Chapter 4
Troubleshooting
Computer Problems
Learning Objectives
• The troubleshooting process and thinking skills required
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for successful troubleshooting
Communication skills for troubleshooting
Information resources to solve computer problems
Which tools are used to troubleshoot computer problems
Strategies for troubleshooters
How to develop a personal problem-solving strategy
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What is Troubleshooting?
• Troubleshooting is the process of defining,
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diagnosing, and solving computer problems
Uses several thinking and communications skills,
information resources, strategies, and methods
Is troubleshooting a step-by-step or an iterative
process?
Is troubleshooting a scientific or creative
process?
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Sequential versus Iterative Problemsolving
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Troubleshooting
as an Iterative Process
• A repetitious process
• A creative process that requires flexibility
• Involves several paths or approaches to problems
• Steps are repeated in a loop until a fruitful path is
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found
Avoids hit-or-miss, trial-and-error approach to
troubleshooting
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Thinking Skills Used in
Troubleshooting
• Problem solving
• Critical thinking
• Decision making
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Problem Solving
• Problem solving is an activity where there is a current
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state X and a goal state Y and alternate paths to get
from X to Y
Objective is to get from X to Y quickly, accurately,
effectively, or efficiently
Look for:
–Analogies: how is this problem similar to others?
–Contradictions: two facts cannot be true at the
same time
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A Problem-solving Model
State X: Current State
State Y: Goal State
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Critical Thinking
• Critical thinking is the cognitive skills used to:
• Analyze a problem
• Search for underlying logic or rationale
• Find alternate ways to explain an event or
situation
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Critical Thinking (continued)
Critical thinking includes
• Creativity: The ability to find a novel or
innovative solution to the problem
• Hypothesis testing: A guess or prediction
about the cause of a problem and test to prove
or disprove the hypothesis
• Metacognition: The ability to think about
your own thought processes
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Decision Making
Decision making is the ability to:
• Select an alternative from among completing
alternatives
• Weigh the pros and cons of each alternative
against predefined criteria
• Reach a decision
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Tools Troubleshooters Use
• Communication skills
• Information resources
• Diagnostic and repair tools
• Problem-solving strategies
• Personal characteristics
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Communication Skills
• Communication skills are important because
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most troubleshooting situations require at least
some communication with an end user or vendor
about a problem
Types of Communication Skills
• Basic listening skills
• Active listening
• Probes
• Critical questions
• Explanation and verification
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How Troubleshooters Use
Communication Skills
• To get a basic description of a problem
• To learn the user’s perspectives on the problem
• To probe for additional information
• To effectively communicate a solution back to
the user
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Basic Listening Skills
• Listen to the words a user chooses to describe the
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problem
Allow a user enough time to explain the problem
Try to obtain as accurate a description of the
problem as possible
Tip: Listen for causal, If…Then … statements
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Active Listening
• Active listening occurs when the listener is as
engaged in the communication process as the
speaker
• Compare to a passive receiver of information
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Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing is an active listening skill in which you
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restate in your own words what you heard a user say
Used to resolve misunderstandings and get a clear
problem description
Example
• End user description:
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“I don’t know what happened, but the
program doesn’t work.”
Support specialist paraphrase: “Let me make sure I understand.
The program used to work, but now it doesn’t?”
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Probes
• Probes are follow-up questions designed to elicit
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additional information about a problem
A sequence of probes often clarifies a problem
situation
Example
“When your computer crashes, is it always
running the same program, or different ones?”
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Critical Questions
• Critical Questions are designed to elicit
important additional information from a user
• Challenge assumptions a support specialist
might make
• Often reveal information a user wouldn’t have
thought to relate
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Five Critical Questions
1. Has this system (or component or feature) ever
worked?
2. Have you ever had this problem before?
3. Is the problem repeatable?
4. What were you doing just before you first
noticed the problem?
5. Have you made recent hardware or software
changes to your system?
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Explanation and Verification
• Explanation is a communication skill in which a
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support specialist describes a solution to a problem so
the user understands:
• Why the problem occurred
• The steps required to resolve it
Verification is a communication skill in which a support
specialist makes sure that a user agrees that a problem
has been resolved satisfactorily
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Information Resources
for Troubleshooting
• Personal experience
• Scripts and Check Lists
• Knowledge bases
• Professional Contacts and Coworkers
• Support Vendors and Contractors
• Escalation and Team Problem Solving
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Personal Experience
• Based on support agent’s background and
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previous experiences
Search personal knowledge for information about
a problem or for similar problems
Tip: Develop a problem notebook
• Make notes after a problem is solved and organize
them by symptoms, equipment type, date, etc.
