Computer Technical Support Interview Questions & Answers

Question 1. What Would You Check If There Is No Sound From Your Computer?

Answer :

(Audio not working)
1. Check for cable connections
2. Check for power to the speakers
3. Check for volume control
4. Check for device drivers

Question 2. What Are Hard­disk Partitions?

Answer :

Partitions are used to Divide a Hard­disk drive into smaller segments as required by the user and for better management of the space in it.

Question 3. What Is An Ip Address?

Answer :

An IP address is a unique numerical identifier of every device on a network. A typical IP address can look like this: 216.27.61.141. To detect a computer’s IP Address, go to Start – Run – Type in CMD in the Run Dialogue Box and click OK or hit <Enter> – In the Command Prompt Screen that comes up, type in IPCONFIG and hit <Enter>

Question 4. What Is Dhcp?

Answer :

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is used to generate & provide IP addresses to the computers on a network.

Question 5. What Are Rj45 And Rj11 Connectors?

Answer :

RJ45 connectors are used for LAN/Ethernet connections and RJ11 connectors are used for Telephone Cable connections.

Question 6. What Is A Parallel Windows Installation?

Answer :

When the first installation of Windows fails to boot for some reason, another copy of Windows is installed in teh same drive but in a different directory (so that the customer can access to and backup his old data). This is called Parallel Installation of Windows.

Question 7. What Are The Components Needed To Setup A Basic Home Network?

Answer :

LAN Cards, LAN Cables, Router/Hub

Question 8. Difference Between A Workgroup And A Domain?

Answer :

In a Workgroup, all the computers function as Peers. But in a Domain, One computer is the Server and the others are Clients.

Question 9. What Is The Difference Between Fat32 And Ntfs File Systems?

Answer :

• NTFS allows compression and file encryption. FAT32 does not.
• NTFS is more secure than FAT32

Question 10. What Does Boot.ini Do?

Answer :

Boot.ini lists all the Operating Systems present in the computer and provide information about which partitions they are located on.

Question 11. How Would You Access The Recovery Console In Windows?

Answer :

By booting with the Windows XP CD and following the on-screen instructrions. The Recovery Console can also be installed in your computer.

Question 12. What Does A ‘?’ Sign In Device Manager Indicate?

Answer :

When this sign appears, it indicates the device is not properly installed. Such problem arises in case of brand new plug­in cards. 

Question 13. How Will You Cope Up With A Customer, Who Complains About A Brand New Printer And System, And Yet Failing To Get A Proper Print Copy?

Answer :

The first thing I will ask the customer, whether the system is properly connected with the printer. The next thing would be to check the Device Driver. Many times it happens that if you install an incorrect Device Driver, the print copy would not be clear.

Question 14. You Suspect That Your Computer Is Failing Because Of A Corrupt Master Boot Record. Which Utility Is The Best To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Recovery Console (By Using the fixmbr command)

Question 15. You Performed A Parallel Installation Of Windows Xp (home Edition) To Resolve Certain Problems On A Customer’s Computer.

Answer :

After installation, the customer says she can see the previous profile folders in Documents & Settings but when she tries to open then,she gets an “Access Denied” error. 

Question 16. After Installation, The Customer Says She Can See The Previous Profile Folders In Documents & Settings But When She Tries To Open Then,she Gets An “access Denied” Error. ?

Answer :

Restart the Computer, Keep tapping on the F8 Key to go to the Windows Advanced Options Menu and select the option “Last Known Good Configuration” and hit the key.

Question 17. What Is The Command To Convert A Fat32 File System To Ntfs? Would There Be Any Loss Of Data?

Answer :

The command is: CONVERT : /fs:NTFS. There will be no effect on the data. (Data will be safe).But remember this: if you want to convert NTFS partition back to FAT32, you will have to re-format that partition and select the FAT32 file system.

Question 18. What Are The Features Of The Disk Defragmenter Tool In Windows Xp And Windows 2000? Does The Windows Xp Version Have Any More Features Than The Windows 2000 Version?

