Unit 13 AMI11137281

P1 – (The impact of organisation policies on the troubleshooting and repair

process)

Introduction: P1 is made up of organisational policies on the troubleshooting and repair process.

I’ve explained briefly about the troubleshooting systems and issues that occur throughout the
causes. In this report I’ve talked about the way security, system downtime, disruption and diagnosis
work etc.

Also images and diagrams have been used to explain and organise my work, so this makes it easier
for the reader/user to understand more about troubleshooting.

Security: Security is the protection of a person, property or an organization from attacks preformed
by other people to either steal their data or misuse it for other uses. There are different types of
Security/Protection which can be used to keep the attackers off the attack these can be prevention,
response etc. In business a security policy is documented that states in writing how the
company/organization plans to protect the company/organization’s material and IT (Information
Technology) resources. However, a security policy is well thought-out to be a document that never
ends as it is continuously updated as all the technology needs update or an employee requests to be
changed.

There are many network security threats which can spread over the internet and some of the most
common are: Viruses, Trojan and Identity Theft

Viruses: A virus can be a big threat in many ways as it sometimes tends to hide in the system for
years than launch a sudden attack, or double itself, move into the network and spread onto other
computer again on its own, and all these can have harmful effects on a PC sometimes or the whole
network.

Trojan: A Trojan is a virus that makes the user thinks that it is beneficial for the user and the
computer when it’s not. Also Trojans can be very hard to remove once it’s a computer threat.

Identity theft: Identity theft is when a criminal obtains personal information about a person,
property or a company, the criminal misuses it or sells it.

Costs: The social company requires some definite materials that allow them to protect their
company from malicious attacks and more advanced security which allows the company to be more
secured from these malicious attacks. Some items such as:

Materials Cost in (£) each

Jack Cable 5-10
Router 30
Antivirus 30-65
Network 15-40 Monthly
Crossover 40-150

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A computer is needed to store and control data or information and provides the user with output in
a useful format. A cost of a computer can vary anything from £200 and over such as: Dell, Apple,
Packard Bell, Toshiba, Sony etc.

A broadband provides the connection to the internet and allows the user too constantly, fast and
much efficient internet access. The normal payment of broadband is done monthly and it allows the
user to stream unlimited access and unlimited downloads with no charges but also there is other
ways of accessing internet such as through the users phone being connected to the computer and
installing the phone’s PC suite via CD provided when the phone is bought.

System Downtime: System downtime means when the machine or computer is not working or
cannot be used. In this time the system doesn’t not provide the main functions such as: reliability,
availability, recovery and unavailability. Usually downtime is applied to networks or servers such as:
college, school, hospital, police station and even organizations. Some measure downtime acquired
normally during work transfers and/or during 12/24 hour period.

Disruption: A Disruption is when the system doesn’t work, the first symptom is that the screen
freezes locking out the user from giving the computer any commands at the same time it does not
respond to any commands given to it, next the CPU starts speeding up at a rapid speed heating up
the computer, next a automated notification appears and the computer is gone offline. And there
are also many other ways that a disruption can be occurred which include all the above but
sometimes they could also happen separately such as the computer doesn’t go offline it just doesn’t
respond to the user but the user isn’t locked out from giving it commands.

Resource allocation: resource allocation is sharing of resources, usually strategic or in a financial

planning. A resource allocation is a plan for available resources such as: human resources or to
achieve goals in the future. It is the process of allocation among a variety of projects or business
units.

The plan consists of two parts: Firstly, there is the basic allocation decision and secondly there are
contingency mechanisms. The basic allocation decision is the choice in which items to fund in the
plan, and what amount of funding should be received, and which should be left unfunded. Secondly
in this the resources are allocated to only some items, not to others.

There are also two types of contingency mechanisms. First there is a priority rankings of items
excluded from the plan, this shows which items to fund when/if more resources should become
available. Second there is a main concern ranking of some items included in the plan, showing which
items should be taken off when/if the funding should be reduced.

Contractual requirements: This is basically an agreement between the two, supplier and the buyer.
The supplier agrees to supply the goods to the buyer normally for money or anything else of agreed
to with the buyer. The buyer agrees to buy the goods that he requires from the supplier only on the
basis that he gives the supplier money or any means of documentation.

