220-1102 Operational Procedures Practice Question
A help desk technician assists a user who cannot log into their workstation because they forgot their password. The technician follows the company's standard operating procedure for password resets. After successfully resetting the password and confirming the user can log in, what is the NEXT step according to best practices?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse the 'verify functionality' step (which is already done) with the 'document findings' step, leading them to choose an unnecessary action like rebooting or scanning instead of completing the ticket.
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
✓
Document the resolution in a ticket
After completing a password reset and verifying the user can log in, the next step per ITIL best practices and CompTIA's troubleshooting methodology is to document the resolution in the ticket. This ensures a clear audit trail, enables knowledge base creation, and supports compliance with company SOPs. Skipping documentation violates the 'close with documentation' phase of the standard troubleshooting process.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Document the resolution in a ticket
Why this is correct
Documenting the resolution is the correct closing action for any help desk ticket because it creates an audit trail of the incident, the identity-verification steps taken, and the exact fix applied. In A+ environments, proper documentation supports compliance, enables trend analysis for recurring password issues, and ensures that other technicians can handle similar requests efficiently without repeating diagnostic steps.
- ✗
Reboot the computer
Why it's wrong here
Rebooting the computer is unnecessary after a password reset because the new credentials are immediately written to the local SAM or Active Directory; no system restart is required for the password change to take effect. Rebooting could also interrupt the user's current session, risk losing unsaved work, and delays resolution without adding any technical benefit to the login process.
- ✗
Run a malware scan
Why it's wrong here
Running a malware scan is not part of a standard password reset workflow; password reset is typically performed simply because the user forgot the password, not because of suspected compromise. A malware scan would only be warranted if there were indicators of account hijacking, such as unfamiliar activity, unexpected lockouts, or antivirus warnings, and it adds significant time to what should be a quick resolution.
- ✗
Change the user's security questions
Why it's wrong here
Changing the user's security questions is inappropriate because security questions are user-defined challenge/response values used for self-service password recovery, not for administrative resets. A technician should never alter security questions without the user actively requesting it, as this could weaken the user's account recovery options and violates standard account administration best practices.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Documentation and Ticketing Systems
Key term
General Data Protection Regulation
A European Union law that gives individuals control over their personal data and sets strict rules for how organizations collect, store, and process that data.
Key term
Audit trail
An audit trail is a chronological record of events, changes, or activities in a system that provides evidence of who did what, when, and from where.
About these practice questions
One of 925 original 220-1102 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1102 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.