220-1102 - Software Troubleshooting (22% of the exam) - Section 3.1

Troubleshoot common Windows OS problems using the appropriate tools and recovery options.

Diagnose Windows symptoms - blue screen of death, boot failures, slow performance, profile load failures, services not starting, and application crashes - to their likely cause. Apply the right recovery action: Safe Mode, System Restore, Startup Repair, rebuilding the boot configuration, repairing system files with sfc and DISM, or running chkdsk, and re-imaging only when in-place repair fails.

BSODSafe ModeSystem RestoreStartup Repairsfc / DISM

Practice question for this objective

Free sampleSoftware Troubleshootingmedium

A laptop fails to start and lands in the Windows Recovery Environment after a power cut interrupted an update, reporting missing boot files. Which recovery option should the technician choose to fix the boot process automatically before attempting manual steps?

  • ARun System Restore to roll the machine back to the most recent restore point.
  • BOpen Command Prompt and run "bootrec /fixboot" to rewrite the boot sector manually.
  • CUse System Image Recovery to restore the entire drive from a backup image.
  • DRun Startup Repair to automatically fix the missing boot files and configuration. Correct
For missing or damaged boot files in Windows RE, run Startup Repair first to fix the boot process automatically before manual recovery steps. Startup Repair is the automated Windows RE tool that diagnoses and repairs boot-blocking problems such as corrupt boot configuration data or missing startup files, so it is the correct first choice before manual bootrec work or a full image restore.

Why A is wrong: This undoes recent changes, but it targets system settings and drivers rather than damaged boot files, and it depends on a usable restore point existing.

Why B is wrong: This is a valid manual repair, but the question asks for the automatic option to try first; manual bootrec commands come only after Startup Repair fails.

Why C is wrong: This is a full recovery path, but it overwrites the whole drive from a backup image and is a last resort, not the first automatic fix for missing boot files.

Why D is correct: Startup Repair automatically scans for and repairs missing or damaged boot files, boot configuration data, and startup problems, which matches the reported missing boot files exactly.

See more 220-1102 practice questions, answers explained.

Exam traps in Software Troubleshooting

Answers that look right on this material and are not. Each one is a distractor from a different question in the 220-1102 bank for this domain.

  • Boot into Safe Mode with Networking to bypass the missing boot configuration data.

    Why it is wrong: Safe Mode still relies on an intact boot configuration to load Windows, so it cannot start when the boot files themselves are missing.

  • Run "chkdsk /f" to locate and fix corruption in the protected system files.

    Why it is wrong: chkdsk repairs file-system metadata and bad sectors on the volume, but the SMART test passed and it does not restore corrupt protected OS files, so it is the wrong tool here.

  • Immediately reimage the machine from the corporate golden image.

    Why it is wrong: Reimaging destroys local state and is premature when a component-store repair may still fix the source of the corrupt files.

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