Job Interview Questions Series

ADMINISTRATOR
& HELPDESK
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
YOU’LL MOST LIKELY BE ASKED

225
Interview Questions
ADMINISTRATOR & HELPDESK
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
YOU’LL MOST LIKELY BE ASKED

© 2021, By Vibrant Publishers, USA. All rights reserved. No part of this

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Paperback ISBN 10 : 1-63651-000-0

Paperback ISBN 13 : 978-1-63651-000-2
Ebook ISBN 10: 1-63651-001-9
Ebook ISBN 13: 978-1-63651-001-9

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 Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Hardware 5

Chapter 2 Networking 23

Chapter 3 Mobile Devices 37

Chapter 4 Hardware, OS & Networks 47

Chapter 5 Operational Procedures 65

Chapter 6 Windows & Other OS 75

Chapter 7 Security 93

Chapter 8 Human Resource 105

Index 167
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 1
Hardware
Networking

Mobile Devices

Hardware, OS & Networks

Operational Procedures

Windows & Other OS

Security

Human Resource
6 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

001. Describe some of the methods to share files across devices.

Answer:

●● Wired/USB – connect devices by using a USB cables and

share files across devices.

●● Wired/Serial – connect devices by using a serial cable and

transfer data between them, by using the RS-232 standard.

●● Wired/Ethernet – connect devices by using a RJ-45 cable and

share files and folders on a device with the other device.

●● Wireless/Bluetooth – pair and connect devices by using the

passkey and share files across devices.

●● Wireless/Wi-Fi – wirelessly connect devices to a same access

point or create a Wi-Fi hotspot on a device and share files
and folders with the other device.

002. How will you go about servicing a Thermal printer?

Answer:

●● Clean the printer frequently to remove dust and residue

from paper, foils, and the environment.

●● Clean the printhead with Isopropyl alcohol or cleaning

cards to remove ink residue, paper dust, or coating residue.
This eliminates streaking and incomplete printing and
prevent clogs that irreversibly damage the printhead.

●● Avoid touching the printheads, except on the edges

●● Replace a printhead if it is worn out or abraded.

●● Follow specific recommendations or procedures from the

printer manufacturer, if any.
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Hardware 7

003. Differentiate between IDE and SATA.

Answer:

IDE SATA
Hot plugging No Yes
Data transfer speed Up to 133 MBps Up to 6 GBps
Data cable Broad and up to 18 Narrow and up to 3 feet
inches
# of pins 40 7
Data transfer type Parallel Serial
Cabling for power and Single One each for power
data and data

004. What is a Molex connector?

Answer:

Molex connector is a two-piece 4-pin and socket connector

that power up most of the components such as, motherboard,
CD/DVD drives, and hard drives. Molex connector supply DC
power to the drives.

005. How do you replace a RAM module on a desktop

computer?

Answer:

a. Power down the computer – unplug the power cable from

the wall outlet and computer case.

b. Open the case – this may different depending on how the

case is locked. Refer case manufacturer’s documentation.

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8 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

c. Ground yourself – use an ESD strap or ESD mat to ground

the static electricity, to be safe from electric shocks.

d. Remove existing RAM – do this if you’re replacing a faulty

or low-tech RAM module. Press down the notches at the
ends of the RAM module and the module pops out.

e. Check how the RAM slots are laid out – refer motherboard
manufacturer’s documentation to see if there are any
specific criteria to fill some RAM slots first.

f. Install your RAM – point the metallic end of the RAM

module and press the module into the slot gently until the
notches lock the module.

g. Close the case – refer case manufacturer’s documentation

and close the case.

h. Boot up your operating system – boot up the OS and check

if the OS recognizes the amount of RAM you added.

006. Describe how RAID configurations for hard drives work.

Answer:

RAID is short for Redundant Array of Independent Disks.

RAID is a data storage strategy which involves using multiple
hard drives. Depending on the RAID configuration, the
outcome can be speed and capacity or high availability.

The two basic forms of RAID are RAID 0 and RAID 1. With
RAID 0, the data is stripped and stored across various drives.
When you access data, all drives are at work to provide you
the data and so data can be retrieved faster. With RAID 1, data
is mirrored on the various drives. Even if one the drives fail,
the other drive gives you access to the stored data.
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Hardware 9

It is possible to make advanced RAID configurations such

as RAID 5, RAID 6 and so on to get the benefits of speed,
capacity, and high availability.

007. Describe the characteristics of a power supply used for

desktops.

Answer:

●● Input voltage – depending on the country where it is used.

