Troubleshooting Methodology Lesson 002) Identify the Problem

What is the first step of the troubleshooting process?

Identifying the problem.

What does the first step of the troubleshooting process encompass?

Gathering information from the user, identifying user changes, and performing backups.

What is something that a tech should inquire about during the first step of the troubleshooting process?

Any changes in environment or infrastructure.

What are the questions that a tech should ask during the first step of the troubleshooting process?

What exactly is wrong? What are the symptoms? What is happening? What may have cause this issue to begin with?

When talking to a client about an issue, what is the first that a tech needs to do?

Understand the issue that is actually occurring?

What are the questions that a tech should ask a client during the first step of the troubleshooting process?

What happened? What was the status before the problem? What is the status after the problem?

What should a tech do first when a client comes to them with an issue?

Gather information from the user.

As an example, what should a tech ask a client if the client cannot access a certain program?

Has there been any changes to the system? Did you get any new software updates? How the program been updated recently?

As an example of someone working as a help desk tech, what is an example of a line of questioning that he could ask the user?

Did you see any error messages that appear on the screen? Can you read that error message to me now? Can you take a screenshot of it and send it over to me? Was there some kind of a noise you heard?

What can a tech ask a client when diagnosing the scope of an issue?

Is anybody else in the area having the same problem?

What can asking about the duration of a problem reveal to a tech?

If there are any environmental or surrounding issues at play?

What can constitute as a a change to a user’s system that would be of interest to a tech when executing the first step of the troubleshooting process?

Configuration change, hardware change, software change, a security patch, etc.

What is usually going to be causing a problem in a system?

The latest change that was implemented.

Why should a tech ask a user if they have already tried to do anything to solve the problem yet?

To make sure efforts are not duplicated.

What should be done when executing the first step of the troubleshooting process before moving through the next steps of the troubleshooting process?

Perform backups to ensure data integrity.

When would a tech perform a backup of a system?

If the tech is replacing any parts in a system.