220-1101 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

• ✗

  Replace the Wi-Fi adapter.

  Why it's wrong here

  A Wi-Fi adapter that fails on battery power alone is almost unprecedented; a faulty adapter typically shows symptoms such as dropped packets, degraded signal, or complete failure on both AC and battery equally. Because the laptop connects fine while plugged in, the hardware is demonstrably functional, and the intermittent issue is a software-driven power management decision. Replacing the adapter would not only be costly but would also leave the underlying Windows power-saving policy unchanged, so the problem would almost certainly recur.

• ✓

  Disable the power-saving feature for the wireless adapter in Device Manager.

  Why this is correct

  In Device Manager, open the wireless adapter's Properties and switch to the Power Management tab. The checkbox 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' is enabled by default, and when the laptop switches to battery, Windows can place the adapter into a low-power state—often D2 or D3—which severs the Wi-Fi link and can prevent immediate reconnection. Unchecking that box and clicking OK forces the driver to keep the adapter in a fully powered D0 state even on battery, directly resolving the connectivity loss. This is the precise, targeted fix for this scenario.

• ✗

  Update the BIOS firmware.

  Why it's wrong here

  BIOS/UEFI firmware primarily handles hardware initialization, boot sequence, and system-wide power states like Sleep or Hibernate; it does not manage the per-device power-saving flags that Windows exposes in Device Manager. A BIOS update would only affect the Wi-Fi adapter if the manufacturer specifically fixed a low-level bug in the adapter's ACPI integration, which is not suggested by the symptoms here. Given that the adapter works perfectly on AC power, the firmware is not at fault, and flashing an unnecessary update carries a small risk of corrupting the system firmware for no benefit.

• ✗

  Change the power plan to High Performance.

  Why it's wrong here

  Selecting the High Performance power plan changes the global energy policy—processor minimum state, display timeout, and hard disk sleep—but it does not automatically clear the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' checkbox for each device. The wireless adapter's own power-management setting remains independently enabled, so Windows can still transition the Wi-Fi adapter to a low-power state on battery despite the plan. In fact, users often find that High Performance plan alone does not prevent disconnects, which is why the per-device power setting is the authoritative control.

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