Computer Maintenance and Security Quiz

Marco was eating chips while doing homework and spilled a lot of crumbs into his keyboard. What is the safest first step he should take to clean it?

• Shake the keyboard vigorously over a trash can.

• Use a powerful household vacuum to suck the crumbs out.

• Unplug the keyboard and use a can of compressed air to blow the crumbs out.

• Wipe the keyboard with a very wet cloth.

Lisa sees a notification on her computer telling her to update her web browser. She keeps ignoring it because she's busy. What is the biggest risk of not updating her browser?

• The browser will start to look old and out of fashion.

• Her internet connection will become much slower.

• Her computer becomes vulnerable to new viruses and security threats.

• She won't be able to use the new emojis.

Ken's computer has become very slow when opening large files. His older brother told him to 'defragment' his hard drive. What does this process do?

• It deletes old files you don't use anymore.

• It organizes the scattered pieces of files on the hard drive so they are stored together.

• It runs a deep scan for hidden viruses.

• It physically cleans the fans inside the computer case.

When Maria turns on her laptop, it takes a very long time to become usable because so many applications open by themselves. What should she do to fix this?

• Reinstall the entire Windows operating system.

• Use the Task Manager to disable unnecessary programs from running at startup.

• Buy more Random Access Memory (RAM).

• Delete all the applications that open automatically.

Jay is playing a video game and it suddenly freezes. What is the best practice for shutting down his computer?

• Immediately hold the power button down until the computer turns off.

• Unplug the computer's power cord from the wall socket.

• Try closing the game with Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete); if that fails, use the normal shutdown option.

• Just let the computer's battery run out.

A thunderstorm is approaching, and the local news has announced a possibility of power outages. What is the wisest thing Paolo can do to protect his desktop computer?

• Keep playing his game but save it more often.

• Properly shut down the computer and unplug it from the power outlet.

• Lower the brightness of his monitor to save energy.

• Run a full antivirus scan to pass the time.

Rina is working on her final science project, which is due next week. To prevent losing all her work if her laptop suddenly breaks, what is the most critical habit she should develop?

• Cleaning her laptop screen every day.

• Defragmenting her hard drive every hour.

• Regularly backing up her project files to a USB drive or a cloud service like Google Drive.

• Posting her project progress on social media.

An antivirus pop-up appears on Sarah's screen with a warning that says 'Threat Detected!' What is the correct action for her to take?

• Ignore the message and continue what she was doing.

• Follow the antivirus software's recommendation to quarantine or remove the threat.

• Immediately restart the computer.

• Uninstall her antivirus program because it is annoying.

Leo receives an email that looks like it's from his bank. It asks him to click a special link and enter his password to 'verify his account.' This is most likely an example of:

• A standard software update.

• A phishing attempt to steal his information.

• A legitimate and safe security check from his bank.

• A system notification about a new virus.

Dan's antivirus program keeps reminding him to update its 'virus definitions.' Why is this update so important?

• It changes the look and color of the antivirus software.

• It teaches the antivirus how to recognize the very latest viruses, spyware, and malware.

• It makes the scanning process run much faster.

• It frees up space on the hard drive.