In this lesson,
we're going to talk about step six
of the troubleshooting methodology,
which is verifying system functionality.
Now, CompTIA labels this as verify full system functionality
and if applicable, implement preventative measures.
Now, when it comes to doing step six,
our goal here is to make sure
that we actually solve the problem.
Back in step one, we identified the problem.
In step two, we established a theory of probable cause
by questioning the obvious.
In step three, we tested the theory to determine the cause,
and once we confirmed that theory,
we moved into step four
of establishing a plan of action to resolve the problem.
Then we moved into step five,
which is to implement our solution,
and now that we finished implementing that solution,
we're in step six, verifying full system functionality,
and if applicable, implement preventative measures.
So what does that mean?
Well, we just did some kind of a change to our system.
We replaced the power supply,
we upgraded a piece of software,
we changed the configuration.
Whatever it was, we did it based on our plan of action
and we've implemented that solution,
but now we want to make sure
this actually solved the root cause.
We want to make sure that whatever component we put in
is now operating properly.
Let's say that I just replaced the power supply.
If I did that, I want to make sure the system
is now getting good clean power
at 12, five, and 3.3 volts DC, like it's supposed to.
Also, I want to check the system as a whole
and make sure it's functioning properly and normally.
For example, if I went in
and replaced a piece of memory, such as a RAM module,
and I now have replaced that
and I turn the system back on,
I want to make sure the system recognizes that RAM module,
and in addition to that,
the operating system
is now working more efficiently like it should
because I put in additional memory.
All of these are things that you're going to do
as part of verifying system functionality.
Always make sure that you first check
that the problem that was originally reported
has been solved,
but also you want to inspect the other components
to make sure nothing else is damaged or broken
or got disconnected
while you were working inside of that system.
For example, often when you're putting in
a new piece of hardware inside of the case,
you can accidentally unplug one of the power cables,
the fan cables, the data cables,
or one of the LED indicator cables.
All of these can be problems
that you didn't even realize were happening,
but by verifying full system functionality,
you'll identify those and fix those
before you leave that customer's area.
Another thing to look at
is making sure that anything you've disabled or uninstalled
has actually been disabled or uninstalled.
There's a lot of pieces of software,
such as services that you may disable
as part of your troubleshooting process,
and when you reboot the computer,
they may enable themself again,
so you want to verify they are fully disabled and turned off
and they will not restart themself
after you reboot the computer.
Another thing to look at
is all of your logs and diagnostic tools
to confirm that everything is working the way it should,
and while you're there, you should check to make sure
that all the software and device drivers
have been properly updated
to include the latest software and security fixes
to make sure there's no other problems down the road.
Remember, when you're verifying full system functionality,
it's about making the system works
as good as it did before the problem started,
or even better.
Now, in addition to verifying full system functionality,
you'll also want to implement preventative measures.
Now, this is really important when you have an issue,
especially with malware.
Oftentimes computers get infected with malware
because end users are doing things in an insecure manner.
As a technician, it is your job to make sure
that people don't cause harm to your systems,
and if they're doing things incorrectly,
they are bringing harm to your systems.
So take a few moments
and teach that person the right way of doing things.
If they're visiting websites
and downloading random software off the internet
and running it,
you might want to tell 'em that's not a real good idea.
Instead, they should only be downloading things
from trusted websites,
or in a lot of organizations,
they shouldn't be downloading anything at all.
This again depends on your acceptable use policy
and the organization's other corporate policies
for their end users.
Additional areas to look at for preventative measures
might be if people are damaging the equipment.
For example, I've had people
who spill coffee on their keyboards,
so one of the preventative measures that we've installed
was that you cannot drink coffee at your desk
unless it's in a cup
that has a lid on it that can be closed,
and ever since we've done that,
we haven't had an issue
with drinks being spilled onto keyboards,
and this makes it so that we don't have to replace keyboards
nearly as often,
and this also minimized the amount of trouble tickets
that we got to our service desk
for keyboards not responding properly.
These are the kind of things you can look at
when you're looking at implementing preventative measures.
Now, in some cases, you're not going to have the authority
to create a new preventative measure.
For instance, if you work in an organization
with 10,000 people,
you're not going to be the one who's going to be able
to make the rule on coffee cups having to have a lid.
But if you notice something is an ongoing problem,
you can bring this up to your management
and they can then institute it
as part of your corporate policies across the board,
and this will stop this same issue
from recurring over and over again.
So keep in mind your goal
is to verify full system functionality
and prevent future issues
by implementing preventative measures.