220-1201 Practice Question: A customer reports their desktop PC is running…

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Disable visual effects in Windows to reduce memory usage.

  Why it's wrong here

  Disabling visual effects, such as Aero Peek or animations, frees up a negligible amount of system RAM and GPU memory compared to the demands of modern applications and the operating system itself. While it might offer a marginal improvement in very low-resource scenarios, it does not address a fundamental shortage of physical RAM required for multitasking or running resource-intensive software. This is a minor cosmetic adjustment, not a solution for a PC running "extremely slow" due to insufficient memory for its workload.

• ✓

  Upgrade the RAM to at least 8 GB.

  Why this is correct

  Upgrading the RAM to at least 8 GB directly resolves the most common cause of a slow PC: insufficient physical memory. When a system lacks adequate RAM, it constantly resorts to using the slower hard drive (or SSD) as virtual memory, a process known as paging or swapping. Increasing RAM allows the operating system and applications to reside in much faster physical memory, significantly reducing disk I/O for memory management and dramatically improving overall system responsiveness and multitasking capabilities.

• ✗

  Increase the size of the page file on the hard drive.

  Why it's wrong here

  Increasing the size of the page file on the hard drive expands the amount of virtual memory available, which is a slower substitute for physical RAM. While it can prevent "out of memory" errors, relying heavily on an enlarged page file means the system is constantly moving data between fast RAM and much slower storage, leading to severe performance degradation known as "thrashing." This action treats a symptom by providing more slow memory, rather than addressing the root cause of insufficient fast physical RAM, thus potentially worsening the perceived slowness.

• ✗

  Reinstall Windows 10 to reduce system resource requirements.

  Why it's wrong here

  Reinstalling Windows 10 might clean up corrupted system files or remove unwanted bloatware, which could offer a minor performance boost in some cases. However, it does not inherently reduce the baseline memory requirements of the operating system or the applications the customer uses. This action fails to address the core problem of insufficient physical RAM for the customer's typical workload, which is the primary cause of a PC running "extremely slow" due to memory constraints. It's a drastic and often unnecessary step for a hardware-related performance issue.

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