220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A user reports that a critical application crashes every time they attempt to save a file to a network drive. The application works fine when saving locally. The network drive is accessible and other users can save files to it without issues. Which of the following steps should the technician take FIRST?
⚠ Common exam trap
The 220-1102 exam often tests the principle of 'start with the simplest and most likely cause first'—the trap here is that candidates jump to reinstalling the application (Option A) because they assume the application is broken, when the real issue is a full network drive or quota limit affecting only that user.
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 the disk space on the network drive.
The application crashes only when saving to the network drive, not locally, and other users can save to the same drive without issues. This points to a client-side or user-specific problem, but the most common cause for a single user experiencing a crash on save is insufficient disk space or quota limits on the network share. Checking disk space on the network drive is the quickest, least disruptive step to rule out a full volume or quota restriction before escalating to more invasive fixes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reinstall the application.
Why it's wrong here
Reinstalling the application replaces potentially corrupted program files and resets its configuration, but it does not address the remote storage environment where the write operation fails. Because the scenario specifies that local saves succeed and the network share is accessible, the fault lies outside the application's local code and is more likely a server-side capacity or permission issue. A reinstall is also risky because it may delete user preferences or custom settings, making it an unnecessarily disruptive step that should only be considered after verifying remote storage conditions.
- ✓
Check the disk space on the network drive.
Why this is correct
Saving to a network share requires the remote file system to allocate space for the new file; if the network volume is full or the user has reached a quota limit, the SMB server rejects the write even though the share appears accessible and local saves work. This is a frequent root cause of application-specific save failures, and a technician can quickly verify it by checking the share's properties, using `fsutil volume diskfree` on the server, or reviewing the user's quota from the file server. It is a fast, non-destructive diagnostic that directly addresses the difference between local and remote save behavior.
- ✗
Run chkdsk on the local drive.
Why it's wrong here
CHKDSK scans the local file system for metadata corruption, bad sectors, and lost clusters, but it has no visibility into the network share or the SMB session used for the save operation. Since the application can save files to the local drive without issue, the local disk is not the source of the failure. Running CHKDSK on the local drive could temporarily lock the volume or require a reboot, and it would not examine the actual target of the failed write, making it an irrelevant and potentially disruptive step.
- ✗
Update the network driver.
Why it's wrong here
Updating the network driver addresses low-level connectivity or packet-loss issues, but the scenario specifies that the network drive is accessible and other users save without problems, ruling out a driver-level fault. This option is tempting because outdated or faulty network drivers can cause intermittent application failures, and in cases where the entire network interface is unstable, a driver update would be the correct first step.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 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 220-1102 exam.