Answer :

The features of the Disk Defragmenter Tool are the same in both Windows XP and Windows 2000. They are:
1. Enhanced Analysis Functionality.
2. A Compression option.
3. Increased Defragmentation Option and an Automatic Defrag-Scheduling Option.

Question 19. You Are A Desktop Support Technician At Eqs. One Of The Customers Has Just Installed A Brand New Printer For Himself. This Customer Calls You After Some Time And Says That Every Time He Tries To Print Something, All He Gets Is Some Garbled Text. However, The Printer Prints The Test Page Fine. What Do You Think Is The Problem Here?

Answer :

The customer has installed an Incorrect Device Driver for the Printer. I would uninstall the driver, from the WIndows Device Manager and install the correct Device Driver for the Printer from the Disk that came with the Printer. (If the Disk is not available, I can still download the correct device driver from the manufacturer’s website)

Question 20. If, Upon Booting Up A Computer, You See The Error Message “keyboard Error…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?

Answer :

It could be that
1. The keyboard is not attached to the PC or
2. The keyboard has failed.

Question 21. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot-up Process Halts And You Get The Error Message “non-system Disk Or Disk Error…replace And Press Any Key When Ready…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?

Answer :

A non-bootable Floppy Disk is in the Floppy-disk drive and it should be removed.

Question 22. If, Upon Booting Up A Pc, You See A Message Which Says “invalid Drive Configuration..” What Do You Think Is Causing This?

Answer :

This problem could be due to any of the following situations:
1. The Hard-Disk cable within the System Unit is not attached to the Controller
2. The Hard Disk Drive has failed
3. The Hard Disk Drive has not been partitioned.

Question 23. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot Process Halts And You Get The Error Message ” C:system32config File Missing Or Corrupt” What Is This Due To?

Answer :

The Registry Hives are corrupted. They need to be repaired.

Question 24. You Have Norton 360. When The Firewall Is Turned On, You Are Unable To Browse The Internet. But If You Turn Off The Firewall, You Are Able To Browse. What Is The First Thing You Would Do To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Reconfigure Norton Firewall to allow Internet Explorer to access the internet.

Question 25. Some Functions Of Bios:

Answer :

• Performs a POST (Power­On Self Test) for all the different Hardware Components in the System to make sure everything is working properly.
• Activating other BIOS Chips on different cards installed in the computer, for example, SCSI and Graphics Cards.
• Provides a set of low­level suiting that the Operating System uses to interface different Hardware devices.
• BIOS manages things in your computer like the Keyboard, Monitor, Serial and Parallel Ports especially when the computer is Booting up.
• Manage the settings for Hard­disk drives, System Clock etc.

Question 26. Sequence Of Things Done By The Bios When You Turn On Your Computer:

Answer :

• Check the CMOS for Custom Settings.
• Load the interrupt Handlers and Device Drivers.
• Initialize Registers and Power Management.
• Perform POST (Power On Self Test).
• Display System Settings.
• Determine which devices are Bootable.
• Initialize the Bootstrap sequence.

Question 27. A User Calls And Says That Whenever He Starts His Computer, It Boots Up Only In Safe Mode. There Is No Other Error Message. What Would You Do To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Go to Msconfig and select Normal Mode and Restart the Computer.

Question 28. A User Complains That Whenever He Connects Any Usb 2.0 Device To His Computer, He Gets The Error Message “usb Device Not Recognized…” What Could Be The Possible Reason For This?

Answer :

The USB Port could be faulty.

Question 29. A User Complains That He Is No Longer Able To Hear Any Sound From His Computer – After He Downloaded Some Updates From The Microsoft Website. What Could Be The Possible Reason For This?

Answer :

The Windows Audio Service is Disabled. Enable it.

