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Proper troubleshooting can help cut costs and repair times, and having an effective recovery plan can lead you through times of crisis quickly, capably, and without too many headaches.
The most important thing to do in any troubleshooting situation is follow a set of basic guidelines. You need to know what to do when exposed to people of varying technical skills and machinery of varying capabilities.
Often, end users have no clue what the problem is, but IT pros know that complaints about "my computer's running slow" could be pointing to any of a vast number of problems. To reduce the time required for closing each trouble ticket and improving your overall efficiency, here is a simple troubleshooting method you can adopt.
Think like your doctor
Physicians know patients can't always discern what's wrong, which is why the patient is seeking doctoral expertise. Similarly, users expect IT pros to know what's wrong with a computer; they get paid to fix problems quickly and efficiently. Whether you're dealing with a single computer or the network for a major corporation, there are four steps you need to take to ensure that you are not overlooking obvious problems or hidden solutions.
What's in your doctor's kit?
Just as a doctor can't serve a patient without proper instruments, all the technical knowledge in the world is useless if you don't have the tools to apply it in a focused troubleshooting effort. Even though you may have correctly assessed the situation and pinpointed the problem, you need to have the right tools available to provide the proper resolution.
Your "doctor's kit" should include physical repair tools, such as screwdrivers and multimeters, and also some good diagnostic software, such as Norton SystemWorks 2002 Professional Edition, PartitionMagic, and BCM Diagnostics.
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