220-1102 Software Troubleshooting Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 10 workstation where a specific application freezes intermittently. The technician has already run a full antivirus scan and updated the application to the latest version. The issue only occurs when the workstation is running on battery power. Which Windows power setting should the technician adjust to resolve the issue?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume the issue is related to hard disk or sleep settings, but the key clue is 'only when running on battery power,' which points directly to processor throttling via power management, not storage or network power saving.
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
✓
Processor power management - Minimum processor state
When a Windows 10 workstation runs on battery power, the power plan may reduce the minimum processor state to save energy. This can cause the CPU to throttle down too aggressively, leading to intermittent application freezes. By increasing the minimum processor state in the Processor power management settings, the technician ensures the CPU maintains a baseline performance level even on battery, preventing the freeze.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Processor power management - Minimum processor state
Why this is correct
Raising the processor power management 'Minimum processor state' under the active power plan prevents Windows from moving the CPU into low-frequency P-states while on battery. In performance-sensitive applications, the transition to a lower clock speed can introduce visible stutter or temporary unresponsiveness. By setting a high minimum state (e.g., 100%), the CPU remains at boosted frequencies whenever the system is plugged in or battery-powered, eliminating these starvation-induced freezes.
- ✗
Turn off hard disk after
Why it's wrong here
Turn off hard disk after is a disk idle timer that spins down a mechanical hard drive after a set period of inactivity. When an application needs data from a spun-down drive, the disk must spin back up, creating a multi-second delay that might look like a momentary freeze. However, it only affects disk I/O after idle periods, not the continuous freezing of an already-active CPU-bound application.
- ✗
Sleep after
Why it's wrong here
Sleep after is a system-wide low-power state that suspends the entire machine after a defined idle timeout. If this triggers while a program is running, the OS writes the session to memory and halts all execution, so the user sees the screen turn off, not just the application freeze. After wake-up, the system resumes exactly where it left off, so it does not alter CPU performance or cause application-specific freezing while actively using the app.
- ✗
Wireless adapter power saving
Why it's wrong here
Wireless adapter power saving reduces the transmit power or polling interval of the Wi-Fi radio to save battery, which can increase network latency or drop packets. Although a network-heavy application could appear unresponsive due to delayed data, it has no direct effect on CPU frequency, system sleep, or disk activity. For a workstation application that is freezing during local compute, this setting is unrelated unless the program is continuously waiting on network I/O.
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Certificate Management for A+
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
Baseline
A baseline is a documented starting point for the normal performance and behavior of a system, network, or component, used to detect changes and troubleshoot issues.
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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.