CompTIA A+ 1201 - 3.0 Software Troubleshooting

Question 1

Administrative Tools (Windows)

Answer 1

Component Services
Computer Management
Data Sources
Event Viewer
Local Security Policy
Print Management
Performance Monitor
Services

Question 2

regedit

Answer 2

Run command for Registry Editor.

• Good practice to back up via File\Export

Question 3

devmgmt.msc

Answer 3

Run command for Device Manager

Question 4

diskmgmt.msc

Answer 4

Run command for Disk Management

Question 5

compmgmt.msc

Answer 5

Run command for Computer Manager

Question 6

Location of Windows Registry Backups

Answer 6

C:\Windows\System32\Config\RegBack

Question 7

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM)

Answer 7

The most important key in the registry.

Contains Hardware, Software and Security data.

Question 8

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC)

Answer 8

A registry key that contains information that identifies each hardware device installed on the PC

Question 9

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR)

Answer 9

A registry key that stores information, determining which application is used when opening a file (default apps)

Data for this key is gathered from the HKLM and the HKCU key.

Question 10

HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU)

Answer 10

A registry key that stores information about the current user of the PC, data that is stored in the HKEY_USERS key.

Question 11

Read-Only

Answer 11

A file attribute that prevents changes being made to a file. Users will be prompted to create a new copy of the file if they need to edit it.

Question 12

Hidden (File Attribute)

Answer 12

Specifies if a file is visible in the default view. This can be modified in file explorer

Question 13

System (File Attribute)

Answer 13

Specifies that the file should not be accessible to standard users.

Question 14

Archive (File Attribute)

Answer 14

Shows whether a file has changed since the last backup or not. Useful for incremental backups as the file will be flagged depending if it has been backed up or not.

Question 15

MMC

Answer 15

Microsoft Management Console

A toolbox creation utility that will allow admins to create portable .mmc files, for use in troubleshooting / administrative tasks (Performance Monitor, Event Viewer etc)

Question 16

diskpart

Answer 16

A CLI command that engages the Disk Partitioning utility in CMD.

Can select, detail, and initialize by formatting drives ready for use.

Question 17

format (CMD)

Answer 17

Formats a drive by erasing all data on it.

Syntax: Format volume:\ switch

Question 18

/fs: (Format switch)

Answer 18

Specify the file system to format drive to

(FAT, FAT32, NTFS etc)

Question 19

/v: (Format switch)

Answer 19

Specify a label for the formatted drive.

Question 20

/q (Format switch)

Answer 20

Perform a quick format, without checking for bad sectors.

Question 21

/a: (Format switch)

Answer 21

Specify the size of allocation units (512, 1024, 2048 etc)

Question 22

/x (Format switch)

Answer 22

Forces the selected volume to dismount, which may cause errors if files are currently being accessed.

Question 23

/c (Format Switch)

Answer 23

Enables files compression (good for backup drives / storage)

DO not enable on the system drive as this will compress essential files for the OS to run.

Question 24

Linux Disk Management Tools

Answer 24

df
du
Fsck

Question 25

MacOS Disk Utility App

Answer 25

Disk Management for MacOS

Question 26

tasklist /sv

Answer 26

Command line tool, used to display the list of processes and services running in Windows

Question 27

Data Collector Sets

Answer 27

Windows log files that record system information for viewing in real-time or later. Useful for creating Baselines for a PC to compare when functionality appears affected.

Question 28

Counter Logs

Answer 28

Windows log files that allow you to collect statistics on resources and analyse them for performance and system health purposes.

Question 29

Trace Logs

Answer 29

Windows log files that allow you to collect statistics on Services, including extensions to Event Viewer that allow you to log data that would be otherwise inaccessible.

Question 30

bootrec /fixmbr

Answer 30

CLI tool that rewrites the master boot record to fix any issues that may arise from corrupted data within. Ie; "No OS Found"

Question 31

bootrec /fixboot

Answer 31

CLI tool that fixes system startup failures and boot errors on Windows 10 & 11 Ie; "No OS Found"

Question 32

bootrec /rebuildbcd

Answer 32

CLI tool that rebuilds the boot configuration data to fix startup issues & errors. Ie; "No OS Found"

Question 33

C:\Windows\Ntbtlog.txt

Answer 33

This is the location that Boot Logging will drop the boot log txt file for analysis once it is enabled in Windows RE.

Question 34

C:\Windows\System32\rstrui.exe

Answer 34

This is the location of the System Restore executable. You can run this from the CLI.