Odd Question

erazz

I bought a voucher for my test on Friday from Getcertified4less.com which came with a free practice test. This is one of the questions and must say its rather odd.

20. Your boss asks you to connect his Windows Vista laptop to a Windows
domain. What setting should you configure prior to joining the domain?
A. DNS
B. Gateway
C. WINS
D. ARP

20.Answer: A. DNS
Explanation: The DNS server address should be configured on the laptop prior to
joining the Windows domain. This is because most domains rely on DNS for the
translation of host names to IP addresses. This is a necessary component before
joining the domain.


Does this make any sense? If anything I would think it would be DHCP considering I dont know how youre going to even get anywhere on a domain without and IP address anyway

paulgswanson

Just by reading that question my brain immedaitly went "Total BS question"
Thats all done automatically anyway, and even if you did have to manually do it, the DHCP is still the first thing you gonna put down, since no ip = no network O.o

I call shannanagins on that.

FloOz

I agree with @Paulgswanson, but if you ever get this kind of question again just use process of elimination to get the answer. You can instantly negate answers C and D. DNS = Domain Name Service, so heck why not make that the answer since it says the word "domain" in the question twice

Darril

This is a good question for a Windows 7 exam, but as others have said, it's highly unlikely you'll see anything like this on a CompTIA exam.

A computer does need to query DNS to locate a domain controller to join a domain. A common reason why the domain controller can't be reached is because DNS has been manually configured and is using the wrong IP address. From a larger perspective, anytime you're having problems with Active Directory (including reaching a domain controller), check DNS.

sratakhin

You don't need DHCP because the workstation can be assigned a static IP.

cyberguypr

Agree on:
- Bad question
- DHCP or assigning a static IP would be a better answer
- A is the best option by elimination

I 've used a similar question when interviewing Tier I candidates and some of the incorrect responses just blow my mind.

Are all the other questions just as bad or is this the exception?

Slowhand

While it's not likely you'll see this kind of question on a CompTIA exam, it's VERY likely you'll see it on a Microsoft exam someday.

It's a very common issue: you try to join a computer to a domain but you keep getting an error that states the domain controller can't be found. Usually it's caused by your workstation using a DNS server that's not on the domain, meaning it can't find the DC it needs through the appropriate SRV records.

Active Directory is built on DNS, and properly configured DNS is essential for clients and servers to talk to each other, (among quite a few other things.) It's also important to remember to look at how questions on these tests are worded, they're looking for the most likely, or best, answer. Often times, many or all of the choices are technically correct, but they want to know what the best answer is according to vendor or industry best-practices.

erazz

There was a few others that seemed a little odd, but that may have been because I was a little over critical after seeing that 1 question.

And a side question to Darril (or anyone), I purchased your Kindle Network + test questions, and why I didnt notice it when I bought, or up until just this morning, that I bought the 005 version even though i'm taking 004 Friday....DOH! Will I be missing any key areas that were on 004, but not on 005....things that maybe arent used anymore but were still on the 004 test? Granted, its not the only resource i've been using, but taking these tests I always seem to come across things I havent even covered.

erazz

Passed today with 745....whew...a little to close for comfort! On to Security +

paulgswanson

congratz!

Darril

Congratulations. Good luck with the Security+.

dontstop

I found this with the A+, I found that most of their questions have 2 very wrong answers and 2 very correct answers which always seem to require more information and more context.

After thinking about it for 1 min, DNS makes the most sense in the "context", one would assume you have an IP Address and a Subnet Mask. If your trying to bind to AD you "may" need to use a gateway if your DC lives in another subnet but at the end of the day you need a DNS server address to dynamically update with your record and to also resolve the actual Domain's name i.e. mycompany.com

Wasn't a fan of these "gotcha" style of questions