Technical Support Interview Questions 1

1. 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? Ans: Download the most recent virus signature files and scan his computer for viruses.

2. You are configuring Power Management on your Windows XP Computer. With ACPI, Power Management should be under the exclusive contol of: Ans: The Operating System

3. Which file must be located in the root folder of the Active Partition for Dual Booting of Windows XP and Windows ME to boot? Ans: Boot.ini

4. 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? Ans: Rebuild the TCP/IP Stack in the users computer

5. 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. Ans: Change the Boot Order in BIOS.

6. 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?

Ans: 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 <Enter> key.

7. 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? Ans: FAT32

8. What is the command to convert a FAT32 file system to NTFS? Would there be any loss of data? Ans: The command is: CONVERT <Drive Letter>: /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.

9. 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? Ans: 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.

10. 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? Ans: 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 manufacturers website)

11. If, upon Booting up a Computer, you see the error message Keyboard Error What do you think could be the problem?

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

12. If you turn on a PC and the boot-up process halts and you get the error message NonSystem Disk or Disk ErrorReplace and Press any Key when Ready What do you think could be the problem? Ans: A non-bootable Floppy Disk is in the Floppy-disk drive and it should be removed.

13. If, upon booting up a PC, you see a message which says Invalid Drive Configuration.. What do you think is causing this? Ans: 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.

14. If you turn on a PC and the boot process halts and you get the error message C:\System32\Config file missing or Corrupt What is this due to? Ans: The Registry Hives are corrupted. They need to be repaired.

15. 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? Ans: BOOT.INI

16. 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? Ans: Reconfigure Norton Firewall to allow Internet Explorer to access the internet.

17. Which utility is used to do a Software Clean Boot?

Ans: Msconfig

18. What does a ? sign in device manager signify? Ans: The device is not installed. ( You can refer to this article for more details). For more information on Device Manager check this article from Microsoft.

19. What is the command to start Windows System Restore from the Command Line? Ans: rstrui.exe

20. What does the term UAC stand for? Ans: UAC stands for User Access Control. For more information read this article.

21. 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? Ans: Open the Windows Registery Editor and Delete the Upper and Lower Filter Keys.

22. 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? Ans: Go to Msconfig and select Normal Mode and Restart the Computer.

23. 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? Ans: The USB Port could be faulty.

24. 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? Ans: The Windows Audio Service is Disabled. Enable it.

25. 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 incomming data. What would you tell him? Ans: Enable the Firewall

26. 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 networks 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? Ans: Ask the user to Right-Click on the Network Connection icon and select Repair from the Menu.

27. A customer has recently upgraded from Windows 98 to Windows XP Professional. After the upgrade, it takes longer for Windows, Menus, Sub-Menus and other use interface features to open. She wants them to open faster. How can you help this customer? Ans: Use System in Control Panel and select the option Adjust for Best Performance in the Performance Options dialogue box.

28. You suspect that your computer is failing because of a Corrupt Master Boot Record. Which utility is the best to fix this problem? Ans: Recovery Console (By Using the fixmbr command)

29. You performed a Parallel installation of Windows XP (Home Edition) to resolve certain problems on a Customers 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? Ans: Boot into Safe Mode, Right-Click on the Old Profile Folder, Go to Security Advanced and give Ownership to the new user.

30. A Customer calls in and says that her copy of Windows XP went corrupt and the previous Technician installed it again without losing any data. Now when the computer boots up, it shows a menu for a few seconds and then it boots normally.She wants to get rid of this menu. You asked her about the menu options and the customer tells you that both the options in the Menu Read the same thing Windows XP Home. How will you fix this problem so that the Menu does not appear again? Ans: Edit the Boot.ini file and set the Timeout as 0 (Zero) or Edit the Boot.ini file and Remove the Second Option and set the Timeout as 0 (Zero)

Technical Support Interview Questions 2

1. What is BIOS? Ans: 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. Some functions of BIOS: 1. Performs a POST (Power-On Self Test) for all the different Hardware Components in the System to make sure everything is working properly. 2. Activating other BIOS Chips on different cards installed in the computer, for example, SCSI and Graphics Cards. 3. 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. 4. Manage the settings for Hard-disk drives, System Clock etc. 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. 5. 6. 7.

Perform POST (Power On Self Test) Display System Settings Determine which devices are Bootable Initialize the Bootstrap sequence

2. What are the Hardware Components of a Desktop Computer / Laptop? Ans: 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

3. What are Hard-Disk Partitions? Ans: 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.

4. Difference between RAM and ROM? Ans: RAM (Random Access Memory) is used to temporarily store information that the computer is currently working on. ROM (Read Only Memory) This is a Permanent type of memory storage used by computers for important data which never changes. (Example: BIOS)

5. What would you check if there is no sound from your computer? (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

6. If a Customer complains that his computer is working really slow, what are the things you would check? 1. Check if it is taking longer than usual to start up 2. Check if it is slow with one / any particular application or slow overall. 3. Check for Spyware/Malware/Virus in the computer 4. Check the available Hard-Disk Drive Space in the computer.

