220-1102 Question 229
Single answerDisk UtilityA technician installs a new 2 TB secondary hard drive in a Windows 11 desktop. File Explorer does not show the drive, but the drive appears in Device Manager with no errors. The user wants to start storing files on it immediately. Which tool should the technician use FIRST to make the drive usable?
- A
Use Disk Management to initialize the disk, create a new volume, and format it
- B
Use Task Scheduler to run a storage maintenance task for the new drive
- C
Use Device Manager to update the disk driver so Windows can assign a drive letter
- D
Use System Configuration to enable the disk at startup
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The key clue is that the disk is visible in Device Manager but not in File Explorer. That typically means the hardware is detected, but the disk has not yet been initialized and configured with a partition/volume and file system. In Windows, Disk Management is the standard disk utility used for this task. For a 2 TB disk, GPT is commonly preferred on modern systems, although the exact partition style can depend on system requirements. Microsoft best practices for new disk setup involve initializing the disk, creating a simple volume, formatting it, and assigning a drive letter before it becomes accessible in File Explorer.
- A. Correct.
Correct. A newly installed disk often appears to Windows hardware tools before it is prepared for use. In Windows, Disk Management is the appropriate utility to initialize a new disk, choose a partition style such as GPT, create a partition/volume, format it with a file system like NTFS, and assign a drive letter. Until those steps are completed, the disk may not appear in File Explorer.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Task Scheduler is used to automate tasks, not to prepare a newly installed disk for first use. A candidate might choose this if they confuse routine maintenance tasks, such as scheduled defragmentation or cleanup, with initial disk provisioning.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Because the drive already appears in Device Manager without errors, Windows has already detected the hardware successfully. Updating the driver does not initialize the disk, create a volume, format it, or assign a usable file system. This option reflects the common misconception that all storage visibility problems are driver-related.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. System Configuration (msconfig) is used for startup and boot troubleshooting, not for enabling or provisioning newly installed storage devices. This distractor targets the misunderstanding that startup tools control whether a secondary disk appears in File Explorer.