220-1101 Hardware Practice Question
A technician is installing a new SATA SSD into a desktop computer. After connecting the SATA data cable and SATA power cable, the technician powers on the system. The system boots normally from the existing OS drive, but the new SSD is not listed in the BIOS boot menu or in the operating system's Disk Management utility. The technician has verified that the SATA data and power cables are securely connected and that the SSD is known to work from another system. Which of the following is the MOST likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume a drive must be formatted to be detected, but formatting only affects the OS's ability to use the drive, not the BIOS's ability to enumerate it as a hardware device.
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
✓
The SATA controller is disabled in the BIOS.
The new SSD is not detected in the BIOS boot menu or Disk Management, even though it is known to work and cables are secure. This indicates the system cannot communicate with the drive at the hardware level. The most likely cause is that the SATA controller is disabled in the BIOS, which prevents the motherboard from enumerating any SATA devices, including the SSD.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The SSD is not formatted with a file system.
Why it's wrong here
An unformatted SSD still appears in BIOS and Disk Management, showing as unallocated space; formatting only makes it usable. Formatting is the correct step once a new drive is detected but lacks a file system, not when it is entirely absent.
- ✓
The SATA controller is disabled in the BIOS.
Why this is correct
A disabled SATA controller in BIOS prevents the chipset from enumerating any attached SATA device, so the known-good SSD never appears in BIOS or Disk Management despite secure cabling. Enabling the controller restores detection, matching the symptom of a working drive remaining invisible.
- ✗
The motherboard's chipset drivers are missing.
Why it's wrong here
Chipset drivers load within the running OS; they cannot prevent a drive from appearing in BIOS, which enumerates hardware before any OS driver exists. Drivers are relevant when a detected device misbehaves in Windows, not when firmware cannot see it at all.
- ✗
The power supply unit (PSU) is underpowered.
Why it's wrong here
An underpowered PSU would cause instability, random shutdowns, or the whole system failing to boot, not one drive being invisible while the existing OS drive works. PSU capacity is the correct suspect when adding hardware causes system-wide power faults.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
BIOS/UEFI Update Procedures
Key term
Operating system
An operating system (OS) is the core software that manages a computer's hardware and software resources, providing common services for computer programs.
Key term
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) is a computer bus interface used to connect storage devices like hard drives and solid-state drives to a computer's motherboard.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every 220-1101 question from scratch — 896 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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 220-1101 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 220-1101 exam.