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Trend analysis: Trend analysis is basically a model of collecting data and then trying to spot a pattern
in the information. Normally
organizations use to compare and see
the pattern with their past and current
data to work out as close as possible
accurate data to the future sales or in
this case the pattern. There are many
types of charts that can be created to
show this data e.g.: entering the past
and current data and preference to the
future data. It also allows estimating
uncertain events that had occurred in
the past and in a project management
pattern analysis are mathematical
techniques that can be used for
historical results to predict the future
outcome.

Communication: Communication simply means

that the information or initiative is shared
between two or more people through
interaction. Interaction happens in many ways it
could be e-mailing on the computer, talking on
the phone, or just listening on the radio and
there are many other ways in the 21st century to
interact. To communicate the two or more
people have to make sure that everyone in the
interaction understands each other to a good extent. Then to make sure that the message or the
innovation is understood or if you are the one who is
the receiver that you have the understand the
message, also have some of your control on the
means of communication such as talking as well as
listening or in this case replying to the messages
other than just receiving. Also the purpose of
communicating is to be able to send the message
effectively to the readers, listeners/receivers.
Below are the types of Communication:

Simplex: Simplex Communication is a one way communication where the person can hear the
message being communicated through but is unable to reply to it for this reason it’s called simplex
Communication an example of simplex communication is a radio.

Duplex: Duplex communication is a two way communication where the person can hear the message
being communicated through and also reply to it this type of communication is carried out on the
phone an example of this communication is a mobile phone or a cordless.

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Half Duplex: A half-duplex communication is when the person can hear and reply to the message the
only difference is that each person can only reply once at a time during the communication is being
carried out an example of this type of communication can be a walkie-talkie.

E-mail: E-mail communication is when both people can participate in the communication but it can
only be read and wrote while communicating so the person types the message and sends it to the
other person and reply until they wish to end the conversation an example of this communication is
Outlook or Hotmail.

Diagnosis: Diagnosis is the identification of a form or a condition, disease, disorder or a problem by

organized analysis of history, evaluation of the research. In systems, diagnosis is normally used to
decide the cause of the symptom and for the solution of the issue.

Repair: Repair can be internal or external. Both can be replaced if are broken, damaged or even if
they fail to turn on or can’t provide the services needed from it, sometimes parts or equipment of
the computer. Sometimes replacement is not needed so they can be repaired in a workshop.
Sometimes software needs repairing or replacement if expired.

Relevant legislation: Relevant legislation is the Computer Misuse Act, Copyright © etc. This act was
introduced for the security of the computers materials against unauthorised access or modification.
Thus act enables people to be prosecuted if they commit any one of the offences e.g.: unauthorized
access of any computer material, unauthorized access with the intent to use it for crime and also
unauthorized access for modification to the computer materials. What this means that the work
presented or created should be yours and yours only and only if you are the copyright owner. This
work should not be copied by anyone else without your permission or you can prosecute them and
this work can be anything such as: music, movie, a html code or even a software code etc.

Service level agreement: This is basically an agreement between a customer in this case you and the
network service provider, what it consists is what the customer/you will be provided/supplied by the
network service provider. Since many ISP’s provide their customers with this agreement (SLA), the
internet service departments have agreed to this idea of (SLA) so that the service provided by them
can be justified, measured and compared with those other outscoring ISP’s e.g.: the percentage (%)
time that the service will be available, a number of users which can be provided with the service at
once and dial in access availability etc.

Escalation procedure: This is the process of described steps taken in the circumstances in which the
service level drops from meeting its standards. This involves verifying the fault of measures,
reporting and problems in resolution and within a specified time while the problem still isn’t
resolved decisions are made and the involvement on both the ISP and the customer/client sides. An
example of this is decision making interference on both the client and service provider’s side.

Documentation: This process of documenting is something for future evidence. On computer

documenting is carried out and consists the technical and non technical parts of a computer e.g.:
software documentation, information on the regards of the analysis, design, usage level of the
computer. What this means that it describes the basic designs of the software, it features and its
technical terms, its minimal system requirements to use it and how to use it, Also how to operate it
and troubleshoot etc. Also different templates are defined and followed for performing the
documentation in a well organized way.

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Reporting: Thousands of individual groups and organizations upload information about their
everyday on-going activities, opportunities and interests etc. These contents should be published
according to terms and conditions of the host who is hosting the webpage and other laws may vary.
In Addition, there are available options for reporting or commonly known as “flag” can be used to
report the uploaded information if it violates the T&C’s or is copied.

