Troubleshooting Practice Questions: Windows Operating System

1. A user reports that their Windows 10 workstation displays a "No Boot Device Found" error message immediately after the system POST completes. The user mentions that the computer was working fine yesterday, and no hardware changes have been made. Which of the following should a technician check FIRST?
(a) Verify the boot order in BIOS/UEFI settings
(b) Run the System File Checker utility
(c) Perform a clean installation of Windows 10
(d) Update the graphics card drivers

2. An administrator is configuring a new Windows 10 Pro computer for a sales employee who frequently travels and connects to public Wi-Fi networks. The administrator wants to prevent unauthorized access to shared folders and network discovery when connected to public networks. Which Windows feature should be configured?
(a) Windows Defender Firewall
(b) Network Location Awareness with Public network profile
(c) Remote Desktop Protocol settings
(d) User Account Control elevation

3. Which Windows utility allows administrators to create custom management consoles with specific administrative tools for delegated tasks?
(a) Device Manager
(b) Task Scheduler
(c) Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
(d) Component Services

4. A technician receives a ticket stating that a Windows 10 computer continuously restarts during the boot process before reaching the login screen. The user recently installed a new graphics driver before the problem started. Which recovery option should the technician use FIRST to resolve this issue?
(a) System Restore
(b) Safe Mode
(c) Reset this PC with Keep my files option
(d) Startup Repair

5. A corporate help desk receives multiple calls from employees reporting that their Windows 10 computers are running extremely slowly after a recent update. Task Manager shows that the Windows Update service is consuming 95% of disk resources. The IT department confirms this is a known issue with the latest cumulative update. What is the BEST immediate action?
(a) Disable the Windows Update service permanently
(b) Uninstall the problematic update through Windows Update history
(c) Reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows
(d) Upgrade all systems to Windows 11

6. Which command-line utility is used to scan and repair Windows system files by comparing them against a cached copy stored locally?
(a) chkdsk
(b) sfc /scannow
(c) diskpart
(d) defrag

7. A user complains that their Windows 10 Home laptop automatically installed an update overnight and rebooted, causing them to lose unsaved work. The user wants to prevent automatic updates from installing without their approval. As a technician, what should you inform the user?
(a) Windows 10 Home allows users to pause updates for up to 35 days but cannot permanently disable automatic updates
(b) Automatic updates can be completely disabled through Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 Home
(c) Windows 10 Home requires a registry edit to enable manual update control
(d) Uninstalling Windows Update service will prevent all future updates

8. An organization's IT policy requires that all workstations automatically lock after 10 minutes of inactivity and display a legal notice before login. A technician is configuring multiple Windows 10 Pro computers joined to a domain. Which tool is MOST appropriate for implementing these security policies across all domain computers simultaneously?
(a) Local Security Policy on each individual computer
(b) Group Policy Management Console on the domain controller
(c) Windows Settings app configured manually on each computer
(d) Registry Editor with manual edits on each workstation

9. A technician is troubleshooting a Windows 10 computer that displays the error "BOOTMGR is missing" during startup. The user reports that the system was functioning normally until a power outage occurred. Which command should the technician run from the Windows Recovery Environment to MOST likely resolve this issue?
(a) sfc /scannow
(b) chkdsk /f /r
(c) bootrec /fixboot and bootrec /rebuildbcd
(d) diskpart clean

10. A small business owner with Windows 10 Pro wants to access their office computer remotely from home to work on accounting files stored on the desktop. The office computer is behind a router with a dynamic public IP address. Which combination of technologies would BEST enable this remote access?
(a) Remote Desktop Protocol with Dynamic DNS service
(b) Virtual Private Network with static IP requirement
(c) File Transfer Protocol server configuration
(d) Windows Remote Assistance with email invitation

11. Which Windows 10 edition includes BitLocker drive encryption, Group Policy Editor, and the ability to join an Active Directory domain?
(a) Windows 10 Home
(b) Windows 10 Pro
(c) Windows 10 S Mode
(d) Windows 10 Mobile

