Week 04 Collaborative Troubleshooting Operating Systems
Victoria Howell
IT.286
Date: June 18, 2014
Lynn Robinson

Customer service skills are a vital set of skills when working in an Information Technology Support department. When a customer calls to get support, the representative needs to know about the issue they are having and also about the solution they will need in order to fix their issue. A good amount of knowledge of the customer’s operating system is in order to troubleshoot, diagnose, and solve their issue. This knowledge will guide the representative to the issue and then a solution should be by the majority of the knowledge.

Scenario 1
In determining the cause of the instability of the system, an IT support representative must know the reason for the instability and this could actually be a number of different issues or perhaps even just one main issue causing the instability. In order to find the problem that the caller is experiencing the representative must start by doing some troubleshooting. Troubleshooting can help the IT support representative determine the reason or the cause of the instability. . The direction to take in troubleshooting will depend on the error message shown on the computer, which should be the main focus when we begin troubleshooting. Instability could arise from many errors from the operating system freezing or an issue called “the blue screen of death or BSOD.” Other issues could stem from software recently installed or perhaps a device or hardware installed, also an update that recently went through.
Many error or error messages can be shown by looking in the Event Viewer or accessing the System Information tool which can be found by selecting Start, typing msinfo32 into the Run box, and pressing Enter to launch the System Information utility. In the Hardware Resources branch, check the Conflicts/Sharing sub-branch for device conflicts. Also, see whether the Components/Problem Devices category lists any devices.
Another area a representative can look for errors or error messages is when the computer is starting up going into the BIOS. An issue of this nature could happen if hardware has been installed or a problem with the driver of the hardware. By going into BIOS and double checking the settings and making sure they are correct, an issue can usually be remedied.
Many times a recently installed program by be corrupt or may not have been installed correctly can cause a system to become unstable. This program would need to be uninstalled by going to programs and features to uninstall it.
Other instability problems may have started with an issue with a piece of hardware installed or perhaps that hardware has become unstable from a bad driver. By opening device manager and looking for problems looking for a bright yellow question mark displayed to the left of the name of the hardware. To determine what the issue is if that error has been found, Double click on the hardware and it will give an error number or code. By researching the code via the Internet or the device’s manufacturer’s website, the representative will be able to see what the exact issue is and what caused it. If an error has to do with the driver, there is a tab specifically for the driver to show the details of that. If a driver is out of date, it is wise to seek support from the manufacturer.
Instabilities can also be caused by a user’s neglect to follow standard maintenance for example updating the operating system by allowing Windows to run periodic checks for these updates. Updates can be critical to the operating system. Configuring updates should be done when the operating system is; however there are times when the system fails to complete the updates so can check to see if there are updates and do them manually. Updating programs can be crucial to the operating system can also cause some instability issues. A virus and or malware program can also, cause these issues if it has not been