Technical Interview Questions – MCSE & System Administrator, Part4

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.