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This Past Paper examination was examined by the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and it applies to the following Certificate course
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THE KENYA. NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL
CRAFT CERTIFICATE IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
MODULE II
COMPUTER MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT
THEORY
SECTION A (40 marks)
Answer ALL the questions from this section.
1. Differentiate between attended and unattended software installation. (4 marks)
2. Explain two reasons for shutting down a computer before replacing a faulty Random Access Memory (RAM) chip. (4 marks)
3. Outline four activities that should be carried out during active computer maintenance. (4 marks)
4. Explain two circumstances under which an organization may carry out preventive computer maintenance. (4 marks)
5. Describe two components of a computer chipset. (4 marks)
6. Distinguish between trojan and exploit computer viruses. (4 marks)
7. Moses was troubleshooting a computer that had a hard disk failure. Outline four possible causes of this problem. (4 marks)
8. Define each of the following terms as used. in computer hardware inventory:
(a) model number; (2 marks)
(b) serial number. (2 marks)
9. Mouse is an input device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a display screen. Outline four categories of this device that could be used with computers. (4 marks)
10. (a) Explain the term master boot record (BR) as used in computers. (2 marks)
(h) Describe the term high performance computing.(UPC) as applied in computers. (2 marks)
SECTION B (60 marks)
Answer any FOUR questions from this section.
11. (a) Explain each of the following types of disks as used in computer systems:
(i) restore disk; (2 marks)
(ii) installation disk. (2 marks)
(b) Outline five measures that could be taken while handling re-writable compact disks. (5 marks)
(c) Ann was required to troubleshoot a faulty motherboard of a laptop. Explain two tools that she could use. (6 marks)
12. (a) Figure 1 shows signs that represent input/output ports in a computer system. Use it to answer the question that follows.
Outline the function of the signs labeled. (i) and (ii). (4 marks)
(b) Susan realized that her computer was not connecting to the Local Area Network.
Explain three possible causes of this problem. (6 marks)
(c) List two examples of non-impact printers. (I mark)
(d) Distinguish between o line and real-time uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units. (4 marks)
13. (a) Maureen was creating system backup files on a removable disk and an error ‘file system not supported’ appeared on the screen of her computer.
(i) Explain the cause of the error message. (2 marks)
(ii) Explain two methods of correcting the error in (i). (4 marks)
(b) A technician was setting CMOS for a new computer.
Write the acronym. CMOS in full. (1 mark)
(ii) Outline four boot priority options that he could use. (4 marks)
(c) Kate was troubleshooting a laptop that displayed a blank screen but when connected to an external monitor it displayed the graphical user interface. Explain two possible causes for this problem. (4 marks)
14. (a) Victor was required. to back up the data in his company’s computer system.
(i) Outline three types of backup strategies that he could use. (3 marks)
(ii) Explain two factors that he should consider while choosing a backup strategy. (4 marks)
(b) For each of the following situations, identify the appropriate troubleshooting method:
(i) detach computer part to solve computer problem; (1 mark)
(ii) check if computer is powering; (1 mark)
(iii) find out the last user activities; (1 mark)
(iv) repetitive computer part testing. (1 mark)
(c) Pauline wishes to identify socket T for her computer’s processor. Explain two features of the socket that could guide her. (4 marks)
15. (a) Annette chose to use an external hard disk to store her pictures and videos. Outline three reasons for her choice. (3 marks)
(b) Differentiate between erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) and electrical erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). (4 marks)
(c) Job was required to list functions of computer’s BIOS during a job interview. Outline
four functions that he could have listed. (4 marks)
(d) John was required to conduct computer typing lessons for staff in his company. Outline four categories of keyboard keys that he could mention. (4 marks)