CompTIA A+ Core 1 (220-1001) — Question 46

A user calls the help desk stating a laptop is performing slowly and the hard drive activity lights are blinking continuously. A technician checks for enough hard drive space, disables antivirus and indexing services, and runs a full-system diagnostics check, which returns no failure. Which of the following should the technician do NEXT?

Answer options

• A. Install a new hard drive
• B. Check for hard-drive firmware updates
• C. Replace the hard drive with a solid state drive
• D. Configure the laptop in high-performance mode
• E. Change the boot order in the system BIOS

Correct answer: B

Explanation

The correct action is to check for hard-drive firmware updates, as outdated firmware can cause performance issues. Installing a new hard drive or replacing it with a solid state drive may not address the underlying problem, while configuring high-performance mode or changing the boot order in BIOS is unlikely to resolve the slow performance linked to hard drive activity.