Creating a User – Based on Windows 2007 Home Premium

First “Left Click” with the mouse on the “Start” button on the bottom left of the desktop.

Second select the option “Control Panel”.

Third select the option “User

Accounts and Family Safety”.

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Fourth select the option

“Add or remove user
accounts”.

Fifth select the option “Create a new account”

this is can be found below the accounts list.

Sixth Name the account and select if you

want it to be a “Standard User” or
“Administrator” (As this is only a
demonstration I’ll show you how to create a
standard user account and I’m going to
name it “DEMO ACCOUNT”).

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Last select the option “Create account” and it’s

ready to be used at this point you can cancel
the creation of this account using the “Cancel” button next to it. As you can see the account is now
made and ready for use next to my account which is password protected and a Administrator
account as it can be seen below.

Password policy: If the user requests to log into a network, he/she has to have a user ID and a
password, these identify the user to a network and allows the server to retrieve your files and also
labels the user’s rights while logged onto the
computer. The main part of this is the password
which labels the user to whom the ID belongs too,
taking this in notice the password should not be
shared with anyone and must be kept secure at all
times. This is because if others know your password
than it can be used by the person to easily access
your account and this allows the person a full access
to your account. This means the person can read, edit
and delete files, steal projects/assignments and do
many more damages through your account.

Passwords should be chosen so that they are unique

and hard for someone to guess judging your persona,
its recommended to have a password that consists
both letters and numbers as it can make it more difficult for a software to crack your password. In
Addition the user can also change their password depending on when they want normally people
prefer to change it every month some prefer to change it every week and it is recommended that
the user changes his/her password if they know that someone else knows it or even if the user
suspects that someone knows their password.

Log on – Log off policies: To Log on is a term which means the user needs to identify themselves to
the system so they can gain access and also so that the network can label them. The most frequently
way that all the system uses is through a user ID and a password which can be recognised by the

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network. If the user fails to log onto the system either the user has forgotten their user ID or
password if not then there could be a failure in the network but this problem occurs to a very rare
extent. If the user does not have a user ID and a password they cannot access the system in certain
places and in some they are provided with a guest account which everyone is limited to use only
once. To Log off/Log out is a term when the user doesn’t need to access the system anymore and
they simply log out. Sometimes Log on and Log off time can be limited even to the administrator
from a higher position in some places.

Uptime and Downtime: This is a key issue that many website owners face because what Uptime and
Downtime means is the time the user’s website is going to be up online fully active, viewable and
fully usable. Whereas Downtime means when the website is offline fully deactivated which means
no one can view it or use it. Normally Uptime and Downtime figures are given in percentages and
not time e.g.: this certain website is going to be online for 70% of the day.

Download Limit: A download limit is how much data the user is allowed to download via internet
each month before the user has to pay extra charges for the downloads. The download limit is
measured in starting from the smallest kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) and the largest gigabytes
(GB). This download allowance uses up depending on what the user does on the internet such as
sending e-mails uses a fair amount of allowance where as spending hours downloading music or
films and using iPlayer can use a more allowance to a high amount of allowance such as:

 Just viewing 25 webpage’s only consumes 1MB of allowance

 Downloading a single music track consumes 4MB of allowance
 Downloading a single movie can consume up to 225MB of allowance

But even when the user is given a limit sometimes they seem to exceed their download limit this
means the user has to pay a fine of the amount that has been exceed by at the end of the month or
they may risk being disconnected from the internet service provider (ISP). In Addition when buying a
internet service people normally buy unlimited Download allowance but that is not always the case
as even they have to be aware because the ISP restricts how much a individual can download and
this is called the “Fair Usage Policy”.

Firewall Policies: A firewall is located at the gateway of a server, this protects resources from the
user’s private network from other user network whole want it for misuse. Any enterprise or an
organization that has Intranet allows a wider access to internet commonly installs a firewall for the
prevention of outsiders from accessing private resources and it also controls the access to the
outside resource that can be accessed by its own user’s.

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Firewall: A firewall is a set of devices to license or to deny any type of network transmissions based
upon sets of rules and is frequently used to defend networks from unauthorized access.

Type of Firewall: There are four types of firewalls which are Network-level, Circuit-level, Application-
level and Stateful Multi-level firewall.

How a firewall works: A firewall works with a router program which examines each network packet
trying to access the network, to determine where if should be given access to the network or not.
Firewall also works with a proxy server which makes a request on behalf of the workstation users;
Firewall is often installed in a designated PC which is separate from rest of the network which means
no incoming request from a network can directly get access to private network data resources.
Firewall is designed to prevent viruses to enter the network through e-mail protecting the local
network from any unfriendly interruption via internet.

