Technical Support Interview Questions Part1
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
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 manufacturer’s 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 “Non-System Disk or Disk Error…Replace 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.
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 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?
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 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?
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)
Comments