mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1202 Practice Question: After a recent Windows update, a user's printer…
After a recent Windows update, a user's printer stopped working. You suspect the update changed the default print spooler service startup type. Which Control Panel tool should you use to verify and correct the service startup type?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Device Manager (for driver issues) with the Services console, not realizing that the startup type of a service is managed exclusively through the Services snap-in, not through hardware or printer-specific settings.
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
✓
Administrative Tools > Services
The Print Spooler service is a Windows service that manages print jobs sent to the printer. Its startup type (e.g., Automatic, Manual, Disabled) is configured in the Services console, which is accessed via Administrative Tools > Services. Device Manager and Printers & scanners do not provide service startup type settings, and System > Advanced system settings deals with performance and user profiles, not services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Device Manager
Why it's wrong here
Device Manager is primarily used for viewing and managing hardware devices, their drivers, and resource allocations within the operating system. While it allows for updating, rolling back, or disabling device drivers and checking hardware status, it does not provide an interface to configure the startup type or current operational status of Windows services like the Print Spooler. Therefore, it cannot resolve an issue where a service's startup type was inadvertently changed after an update.
- ✗
Printers & scanners
Why it's wrong here
The "Printers & scanners" section in Windows Settings allows users to add or remove printer devices, set default printers, and manage print queues by pausing, resuming, or canceling individual print jobs. While essential for user-level printer management and basic troubleshooting of print queues, this interface does not expose the underlying Windows services responsible for printing, such as the Print Spooler, nor does it offer options to modify their startup behavior or current operational state.
- ✓
Administrative Tools > Services
Why this is correct
The "Services" snap-in, accessible via Administrative Tools or directly through `services.msc`, is the definitive utility for managing all Windows services. It provides a comprehensive list of services, their current status (running, stopped), and their configured startup type (Automatic, Manual, Disabled). To resolve a printer issue caused by the Print Spooler service not starting, an administrator would navigate here to locate the "Print Spooler" service, ensure its startup type is set to "Automatic," and then manually start it if it is not already running.
- ✗
System > Advanced system settings
Why it's wrong here
"Advanced system settings" provides access to various system-level configurations, including performance options (visual effects, virtual memory), user profiles, environment variables, and startup and recovery settings (default operating system, system failure actions). While it offers critical system tuning capabilities and options for system-wide behavior, it does not include any functionality for directly viewing, starting, stopping, or modifying the startup type of individual Windows services like the Print Spooler.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This 220-1202 question is part of Courseiva's 495-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.