220-1102 Question 292
Single answerImage deploymentA technician needs to deploy Windows 11 to 30 new laptops in a training room. All laptops use the same hardware model and should have the same company-approved applications and settings. The company wants the fastest deployment method with the least amount of manual configuration after installation. Which approach should the technician use?
- A
Install Windows 11 manually on each laptop from USB media, then join each system to the domain and install applications one at a time
- B
Create a reference system with Windows 11, required drivers, applications, and settings, capture the image, and deploy that image to the remaining laptops
- C
Copy the C: drive contents from a configured laptop to an external drive and paste those files onto each new laptop
- D
Use System Restore on each laptop after installing Windows 11 to apply the company configuration
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
For a batch of new systems with the same hardware, the best practice is to create a standardized reference installation and deploy it as an image. This approach is faster, more consistent, and requires less manual work than installing and configuring each machine individually. In Microsoft deployment best practices, organizations commonly create a reference image and deploy it using tools such as Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), Windows Deployment Services (WDS), or similar imaging solutions. The key A+ concept is recognizing when image deployment is appropriate: multiple similar systems, a need for standardization, and a requirement to reduce setup time and post-install configuration.
- A. Incorrect.
This method would work, but it is slow and requires repeated manual effort for every device. In a rollout of 30 identical laptops, manual installation does not meet the requirement for the fastest deployment with minimal post-install configuration. A+ Core 2 expects technicians to recognize that image-based deployment is the more efficient choice in standardized environments.
- B. Correct.
This is the correct answer. Building a reference system and capturing an image is a standard image deployment practice for identical or very similar hardware. It allows the technician to deploy a consistent operating system, approved applications, and settings quickly across many systems. This reduces deployment time, improves consistency, and minimizes configuration drift. In real-world environments, this is commonly done with deployment tools and a prepared master image.
- C. Incorrect.
This is incorrect because simply copying the contents of the C: drive does not create a usable Windows deployment image. Boot configuration, partitions, file permissions, and system-specific settings would not be handled correctly. This reflects a common misconception that an OS installation can be duplicated like ordinary files, but proper imaging requires image capture and deployment tools designed for operating systems.
- D. Incorrect.
This is incorrect because System Restore is used to revert a system to a previous restore point on that same machine, not to deploy a standardized configuration to new devices. It is a recovery feature, not an image deployment method. Someone might choose this if they confuse recovery tools with deployment tools.