220-1102 Operating Systems Practice Question
A technician receives a Windows 10 workstation that boots to a black screen with a blinking cursor. The technician boots from a Windows 10 installation media and opens a command prompt. The technician runs 'bootrec /fixmbr' and 'bootrec /fixboot' but the issue persists. The system uses UEFI and GPT. Which command should the technician run NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume 'bootrec /fixboot' and 'bootrec /fixmbr' are universal fixes, but they are ineffective on UEFI/GPT systems where the BCD store on the ESP must be rebuilt using 'bootrec /rebuildbcd'.
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
Since the system uses UEFI and GPT, the BCD store is located on the EFI System Partition (ESP), not the MBR. The 'bootrec /fixmbr' and 'bootrec /fixboot' commands repair the MBR and boot sector, which are irrelevant for UEFI/GPT systems. The 'bootrec /rebuildbcd' command scans all drives for Windows installations and rebuilds the BCD store, which is the correct next step to resolve a missing or corrupted boot configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Why this is correct
The /rebuildbcd option scans all disks for Windows installations and prompts you to add each found installation to a newly re-created BCD store. This is the definitive repair for a missing or corrupted boot configuration database, and it works on UEFI/GPT systems where /fixboot alone cannot rewrite the BCD. It does not require an existing BCD file, making it a from-scratch repair.
- ✗
bcdedit /import
Why it's wrong here
The /import switch loads a BCD store from a previously exported file (created with /export). If the original store is missing or damaged, there may be no valid export file available, and importing a stale backup could leave the system unbootable. Moreover, it does not scan for installed operating systems, so it cannot rebuild the BCD from the actual disk state.
- ✗
diskpart assign letter
Why it's wrong here
Assigning a drive letter to a partition with diskpart merely makes that volume mountable and accessible to Windows. It has no effect on the bootmgr, BCD, or boot-sector configuration; if the BCD is corrupted, the system will still stop with a boot error. This command addresses partitioning and drive-letter issues, not boot-manager problems.
- ✗
bootrec /scanos
Why it's wrong here
The /scanos option scans all disks for Windows installations and displays them without making any changes. It is a diagnostic tool that confirms whether Windows is present, but it does not rebuild the BCD or repair the boot loader. In a real repair scenario, you would run /rebuildbcd after a successful scan, but /scanos alone cannot fix a boot failure.
Visual reference
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File Systems: NTFS, FAT32, exFAT
Key term
ESP
ESP (Encapsulating Security Payload) is a core protocol in IPsec that provides confidentiality, data integrity, and authentication for VPN traffic by encrypting and optionally authenticating the payload of IP packets.
Key term
Command Prompt
Command Prompt is a text-based interface in Windows that lets you type commands to perform tasks like managing files, troubleshooting networks, or launching programs.
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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.