How to improve troubleshooting and problem resolution

How to improve troubleshooting and problem resolution

Document number: 39063

This document offers suggestions on how to identify a computer problem and collect the information you need to resolve it. If it turns out that you can't resolve the problem yourself, there are still things you can do to help identify your problem and more quickly identify the solution. Don't stop reading just because it looks long. Keep going until you solve it.

The first step would be to try to avoid having a problem in the first place. Risks of computer problems can be reduced by taking care in where the computer is placed, how it is used, and how it is maintained. For more information see document 39060 — How to reduce computer failures.

Next, if you do experience problems:

First steps

Identify the trigger

Generic solutions

Shutdown and power-off your machine. Wait ten seconds, then reboot. If the problem reoccurs then continue troubleshooting.
If possible, ask someone else to quickly try the same transaction on their system. If they have the same problem check NorthStar to see there is an enterprise ticket on the problem.
Pay attention to the symptoms and circumstances. This will help you more quickly focus on what is causing the problem.

Shutdown and power-off the machine. When you reboot watch the entire startup process carefully. Focus on exactly where in the startup process the problem occurs. Are you noticing anything else that appears unusual? Try to catch if the problem is happening only after a particular icon appears in the system tray. Check your startup folders. For more information see Eureka! document 69047 — How to change whether an application launches on start up.
Use the process of elimination. Remove then re-add peripherals (e.g. external keyboard, mouse and monitor, port replicator bar, etc.) from your system one at a time. After you remove a component test to see if the problem still exists. This is a great way to figure out if the problem is caused by a conflict between software programs and/or hardware. With all external peripherals removed, including network connection, shutdown and restart, then start adding back the peripherals, one at a time. Yup, shut down and reboot in between each. It may be tedious but it is better than rebuilding your system only to find that the problem was a bad port replicator bar.
Errors, alerts and other messages are usually diagnostic. When searching for solutions start with the error message. Messages are often similar so write them down exactly and/or get a screen shot. The title bar of the message often identifies which program generated it. Carefully read the error message text. It often refers to the program or file that is causing the problem.
Can you reproduce the problem reliably? Try to re-create what you were doing just before the problem occurred. Narrow down whether the problem occurs because of a single event or a combination of events by trying a different set of steps. For example, you opened Lotus Notes, then you opened I.E. and the problem happens every time you do those two things. The problem is reproducible. Now change the order. Leave Lotus Notes closed but open I.E. Did the problem still happen? If not, then open Lotus Notes. What happens? Use the same technique in other situations. Change the order in which you do things.
Identify when the problem first began. Did you download some software? Did you update or install software from the software library? Was it after automatic delivery of an update or patch?

Try some generic problem resolution.

For problems that might be hardware related review the troubleshooting documents provided on List of troubleshooting documents.
If you made a change, such as installing new software or hardware, chances are that change is the cause. If you downloaded something from the Internet, even a common "reliable" application, see Eureka! document 19036 — Unauthorized changes to IE, unauthorized downloads and pop-ups. If you installed authorized software then try uninstalling, then reinstalling it. For more information see Eureka! document 69004 — How to uninstall and install software
Apply the most common problem solutions. (1) For problems relating to the browser or applications using the browser, clear your cache and cookies 19012 — How to find and delete cookies in Internet Explorer, 16093 — How to clear the cache in Internet Explorer. (2) For operating system problems (a) make sure there is sufficient space on the hard drive ( more than 3 MG) 39008 — How to free up some hard disk space and (b) defragment and error check the hard drive. 69029 — How to check your hard disk for bad sectors and other errors. 10031 — How to defragment your drive.
Check the Topics list to see if there is a troubleshooting document specific to the problem application.
Use the Answer Wizard to help walk you through the diagnostic process. The Answer Wizard asks you questions to help narrow your search. It is usually more accurate than keyword search.

Before you call or create your ticket see Eureka! document 69003 — What to do before calling Technical Support Operations.