Question 30. A Customer Reports That His Windows Xp Professional Portable Computer Is Not Able To Connect To Any Network Resource And Is Also Not Able To Authenticate On The Network’s Active Directory Domain The Computer Was Fine Yesterday. No Other Person In The Organization Is Facing This Problem. What Is The First Thing You Would Do To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Ask the user to Right­Click on the Network Connection icon and select “Repair” from the Menu.

Question 31. A Customer Has Recently Upgraded From Windows 98 To Windows Xp Professional. After The Upgrade, It Takes Longer For Windows, Menus, Sub­menus And Other Use Interface Features To Open. She Wants Them To Open Faster. How Can You Help This Customer?

Answer :

Use System in Control Panel and select the option “Adjust for Best Performance” in the Performance Options dialogue box.

Question 32. You Are A Desktop Support Technician. A User Calls And Complains That Till Yesterday He Was Able To View His Cd Drive In His Computer. But Today When He Turned On His Computer, He Is Not Able To View The Cd­rom Drive In “my Computer”. What Can Be Done To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Open the Windows Registery Editor and Delete the Upper and Lower Filter Keys.

Question 33. What Does The Term Uac Stand For?

Answer :

UAC stands for User Access Control. For more information read this article.

Question 34. What Is The Command To Start Windows System Restore From The Command Line?

Answer :

rstrui.exe

Question 35. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot­up Process Halts And You Get The Error Message “non­system Disk Or Disk Error…replace And Press Any Key When Ready…” What Do You Think Could Be The Problem?

Answer :

A non­bootable Floppy Disk is in the Floppy­disk drive and it should be removed.

Question 36. A Customer Running Windows Xp (home Edition) With An Antivirus Application Installed Reports That He Has Downloaded A Program From The Internet And Installed It In His Computer. After Installing The Program, He Started Receiving Emails From People He Never Knew. The Customer Removed The Program From His Computer But He Is Still Getting Those Emails. How Would You Help This Customer?

Answer :

Download the most recent virus signature files and scan his computer for viruses.

Question 37. You Are Configuring Power Management On Your Windows Xp Computer. With Acpi, Power Management Should Be Under The Exclusive Contol Of:

Answer :

The Operating System

Question 38. Which File Must Be Located In The Root Folder Of The Active Partition For Dual Booting Of Windows Xp And Windows Me To Boot?

Answer :

Boot.ini

Question 39. A Customer Calls And Says He Is Unable To Get Online. He Uses A Cable Connection To Connect To The Internet On A Windows Xp Computer. You Ping 127.0.0.1 On His Computer And Get The Results That All The Packets Are Lost. What Should You Do Next?

Answer :

Rebuild the TCP/IP Stack in the users computer

Question 40. Very Frequently, Users In Your Office Put Floppy Disks In The Drives And Forget To Take Them Out. This Results In Boot-up Problems And Results In Support Requests. How Would You Stop This Computer From Looking In The A: Drive For Boot Files First.

Answer :

Change the Boot Order in BIOS.

Question 41. After Restarting Your Windows Xp (professional) Computer, Your Monitor Shows A Blank, Blue Screen. You Remember That A New Video Driver Was Just Installed. What Would Be The Best Way To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

Restart the Computer, Keep tapping on the F8 Key to go to the Windows Advanced Options Menu and select the option “Last Known Good Configuration” and hit the key.

Question 42. You Need To Dual-boot A Computer With Windows Xp And Windows Me. You Need All The Partitions To Be Accesible From Both The Operating Systems. Which File System Would You Use In This Scenario?

Answer :

FAT32

Question 43. A Customer Complains That He Keeps Getting The Error Message “hal.dll Missing Or Corrupt”. Which File Needs To Be Repaired/rebuilt To Rectify The Issue?

Answer :

BOOT.INI

Question 44. Which Utility Is Used To Do A Software Clean Boot?

Answer :

Msconfig

Question 45. What Do You Mean By Packaging A Microprocessor? What Are The Different Packaging’s Available?