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Scripts and Check Lists
• A script lists questions to ask and probes to
follow-up
–Flowchart (example Chapter 9, Figure 7)
–Decision tree (example Chapter 4, Figure 4)
• Arranged in a logical sequence
• Cover all possible known paths to solve a
problem
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Knowledge Bases
• A knowledge base is an organized collection of
information that is a resource in problem solving
• Articles
• Procedures
• Tips
• Pointers to information
• Solutions to existing problems
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Examples of Knowledge Bases
• Vendor manuals
• Often contain chapters on troubleshooting and
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frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Trade books
• Fill vacuum for well-written information about
popular hardware and software products
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Examples of Knowledge Bases
(continued)
• Online help
• Manuals
• Help systems
• Troubleshooting wizards
• Web sites
• Maintained by product and service vendors
• Search engines
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Professional Contacts
and Coworkers
• Work colleagues
• Web Sites with access to expertise
• Informal relationships and networking
• ListServs and Newsgroups
• ListServ is an automated service that distributes e-mail
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messages posted to the ListServ to every member who has
subscribed to the ListServ
Newsgroup is an Internet discussion where participants with
common interests in a topic post messages
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Vendors and Contractors
• May have seen a baffling problem before and be
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able to offer suggestions to resolve it
Outsourcing: An agreement with a support
services support provider for problem-solving
assistance
• for a fee
• by contractual agreement
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Escalation and
Team Problem Solving
• Escalation is referral of a difficult or complex
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problem to a higher support level for resolution
Team approach to problem solving
• Mutual problem solving assistance
• Team owns the problem, not an individual
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Diagnostic and Repair Tools
• Software utilities that help troubleshoot
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computer problems
Categories
• General-purpose and Remote Diagnosis
• Hardware Diagnosis
• Software Diagnosis
• Network Diagnosis
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General-purpose and
Remote Diagnosis tools
• Remote access utilities help support users in
remote locations
• Support agents can see a remote user’s screen and
enter commands on user’s system
• Examples
• Citrix’s GoToAssist
• LapLink Gold
• Symantec’s pcAnywhere
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Hardware Problem
Diagnosis Utilities
• Can detect defective hardware components
• Can identify performance problems
• Can recover some lost data
• Can document and optimize configuration
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information
Examples
• Symantec’s Norton SystemWorks
• PC Certify
• TouchStone’s WinCheckIt
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Software Problem
Diagnosis Utilities
• Can identify configuration information
• Can identify and repair configuration problems
• Examples
• MetaQuest’s Triage eSupport
• Dean Software’s PC Surgeon
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Network Problem
Diagnosis Utilities
• Can identify network connectivity and configuration
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problems
Can monitor network operation and performance
Can identify some security breaches
Can help recover from network problems
Examples
• Symantec’s Norton Ghost
• SMART’s InCharge products
• SolarWinds.net’s network management tools
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Problem-solving Strategies
• Look for an obvious fix
• Try to replicate the problem
• Examine the configuration
• View a system as a group of subsystems
• Use a module replacement strategy
• Try a hypothesis-testing approach
• Restore a basic configuration
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Look for an Obvious Fix
• Most computer problems are simple
• Develop a check list of possible alternatives
• Check for disconnected cables
• Reboot the system
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Try to Replicate the Problem
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Replication is a process of trying to repeat a
problem in a different situation or environment
Try moving the problem to a different situation
or environment – a different computer or user
Examine results:
1. The problem moves to a different situation
2. The problem is localized – dependent on a specific
environment
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Examine the Configuration
• Many problems occur because a combination of
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hardware and software do not work well together
Check on hardware and software installation
requirements and possible incompatibilities
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View a System
as a Group of Subsystems
• A block diagram of the subsystems is sometimes
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helpful
Start at
– Either end of a chain of events
– In the middle of the chain
• Trace the problem forward or backward
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Use a
Module Replacement Strategy
• Module Replacement replaces a hardware or
software component with one that is known to
work
• Swap out suspect hardware components
• Reinstall software packages
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Try a
Hypothesis-Testing Approach
• Formulate a hypothesis – a guess or prediction –
about the cause of the problem
• Based on experience
• Uses critical thinking
• Tip: try brainstorming with others to develop
alternate hypotheses
• Design an experiment (test) to see if an
hypothesis is true or false
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Restore a Basic Configuration
• Eliminate variables or factors that can make a
problem complex or complicated
• Remove hardware components to simplify a
configuration
• Disconnect a system from a network to observe its
standalone operation
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Personal Characteristics of
Successful Troubleshooters
• Patience and persistence
• Enjoy the problem-solving process
• Enjoy working with people
• Enjoy continuous learning opportunities
• Tip: Subscribe to a trade publication that offers a broad
perspective on trends in the computer industry
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Develop a Personal
Problem-solving Philosophy
• Includes an understanding of the strengths a support
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specialist brings to each problem
Recognizes that selected tools and skills have been
successful to solve past problems
Relies on information resources that have proved useful
in past situations
Is improved by the metacognition process where a
problem solver examines her or his own thought
processes
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Chapter Summary
• Successful troubleshooting relies on an understanding of
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the troubleshooting process and the use of thinking
skills
Troubleshooting process is
• iterative
• creative
• Thinking skills for troubleshooting include
• problem solving
• critical thinking
• decision making
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Chapter Summary (continued)
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Troubleshooting uses several skills and tools
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Communication skills
Information resources
Diagnostic and repair tools
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Chapter Summary (continued)
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Problem-solving strategies
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3.
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7.
Look for an obvious fix
Replicate the problem
Examine the configuration
View a system as a group of subsystems
Use module replacement
Try hypothesis-testing
Restore a basic configuration
Personal characteristics of the troubleshooter
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