220-1101 Question 293
Single answerSound cardA technician installs a new PCIe sound card in a Windows desktop used for audio recording. After the installation, the user can see the device in Device Manager with no warning icons, but there is still no sound from the speakers. The speakers are powered on and work when connected to another PC. Which action should the technician take FIRST to restore audio output?
- A
Set the new sound card as the default playback device in the operating system
- B
Increase the amount of system RAM so the sound card has enough memory available
- C
Replace the PCIe slot because audio cards require a dedicated audio expansion slot
- D
Disable the onboard NIC in BIOS to prevent resource conflicts with the sound card
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
When a newly installed sound card appears in Device Manager with no errors, the hardware and driver are usually installed correctly. In that situation, CompTIA A+ style troubleshooting emphasizes checking the simplest and most likely configuration issue first: whether the new audio device is selected as the default playback output. Windows commonly keeps onboard audio or another output device selected until changed manually. Best practice is to verify the playback device in Sound settings, confirm speaker connections are attached to the new card's output jack, and then test audio. Vendor driver documentation and Microsoft Windows audio settings guidance both support confirming the default output device as an early troubleshooting step before replacing hardware or changing unrelated BIOS settings.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A very common issue after installing a dedicated sound card is that the operating system continues using the onboard audio device as the default playback device. If Device Manager shows the new card working properly and the speakers are functional, the first troubleshooting step is to verify that the correct playback device is selected in Windows sound settings.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. A sound card does not typically require additional system RAM to begin basic audio playback. While audio-production workloads can benefit from more RAM overall, lack of RAM would not be the first or most likely cause when the device is recognized properly but no sound is heard.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. PCIe sound cards use standard PCIe expansion slots; there is no special dedicated audio expansion slot requirement. Since the device is already detected in Device Manager without errors, the slot is clearly functioning well enough for the OS to communicate with the card.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Disabling the onboard NIC is unrelated to normal sound card operation. Modern systems handle resource allocation automatically, and a network adapter would not be the first component to disable when the audio device is installed correctly and appears healthy in Device Manager.