220-1102 Operational Procedures Practice Question
A technician is decommissioning several hard drives that contained sensitive client data. The drives are still functional but need to be disposed of securely. Which method ensures the data cannot be recovered?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse a standard format or deletion with secure erasure, failing to recognize that only degaussing or physical destruction (e.g., shredding) prevents data recovery from functional drives, as formatting and deletion leave recoverable magnetic remnants.
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 a degausser to demagnetize the platters.
Degaussing uses a strong magnetic field to randomize the magnetic domains on the hard drive platters, rendering the data permanently unrecoverable. This method meets the security requirement for disposing of drives containing sensitive client data, as it physically destroys the magnetic storage medium without requiring the drive to be functional afterward.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Quick format the drives and then sell them.
Why it's wrong here
A quick format rebuilds the file system structures (e.g., Master File Table) and marks the disk as empty, but it does not overwrite the user data sectors. Forensic tools can recover files from these untouched sectors with standard recovery software. Selling such drives poses a serious data breach risk because the sensitive data remains physically intact on the platters.
- ✗
Delete all files and empty the Recycle Bin.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting files and then emptying the Recycle Bin only removes the directory entries and marks the clusters as available; the actual bits remain on the disk until overwritten by future writes. This is a logical deletion, not a physical erasure. Specialized recovery tools can reconstruct files by scanning for the original data patterns, so this method is completely inadequate for decommissioning drives containing sensitive material.
- ✓
Use a degausser to demagnetize the platters.
Why this is correct
A degausser exposes the hard drive platters to a powerful alternating magnetic field that randomizes or cancels the magnetic domains, effectively destroying the stored data along with the drive's servo tracks and structural alignment. This renders the drive unusable and the data unrecoverable, even by specialized forensic equipment. It is the industry-standard method for confidentially disposing of magnetic media such as HDDs and tapes, though it does not work on SSDs.
- ✗
Perform a standard format and then reuse the drives.
Why it's wrong here
A standard format (also called a full format) writes zeros across the entire disk and checks for bad sectors, but it does not guarantee the complete destruction of all previously stored data. Depending on the drive's geometry, some sectors may be inaccessible or remapped by the drive's internal controller, leaving residual data that can be recovered with forensic techniques. Reusing the drives after this process also ignores the possibility that sensitive data remnants could be recovered through advanced analysis, so it is not an acceptable data-sanitization method.
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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.