hardMultiple Choice
220-1202 Practice Question: A security incident occurred on a Windows 10…
A security incident occurred on a Windows 10 workstation, and you need to review detailed logs of user logon attempts, including successful and failed logins, to identify unauthorized access. Which tool should you use to view these security logs?
⚠ Common exam trap
The A+ exam often tests the distinction between tools that view logs (Event Viewer) versus tools that configure settings (Group Policy Editor) or monitor performance (Performance Monitor), leading candidates to confuse administrative utilities.
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
✓
Event Viewer
Event Viewer is the correct tool because it provides access to Windows Security logs, which record detailed information about user logon attempts, including both successful (Event ID 4624) and failed (Event ID 4625) logins. These logs are essential for forensic analysis of unauthorized access on a Windows 10 workstation.
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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Reliability Monitor
Why it's wrong here
Reliability Monitor tracks system stability, application crashes and driver failures over time via Reliability Analysis Component data; it records no logon audit events. It would be tempting when investigating a workstation that crashed or degraded, but authentication records require Event Viewer's Security log with logon auditing enabled.
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Performance Monitor
Why it's wrong here
Performance Monitor collects real-time and logged counter data such as CPU, memory and disk throughput; it does not read the Security event log. It would be tempting when diagnosing resource exhaustion during an incident, where counters are the right tool, but logon success and failure records live in Event Viewer.
- ✓
Event Viewer
Why this is correct
Event Viewer's Security log records Windows logon events, including audit success and failure entries with account names, timestamps and logon types. Reviewing event IDs 4624 and 4625 satisfies the requirement to identify both successful and failed logon attempts during the incident investigation.
- ✗
Group Policy Editor
Why it's wrong here
Group Policy Editor configures policy settings such as audit policy and security options; it does not display recorded events. It would be tempting because audit policy determines which logon events get logged, but reviewing the resulting entries requires Event Viewer's Security log. Group Policy Editor is the configuration tool, not the viewer.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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