IT Certification Practice Exams

A+ Essentials Tutorial

4.0 Printers and Scanners

4.1 Identify the fundamental principles of using printers and scanners

Identify differences between types of printer and scanner technologies (e.g. laser, inkjet, thermal, solid ink, impact)
Identify names, purposes and characteristics of printer and scanner components (e.g. memory, driver, firmware) and consumables (e.g. toner, ink cartridge, paper)
Identify the names, purposes and characteristics of interfaces used by printers and scanners including port and cable types for example:
- Parallel
- Network (e.g. NIC, print servers)
- USB
- Serial
- IEEE 1394 / firewire
- Wireless (e.g. Bluetooth, 802.11, infrared
- SCSI

4.2 Identify basic concepts of installing, configuring, optimizing and upgrading printers and scanners

Install and configure printers / scanners
- Power and connect the device using local or network port
- Install and update device driver and calibrate the device
- Configure options and default settings
- Print a test page
Optimize printer performance for example, printer settings such as tray switching, print spool settings, device calibration, media types and paper orientation

4.3 Identify tools, basic diagnostic procedures and troubleshooting techniques for printers and scanners

Gather information about printer / scanner problems
- Identify symptom
- Review device error codes, computer error messages and history (e.g. event log, user reports)
- Print or scan test page
- Use appropriate generic or vendor-specific diagnostic tools including web-based utilities
Review and analyze collected data
- Establish probable causes
- Review service documentation
- Review knowledge base and define and isolate the problem (e.g. software vs.hardware, driver, connectivity, printer)
Identify solutions to identified printer / scanner problems
- Define specific cause and apply fix
- Replace consumables as needed
- Verify functionality and get user acceptance of problem fix

Download practice tests: A+ Essentials 220-601, A+ IT Technician 220-602, A+ Remote Support Technician 220-603, A+ Depot Technician 220-604