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220-1201 Practice Question: A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that…
A technician is troubleshooting a desktop that will not boot from a brand new M.2 NVMe SSD. The drive is detected in the BIOS/UEFI, but the system skips it and tries to boot from other devices. The technician has already verified that the drive is properly seated and the BIOS is up to date. What should the technician check next?
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
✓
Check if the boot mode is set to UEFI and the drive is partitioned with GPT.
This question tests advanced knowledge of UEFI boot settings. When an NVMe drive is detected but not bootable, the issue is often that the drive is not partitioned with a GUID Partition Table (GPT) or that the system is in legacy BIOS (CSM) mode. NVMe drives require UEFI boot mode and a GPT partition table to boot.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check if the SATA controller is set to AHCI mode.
Why it's wrong here
AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) is a specification designed for SATA host bus adapters to enable advanced features like hot-plugging and Native Command Queuing. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) drives, however, communicate directly over the PCIe bus using their own highly optimized protocol. Therefore, checking or changing SATA controller settings, including AHCI mode, has no bearing on the functionality or bootability of an NVMe drive.
- ✓
Check if the boot mode is set to UEFI and the drive is partitioned with GPT.
Why this is correct
NVMe drives require UEFI boot mode and a GPT partition table. If the system is in legacy BIOS (CSM) mode or the drive is MBR, the system will detect the drive but not boot from it.
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Check if the M.2 slot is configured to use SATA or PCIe lanes in the BIOS.
Why it's wrong here
If the NVMe drive is detected by the system, it indicates that the M.2 slot is already correctly configured for PCIe lanes, as NVMe drives operate exclusively over PCIe. Motherboard BIOS settings to switch M.2 slots between SATA and PCIe modes are only relevant if the drive is not detected at all. Since the drive is present but not booting, the physical configuration of the slot is not the root cause.
- ✗
Check if the drive has been initialized with a Master Boot Record (MBR).
Why it's wrong here
NVMe drives, particularly when used as boot devices, require the system to be in UEFI boot mode, which necessitates a GUID Partition Table (GPT) for the boot drive. A Master Boot Record (MBR) is an older partitioning scheme primarily associated with legacy BIOS booting and has limitations in drive size and partition count. Therefore, checking if the drive is MBR is counterproductive; the correct troubleshooting step would be to ensure it is partitioned with GPT.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Storage Devices: HDD, SSD, NVMe
Key term
SSD
A Solid State Drive (SSD) is a storage device that uses flash memory to save data, making computers start up and load files much faster than older hard drives.
Key term
GUID Partition Table
A GUID Partition Table (GPT) is a modern standard for organizing and managing partitions on a storage drive, replacing the older Master Boot Record (MBR) system.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1201 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 220-1201 exam.