7. What is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)? . Ans: 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. For more information, read this.

8. Why are Device Drivers required? Ans: A Device Driver (or just Driver) is a piece of software which is requied to run every Hardware Component present in the computer.

9. Name one of the latest Computer Processors (CPU) ? Ans: Intel Pentium Quad Core, Intel I3, I5, I7 processors.

10. What is Ping? Ans: Ping is a command that checks the connectivity with an IP address. For more read this article

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

12. Lights on a Modem / LAN Card: Ans: 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.

13. Name some of the Ports available in a Computer Ans: 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

14. What does the term USB stand for? Ans: 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

15.What is the difference between CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and LCD (Flat Screen Monitors)? Ans: 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.

16.What is an IP Address? Ans: 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 computers 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>

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

18. What is DNS? Ans: DNS stands for Domain Name Services it is used to convert URLs into IP addresses and vice-versa.

19. Mention a sample computer configuration: Ans: 1. Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo 3.0Ghz 2. 2 GB RAM 3. 300GB HDD 4. DVD Writer 5. 17 inches LCD Monitor 6. Keyboard 7. Mouse

20. Name any Five Microsoft Office Applications: Ans:

1. MS Word 2. MS Excel 3. MS Powerpoint 4. MS Access 5. MS Outlook

21. What are RJ45 and RJ11 connectors? Ans: RJ45 connectors are used for LAN/Ethernet connections and RJ11 connectors are used for Telephone Cable connections.

22.What is a Parallel Windows installation? Ans: 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.

23.Name some of the versions of Windows XP. Ans: Windows XP Home Edition, Professional, Media Center Edition, Tablet PC Edition, Mobile

24.What are the components needed to setup a Basic Home Network? Ans: LAN Cards, LAN Cables, Router/Hub

25. Difference betwen a WORKGROUP and a DOMAIN? Ans: In a Workgroup, all the computers function as Peers. But in a Domain, One computer is the Server and the others are Clients.

26. What is the difference between FAT32 and NTFS file systems?

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

27. What does BOOT.INI do? Ans: Boot.ini lists all the Operating Systems present in the computer and provide information about which partitions they are located on.

28. How would you access the Recovery Console in Windows? Ans: By booting with the Windows XP CD and following the on-screen instructrions. The Recovery Console can also be installed in your computer.

29. Provide the names of a few Firewalls: Ans: Norton, McAfee, Zone Alarm etc

30.What feature of Outlook Express allows multiple customers to send and receive emails, each using a separate account? Ans: Identities

Technical Support Interview Questions 3

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. How would you Enable or Disable the Firewall in Windows XP? How would you Start or Stop a Windows Service? How can you check the IP address of your computer? How to Bookmark a webpage? How to access the Windows System Registry? Where are the Temp files located and how would you remove them? Name some difference between Windows XP and Windows Vista. What are their system requirements? 8. What is Safe Mode? 9. What is a MODEM? 10. What is SMPS? 11. What is SDRAM 12. What is an Operating System?

13. Name a few ports in your computer? 14. What is a Dial-up internet connection? 15. What is a Broadband internet connection? 16. What is a Wireless Internet Connection? 17. What is Last Known Good Configuration? 18. What is Device Manager? 19. What are Cookies? 20. What is the Motherboard Voltage? 21. What is the configuration of your PC? 22. What is PowerDVD? 23. What is MSConfig? 24. What is the Blue Screen of Death and what could be its causes? 25. Name some differences between Desktops and Laptops? 26. What is Cold Boot and Warm Boot? 27. What does X mean in the term 16X on the CD/DVD ROM? 28. What are PCI Slots? 29. What are the types of Printers? 30. How would you install Windows XP or Windows Vista? 31. There is no sound when you try to play any CD. How can you fix this? 32. A CD gets stuck in the CD-ROM drive when the Power goes off. How can you take it out? 33. What is the difference between DDR1, DDR2 and DDR3 memories. 34. What are the types of Hard-disk drives? 35. What are Blue Ray discs? 36. On a scale of 0 9, how would you rate yourself in terms of Technical Knowledge? 37. If a mouse is not working, how will you troubleshoot? 38. What are the different types of ports for connecting the Mouse? 39. If the Task Bar is on the Left/Right/Top, how will you bring it down? 40. What is Disk Cleanup? 41. What is Disk Defragmentation? 42. What would you do if a PC is not turning on? 43. What is the latest Operating System? 44. Name any 05 storage devices 45. What is a Heat Sink? 46. What is a UPS? 47. What is the difference between SATA and PATA Hard-Disk Drives? 48. What would you do if your system is running slow? 49. If you have deleted any program from the system and it still shows up in the system tray, how would you remove it so that it is not displayed in the System Tray? 50. What are Plug & Play devices? 51. What are Device Drivers? 52. What is the maximum Hard-Disk size you can purchase in the market today? 53. Where do you see yourself in the next 05 years? 54. How many fans are there insise a PC cabinet? 55. Difference between IE6 & IE7 56. List any 05 Anti-Virus Applications.