12. A user reports that specific application files have become corrupted on their Windows 10 computer, displaying garbled content when opened. The user has important documents in their user profile folder and cannot afford data loss. The operating system itself boots and functions correctly. What should a technician recommend as the BEST solution?
(a) Run System Restore to revert to a previous restore point
(b) Perform an in-place upgrade using Windows 10 installation media with Keep personal files option
(c) Use Reset this PC with Remove everything option
(d) Format the system partition and perform a clean installation

13. A technician needs to determine which services are configured to start automatically at boot time on a Windows 10 workstation that is experiencing slow startup times. The technician wants to temporarily disable non-essential startup services to diagnose the issue. Which utility provides the BEST interface for this task?
(a) Task Manager - Startup tab
(b) Services console (services.msc)
(c) System Configuration utility (msconfig)
(d) Event Viewer - System logs

14. An employee at a financial institution accidentally deleted several critical Excel spreadsheets from their Documents folder yesterday afternoon. The Windows 10 computer has System Protection enabled with restore points created daily. The user needs to recover only these specific files without affecting other recent work. Which recovery method should the technician use FIRST?
(a) Perform a full System Restore to yesterday's restore point
(b) Use Previous Versions feature on the Documents folder to restore individual files
(c) Run File Recovery software to scan the entire hard drive
(d) Restore from the most recent full system backup

15. A computer lab administrator needs to ensure that any changes made to Windows 10 computers during user sessions are automatically discarded upon restart, returning the systems to their original configuration. The lab has 30 identical computers that students use daily. Which Windows feature would accomplish this requirement?
(a) Windows Reset with Remove everything option
(b) Folder Redirection with mandatory profiles
(c) Unified Write Filter or Deep Freeze third-party solution
(d) System Restore with automatic restore points

16. A Windows 10 computer displays a blue screen error with the stop code "DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" immediately after installing new network adapter hardware. The system automatically reboots before the user can read the complete error message. Which Windows setting should be modified to allow proper diagnosis of the issue?
(a) Disable Windows Error Reporting service
(b) Disable automatic restart on system failure in Advanced system settings
(c) Enable verbose startup messages in msconfig
(d) Configure Windows Update to defer driver updates

17. A user working from home reports that they cannot map a network drive to the company file server using the UNC path \\fileserver\shared. The user can access internet websites normally and can successfully ping the file server by its IP address. The office uses a Windows domain environment. What is the MOST likely cause?
(a) DNS resolution is failing to resolve the server hostname
(b) The network cable is physically disconnected
(c) Windows Firewall is blocking all outbound connections
(d) The hard drive is full and cannot accept new mappings

18. A company security policy requires that all USB storage devices be blocked on employee workstations to prevent data exfiltration, but USB keyboards and mice must continue to function normally. The IT department manages 200 Windows 10 Pro computers joined to an Active Directory domain. Which method provides centralized enforcement of this policy?
(a) Physically disable USB ports on all computers
(b) Configure Group Policy with removable storage access restrictions
(c) Uninstall USB storage drivers on each computer manually
(d) Disable USB controllers in Device Manager on each workstation

19. A technician is preparing to upgrade a computer from Windows 7 Professional 64-bit to Windows 10 Pro. The current system has 2GB of RAM, a 1GHz dual-core processor, and 25GB of free disk space on a 60GB hard drive. Which component fails to meet the minimum requirements for Windows 10 64-bit installation?
(a) Processor speed and core count
(b) RAM capacity
(c) Available disk space
(d) Total hard drive capacity

20. A user reports receiving a notification stating "Your Windows license will expire soon" on their Windows 10 Pro workstation. The computer was recently transferred from another department and has been functioning normally for three weeks. Task Manager shows the system has been running for 28 days without restart. What should the technician do FIRST to resolve this issue?
(a) Purchase a new Windows 10 license key immediately
(b) Verify the current activation status using Settings > Update & Security > Activation
(c) Reinstall Windows 10 with a clean installation
(d) Run Windows Update to download the latest patches