General Troubleshooting Strategies
Effective troubleshooting uses various techniques to diagnose and fix problems. Following a series of logical steps rather than simply guessing will help speed up the process of accurately identifying the problem, testing to determine the root cause, implementing the solution, and verifying that the problem has been resolved. This course will provide an overview of five basic steps of the troubleshooting process.
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Course Details
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Differentiate between “troubleshooting” and “problem solving”
- List the five common steps used in troubleshooting
- Describe a troubleshooting decision tree
- List strategies used in the analysis phase of the troubleshooting process
- Describe the importance of troubleshooting verification and documentation
Specs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between troubleshooting and problem solving?
There is certainly some overlap between the terms, but troubleshooting is generally applied to the quick resolution of immediate problems. Problem solving tends to refer to the resolution of problems that have developed over a period of time and may require a more complex solution process.
What are the iterative steps used in the analysis portion of troubleshooting?
Troubleshooting analysis involves first hypothesizing a possible cause of an observed problem, and then determining the state of the cause. This is repeated for multiple possible causes until a solution is found.
What is a tool that can be very useful during the analysis portion of the troubleshooting process?
A decision tree is very helpful tool. A decision tree is a flowchart developed by a person with system-specific knowledge and experience that helps a troubleshooter by presenting meaningful questions and offering corrective actions based on the answers to those questions.
What are two different isolation techniques that will simplify the troubleshooting process?
Troubleshooting can be simplified and expedited by; 1) isolating where in a system a problem occurs (spatial isolation); and 2) by isolating when the problem occurs (time isolation).
Once the root cause of a problem is determined, what is the final step of the troubleshooting process?
Unfortunately, there are situations where a failure is the result of multiple root causes, and resolving one cause does not necessarily resolve an overall problem. To successfully complete a troubleshooting effort, the proper operation of a system must be verified.
Sample Video Transcript
Before a problem can be resolved, it needs to be clearly stated. A clearly defined problem is easier to solve than an ambiguous one. For example, if someone reports the problem, “I can’t print,” a troubleshooter might spend time trying to understand what is wrong with the printer, when the actual issue is that the user was unable to figure out where the print command was located within a new piece of software. A more useful and complete problem statement would be, “When I try to print a spreadsheet from my computer, no paper comes out of the printer.”
