220-1202 CompTIA A+ Core 2 2025 Exam Free Practice Exam Questions (2026 Updated)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Shreddingphysically destroys the platters, making data recovery virtually impossible. It's more effective and accessible than degaussing or low-level formatting.

FromQuentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide:

“Physical destruction methods like shredding are the most secure options for ensuring data on failed drives cannot be recovered.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

AnNDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)is used to ensure confidentiality of sensitive company information, especially when interacting with external parties.

FromQUENTIN DOCTER - COMPTIA A+ COMPLETE study GUIDE:

“An NDA ensures that confidential information is not disclosed to unauthorized individuals, especially important in external communications.”

The correct answer is B. Add the user to the local Administrators group, because this provides the necessary permissions to install software on a specific machine without granting excessive privileges across the entire domain. This approach follows the principle of least privilege while still allowing the user to perform required testing tasks.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, local administrator rights allow users to install and configure applications on a single system but do not grant access to domain-wide resources. This makes it an appropriate choice for sandboxed or test environments.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide warns against adding users to the Domain Admins group, as this grants full control over the entire Active Directory environment and poses a significant security risk. Sharing credentials or passwords violates security best practices and audit requirements.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual reinforces that granting local administrative access is a common and accepted practice in controlled testing scenarios, especially when systems are isolated from production environments.

Because the goal is to allow software installation without compromising domain security, adding the user to the local Administrators group is the best and safest option, making B the correct answer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

An incident report documents key details such as the cause of the outage, steps taken to resolve it, and measures to prevent recurrence. It is a post-mortem analysis often shared with stakeholders to improve future response.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide:

“An incident report provides a summary of an event that disrupted normal operations and includes a timeline of what occurred, how the issue was diagnosed and fixed, and who was involved in the resolution”.

This is reaffirmed in Travis Everett’s All-in-One Guide:

“Documentation after an incident helps technical teams and management review the situation and learn from it. This is formalized in an incident report”.

The correct answer is B. Turn off notifications in the browser, because the described behavior matches browser notification abuse, not traditional pop-ups. Modern browsers allow websites to request permission to send notifications. If a user previously allowed notifications from a retail site, the site can continue sending onscreen alerts even when pop-up blockers are enabled.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, browser notification permissions are separate from pop-up blocking settings. Pop-up blockers prevent new browser windows or tabs from opening, but they do not block push notifications that were previously approved by the user. These notifications can persist long after visiting a site.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide explains that one of the first troubleshooting steps for repeated browser messages is to review and disable site notification permissions. This directly targets the root cause without affecting browser configuration or user data.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual reinforces that resetting or reinstalling the browser is an excessive step unless configuration corruption is suspected. Clearing cache removes stored files but does not revoke notification permissions.

Because the messages originate from previously allowed browser notifications, the most appropriate and targeted fix is to disable notifications in the browser, making B the correct answer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Resource Monitor provides real-time monitoring of system performance and resource usage, including CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. It helps technicians identify performance bottlenecks (e.g., high memory or CPU usage) that can cause slowdowns in applications over time without producing crash errors.

A. Reliability history logs application crashes or errors — not helpful if the app doesn’t crash.

B. Computer Management is a broad utility with limited real-time monitoring capability.

D. Disk is too vague — tools like CHKDSK can help with disk errors but not general performance degradation.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

User offboarding involves disabling the departing user's access to company systems and facilities. Two key tasks typically include:

Deactivating physical access credentials (e.g., key fobs or badges) to prevent unauthorized entry (B).

Suspending or disabling the user’s email account to prevent future use and to retain business communications (D).

