220-1102 Question 389
Single answerApplying Group PolicyA technician joins several Windows 10 Pro computers to an Active Directory domain. The company has a domain Group Policy Object (GPO) that maps a shared departmental printer for all users in the Sales organizational unit (OU). One user in Sales logs on to a newly deployed PC and reports that the printer does not appear, even though the same user sees it on another company PC. The computer is in the correct OU, network connectivity to the domain controller is working, and the GPO was recently updated to include this printer. What should the technician do FIRST on the affected PC to apply the latest Group Policy settings without waiting for the normal background refresh interval?
- A
Run gpupdate /force from an elevated Command Prompt
- B
Run sfc /scannow to repair Windows system files
- C
Restart the Print Spooler service and retry printer discovery
- D
Use Device Manager to scan for hardware changes
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
In an Active Directory environment, Group Policy changes do not always apply instantly because clients normally refresh policy on a schedule and at logon/startup. When a technician needs to apply a newly updated GPO immediately, the best first step is to run gpupdate /force on the affected PC. This command forces a refresh of both user and computer policies, which is especially relevant for settings such as mapped printers, scripts, and security configuration. If the policy still does not apply after a forced refresh, the technician could then verify GPO scope, security filtering, loopback processing if relevant, and use tools such as gpresult to confirm which policies are being applied. This aligns with Microsoft's documented Group Policy troubleshooting practices for domain-joined Windows clients.
- A. Correct.
Correct. Running gpupdate /force manually refreshes both computer and user Group Policy settings immediately. In this scenario, the printer mapping was recently added to a GPO, and the user needs the latest policy applied right away rather than waiting for the normal refresh cycle. This is a standard first troubleshooting step when a domain policy change has not yet appeared on a client.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. sfc /scannow checks and repairs protected Windows system files. That can help with OS corruption, but it does not force newly changed domain Group Policy settings to apply. A technician might choose this if they suspect a general Windows problem, but the scenario specifically points to a policy update issue.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Restarting the Print Spooler can help if printers are stuck, missing due to spooler problems, or failing to install locally. However, the main issue here is that the printer is deployed through Group Policy and the policy change may not yet have been refreshed on the workstation. Spooler troubleshooting is not the best first action.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Scanning for hardware changes is used to detect newly connected hardware devices. A network printer mapped through Group Policy is not discovered this way. This option reflects a common misconception that all missing devices should be handled through Device Manager.