Technical Support Interview Questions & Answers

Question 1. What Is Bios?

Answer :

BIOS stands for Basic Input-Output System and is pronounced as “Bye-Ose“. The BIOS is available on all the computers. It makes sure that all the components of the computer can function together. It has information about all the hardware components in the Computer. BIOS can also be called as a Special Software that interfaces the major hardware components of a computer with the Operating System. It is usually stored in a Flash Memory Chip on the Motherboard.

Question 2. What Are The Functions Of Bios?

Answer :

Some functions of BIOS:

• Performs a POST (Power-On 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 low-level 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 Hard-disk drives, System Clock etc.

Question 3. What Are The Sequence Of Things Done By The Bios When You Turn On Your Computer?

Answer :

Sequence of things done by the BIOS when you turn on your Computer:

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

Question 4. What Is Chip Set? 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 Motherboard. 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 5. 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 6. 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 7. What Are The Different Types Of Dram?

Answer :

The different types of DRAM are SRAM, VRAM, SGRAM, DDR-SDRAM

Question 8. What Are The Components Needed To Setup A Basic Home Network?

Answer :

LAN Cards, LAN Cables, Router/Hub.

Question 9. 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 10. What Is Stack And Can We Use Rom As Stack?

Answer :

Stack is a portion of RAM used for saving the content of the program counter and general purpose registers.  ROM cannot be used as a stack, as it is not possible to write on ROM.

Question 11. What Does It Mean By Interrupt?

Answer :

To perform a particular task, interrupt is a signal send by external device to the processor.

Question 12. What Is A Microprocessor?

Answer :

A microprocessor is a program controlled device. It retrieves the data instructions from memory and decodes them, after decoding, it executes the instruction.

Question 13. What Is Latch?

Answer :

It is a temporary storage device controlled by a timing signal, which can store 1 or 0.  It is a D-type flip flop storage device.

Question 14. What Is The Disadvantage Of Microprocessor?

Answer :

It has a limitation on the size of the data, also most microprocessor does not support floating point operations.

Question 15. What Do You Mean By Dhcp?

Answer :

DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol, it is a network protocol, and it enables the server to assign automatically, IP address to a computer.

Question 16. What Do You Mean By Osi?

Answer :

OSI stands for open system interconnection.  It is a standard description or a reference model of how message should be conveyed between any two points within a telecommunication network. It is made up of several layers and each layer provides services to the layer above.

Question 17. What Is Tcp/ip?

Answer :

TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol or Internet protocol.It is used to connect hosts on the internet, by transferring data over the network.

Question 18. What Are Rj45 And Rj11 Connectors?

Answer :

RJ45 connectors are used for LAN/internet connections while RJ11 connectors are used for Table cable connectors.

Question 19. 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 20. 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 21. 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 cost-saving.
• Makes PC games and Applications to run faster.

Question 22. Name Some Of The Latest Computer Processors?

Answer :

Intel Pentium Quad Core, Intel I3, I5 and I7 processor are some of the latest Computer Processor.

Question 23. 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 plug-in cards.

Question 24. What Are Hard-disk Partitions?

Answer :

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

Question 25. How You Keep Yourself Updated With The Current Technology?

Answer :

I keep myself connected with social networking sites, the first platform for any technological advancement news and also keep surfing on the latest technology on internet.

Question 26. What Are The Hardware Components Of A Desktop Computer / Laptop?

Answer :

The Hardware Components of a Desktop Computer / Laptop are as follows:

1. The Processor (CPU)
2. Motherboard
3. RAM (Random Access Memory)
4. Power Supply – SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply)
5. Hard-disk Drives
6. CD/DVD-ROM Drives
7. Floppy Disk Drive
8. Sound Card
9. Graphics (Display) Card
10. Keyboard
11. Mouse
12. Monitor

Question 27. What Is Ping?

Answer :

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

Question 28. What Is A Data Cable?

Answer :

A Data Cable is a Thin Plastic band-like cable used to connect the Data-Devices like Hard-disk drives, Floppy Disk Drives, CD/DVD-ROM drives with the motherboard. Data Cables are primarily used for Data Transfer.

Question 29. 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.

Question 30. Name Some Of The Ports Available In A Computer?

Answer :

Some of the commonly available ports in a Computer are as follows:
1. Keyboard & Mouse Ports – Also known as PS/2 ports.
2. USB Ports.
3. VGA Ports.
4. Sound Ports.
5. LAN Port – Also known as Ethernet Port.

Question 31. 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 32. 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 light-gun 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 33. 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 34. What Are The Components Needed To Set-up A Basic Home Network?

Answer :

• LAN Cards.
• LAN Cables.
• Router/Hub.

Question 35. Difference Between A Work Group 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 36. What Is The Difference Between Fat32 And Ntfs File Systems?

Answer :

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

Question 37. 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 38. How Would You Access The Recovery Console In Windows?

Answer :

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

Question 39. 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 40. Why 8085 Processor Is Called 8 Bit Processor?

Answer :

It is called 8 bit processor as it has 8 bit ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit).

Question 41. 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 42. 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 43. 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 44. Mark Uses Windows Xp Professional And Is Connected To The Internet Directly Through A Dsl Line. He Wants To Know How He Could Enable The Filtering Of Packets And Get Rid Of The Harmful Incoming Data. What Would You Tell Him?

Answer :

Enable the Firewall

Question 45. 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 46. A Customer Calls And Says He Is Unable To Get On-line. 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 47. Very Frequently, Users In Your Office Put Floppy Disks In The Drives And Forget To Take Them Out. This Results In Boot­up 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 48. 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 49. You Need To Dual­boot 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 50. 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 re­format that partition and select the FAT32 file system. 

Question 51. 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 Defrag­Scheduling Option..

Question 52. 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 53. 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 54. If You Turn On A Pc And The Boot­up 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 55. 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 Hard­Disk 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 56. 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 57. What Does The Term Uac Stand For?

Answer :

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

Question 58. 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 Cd­ Rom Drive In “my Computer”. What Can Be Done To Fix This Problem?

Answer :

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

Question 59. You Performed A Parallel Installation Of Windows Xp (home Edition) To Resolve Certain Problems On A Customer’s Computer. 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. What Can You Do To Remove The “access Denied” Problem?

Answer :

Boot into Safe Mode, Right­ Click on the Old Profile Folder, Go to Security – Advanced and give Ownership to the new user.