A. Quarantining a hard drive is not standard unless malware or legal issues are involved.

C. Purging PII must follow legal retention policies; it's not typically an immediate offboarding task.

E. Disabling network ports may be relevant in some cases but is not a standard offboarding step.

F. Blocking MAC addresses is not typical unless the device is considered a security threat.

The correct answer is C. Switch the NIC settings from manual to automatic, which allows the computer to obtain an IP address dynamically from the DHCP server. When a static IP address is no longer required, reverting the network configuration to DHCP ensures the system integrates properly with the current network design.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, DHCP simplifies network management by automatically assigning IP addresses, subnet masks, gateways, and DNS settings. Leaving a static IP in place can cause address conflicts or connectivity issues, especially when the device is repurposed.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide explains that DHCP reservations are used when a device must always receive the same IP address, which is unnecessary in this scenario. Creating exclusions or manually changing the static IP does not meet the requirement to remove static addressing altogether.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual reinforces that switching the NIC to automatic configuration is the correct way to return a system to standard network operation and avoid manual IP management.

Because the static IP is no longer needed, enabling DHCP by setting the NIC to automatic configuration is the correct solution, making C the correct answer.

The correct answer is D. Internal wiki, because an internal wiki is specifically designed to store, maintain, and centrally manage organizational knowledge, including deployment procedures, configuration standards, and troubleshooting documentation. Large-scale software deployments require accurate, up-to-date, and version-controlled instructions that can be accessed by multiple technicians.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, organizations commonly use internal knowledge bases or wikis to document standard operating procedures (SOPs), deployment guides, and escalation paths. These platforms allow content to be updated quickly as procedures evolve, which is essential for complex deployments.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide emphasizes that internal wikis support collaboration and consistency. Unlike emails or files stored on individual systems, a wiki provides a single source of truth, reducing the risk of technicians following outdated or incorrect instructions.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual further explains that while file servers may store installation files and emails may contain announcements, neither is suitable for maintaining structured, searchable deployment documentation. A user’s desktop is never an appropriate location for organizational procedures.

Because large-scale deployments require centralized, standardized, and continuously updated documentation, the most appropriate reference location is an internal wiki, making D the correct answer.

The correct answer is C. net use, which is the Windows command-line utility used to display, create, and remove mapped network drives and SMB (Server Message Block) connections. When working remotely through command-line interfaces, technicians often rely on net use to quickly verify which network shares are currently connected.

The Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide explains that SMB is the protocol Windows uses for file and printer sharing, and mapped drives are maintained through SMB sessions. The net use command lists all active connections, including the drive letter, remote UNC path, and connection status.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide highlights that net use is especially valuable for remote troubleshooting because it does not require a graphical interface. This makes it ideal when administering multiple systems via command prompt or remote shell.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual clarifies that systeminfo displays OS and hardware details, hostname only shows the system name, and nslookup is used for DNS queries. None of those commands provide information about mapped SMB shares.

Since the task is to verify existing SMB mappings, net use is the only command that directly fulfills this requirement, making C the correct answer.

The correct answer is D. Connect a wrist strap to a metal frame, because this action directly prevents electrostatic discharge (ESD), which is one of the most common causes of accidental hardware damage during device disassembly. Even when a device is powered off, static electricity stored in the technician’s body can discharge into sensitive components such as RAM, CPUs, and system boards.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, the most effective way to prevent ESD is to equalize electrical potential between the technician and the device. An ESD wrist strap, when connected to a grounded metal surface such as a computer chassis, safely dissipates static electricity before it can damage components.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide explains that while antistatic mats and bags are useful, they are secondary controls. The wrist strap provides continuous grounding throughout the repair process, whereas mats and bags only protect components when they are placed on or inside them.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual reinforces that working on plastic surfaces does not guarantee grounding, and placing components in antistatic bags is something done after removal, not immediately after powering down.

Therefore, once the device is turned off, the next and most important step is to connect a wrist strap to a metal frame, making D the correct answer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Virtualization settings are typically found within the BIOS/UEFI firmware configuration. To prevent unauthorized users from changing these settings, the technician should set a BIOS password. This ensures only administrators with the password can access or modify BIOS settings, including virtualization support.

