Hi Neil,

I just passed the DOS/WINDOWS part of the A+ certification today. My braindump is short, but it is something that I have never seen before.

1) What is the boot sequence of Windows 95?

A) IO. SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT, REGISTRY.

B) IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, COMMAND.COM, SYSTEM.DAT, USER.DAT.

C) IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, COMMAND.COM, WIN.INI.

D) IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, SYTEM.INI, WIN.INI.

ANS: D (reference: Windows 95 resource kit page 200)

2) What is the boot sequence of DOS 6.x?

A) IO.SYS, COMMAND.COM, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT.

B) COMMAND.COM, IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS.

C) IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT.

D) IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, COMMAND.COM

ANS: D (reference: deduced from 95 resource kit page 201-206) In fact, the real mode (or DOS) will start up with only IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, because IO.SYS already load up all the necessary files like HIMEM.SYS, IFHLP.SYS, SETVER.EXE, DBSPACE.BIN for CONFIG.SYS. The CONFIG.SYS in (D) is used for backward compatibility and to override what IO.SYS has loaded, if so desired. The same is true for AUTOEXEC.BAT. In the case there are TSR’s (TSR=Terminate and Stay Residence files). Finally, COMMAND.COM is for user interface. It is not required for star-up.)

When John was upgrading his DOS computer to Windows 95, there was a power failure. He then was not successful in loading up Windows 95 when the power was on. What should he have done at this point?

A) switched the computer on, boot form floppy, delete Windows 95.

B) Switched the computer off and on, boot from floppy, format.

C) Switched the computer on, format, setup.exe.

D) (I don’t remember)

ANS: (I really don’t know. This was a very nasty question!)

3) Where does Windows 95 keep the registry?

A) C:\Windows\System\

B) C:\Windows\

C) (don’t remember)

D) (don’t remember)

ANS: B. (Remember that the registry is kept in SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files? They are stored under Windows folder.)

4) Jane was buying a Windows 95 computer. She had an application written in 16 bit format. She asked the sales clerk whether or not she could use her application on the computer. What should the sales clerk have responded?

A) Windows 95 can use only 32 bit application.

B) Upgrade your 16 bit application to 32 bit application.

C) Windows 95 can use 16 bit application.

D) (don’t remember)

ANS: (I don’t know the answer. Does (C ) imply that Windows 95 computer can switch to the real mode (DOS) and run the 16 bit application? I want you guys to be prepared to answer this kind of question.)

5) You want to setup a server as a dedicated printer server in your LAN. In order to set a printer as a shared printer, what you have to do?

A) Start, settings, control panel, printer, share.

B) Run, printer, share.

C) Start, settings, printer, share.

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: C (C seems to be the best answer, but it is missing one step. Before getting to "share," you have to go to the property first.)

6) Your co-worker came to you and said: "My computer IP has changed." What did you have to tell him without looking at the computer?

A) The computer is a DHCP client.

B) IPX/SPX.

C) Ping.

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: A

7) The network card, cable, settings of your Windows 95 computer are OK, but you cannot communicate with a server in the LAN. What do you have to do?

A) Ping.

B) Ipconfig.

C) (I don’t remember.)

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: A

8) What is the UNC for a shared folder in the network?

A) \\server_name\shared_folder.

B) \\shared_folder\server_name.

C) \\shared_folder.

D) \\server_name.

ANS: A

9) Your company wants to connect to the Internet. What is the quickest way to connect to the Internet?

A) T1.

B) ISDN.

C) 56 K digital modem.

D) PPP.

