220-1101 Question 406
Single answerSelf-monitoring and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) failureA user reports that a desktop has become unusually slow when opening files, and the system occasionally freezes for several seconds. During startup, the BIOS displays a warning that the drive's S.M.A.R.T. status is BAD and recommends backing up data immediately. The technician confirms the warning appears consistently on reboot. What is the BEST next step?
- A
Run CHKDSK repeatedly until the S.M.A.R.T. warning clears
- B
Back up the user's data immediately and replace the drive
- C
Update the motherboard BIOS to reset the S.M.A.R.T. counters
- D
Defragment the drive and continue monitoring for another week
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is built into drives to track reliability indicators and predict failure conditions. When a system consistently reports a S.M.A.R.T. BAD status, CompTIA A+ best practice is to treat the drive as failing: back up data immediately and replace the drive. Software tools such as CHKDSK may help assess file system damage, but they do not fix physical drive failure. Vendor diagnostics can be used to confirm the condition, but they should not delay data protection. This aligns with common manufacturer guidance from drive vendors such as Seagate and Western Digital, which state that S.M.A.R.T. warnings indicate elevated risk of drive failure and recommend immediate backup and replacement.
- A. Incorrect.
Incorrect. CHKDSK can identify and attempt to isolate file system errors and bad sectors, but it does not repair underlying hardware degradation reported by S.M.A.R.T. A technician might choose this because disk utilities are often used for storage issues, but a S.M.A.R.T. BAD warning indicates the drive is predicting failure and should not be relied on.
- B. Correct.
Correct. A consistent S.M.A.R.T. failure warning means the drive has detected hardware conditions associated with impending failure, such as reallocated sectors or read/write errors exceeding thresholds. Best practice is to back up data immediately, verify the backup, and replace the drive as soon as possible. This addresses both data protection and hardware reliability.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Updating the motherboard BIOS does not reset a failing drive's internal S.M.A.R.T. attributes or resolve mechanical or flash media wear issues. Someone might choose this if they suspect a firmware compatibility problem, but a repeated S.M.A.R.T. BAD message tied to one drive points to the storage device itself, not the system BIOS.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Defragmentation is not an appropriate response to a S.M.A.R.T. failure. On a failing hard drive, additional disk activity can increase stress and risk further data loss. If the drive is an SSD, defragmentation is also unnecessary and potentially harmful due to extra writes. Monitoring without immediate backup would be unsafe.