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220-1102 Practice Question: A technician is tasked with disposing of a large…
A technician is tasked with disposing of a large batch of optical discs (CD-Rs and DVD-Rs) that contain archived customer records. The company policy requires data to be unrecoverable. Which disposal method is most appropriate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse optical discs with magnetic media and assume degaussing or overwriting works, but the CompTIA A+ exam tests the fundamental difference that optical storage is physically permanent and requires physical destruction.
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
✓
Shred the discs using an industrial cross-cut shredder.
Industrial cross-cut shredding physically destroys the optical discs (CD-Rs and DVD-Rs), rendering the data unrecoverable. Unlike magnetic media, optical discs store data as physical pits in a dye layer, so degaussing or overwriting is ineffective. Shredding ensures compliance with data destruction policies requiring unrecoverable data.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Use a degausser to demagnetize the discs.
Why it's wrong here
Degaussing is a data destruction method specifically designed for magnetic storage media, such as hard disk drives (HDDs) and magnetic tapes, by neutralizing their magnetic domains. Optical discs, including CD-Rs and DVD-Rs, store data as microscopic pits and lands on a reflective layer, which are read by a laser. Since their data representation is physical and not magnetic, applying a strong magnetic field from a degausser will have absolutely no effect on the integrity or readability of the data stored on them. Therefore, this method is entirely ineffective for secure disposal of optical media.
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Overwrite the discs with a disk-wiping tool.
Why it's wrong here
Disk-wiping tools function by writing new, often random, data patterns over existing data sectors on rewritable storage media, effectively obscuring the original information. However, CD-R and DVD-R discs are "write-once, read-many" (WORM) media, meaning that once data is burned onto their dye layer, the physical changes are permanent. These discs lack the capability to erase or overwrite previously written data tracks, rendering any software-based disk-wiping utility completely ineffective for data destruction.
- ✓
Shred the discs using an industrial cross-cut shredder.
Why this is correct
Shredding optical discs with an industrial cross-cut shredder is a highly effective and secure method for data destruction. This process physically breaks the disc into numerous small, irregular fragments, completely destroying the data layer where information is stored as pits and lands. The cross-cut action ensures that no large contiguous sections of the data track remain intact, making any attempt at data recovery practically impossible and extremely cost-prohibitive. This method provides irreversible physical destruction.
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Perform a quick format on the discs.
Why it's wrong here
Formatting, whether quick or full, is a process primarily used for magnetic or solid-state storage devices to prepare them for data storage by creating a new file system and directory structure. Optical discs, particularly write-once CD-R and DVD-R media, do not support this type of low-level or high-level formatting operation after data has been burned. The data is physically etched into the dye layer, and there is no mechanism to logically erase or restructure the disc's data areas through a formatting command.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Destruction and Disposal
Key term
Compliance
Compliance is the process of ensuring that an organization follows laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies that apply to its operations and data handling.
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.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.