Answer :

The process of packaging a microprocessor to the computer motherboard is known as a microprocessor. The different types of microprocessor’s packaging are

• PGA
• SPGA
• SECC
• LGA

Question 46. Explain The Cache Memory? What Is The Advantage Of A Processor Having More Cache Memory?

Answer :

Cache memory is the memory area between Processor and Ram. If the cache memory increases, the speed of the system will also increases.

Question 47. What Is Over Clocking? What Are The Advantages Of Over Clocking?

Answer :

It is a process where the computer component is forced to run at a higher clock rate.
The advantages of over clocking are:

• Increases the CPU’s performance
• It is cost­saving
• Makes PC games and Applications to run faster

Question 48. What Is Chipset? How Is It Different From Processor And Motherboard?

Answer :

Chipset is one of the processing devices in a computer. It is a number of integrated circuits, designed to control how information travels between other components and processor. It is a group of microchip to work as a unit to perform one or more related functions. While motherboard is where all other components like CPU, Memory, Sockets for external connectors and drives are attached. Chipset is a built in feature of otherboard. While, processor is a main integrated circuit block, which does the function according to the instruction of a computer program. It is based on the logical, arithmetical and input/output of the system.

Question 49. What Is Heat Sink And What Is The Use In The System?

Answer :

To lower the temperature of a device, a heat sink component is used. It is there on the microprocessor and if it is not functioning well then the computer will shut down automatically.

Question 50. What Is Jumper And Why You Need It?

Answer :

Jumper is a metal bridge that closes an electric circuit. A jumper consists of a plastic plug that fits over a pair of protruding pins. It is used to change the board’s parameters.

Question 51. What Are The Different Types Of Dram?

Answer :

The different types of DRAM are SRAM, VRAM, SGRAM, DDR­SDRAM

Question 52. What Might Be The Problem When You Don’t See The Display?

Answer :

• Power related issues
• Heat sink related issues
• CPU fan related issues
• Improper Jumper settings

Question 53. What Is Sata?

Answer :

SATA stands for Serial Advanced Technology Attachment. It is high speed computer bus interface designed to connect the host bus adapters to mass storage devices, such as hard disk drives and optical drives.

Question 54. What Is The Blue Screen Of Death (bsod)?

Answer :

A Blue Screen of Death (or just a Blue Screen Error) is an indication of a Critical System Problem wherein the Computer freezes altogether and does not respond to anything.To rectify this problem, try Restarting the computer or Booting into Safe Mode.

Question 55. Why Are Device Drivers Required?

Answer :

A Device Driver (or just Driver) is a piece of software which is requied to run every Hardware Component present in the computer.

Question 56. What Is A Data Cable?

Answer :

A Data Cable is a Thin Plastic band­like cable used to connect the Data­Devices like Hard­disk drives, Floppy Disk Drives, CD/DVD­ROM drives with the motherboard. Data Cables are primarily used for Data Transfer.

Question 57. What Is Ping?

Answer :

Ping is a command that checks the connectivity with an IP address.

Question 58. What Is The Difference Between Crt (cathode Ray Tube) And Lcd (flat Screen Monitors)?

Answer :

CRT Monitors: The Monitor has a picture tube and uses a light­gun to highlight pixels on the screen.

LCD Monitors: These monitors do not have a picture tube and contain a layer of liquid crystals on an Electronic Board.

Question 59. What Does The Term Usb Stand For?

Answer :

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. It allows devices to be connected or disconnected from a computer without shutting down or restarting the computer. The current version of USB is 2.0.

Question 60. Lights On A Modem / Lan Card

Answer :

Generally, there are 04 lights. They indicate the following:

1. Power Light: Shows if the device (Modem)is getting Power Supply or not.
2. Link Light: Indicates if the device is getting broadband/internet signals properly from the ISP.
3. Data Light: Indicates wether the internet is working or not.
4. Connectivity Light: Indicates the Modem is connected to a PC or not.