Troubleshooting

Question 1

What causes frequent shutdowns?

Answer 1

Faulty hardware or drivers; may also be caused by power settings.
To troubleshoot: check Event Viewer to view the Kernel-Boot or Kernel-General logs. These logs will let you know if the OS is shutting down properly or from a lack of power.
If a hardware problem, reinstall the drivers before swapping out working components.

Question 2

What do you do for services that aren’t starting?

Answer 2

Services can be stopped, started & restarted in the Services menu. Can also be viewed from Task Manager. If a service associated with an app won’t start, consider reinstalling the app.

Question 3

What causes boot-up problems?

Answer 3

The boot-up process involves the hardware transferring control to the OS. A failure to boot means the computer is unable to load the OS.
Troubleshooting begins by collecting as much info as possible.
The Windows Recovery Environment provides this info - as well as options to allow Windows to repair itself via the Startup Repair option.

Question 4

What is one thing the Windows Recovery Environment can help to diagnose?

Answer 4

Info on boot-up errors

Question 5

Where does the OS store the data it is currently using?

Answer 5

On RAM

Question 6

If RAM fills up, what happens?

Answer 6

Some of the working data is moved to the paging file. A low memory warning occurs when the page file runs out of room.

Question 7

How do you configure auto-allocation of space to the page / paging file?

Answer 7

Control Panel

Question 8

How much can the USB controller (provides power & a data path to connected devices) handle?

Answer 8

Most 2.0 ports can do 5 concurrent loads of 100 mA
3.0 ports can do 6 concurrent loads of 150 mA.
If the connected device draws more power than the controller can handle, the USB controller resource warning will appear.
The simples way to address this problem is to relocate USB devices to other USB ports.

Question 9

What is the first thing you do for system instability?

Answer 9

Look for uninstalled updates / patches for the app or OS.
Check the Reliability Monitor (provides info on app crashes, as well as dates for updates & patches)
The Events Viewer in the Reliability Monitor gives info and insight into Microsoft-based apps.

Question 10

“No OS Found” failure to boot

Answer 10

Occurs when the computer can’t locate the OS files. Either the storage devices do not contain OS files, or the boot configuration load is pointing to the wrong partition.

Question 11

Slow profile load

Answer 11

Too many apps trying to load at startup, or insufficient hard drive space or memory

Question 12

Time drift

Answer 12

When the real-time clock (RTC) on the motherboard begins to shift. Usually worse on an OS running a hypervisor. Time drift can cause authentication problems & invalidated certificates.

Question 13

What do you do if an app or program isn’t running well?

Answer 13

Try rebooting the computer - try restarting the service. Services deal with both system functions & specific apps. Services can be restarted in the Computer Management MMC by selecting services.

Question 14

Troubleshooting crashing applications

Answer 14

Critical app files may have been overwritten / corrupted. From Start Menu > Settings > Apps > Apps & Features - choose to repair or update. If that doesn’t work, reinstall.

Question 15

Scaling up hardware refers to adding resources (RAM, CPUs, CPUs, SSDs, etc.)

Question 15

How does ‘Repair Windows’ work?

Answer 15

System File Checker will only replace files that fail an integrity check - Repair Windows reinstalls all files from the source media regardless of integrity, maintaining apps and user files. Need a clean copy of Windows, typically from a flash drive or a mounted ISO.

Question 15

What is the System File Checker?

Answer 15

scans files for integrity; replaces critical files when an OS stops functioning properly. Can be accessed through the Command Prompt using sfc.exe and can be set to evaluate all files or a specific file.

Question 16

How does System Restore work?

Answer 16

Creates a restore point of the OS configuration. Turned off by default on Windows 10 & 11.

Question 17

What is reimaging?

Answer 17

For extreme cases, it means uninstalling & reloading the operating systems. Windows gives options to preserve files.

Question 18

Is it possible to rebuild a Windows profile?

Answer 18

Yep

Question 19

Steps to take in case of malware infection:

Answer 19

Update anti-malware software
restart in Safe Mode
run a virus scan

Question 20

Troubleshooting application LAUNCH failures:

Answer 20

try to force quit the application (maybe it’s still running)
clear the application cache (if allowed)
delete and reinstall the app if necessary

Question 21

Troubleshooting app crashes / failure to close:

Answer 21

Try to recreate the scenario
Force quit
Clear the cache
Reinstall

Question 22

What if an OS fails to update?

Answer 22

Reboot to clear RAM space
Ensure compatibility
Check storage space
Check network connectivity

Question 23

Random device reboots

Answer 23

Check battery health, storage capacity, needed updates, overload of running apps, auto-restart options

Question 24

Does AirDrop (Apple data transfer software) work over Bluetooh or Wi-fi?

Answer 24

It needs both.

Question 25

What is developer mode on an Android?

Answer 25

A mode that allows a user to connect to a device via USB and allows increased access to device functionality. On iOS it’s called Xcode.

Question 26

What is Root Access/ Jailbreak

Answer 26

Allows the user to act as a superuser, with access to the entire OS and device. Can flash the device & install different OSs. It is no longer connected to the manufacturer and no longer auto-updates or patches.
Jailbreaking is the term used for Apple devices.

Question 27

Bootlegged applications

Answer 27

Premium application with digital rights management removed - often contain malicious code