B. The guest account is a user-level feature in Windows and doesn’t control BIOS access.

C. A screen lock prevents casual access to the desktop but doesn’t protect firmware settings.

D. AutoRun controls how media and devices behave when inserted — unrelated to BIOS security.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

A management profile is used to enforce corporate policies on Apple devices. These profiles are installed via an MDM (Mobile Device Management) solution and control access, restrictions, Wi-Fi settings, app installations, and more. They’re critical for managing devices in a business environment.

A. The App Store allows software downloads but doesn’t control policies.

B. VPN configuration is used for secure remote connections, not enforcement of restrictions.

C. Apple ID is for personal account access to Apple services, not corporate device management.

The correct answer is C. man, which stands for manual. The man command is used in Linux and UNIX-based operating systems to display the official documentation for commands, configuration files, and system calls. This documentation includes descriptions, syntax, available options, and usage examples.

The Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide explains that Linux relies heavily on built-in documentation accessible from the command line. The man pages are considered the authoritative reference for how a command works and what options it supports. For example, running man cp displays documentation for the file copy command.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide emphasizes that learning to use man is essential for Linux administration and troubleshooting. Unlike graphical help systems, man pages are always available locally and do not require internet access.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual clarifies that chmod changes file permissions, cat displays file contents, and sudo allows commands to be run with elevated privileges. None of these commands provide documentation about other commands.

Because the question specifically asks about reading another command’s documentation, the Linux command designed for that exact purpose is man, making C the correct answer.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

RAM is an electrostatic-sensitive component. When removing or transporting RAM modules, they should be stored in antistatic bags to protect against electrostatic discharge (ESD), which can damage the memory. This is a standard best practice in hardware handling.

A. Demagnetization is not applicable to RAM.

C. Plugging in power to ground is not safe or recommended for static protection.

D. Installing identical memory pairs is applicable for dual-channel configuration, but not directly related to transporting or handling RAM.

The correct answers are D. Use PIN authentication and F. Enable screen timeout, because both controls directly protect a mobile device from unauthorized physical access. Physical access controls are designed to prevent someone from using a device if it is lost, stolen, or left unattended.

According to the Quentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, mobile device security begins with lock-screen controls, such as PINs, passwords, biometrics, and automatic locking mechanisms. A PIN authentication requirement ensures that even if an attacker physically possesses the device, they cannot access its contents without the correct credentials.

The guide further explains that screen timeout (automatic locking after inactivity) is a critical security feature. Without it, a device left unattended—even briefly—could be accessed by unauthorized individuals. Enabling a short timeout greatly reduces this risk.

The Travis Everett & Andrew Hutz – All-in-One Exam Guide reinforces that VPNs and antivirus software protect data in transit and against malware, not physical access. Likewise, disabling hotspots and enabling location services are management or tracking features, not access prevention mechanisms.

The Mike Meyers / Mark Soper Lab Manual emphasizes that physical security controls focus on preventing interaction with the device itself, making PIN authentication and automatic screen locking the most effective measures.

Therefore, D and F are the correct answers.

In AI terminology,hallucinationrefers to generated output that appears plausible but is factually incorrect.

FromQuentin Docter – CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide:

“AI hallucination describes output that is fluent and coherent but includes information that is entirely fabricated or inaccurate.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

Background applications can significantly drain a smartphone’s battery, even when the device is idle. A technician should first review which apps are running in the background and consuming power through the battery usage section of the OS. Disabling or restricting power-hungry apps often resolves poor battery life.

A. Storage usage doesn’t significantly affect battery life.

B. End of software support is unrelated to battery performance unless it's causing inefficient processes, which would still be secondary.

C. Charger wattage affects charging speed, not battery life after charging.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

If the system fails to boot after removing the USB installation media, it often means the BIOS is not pointing to the correct boot device. This typically involves an issue with the BIOS settings—such as UEFI being disabled when the OS was installed in UEFI mode.

FromAll-in-One Exam Guideby Travis Everett:

“One of the most common post-installation issues is failing to configure the boot mode correctly in BIOS. If an OS is installed in UEFI mode, the UEFI boot must be enabled, otherwise the system won’t detect the bootloader.”