57. What is a Web-Browser? 58. What is the difference between a Serial and a Parallel Port? 59. Explain the Windows XP Boot Process 60. What do you know about the PING Command? 61. What is Troubleshooting? 62. What is the difference between a CD and a DVD? 63. What are the different types of RAMs? 64. What is the latest RAM in the market today? 65. What is a Scanner? 66. What are the Types of Operating Systems? (Hint: Not Linux, Unix, Windows etc) 67. What are the important port numbers in Windows? (Eg. SMTP, HTTP, POP3) 68. How would you setup a VLAN Connectivity? 69. What would you check first if a user is not able to connect to VPN but has a valid username and password? 70. What is LDAP? 71. What is Active Directory? 72. When a user starts up a Computer, it goes through the POST and displays a black sceen with a cursor blinking at one corner of the screen. What do you think it could be due to? 73. What is the Maximum Distance that can be covered in a LAN? 74. What is the maximum number of Computers that can be connected in a Peer-to-Peer Network? (Ans: For Windows XP Professional, its 10 and Windows XP Home: 05) 75. What is the difference between a Switch and a Hub? 76. I want to have an account in AD but I do not want to let that user logon to the Server. What do I need to do? (Ans: Disable the Allow Logon Locally option) 77. I have a Computer which is connected to a network. The computer is very slow when it is connected to the network/internet but works fine when it is not? What do you think could be the problem? 78. What is APIPA? 79. What is an IP Address? 80. What is a Subnet Mask? 81. What is ARP? 82. What is ARP Cache Poisoning? 83. What do you understand by the term Memory Leak? 84. What is a UPS? 85. What is the difference between a STANDBY and ONLINE UPS? 86. What is LBA (in Hard-Disk Drives) ? 87. How many Hard Disks can you install on an E-IDE controller? 88. Can you configure two hard disks to use the Master setting on the same PC? 89. What is the difference between Narrow-SCSI and Wide-SCSI? 90. What is SAS? 91. What are the three main reasons for using RAID? 92. Is RAID 0 considered to be a redundant Solution? Why? 93. How many disks can be used for RAID 1? 94. How does RAID 5 work? 95. What is the smallest number of disks required for RAID5? 96. What other types of RAID do you know?

97. What are the six steps for Laser Printing? 98. What is the difference between PCI-EX x1 and PCI-EX x16? 99. What is REGISTRY in Windows?] 100. How would you repair an Unsuccessful Driver Update? 101. What is the difference between a Workgroup and a Domain? 102. What are the major advantages of working in a Domain Model? 103. What are the different methods to install an Operating System? 104. What is an Answer file? 105. How would you create an Answer File for Windows XP? How would you create one for Windows Vista? 106. How do you perform an unattended installation on Windows XP? 107. What is Sysprep? 108. How do you use Sysprep? 109. What is the major difference between Newsid and Sysprep? 110. What is the function of the pagefile.sys file? 111. What is the function of the hiberfil.sys file? 112. How can you edit the Registry? Name at least 3 ways of doing that. 113. When should you use each of the fallowing tools: System Restore, LKGC and Recovery Console? 114. How do you set different Print Priority for different users? 115. How can you reset users passwords if you dont know his current password? 116. Whats the difference between changing a users password and resetting it? 117. You want to grant a user the right to perform backups should you add him to the Administrators Group? 118. What is MMC? 119. What is gpedit.msc? 120. How would you use the MMC to manage other servers on your network? 121. You set a local policy for your Stand-alone XP Professional would the local policy effects the administrators group? 122. What new in the Windows Vista Local Policy? 123. What is the difference between User Privileges and User Permissions? 124. What is Safe Mode? 125. Which logs can be found in Event Viewer? 126. What is msconfig? On which OS can it be found? On which OS is it not found? 127. Can you upgrade XP Home Edition to Server 2003? 128. Which permission will you grant a user for a folder he need to be able to create and delete files in, if you do not want him to be able to change permissions for the folder? 129. What is the difference between clearing the allow permission and checking the deny option?