220-1102 Operating Systems Practice Question
A technician needs to create a new partition on a hard drive in Windows 10. Which command-line tool should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse disk maintenance utilities (defrag, chkdsk, sfc) with disk management tools, assuming any command-line disk tool can create partitions, but only diskpart is designed for partition manipulation.
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
✓
diskpart
Diskpart is the correct command-line tool for creating, deleting, and managing partitions on a hard drive in Windows 10. It provides a diskpart shell where you can use commands like 'create partition primary' to define new volumes. This tool is specifically designed for disk and partition management tasks.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
diskpart
Why this is correct
Diskpart is a built-in command-line utility in Windows 10 that manages disks, partitions, and volumes. It can create a primary or extended partition using the 'create partition' command after selecting a target disk, then format it and assign a drive letter. For example, 'diskpart' → 'list disk' → 'select disk 1' → 'create partition primary size=10240' creates a new 10GB primary partition.
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defrag
Why it's wrong here
Defrag (defragmentation) rearranges file fragments on an existing volume to improve read/write performance, but it does not alter the partition table or disk layout. The defrag utility (or Microsoft Optimize Drives) can only work within a currently formatted partition, not create a new partition. Partition creation requires a tool like Disk Management or diskpart.
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chkdsk
Why it's wrong here
Chkdsk (Check Disk) scans a specified volume for file system corruption, bad sectors, and logical errors, and attempts to repair them (with /f or /r). It requires an existing formatted partition and cannot create or resize partitions, as it operates only within the file system structure. Diskpart or Disk Management must be used to create partitions first.
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sfc
Why it's wrong here
System File Checker (sfc /scannow) verifies the integrity of protected Windows system files, replacing corrupted files from the Windows component store. It is a system-file recovery tool that has no interaction with disk partitioning, partition tables, or volume creation. Running sfc will not help in creating a new partition on a hard drive.
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Related to this question
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Windows Services Management
Key term
Shell
A shell is a computer program that provides a user interface to access an operating system's services, typically by accepting text commands.
Key term
Windows 10
Windows 10 is a personal computer operating system developed by Microsoft that combines the familiarity of Windows 7 with the modern features of Windows 8, designed to run on a wide range of devices from desktops to tablets.
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