Desktop Engineer Interview question - 2

PC Hardware

• What is FSB?
• What are Vcore and Vi/o?
• On what type of socket can you install a Pentium 4 CPU?
• What is SMP?
• Which Intel and AMD processors support SMP?
• How do LGA sockets differ from PGA and SEC?
• What is the difference between Pentium 4 and Pentium Core 2 Duo? Explain the new technology.
• How does IRQ priority works?
• What technology enables you to upgrade your computer's BIOS by simply using a software?
• What happens if you dissemble the battery located  on the Mother-Board?
• How do L1, L2, and L3 work?
• How should we install RAM on a Dual-Channel Motherboard?
• What is the advantage of serial over parallel bus?
• Is USB using serial or parallel bus? What about Firewire?
• How much power is supplied to each USB port?
• When should you change your bus-powered USB hub to a self-powered USB hub?
• What is a UPS?
• What is the difference between standby and online UPS?
• What is LBA (in Hard-Disks)?
• How many Hard Disks can you install on an E-IDE controller?
• Can you configure two hard disks to use the Master setting on the same PC?
• What is the difference between Narrow-SCSI and Wide-SCSI?
• What is SAS?
• What are the three main reasons for using RAID?
• Is RAID 0 considered to be a redundant Solution?  Why?
• How many disks can be used for RAID 1?
• How RAID 5 works?
• What is the smallest number of disks required for RAID5?
• What other types of RAID do you know?
• What are the six steps for laser printing?
• What is the difference between PCI-EX x1 and PCI-EX x16?

Microsoft-based Operating Systems

• What is the difference between a workgroup and a domain?
• What are the major advantages of working in a domain model?
• What types of operating system installation methods do you know?
• What is an answer file?
• How would you create an answer file for Windows  XP? How would you create one for Windows Vista?
• How do you perform an unattended installation on Windows XP?
• What is Sysprep?
• How do you use Sysprep?
• What is the major difference between Newsid and Sysprep?
• What is the function of the pagefile.sys file?
• What is the function of the hiberfil.sys file?
• What is the Registry?
• How can you edit the Registry? Name at least 3 ways of doing that.
• What should you do if you receive a message stating: "The following file is missing or corrupt: 'WINDOWS'SYSTEM32'CONFIG'SYSTEM"?
• How would you repair an unsuccessful driver update?
• When should you use each of the fallowing tools: System Restore, LKGC and Recovery Console?
• How do you set different print priority for different users?
• How can you reset user's passwords if you don't know his current password?
• What's the difference between changing a user's password and resetting it?
• You want to grant a user the right to perform backups – should you add him to the administrators group?
• What is MMC?
• What is gpedit.msc?
• How would you use the MMC to manage other servers on your network?
• You set a local policy for your Stand-alone XP Professional – would the local policy effects the administrators group?
• What new in the Windows Vista Local Policy?
• What is the difference between User Privileges and User Permissions?
• What is Safe Mode?
• Which logs can be found in Event Viewer?
• What is msconfig? On which OS can it be found?
• Can you upgrade XP Home Edition to Server 2003?
• 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?
• What is the difference between clearing the "allow" permission and checking the "deny"?

Networking

• What is a NIC?
• What is a MAC Address?
• When would you use a crosslink cable?
• What are the main advantages and disadvantages of Fiber-Optic-based networks?
• What is the difference between a Hub and a Switch?
• On which OSI layer can a router be found?
• What is CSMA/CD?
• What is multicast?
• What is Broadcast?
• What is the difference between TCP and UDP?
• Describe some of the settings that are added by TCP and by UDP to the packet's header.
• What are TCP Ports? Name a few.
• What is a TCP Session?
• What three elements make up a socket?
• What will happen if you leave the default gateway information empty while manually configuring TCP/IP?
• What will happen if you execute the following command: "arp –d *"?
• What is ICMP?
• When would you use the ping command with the "-t" switch?
• What command-line tool would help you discover for which port numbers your computer is listening?
• What is APIPA? How would you recognize it?
• What is a Cyclic Redundancy Check?
• What would you type in at a command prompt to view the IP settings for the computer that you are sitting at?
• What command would you type in at a command prompt to view the IP address of the remote computer?
• What is the W Value for class B?
• What is the Net ID of an IP Address of 18.9.25.3 with Subnet Mask of 255.0.0.0?
• What is CIDR?
• What is 255.255.255.255 used for?
• What is the maximum number of hosts for a Class B Network?
• What is the (default) class type of 195.152.12.1?
• What is the subnet mask for 10.0.10.1/17?
• What is the result when changing from a subnet mask of 255.255.224.0 to a subnet mask of 255.255.240.0?
• How can you access a shared folder from a remote computer? Name at least 3 methods.