220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 10 workstation that crashes with a blue screen error (0x0000003B) after running a specific graphics-intensive application. The technician has already updated the graphics driver, verified system files with SFC, and checked for overheating. The crashes continue. Which built-in tool should the technician use to analyze the crash dumps and identify the faulty component?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Performance Monitor with Reliability Monitor because both are administrative tools, but Performance Monitor lacks crash dump analysis capabilities and is designed for live performance logging, not post-failure diagnosis.
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
✓
Reliability Monitor
Reliability Monitor is the correct tool because it provides a detailed timeline of system events, including blue screen errors, and allows the technician to view crash dump analysis. It can correlate the crash with the specific application and driver failures, helping identify the faulty component by showing which module or driver caused the 0x0000003B error.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Performance Monitor
Why it's wrong here
Performance Monitor is designed to capture real-time performance counters and log metrics like CPU, memory, and disk activity over time; it does not parse or maintain historical crash dumps. Its focus is on system throughput and resource utilization, so it cannot reveal the specific faulting module or bug check code from a previous crash. Consequently, it is not the tool to use for identifying the faulty component that caused a crash.
- ✓
Reliability Monitor
Why this is correct
Reliability Monitor maintains a chronological history of system and application failures, including event details such as the failure date, the affected application, and the faulting module associated with a crash. It aggregates information from the event log and places it on a stability timeline, which reveals whether crashes follow a pattern tied to software installations or hardware changes. That makes it the correct choice for examining crash dump-derived details and pinpointing the faulty component.
- ✗
Task Manager
Why it's wrong here
Task Manager gives a snapshot of currently running processes, CPU, memory, disk, and network usage, but it retains no historical information about previous crashes. It can only show that a process is unresponsive right now, not analyze a minidump or extract the faulting driver from a past crash event. Because it lacks any access to Windows Event Log or crash dump data, it cannot be used to identify a faulty component after a crash.
- ✗
Windows Memory Diagnostic
Why it's wrong here
Windows Memory Diagnostic is a memory test utility that writes and reads various data patterns to physical RAM to detect hardware faults like bad sectors or failing DIMMs. It does not, however, read crash dump files, parse bug check codes, or review the system event log to attribute a crash to a specific driver or application. While a memory problem can cause crashes, this tool is a hardware validation step, not a crash dump analysis tool, so it cannot identify the faulty component from a crash.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Troubleshoot: Driver Conflicts
Key term
Windows
Windows is a family of operating systems developed by Microsoft that manages computer hardware and software, providing a graphical user interface for users to interact with their devices.
Key term
Reliability
Reliability is the measure of a system's ability to consistently perform its intended functions without failure over a specified period of time under stated conditions.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on 220-1102
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A Windows 10 workstation crashes intermittently with a blue screen error SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION. The crashes often occur when using a specific third-party application. The technician has updated the application, run System File Checker and DISM with no issues. Which built-in tool should the technician use to analyze the memory dump files generated by the crashes?
medium- A.Event Viewer
- B.Performance Monitor
- ✓ C.Reliability Monitor
- D.Windows Memory Diagnostic
Why C: Reliability Monitor is the correct tool because it provides a user-friendly, timeline-based view of system stability, including detailed information about blue screen errors and their associated memory dump files. Unlike Event Viewer, it aggregates crash data with application-specific context, making it ideal for correlating the SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION with the third-party application.
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.