—you can correct this using the Language Bar.

Laser mouse—this registers cursor movements more quickly and accurately

Device Manager is used to update drivers and obtain more advanced troubleshooting information. The basic user interface is either Devices and Printers or the device pages in the Settings app, depending on the Windows version.

Typically the Internet Protocol (IP) address of its management page. Some devices may use a name to locate the page instead. You are also likely to be prompted for a user name and password.

False—Dots Per Inch (DPI) or scaling is configured via Display properties. Personalization is for configuring themes and the appearance of the desktop.

Extend the displays.

The jack should be color-coded (pink). There may be an icon to represent usage though. If neither is present, check the system documentation.

Laser printer—the fuser bonds the toner to the surface of the paper using high heat and pressure.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK).

Universal Serial Bus (USB).

Printing preferences.

Print Test Page.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

True—must cameras support USB connections.

No—DDR3 modules cannot be used in DDR2 slots.

Laptops use a smaller form factor called SO-DIMM while desktops use DIMMs.

The number of revolutions per minute (RPM) is one of the basic factors determining the speed of the drive. 10,000 rpm represents good performance (15K rpm is the best available).

USB. Firewire, eSATA, or Thunderbird are also possible but not nearly so popular. Most drives are now USB3 or USB3.1. Note that you can plug a USB3 drive into a USB2 port, so long as you have a USB3 device cable.

Four—each SATA port can be used to connect one drive.

True—the capacity of a single layer Blu-ray disc is 25 GB compared to 17 GB for a dual-layer, double-sided DVD.

Memory card reader/multi-card reader. Do note that Memory Sticks are no longer in production so you could struggle to locate a suitable reader.

Flash memory card.

Not necessarily in the case of hard disks, which can be configured with multiple partitions, each of which can be assigned a drive letter. Optical drives and flash memory cards cannot be partitioned however.

NTFS.

The 'Windows' and 'Program Files' folders.

C:\Users\David\Documents

A library acts as a virtual folder by displaying the contents of multiple folders, which could be located on different drives.

Save As.

The files will not be recycled so there is no possibility of retrieving them if you change your mind (at least, not without using specialist data recovery software).

Group the files by file type then sort by date

This is an image file format

A file archive containing other files in a compressed format.

A Wide Area Network (WAN) connects sites in different geographic locations. WANs usually make use of telecommunications and service provider networks rather than being directly operated by the network administrators.

A packet consists of a number of fields contained within a header section plus a payload. The payload could be a packet from the protocol layer above.

Nodes within the network can perform a forwarding function, allowing a packet to utilize any available path through the network. This makes the network robust against link failures. If is beneficial for the network to use small packets that are easy to re-send.

Internet Protocol (IP).

A Media Access Control (MAC) address.

A router.

Domain Name System (DNS).

The host location is usually represented by a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN), such as www.comptia.org, resolved to a numeric IP address by DNS.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

Either Post Office Protocol (POP) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).

A switch.

A modem creates a serial link between two computers over some sort of long distance media. It operates at the data link layer. A router makes forwarding decisions between logical networks. It does not need to take account of the framing and transmission details—those are the responsibility of the modem (or of an Ethernet switch or wireless access point). It just needs to know that a particular logical network can be reached over one of its interfaces. Most SOHO devices pack all these functions into a single appliance but it is important to appreciate the differences between the functions.

Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), cable/Hybrid Fiber Coax, Fiber to the Curb (FTTC), satellite, and cellular radio.

IEEE 802.11ac works in the 5 GHz band. Most 802.11ac access points do have 2.4 GHz radios but they use them to support legacy standards.

Service Set ID (SSID)/network name, encryption type, and authentication information (a preshared key if not using enterprise authentication).

Data on an open network may be intercepted by the person running the network or by other computers connected to the network. You need to ensure that the online store uses a secure (HTTPS) connection.

Attenuation describes the loss of strength of a signal the farther it has to travel. Attenuation sets the distance limitations on different network media types.

Enable Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) encryption to protect the account password.

Trojan Horse.

You would need to install a type of browser add-on called a plugin. Plug-ins should be restricted to interacting with the media object on the web page.

Cookie.

False—these could be a result of adware or part of the design of a particular site (admittedly, not a site you'd want to visit often).

Clear the browser cache or use the workstation's browser private/incognito browsing mode.