ANS: T1 (T-carriers are a type of high speed leased telephone line. There are 4 service levels: T1 (1.544 Mbps), T2 (6.312 Mbps), T3 (44.736 Mbps), T4 (274.176 Mbps). ISDN is a set of standards by which signals are transmitted. Thus, ISDN can use T-carriers to send signals. ISDN standards divide the ISDN service into channels like Channel A, B, C, D, etc. Channel A is 4 Kbpc analog channel, Channel B is 64 Kbps digital channel. A computer connected to an ISDN service can use both B channels for 128 Kbps speed. Primary Rate ISDN or PRI (23B +D) uses the entire 1.544 Mbps of T1 bandwidth to give 23 B channels and one D channel. In conclusion, when you say T1, it means that you have 1.544 Mbps to work with. However, when you talk about ISDN, you have to be more specific what channel you are using before you know the bandwidth of the transmission. By the way, PPP is Point to Point protocol which allows IP packets on a dial-up connection.

10) You are using a Windows 95 computer. You also open up 2 applications running at the same time. What is the combination of keys on the keyboard to toggle from one application to the other?

A) Ctrl + Tab.

B) Ctrl + Esc.

C) Alt + Tab.

D) Alt + Shift + Tab.

ANS: C (The is no such key combination in Windows 3.x computer. However, there is a key combination to scroll through running programs in both Windows 3.x and 95. It is Alt + Esc.)

11) You notice that there is SMARTDRV.EXE in CONFIG.SYS file in the operation system of your Windows 95 computer. However, you do not intend to use your computer in the real mode (DOS mode). What you should do?

A) Remove SMARTDRV.EXE from CONFIG.SYS file.

B) Remove SMARTDRV.EXE from CONFIG.SYS file and put it in AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

C) Do nothing.

D) Replace SMARTDRV.EXE with PAGINGFILE.EXE in CONFIG.SYS file.

ANS: (I don’t know for sure. It could be either A or C. I could not find PAGINGFILE.EXE from Windows 95 resource kit. There was only PAGINGFILE= setting in SYSTEM.INI file for using a swap file in a hard drive or floppy drive. Thus, I assumed D was wrong.)

12) You had an application in AAA folder and the application is in CCC.EXE file. You could not open the application. When you looked in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you found the entry:

PATH=C:\; C:\DOS; C:\WINDOWS;. What should you do to get your application to work?

A) Enter the folder name and application name in the path entry.

B) (I don’t remember.)

C) (I don’t remember.)

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: A

13) When you upgrade your PC from Windows 3.x to Windows 95 by installing Windows 95 into the same folder, what files will be retained?

A) WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI files and GROUP file.

B) WIN.INI, SYSTEM.INI files and .DRP file.

C) All .INI files and GROUP file.

D) (I don’t remember)

ANS: (I don’t quite remember the wording in the choices of A, B, C, D. Thus, I cannot give an answer here. However, I looked this up in the Windows 95 resource kit. It said that Windows 3.x.GRP, Windows 3.x.INI and REG.DAT files were migrated automatically to the registry)

14) When you have a cross-linked file in your hard drive, what utility you use to correct it?

A) SCANDISK

B) CHCKDSK

C) DEFRAG

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: A

15) When your file is not stored in a continuous order of addresses of clusters in a hard drive, we say your file is fragmented. To correct this fragmentation, what utility you should use?

A) SCANDISK

B) CHKDSK

C) DEFRAG

D) (I don’t remember)

ANS: C

16) Your CD-ROM cannot read. What is the most logical step to take?

A) Reinstall the driver.

B) Check the cable.

C) Replace the cable.

D) Replace the CD-ROM.

ANS: (I don’t know the answer.)

17) When you did not specify the name of your PIF file, what is the default name of that file?

A) DEFAULT.PIF.

B) COMMON.PIF.

C) (I don’t remember.)

D) (I don’t remember.)

ANS: A

18) You want to check out the registry of Windows 95 computer, what do you have to do?

A) Run > C:\ SYSTEM.DAT.

B) Run > C:\USER.DAT.

C) Run > Regedit.

D) Windows Explorer.

ANS: C

19) There were two questions about the ATTRIB command at DOS prompt. It is used to change the attributes and to display the current attribute of a file. It is a good idea to know how to use it. Also, check out the old braindump. They are still GOOD!

Good Luck to you all!

John