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220-1102 Practice Question: A small office user reports that their Windows 10…
A small office user reports that their Windows 10 PC randomly freezes for 10-15 seconds, especially when opening large files. Task Manager shows high disk usage (100%) but low CPU and memory usage. Which built-in Windows tool should be used to diagnose the disk performance issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the distinction between real-time diagnostic tools (Resource Monitor) and historical logging tools (Performance Monitor), leading candidates to choose Performance Monitor because it sounds more comprehensive, but it is not designed for live troubleshooting of an active bottleneck.
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
✓
Use Resource Monitor to analyze disk activity and queue length.
Resource Monitor (resmon.exe) provides real-time metrics on disk activity, including disk queue length, average disk seconds per read/write, and per-process I/O. The user's symptom of 100% disk usage with low CPU/memory suggests a disk bottleneck; a consistently high queue length (above 2 per spindle) indicates the disk cannot keep up with I/O requests, which Resource Monitor can pinpoint directly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use Resource Monitor to analyze disk activity and queue length.
Why this is correct
Resource Monitor provides a real-time, granular view of disk I/O operations, detailing which processes are actively reading from or writing to the disk. It displays critical metrics such as total disk activity, read/write speeds, and importantly, the disk queue length, which indicates how many I/O requests are pending. This immediate insight allows an administrator to quickly identify specific applications or services causing excessive disk utilization and potential bottlenecks leading to system freezes.
- ✗
Run the Performance Monitor with a Data Collector Set for disk.
Why it's wrong here
While Performance Monitor (Perfmon) is a powerful tool for collecting system performance data, its primary strength lies in long-term monitoring, baselining, and historical analysis through Data Collector Sets. It is less suited for immediate, real-time diagnosis of a sudden, transient system freeze caused by a specific process. Setting up and analyzing a Data Collector Set for a sudden issue would be too time-consuming compared to tools offering instant process-level visibility.
- ✗
Check the Event Viewer for disk-related errors.
Why it's wrong here
Event Viewer is designed to log system events, including errors, warnings, and informational messages related to hardware, software, and security. While it might show critical disk errors that could contribute to performance issues, it does not provide real-time performance metrics like disk utilization, read/write speeds, or process-specific I/O. It reports what happened (e.g., a disk error occurred), not what is currently happening in terms of performance bottlenecking.
- ✗
Defragment the hard drive using the Optimize Drives tool.
Why it's wrong here
Defragmentation reorganizes fragmented data on traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) to improve sequential read/write performance by reducing head movement. This process is beneficial for long-term disk health and general performance but does not address sudden, high disk usage caused by an active process or a bottleneck. For Solid State Drives (SSDs), defragmentation is generally unnecessary and can even reduce drive lifespan, as they do not suffer from fragmentation in the same way HDDs do.
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Related to this question
Learn chapter
Windows Editions and Features
Key term
Task Manager
Task Manager is a built-in Windows utility that shows running programs, processes, and system performance, allowing users to monitor and manage computer activity.
Key term
High disk usage
High disk usage is a condition where a computer's storage drive is working near or at its maximum capacity, causing slow performance, lag, or unresponsiveness.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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