Information from the User

Your communication skills will be most needed when you gather information from end users. Getting accurate information from a computer user or anyone with limited technical knowledge can be difficult. Having a limited understanding of computers and technical terminology can make it difficult for a nontechnical person to relay the true symptoms of a problem. However, users can convey what they are trying to do and what is not working. When you interview an end user, you will likely want the following information:

• Error frequency-If it is a repeating problem, ask for the frequency of the problem. Does the problem occur at regular intervals or sporadically? Does it happen daily, weekly, or monthly?
• Applications in use-You will definitely want to know what applications were in use at the time of the failure. Only the end user will know this information.
• Past problems-Ask whether this error has been a problem in the past. If it has and it was addressed, you might already have your fix.
• User modifications-A new screensaver, game, or other such programs have ways of ending up on users' systems. Although many of these applications can be installed successfully, sometimes they create problems. When you try to isolate the problem, ask the user whether any new software additions have been made to the system.
• Error messages-Network administrators cannot be at all the computers on a network all the time. Therefore, they are likely to miss an error message when it is displayed onscreen. The end user might tell you what error message appeared.

NOTE: Installation Policies Many organizations have strict policies about what can and cannot be installed on computer systems. These policies are not in place to  the administrator's control but rather to prevent as many crashes and failures as possible. Today many harmless-looking freeware and trial programs have Trojan horse or spyware attached. When executed they can cause considerable problems on a system.

Observation Techniques

Finding a problem often involves nothing more than using your eyes, ears, and nose to locate the problem. For instance, if you troubleshoot a workstation system and you see a smoke cloud wafting from the back of the system, looking for error messages might not be necessary. If you walk into a server room and hear the CPU fan grinding, you are unlikely to need to review the server logs to find the problem.

Observation techniques often come into play when you troubleshoot connectivity errors. For instance, looking for an unplugged cable and confirming that the lightemitting diode (LED) on the network interface card (NIC) is lit requires observation on your part. Keeping an eye as well as a nose out for potential problems is part of the network administrator's role and can help in identifying a situation before it becomes a problem.

TIP: Observation Techniques Remember that observation techniques play a large role in the preemptive troubleshooting process, which can result in finding a small problem before it becomes a large one.

Effective Questioning Techniques

Regardless of the method you use to gather information about a problem, you need answers to some important questions. When approaching a problem, consider the following questions:

• Is only one computer affected, or has the entire network gone down?
• Is the problem happening all the time, or is it intermittent?
• Does the problem happen during specific times, or does it happen all the time?
• Has this problem occurred in the past?
• Has any network equipment been moved recently?
• Have any new applications been installed on the network?
• Has anyone else tried to correct the problem; if so, what has that person tried?
• Is there any documentation that relates to the problem or to the applications or devices associated with the problem?

By answering these questions, as well as others, you can gain a better idea of exactly what the problem is.