220-1102 Operating Systems Practice Question
A technician is installing Windows 10 on a new computer that uses UEFI firmware and a 2TB SSD. The technician boots from the installation media and reaches the 'Where do you want to install Windows?' screen with unallocated space. When the technician clicks 'New' to create a partition, which additional partitions does Windows automatically create?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse the partitions created on UEFI/GPT systems with those on legacy BIOS/MBR systems, leading them to select 'System Reserved partition' (option A) instead of the correct EFI System Partition and MSR.
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
✓
EFI System Partition and Microsoft Reserved Partition
When installing Windows 10 on a UEFI-based system with a GPT disk, clicking 'New' on unallocated space automatically creates an EFI System Partition (ESP) for boot loaders and a Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) for partition management metadata. The ESP is required for UEFI boot, and the MSR is used internally by Windows for partition operations. This matches option B exactly.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
System Reserved partition and Primary partition
Why it's wrong here
The System Reserved partition is a BIOS/MBR artifact, not something Windows Setup creates on UEFI hardware. On UEFI/GPT disks, the boot loader lives in the EFI System Partition, and the main volume is simply the primary Windows partition. Pairing System Reserved with Primary misidentifies the firmware architecture and the actual automatic partitions.
- ✓
EFI System Partition and Microsoft Reserved Partition
Why this is correct
Windows Setup on a UEFI/GPT system automatically creates an EFI System Partition (ESP) formatted with FAT32 to hold boot loaders such as bootmgfw.efi and a small Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR) that remains unformatted to reserve space for system operations. The ESP is the essential boot volume, while the MSR helps with partitioning and prevents certain disk-management utilities from consuming that reserved space. These are the two automatic partitions that appear on the GPT disk after a clean install.
- ✗
Recovery partition and Primary partition
Why it's wrong here
A recovery partition is not part of the default automatic partitioning performed by Windows Setup during a clean install; it is typically added by an OEM or manually later, and a separate WinRE partition is not guaranteed on UEFI installations. The primary partition simply refers to the main C: volume where Windows is installed, not to a distinct system component. Since the correct automatic pair is ESP and MSR, this option replaces both with a non-automatic partition and a generic term.
- ✗
Boot partition and System partition
Why it's wrong here
The legacy 'boot partition' and 'system partition' naming convention comes from old BIOS/MBR environments where the system partition held boot files and the boot partition held the OS, a confusing inverse. On UEFI/GPT, the EFI System Partition absorbs the boot loader role and the main partition holds the OS, so there is no separate pair created by Windows Setup. Windows Setup does not create partitions with these names; the actual automatic pair is ESP and MSR.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
System Restore Points
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
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
UEFI is the modern replacement for BIOS that controls how a computer starts up and loads the operating system.
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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.