The URL shows the "https://" protocol and the browser shows a padlock icon. For sites that have passed special validation regimes, the address bar will be shown in green. If a site uses https but the certificate is not trusted by the browser, an alert is displayed.

The IP address of the host and the port number of the application.

True.

Network Attached Storage (NAS) means using either a cabled (Ethernet) or Wi-Fi link to the network.

Via the System applet in Control Panel or via the Settings app (Access work or school).

True—non-server editions are restricted in the number of simultaneous clients though.

By entering the UNC path: \\TOWER1\DATA

A folder shared by a network server that the client connects to via a drive letter that redirects to the network share name (\\Server\Folder).

HTTPS—HyperText Transfer Protocol with Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS).

Store the disk in a secure location—preferably in a different place to the PC.

Pinch.

It is one of the components that detects how the user is moving the device around. This is used to set the screen orientation and as an advanced control mechanism.

This is referred to as remote wipe or sometimes as a kill switch.

False—the SSID (or network name) can be entered manually, as with a computer.

A quick toggle for disabling all wireless functionality (cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth).

Confidentiality—keeping information disclosure restricted to authorized persons only.

This is typical of a Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack.

Use of a token generated by software. If the token is not authenticated properly by the server, it could be vulnerable to replay, where someone else obtaining the token can masquerade as the original user.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS).

It may prevent the user switching the machine on or off (useful for servers) or accessing removable drives and ports.

Authentication, Authorization, Accounting.

It exposes users to social engineering attacks to gather login credentials for malicious use. Any request for a password should be treated by users as suspicious.

By accessing their user account—this could be done by stealing their login information, using an unattended computer that was still logged in, or using malware such as a Trojan.

Data/storage (RAID), network links, and power. You might additionally mention site-level redundancy, though this is very expensive to provision.

Services may have dependencies that make restoring them in the wrong order futile. Also, disasters lead to scarce resources so the most critical services must be given priority. These should be identified before the disaster occurs so that staff working to recover systems are properly guided.

Removing unwanted and unnecessary software, disabling unused OS features and services, and closing unnecessary network ports. This reduces the ways other hosts or processes can interact with the hardened host.

A virus has to infect a file whereas a worm propagates in memory and over computer networks.

By exploiting a vulnerability in software installed on your computer (a fault or "exploit" in the browser, a browser plug-in, or the OS for instance).

Typically by monitoring key strokes (a key logger). It might also be able to steal password databases and decrypt them.

Ransomware.

True—this is called quarantining the file.

Using definitions or signatures of known virus code. These definitions must be kept up-to-date.

Through malware-infected attachments and through links to malicious websites.

No—this is a classic phishing attack and your friend's computer could be infected with a virus or Trojan. Check whether they sent the link in good faith first.

True—an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) in the IT industry, such as Dell or HP, assembles systems made from the parts and software of various other suppliers. The components used in their systems may be specific to their brand and so they host their own support files for any system they sell.

Identification, Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting.

Implicit deny.

Mandatory Access Control—though any rules-based system might restrict discretionary aspects of granting rights.

Non-repudiation. Examples of controls providing non-repudiation include logging, video surveillance, biometrics, signatures, and receipts/tokens.

Guest account.

The password is generated by an asymmetric encryption algorithm. This means that the authenticating server can determine that the number was generated by a particular device (fob) at a particular time. When used with a PIN, it also proves that the password was input by a particular user.

Single Sign-On (SSO).

Cryptographic hashing. You might also mention asymmetric encryption and public/private key pairs, where an operation performed with one key can only be reversed by the linked key and NOT by the key that performed the original operation.

Data in transit (or data in motion).

Password-cracking software is configured with dictionaries of such names and phrases. Even if the password is encrypted, if it matches a term in the password-cracking dictionary it will be discovered in seconds.

Standard Operating Procedure.

Company confidential information and customer information.

The company might be held responsible for inappropriate content posted by its employees. The issue of privacy is also complex and it is often better for both the company and the employee to use corporate systems for business communications only.

Firstly, you need to control how far information you post to the site is distributed. You could make it private, accessible to close friends only, accessible to all your contacts, or accessible to anyone. Secondly, you need to know how the company processes, stores, and transfers or sells any data it collects about you, including information you post and your activity on the site.