For an input voltage of 110 V, it must operate between 90
V and 135V. For an input voltage of 220 V, it must operate
between 180 V to 270 V.

●● Surge protection – it must protect the components of the

computer by cutting off the power supply.

●● Output voltage – this is amount of voltage the AC to DC

converter can provide for the components. Usually, it can
output +3.3 V, +5 V, +12 V, and -12 V.

●● Wattage – the amount of output power it supplies to the

computer. This value can range from 200 to 1800 watts. The
more the number of cards, peripherals, and cooling units,
the more the amount of power required.

●● Efficiency – the ratio of the power input to the power

supply to power output. This is expressed as a percentage
and depends on the make and model. For modern power
supply, this value can range from 65-85%. The remaining
input power dissipates as heat when AC is converted to DC.

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10 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

008. You are a computer hardware consultant. A new gaming

hub asks you to design gaming computers at their hub.
Enthusiastic visitors will use these gaming computers to
play high-end games. How would you go about designing
the configuration for the gaming computers?

Answer:

●● Processor – high-end processors can provide better Frames

Per Second for most games.

●● GPU – Graphics Processing Unit renders the graphics and

movements seen in the games. The amount of Video RAM
the GPU can provide matters a lot, the more the better.
Some of the VRAM standards are GDDR5, GDDR5X,
GDDR6, and HBM.

●● RAM – more RAM on the computer helps open the games

sooner and have multiple applications such as chat or
collaboration open, during games.

●● Sound card – a high-end sound cards are dedicated

audio processing units, and this helps for a better gaming
experience.

●● SSD – SSDs can help retrieve data sooner when user

requests data, so high-end SSDs are useful.

●● Cooling unit – with all the high-tech components generating

a lot of heat when they run for high-end games, they must
be cooled in the computer case.

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Hardware 11

009. Describe what the Print to file, Print to PDF, Print to XPS,
and Print to image options do?

Answer:

●● Print to file – the data that must be printed is written to a file

and the output is saved as a “.prn” file.

●● Print to PDF – makes an electronic copy of your file as a

PDF, and this PDF can be saved on the drive.

●● Print to XPS – makes an electronic copy of your file as

an XPS (XML Paper Specification) which is a Microsoft
equivalent of PDF, and this XPS file can be saved on the
drive.

●● Print to Image – makes an image of the file, and this image

file can be saved on the drive.

010. Differentiate between a Thin client and Thick client.

Answer:

Thin client Thick client

Majority of the processing happens Considerable amount of processing
on the server happens on the client too
Requires constant communication Requires only intermittent
with the server communication with the server
Easy to deploy Needs considerable effort and
resources to deploy
Exposure to security breaches is Extensive risk of exposure to
limited security breaches

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12 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

011. How should you go about installing an optical drive on a

desktop computer?

Answer:

a. Power down the computer – unplug the power cable from

the wall outlet and computer case.

b. Open the case – this may different depending on how the

case is locked. Refer case manufacturer’s documentation.

c. Ground yourself – use an ESD strap or ESD mat to ground

the static electricity, to be safe from electric shocks.

d. Open the drive slot cover – Refer case manufacturer’s

documentation.

e. Place the drive in the case – insert the drive into the drive
cage and push it until the drive bezel is level with where
the drive slot cover was. Screw across the drive rails and the
screen slots on the drive.

f. Attach cables – connect internal audio cable, power cable,

and drive cable.

g. Close the case – refer case manufacturer’s documentation

and close the case.

h. Boot up your operating system – boot up the OS and check

if the OS recognizes the optical drive.

012. What is a Lightning connector?

Answer:

Lightning connector is a connector used on iOS devices.

Lightning connector uses a Lightning adapter on one end and

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Hardware 13

a USB-A adapter on the other.

Lightning connector can be used to charge iOS devices, and

transfer data in and out of the iOS device.

013. What is a CMOS battery?

Answer:

CMOS is short for Complementary Metal-Oxide-

Semiconductor. CMOS is a small chip found on the
motherboard. CMOS contains information about the BIOS
on the computer, the date, time and other information that is
required when the computer boots up.

CMOS battery powers the CMOS chip even after the computer
is shut down. System date and time showing up incorrectly,
or losing BIOS settings, are most likely due to a dying CMOS
battery.

014. Describe the strategy you will use to select components by

the purpose the assembled computer must serve.

Answer:

●● Routine office computers – mid-range CPU, motherboard,

RAM, and optical drives.

●● Graphics-intensive computers – mid-range motherboards

and CPU. High-end RAM, GPU, and SSD.

●● Audio-intensive computers – mid-range motherboards and

CPU. High-end RAM, sound card, and SSD.

