8/19/2019 Desktop Support Engineer Interview Questions and Answers | ToughNickel

Desktop Support Engineer Interview

Questions and Answers
Updated on March 26, 2017

Kannan Reddy more

Kannan has had wide and varied work experience. He loves to interview people from different industries and
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When you apply for a desktop-level job, besides asking general questions about yourself, the interviewer will also ask
you questions that test your technical proficiency.

Desktop Support Engineers are required to have deep understanding of basic as well as intermediate level concepts.
The interviewer can ask you to explain the concept of OSI model or TCP/IP model, or ask you fact-based questions to
test your memory power. They can ask you questions on Desktop or Server level issues.

List of Probable Questions

1. Who is a desktop support engineer and what are their duties?
2. Why do you want to join the IT industry?
3. What are the types of operating system?
4. Give examples of NOS (Network Operating System) and SOS (Server Operating System).
5. What is the difference between FAT and NTFS?
6. What is DNS?
7. What is reverse lookup in DNS?
8. What is forward lookup in DNS?
9. What are enhancements in Windows 2003 from Windows 2000?
10. What does DHCP stand for and why it is necessary?
11. What are enhancements in Windows 2003 from Windows NT?
12. What is Active Directory?
13. List types of firewall.
14. Define scope and superscope with respect to IP addressing

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15. What is a default gateway

16. What is the difference between hardware and software firewall?
17. Name the seven layers of OSI model.
18. How to enable Firewall in Windows XP?
19. How to disable Firewall in Windows XP?
20. What are the minimum system requirements of Windows XP, Vista, 2003, and 2008?
21. List out some versions of Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7.
22. Explain ping command.
23. Explain cookies.
24. What is an .exe file.
25. What is is .msi file.
26. How do you boot the computer in Safe mode?
27. Why is ipconfig command used for?
28. What is tracert command?
29. Define operating system
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30. Define VPN server Barron's Trump Gives U
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31. What is POP server Nonsensical Idea: Huawei Another S

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33. What is a RIS server
34. What is the key difference between a desktop OS and server OS.

35. What are the types of printer?

36. What is a safe mode in Windows OS
37. Explain last known good configuration.
38. What is disk clean up, disk defragmentation, device manager, and system restore?
39. Explain the differences between USB port and Firewire port?
40. How do you install a printer in Windows XP?
41. What is a browser and name any 5 browsers?
42. What is a Serial port
43. What is a parallel port
44. What is the difference between a serial port and a parallel port?
45. What is an A record?
46. What is a PTR record?
47. Define RAS server
48. What is a port number?
49. Where is the HOSTS file located?
50. Explain different RAID levels.

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51. What is an IAS server?

52. Explain APIPA, IP address, and Subnet mask.
53. What is packet data?
54. Explain the difference between IP v4 and IP v6.
55. Explain a group with respect to network administration
56. Explain child domain and its uses.
57. What is an organizational unit with in terms of a domain?
58. Expalin rights, policy and permission in network administration.
59. What is a domain controller?
60. Explain what is additional domain controller
61. What are the types of active directory partitions.
62. Difference between default gateway and a router
63. Expalin SCSI
64. How do you remove a virus from a computer?
65. How do you make a computer run faster?
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66. What is attrib command?
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67. What is edit command?

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69. How do you format the hard disk using command line utilities?
70. Explain mkdir, rmdir, and chdir commands.
71. What is the path of host file in Windows OS?
72. Explain the types of hard disk.
73. What is a router?
74. What is a bridge router?
75. What is the difference between primary and secondary partition?
76. What is a backup?
77. What are the types of backups in Window OS?
78. Explain the differences among differential backup, incremental backup, and copy backup.
79. What is remote desktop?
80. What is the difference between recovery console and automated system recovery?
81. What is NTLDR file?
82. How do you tackle "missing NTLDR file" error?
83. How many bytes are there in MAC address?
84. Name the range of Class A IP address.
85. Name the range of Class B IP address.
86. Name the range of Class C IP address.

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87. What is the default subnet mask of Class A, Class B, and Class C IP address?
88. What is BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) and how do you overcome it?
89. What is the difference between preferred DNS and alternate DNS server?
90. What is the transmission speed of T1 carrier?
91. List out some ports that are available on a computer
92. What are some common types of LAN cable?
93. What is a social engineering attack?
94. What is a phishing attack?
95. What is Denial of Service attack in hacking
96. What is eavesdropping with respect to hacking
97. What is virus with respect to computer technology?
98. What does it mean when a program is x86?
99. What is SysWoW64 Folder in Windows?
100. Difference between x86 and SysWoW64 folders

I could go on and on forever

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TALKquestions and you could also go on and MISHon searching for "Desktop Support
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Engineer Interview Question," but the fact is that if you are going for L1 (level 1) positions, you only need to do your
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Answers
You have had the training, practicals, and stuff like that, now answer the questions in your own words. Simply
mugging up the answers will a be a recipe for disaster.

A quick Google search of the question will reveal all the answers. Surf for the answers and in the process you'll learn,
and once you learn you won't forget at the time of the interview.

Practical Demonstrations
Besides fact-based questions you will also be tested on your practical skills. They could ask you to do the easy task of
installing the operating system in front of them or even ask you to solve a problem faced by a user right there.

Last Word
Get properly dressed and don't excessively stare at the receptionist (lol).

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Download the Questions as a PDF file

Link to the PDF file

Some Objective Type Questions From the Above List

Question 1/15
What are the types of Operating System

Real-time, Multi-user and Single-user OS, Multi-tasking and Single-tasking OS, Distributed
32 bit, 64 bit

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entertainmentMISH TALK only and does not substitute for personal
purposes MISH TALK
counsel or professional advice in business, M
financial, legal, or technical matters.
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