220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A user reports that a Windows 10 computer displays the error 'A device which does not exist was specified' when trying to access a USB external hard drive. The drive works correctly on other computers. What should the technician check first?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to Disk Management or Event Viewer first, assuming a logical volume or application issue, when the core problem is a driver or device recognition failure that Device Manager reveals immediately.
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
✓
Check Device Manager for a yellow exclamation mark on the device
The error 'A device which does not exist was specified' typically indicates a driver issue or a corrupted device entry in the Windows registry. Checking Device Manager for a yellow exclamation mark is the first step because it directly reveals whether the driver is missing, outdated, or conflicting. Since the drive works on other computers, the problem is isolated to the Windows 10 system's driver or device configuration, not the drive itself.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Check Device Manager for a yellow exclamation mark on the device
Why this is correct
The error "A device which does not exist was specified" typically indicates that the Plug and Play manager has a stale or corrupted device node, often due to a failed or missing driver. Device Manager will display a yellow exclamation mark (for codes like 10 or 28) on the affected device, signaling a driver or resource problem. Uninstalling that hidden or problem device and then scanning for hardware changes forces Windows to re-enumerate the device and rebuild the driver stack, directly resolving the underlying cause.
- ✗
Open Disk Management to check for drive letter conflicts
Why it's wrong here
Disk Management is used to manage volumes, drive letters, and partitions, but a drive letter conflict usually surfaces as an inaccessible or incorrectly assigned volume, not as a missing device during enumeration. The specific error message points to an I/O request referencing a device instance that the system no longer recognizes, which is a driver or Plug and Play problem, not a logical mapping issue. Even if a letter were conflicting, Disk Management would still show the storage device in its list; it would not reveal the corrupt driver entry that triggers this exact error. Therefore, while drive letter conflicts can cause access symptoms, they are not the root cause of this particular diagnostic message.
- ✗
Review Event Viewer for application errors
Why it's wrong here
Event Viewer application logs record software crashes and service failures, not hardware detection issues. The error "A device which does not exist was specified" stems from a corrupted or missing driver entry in the Windows registry, typically resolved by uninstalling the hidden device from Device Manager. Reviewing Event Viewer is tempting because it aggregates system-wide error logs, and it would be correct for diagnosing a recurring application crash or service timeout, but it does not address the plug-and-play driver corruption causing this specific USB failure.
- ✗
Restart the Print Spooler service
Why it's wrong here
The Print Spooler service exclusively manages print queues and printer drivers; it has zero involvement in the enumeration, detection, or access of storage devices such as USB flash drives or external HDDs. The error in question is not printer-related—there is no reference to a print job or queue, and restarting the spooler will not affect the stale device node or driver registration in the PnP tree. If the spooler were somehow implicated, the error would name a printer or port, not generically state "a device which does not exist." Hence, this action addresses an unrelated subsystem and is incorrect for diagnosing a plug-and-play storage failure.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Windows User Accounts and Groups
Key term
Device Manager
Device Manager is a built-in Windows tool that shows you all the hardware connected to your computer and lets you manage the drivers that make that hardware work.
Key term
Registry
The Windows Registry is a central hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options for the operating system, hardware, software, and user preferences.
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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.