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220-1202 Practice Question: A customer reports that their Windows 11 PC is…
A customer reports that their Windows 11 PC is displaying a 'Low Disk Space' warning on the C: drive. You need to quickly free up space by removing temporary files and system cache. Which administrative tool should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse disk optimization tools (like Defragment) with disk cleanup tools; candidates might think defragmentation frees space, but it only rearranges files. Similarly, Disk Management and Event Viewer are unrelated to temporary file removal.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files and system cache.
Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) is the built-in Windows tool specifically designed to remove temporary files, system cache, and other unnecessary data to free up disk space. It provides a simple interface to select categories like Temporary Internet Files, Recycle Bin, and Windows Update Cleanup. This directly addresses the customer's need to quickly free space by deleting temp files and cache.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Defragment and Optimize Drives to consolidate free space.
Why it's wrong here
Defragmentation, performed by the "Defragment and Optimize Drives" tool, reorganizes fragmented files on a hard disk drive (HDD) to improve read/write performance by consolidating file fragments and free space into contiguous blocks. However, this process does not delete any files or remove system overhead, meaning it does not actually increase the amount of available free disk space. It merely optimizes the arrangement of existing data.
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Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files and system cache.
Why this is correct
Disk Cleanup is the primary Windows utility designed to safely remove various types of unnecessary files that accumulate over time, directly freeing up significant disk space. This includes temporary internet files, system error memory dump files, Recycle Bin contents, temporary application files, and system cache files. By targeting these non-essential data elements, it effectively reclaims storage without impacting system functionality or user data.
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Computer Management > Disk Management to shrink the volume.
Why it's wrong here
Shrinking a volume using Disk Management reduces the size of an existing partition, creating a block of unallocated space immediately adjacent to it. While this action makes space available for creating a new partition or extending another, it does not delete any data from the original volume itself. Consequently, the amount of free space reported within the shrunken partition remains unchanged; it simply reduces the total capacity of that specific volume.
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Event Viewer to clear application logs.
Why it's wrong here
Clearing application logs via Event Viewer removes records of system and application events, which are primarily used for troubleshooting and auditing purposes. While this action does technically free a minuscule amount of disk space, log files are typically very small in comparison to other system files or user data. Therefore, it is an entirely ineffective method for significantly reclaiming storage on a drive that is running low on space.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This 220-1202 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1202 exam.