●● Virtualized computers – high-end RAM and CPU. Mid-

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14 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

range motherboards and other components.

●● Gaming computers – high-end CPU, RAM, GPU, sound

card, and SSD. Mid-range motherboard.

015. Differentiate the ATX, mATX, and mITX form factors of

motherboards.

Answer:

ATX mATX ITX

Size 12 × 9.6 in 9.6 × 9.6 in 6.7 × 6.7 in
PCI slots 7 4 1
RAM slots 4 4 2
RAM capacity High Medium Low

016. What are the different types of cooling mechanisms used in

desktop computers?

Answer:

●● Fans – fans are usually available with CPUs and PSUs to

circulate hot air out of the case and cold air into the case.

●● Heat sink – a passive heat exchanger that absorbs heat from

components and transfers the heat to a larger open area so
that the heat can escape out of the case.

●● Liquid – consists of a pump to move the coolant, radiator

to dissipate heat, fan to cool the radiator, coolant reservoir
to add more coolant when needed, and hoses that connect
the different parts of the computer. Water blocks carrying
the coolant are places directly on top of the component that
must be cooled.
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Hardware 15

●● Thermal paste – a heat conductive paste used between a

heatsink and a CPU/GPU to improve the accuracy of the
heatsink. This fills in all imperfections on the heatsink and
conducts heat from the CPU/GPU to the heatsink and out
into the case.

017. Describe how the Error Correction Code feature works in a

RAM module.

Answer:

Error Correcting Code is also known as ECC. ECC is a type of

RAM module which detects and corrects commonly occurring
instances of data corruption. ECC RAM modules contain a
memory system that is tolerant to single-bit errors.

When an ECC RAM module is used, the data read from each
word is always the same as the data that had been written to
it. This is true even if one of the bits that is stored is flipped to
the wrong state.

ECC-based RAM modules come at a higher price and reduce

the performance of the computer by 3 %.

018. What are the different ways of encrypting data on a hard

drive?

Answer:

TPM – short for Trusted Platform Module. TPM is a chip

located on a motherboard which stores RSA encryption
keys. These keys are specific to the computer and are used to
authenticate.

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16 Administrator & Helpdesk Interview Questions You’ll Most Likely Be Asked

A TPM chip contains RSA keys Endorsement Key (EK)

and Attestation Identity Key (AIK). EK is in the chip and
cannot be accessed by software. A key pair is generated by
using the combination of EK and a user-specified password.
Attestation Identity Key (AIK) safeguards the computer from
unauthorized modifications.

019. Describe the Overclocking feature available in a CPU.

Answer:

The process of increasing the factory-set speed of the CPU is

called Overclocking. This is done by specifying a higher clock
rate or multiplier in the computer’s BIOS. This makes the CPU
do more operations per second.

Overclocking speeds up the CPU beyond the allowed limit

and could damage the CPU. One of the ways to cool down an
overclocked CPU is to provide additional cooling.

The traditional way to overclock a CPU is to increase the CPU

clock rate bit-by-bit and restart the computer to see if it is
stable for every iteration. At some point, the CPU will overheat
and shut down the computer; revert to the last stable setting.

020. What is NVME, in the context of an SSD?

Answer:

NVME is short for Non-Volatile Memory Express. NVME is a

host controller interface and a storage protocol that accelerates
data transfer between systems and SSDs over the PCIe bus.
NVME replaces SCSI and ATA standards for data transfer.

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Hardware 17

NVME provides benefits such as, reduced latency, higher I/O

operations, and lower power consumption. NVME uses 64,000
commands in a single message queue and up to 65,535 I/O
queues.

021. What are some of the video ports on a computer?

Answer:

●● Video graphics array (VGA) – connected to a 15-pin

connector that transmits only video. Variants of VGA
are Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) and Extended
Graphics Array (XGA).

●● Digital visual interface (DVI) – connected to a 17-pin

connector (DVI-Analog 19-pin), a 19-pin connector (DVI-
Digital), a 25-pin connector (dual-link DVI-Digital), or a
23-pin connector (DVI-Integrated). Digital and Integrated
variants support only digital video data.

●● High-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) – connected

to a HDMI-A, HDMI-B, HDMI-C, HDMI-D, and HDMI-E
connector. Transmits uncompressed digital audio and video
signals, encryption, and enables greater bandwidth than the
analog variants.

●● DisplayPort – resembles a USB connector. Transmits audio

and video with robustness, high display performance,
and better interoperability among different devices. This
standard supports faster refresh rates and deeper colour
depths.

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