220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 10 workstation that crashes with a blue screen error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. The technician has updated all drivers and Windows, run memory diagnostics (no errors), and performed a clean boot. The crashes occur randomly but are more frequent when the system is performing heavy disk I/O operations. Which component should the technician suspect and test NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often jump to CPU or memory as the cause of blue screen errors, but the specific correlation with disk I/O points directly to the storage subsystem, not the processor or RAM.
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
✓
Hard drive or SSD
The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error often indicates a driver or hardware issue where an interrupt request level (IRQL) is accessed at an improper priority. Since the crashes are more frequent during heavy disk I/O, the storage subsystem is the prime suspect. The technician has already ruled out drivers, memory, and software conflicts, so the next logical step is to test the hard drive or SSD for physical defects or controller failures.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
CPU
Why it's wrong here
A failing CPU is usually discovered through system-wide random crashes, watchdog timeout errors, or machine-check exceptions rather than crashes exclusively during heavy storage I/O. Because disk operations involve relatively low CPU stress compared to rendering or prime-number workloads, a bad processor would exhibit symptoms under a broader range of tasks. The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL bugcheck would be an unusual direct symptom of a hardware CPU fault, which more often presents as WHEA errors or a total lockup without a blue screen.
- ✗
Graphics card
Why it's wrong here
Graphics card failures normally produce video-related bugchecks such as VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (0x116) or display driver stopped responding errors, often accompanied by artifacts, flickering, or screen corruption before the crash. Heavy disk I/O does not increase GPU load, so a graphics card issue would not be consistently triggered by reading or writing large files. An IRQL error while copying data or accessing storage points to a kernel-mode driver in the storage stack, not the display subsystem. The causal link to I/O activity is what makes a GPU fault highly unlikely.
- ✓
Hard drive or SSD
Why this is correct
The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0x0000000A) stop code combined with crashes during heavy disk transfers is a hallmark of a failing storage device or its driver stack. When a hard drive or SSD begins to fail, the storage controller may return corrupted DMA transfers or cause the storage miniport driver to reference an invalid memory address at an elevated IRQL, triggering the bugcheck. This is especially common with NVMe or AHCI drivers after a drive has accumulated bad sectors or flash controller errors. Thus, the strong correlation between disk I/O and the crash points directly to the hard drive or SSD as the prime suspect.
- ✗
Power supply
Why it's wrong here
A failing power supply can indeed cause intermittent blue screens, but it tends to fail under high total system draw, such as during GPU-heavy gaming or simultaneous CPU stress, not specifically during disk-read/write operations. Spinning up a hard drive or writing to an SSD requires relatively little current compared to graphics workloads, so the PSU would not be the likely trigger when the symptom is tied to I/O. If the PSU were the culprit, you would also likely see sudden shutdowns, resets, or voltage instability errors (like KERNEL_POWER 41) rather than a storage-correlated IRQL fault. The specific I/O trigger makes a PSU issue an unlikely root cause for this bugcheck.
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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
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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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.