TestOut LabSim A+ Certification Practice Exam

What is the most likely cause of receiving random characters when printing?

1. User is using an incorrect printer driver

2. Printer is out of ink

3. Printer needs maintenance

4. Network cable is unplugged

The correct answer is: User is using an incorrect printer driver

Receiving random characters when printing is most likely attributed to using an incorrect printer driver. The printer driver acts as the intermediary between the computer's software and the printer's hardware, translating the data into a format that the printer can understand. If the driver is incorrect or incompatible, it can lead to miscommunication, resulting in random characters or gibberish being printed. In cases where the printer is out of ink, while it may cause issues such as faded or missing parts of a print job, it typically would not generate random characters. Similarly, if the printer requires maintenance, such as cleaning or parts replacement, the issue would more likely manifest as poor print quality or an error message rather than random characters. An unplugged network cable would prevent any printing from occurring altogether, rather than leading to garbled output. Therefore, the use of an incorrect printer driver is the most plausible explanation for this problem.