220-1102 Operating Systems Practice Question
A help desk technician receives a Windows 11 laptop that displays a message that the operating system cannot be found at startup. The drive is detected in firmware, and the technician wants to rebuild the boot configuration without reinstalling Windows. Which command should be run from the Windows Recovery Environment?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is reaching for fixmbr on a UEFI system, where the master boot record is not the component that launches Windows.
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
✓
bootrec /rebuildbcd
The missing operating system message on a detected drive usually means the Boot Configuration Data store lacks a valid entry. Rebuilding it with bootrec /rebuildbcd from the recovery environment re-creates the Windows Boot Manager entry and restores startup without a full reinstall.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
chkdsk C: /f /r
Why it's wrong here
chkdsk repairs file system errors and recovers readable data from bad sectors, which helps when corruption prevents booting. However, a missing operating system message caused by a lost boot entry is not a file system problem, so chkdsk will not recreate the Boot Configuration Data. It is useful after boot repair if disk errors are also suspected.
- ✗
sfc /scannow
Why it's wrong here
System File Checker verifies and repairs protected Windows system files, but it requires a running or at least mounted Windows installation and does not rebuild boot entries. When the operating system cannot be found, the boot manager never loads, so sfc /scannow cannot resolve the missing boot configuration and may report that it cannot perform the repair.
- ✗
bootrec /fixmbr
Why it's wrong here
bootrec /fixmbr writes a standard master boot record to the system partition, which addresses MBR corruption on legacy BIOS systems. On a UEFI Windows 11 laptop using GPT, the MBR is not the boot path, so this command does nothing useful for a missing operating system message and may leave the actual EFI boot entries unrepaired.
- ✓
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Why this is correct
bootrec /rebuildbcd scans all disks for Windows installations and rebuilds the Boot Configuration Data store, re-creating the missing boot entry that produces the operating system not found error. Running it from the Windows Recovery Environment restores the ability to boot without reinstalling, and it works with both BIOS/MBR and UEFI/GPT configurations.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Windows Update Configuration
Key term
Recovery
Recovery is the process of restoring systems, data, and operations after a security incident, failure, or disaster to return to normal functioning.
Key term
Windows 11
Windows 11 is Microsoft's latest desktop operating system, offering a redesigned interface, enhanced security features, and improved support for modern hardware.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.