220-1102 Question 580
Single answerDegraded performanceA user reports that their Windows 10 laptop has become very slow over the last week. Applications take several minutes to open, the hard drive activity light stays on constantly, and performance is especially poor after startup. You open Task Manager and see disk utilization frequently near 100%, while CPU and memory usage remain moderate. The laptop has a traditional SATA hard drive and plenty of free disk space. Which of the following is the BEST next step to improve performance?
- A
Disable unnecessary startup applications and background processes
- B
Increase the screen resolution to reduce GPU scaling overhead
- C
Change the power plan to High performance
- D
Run ipconfig /flushdns to clear cached network entries
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The key evidence is persistent high disk utilization with only moderate CPU and memory usage on a Windows 10 laptop using a mechanical SATA hard drive. In real-world support and according to standard Microsoft troubleshooting practices, one of the first steps is to examine startup applications and background processes in Task Manager because excessive startup load can cause significant boot-time and post-login slowdown. This is especially noticeable on HDD-based systems, where random read/write activity has a much greater performance impact than on SSDs. Other common best-practice follow-up checks could include reviewing installed applications, checking for malware, verifying drive health, and ensuring sufficient available memory, but based on the choices given, disabling unnecessary startup items is the best next step.
- A. Correct.
Correct. On a Windows system with a traditional HDD, excessive startup applications and background processes commonly cause prolonged disk thrashing after boot, leading to near-100% disk utilization and severe slowdowns even when CPU and RAM are not heavily used. Reviewing and disabling nonessential startup items in Task Manager is a standard troubleshooting step for degraded performance and directly addresses the symptoms in the scenario.
- B. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Screen resolution changes affect display output and, in some cases, GPU workload, but they do not address sustained 100% disk utilization on a traditional hard drive. This option reflects a misunderstanding of the bottleneck described in the scenario.
- C. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Using the High performance power plan can sometimes improve responsiveness by reducing aggressive power-saving behavior, but it is unlikely to resolve constant disk activity caused by excessive startup programs or background disk access. It may slightly mask symptoms rather than correct the underlying issue.
- D. Incorrect.
Incorrect. Flushing DNS can help with name resolution or network access issues, not local disk-related slowness during startup and application launches. This distractor targets the misconception that any command-line maintenance task can improve overall system speed.