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P2 – (Hardware and Software tools to troubleshoot simple IT problems)

Introduction: P2 is made up of report about hardware and software tools to troubleshoot simple IT
problems in a manufacturing company. Thus, I’ve also explained about tools and techniques,
troubleshooting techniques and more for both Hardware and Software.

Hardware troubleshooting techniques: Computers sometimes may have problems and these can be
repaired using hardware troubleshooting techniques. The cost of using a technician just to identify
the problem and going ahead to repair it the can rapidly increase the fees of the technician and for
the new replacement units, However a some hardware diagnostic tools can be helpful in separating
faulty hardware components such as: Software diagnostic disk, multi meter, cable tester and POST
card.

Software diagnostic disk: Some disked based diagnostic usually can check the by previously verifying
tests on altered areas of its hardware. This package evaluates the response from each test and
attempts to produce a status report for all the systems main components.

Multi meter: A number of test instruments can help separate computer

hardware problems. One of the most basic prices of troubleshooting
equipment is the multi meter. These test instruments can be found in both
analogue and digital form and both can be used to directly measure the
electrical values of voltage, current in mill amperes or amperes also to check
the resistance in ohms. In addition computer troubleshooting the tests are
commonly DC voltage readings. These specific measurements need to be
checked in the DC side of the power supply unit (PSU).

Cable tester: The most frequent hardware cause of network problems can be
bad cabling and connectors. However, numerous specialised devices designed
for testing the various types of data communication cabling are available. One
of the cable testers is Time domain reflect meter (TDR) this can be used to find
the distance to a break in cables. A signal is sent along the cable which is
converted in distance measurement.

POST card: A post card is a small diagnostic device that plugs into the systems
expansion slot and displays error codes. These POST cards are used when the system appears to be
dead or if the system is unable to read from a hard drive. The POST routines which is located in most
of the Basic input and output system (BIOS) chips normally report two types of error codes: FATAL or
NON-FATAL.

Suitable tools: Many types of tool kits can be bought; using the proper tools prevents damage to
your computer and reduces the length of time in building and
upgrading your computer. Several tools are available that the user
should have while building, repairing or working on the computer
such as: screwdriver tool used for driving the screws and rotating
different machine elements with the mating drive system. Pliers can
be useful as they can hold, cut and bend cables/wires.

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Software tools and techniques: Antivirus software is a program that detects and prevents meaning
it takes action towards removing the malicious software programs, such as: virus, Trojans and
worms. It is important that the user uses a antivirus software to prevent viruses from entering their
system some of them are: Norton, AVG, ESET and Kaspersky etc.

Error logging programs: The system program puts together an error logging software routine which
allows it to record errors in the hardware during the process. The log consists of the error code
number, the date and the time of the incidence occurred. An engineer can use this information to
troubleshoot the system.

Upgrade: All the programs in the computer eventually are needed to be upgraded meaning needing
a newer version to be installed and to be used for a long time or until a new version comes out.
Upgrading is just an addition version to the hardware. Upgrade maybe sold as specially labelled, less
expensive. In some models of software distribution an upgrade might be available for free or by
downloading from the products website.

Reinstalling: It is sometimes necessary to reinstall the software because it might be causing

problems. These problems in operating systems and applications can fail for a very big variety of
reasons. Reinstalling is very similar to installing new software to the system just with minor
differences. Patches are software which is designed to fix problems or update a computer program.
Patches fix security vulnerability, bugs and improves performance of the system. This is known as
immediate solution that is provided to the users.

Faults: When the user’s computer starts facing problems and the user has formatted the system and
if the problem still exists this means that the system is most likely to have a hardware problems and
problems start to occur at this point. Diagnosis can be very difficult as it could be any component
that could be the cause of the problem; the user has to carefully diagnose with what component the
fault to lies within. Except if the user is intending to restore the entire machine. There are also main
areas which can be analysed in the computer such as: RAM, Power Supply Unit (PSU), Hard Disk and
the Motherboard. A user can face many problems such as: there is no sound coming through or no
there is no display this means that the sound card needs to be checked or the graphics card needs to
be checked. There can be memory errors on the system but again there is a solution which is a
memory tester which is available for instance, DocMemory this software meets its needs to a very
good extent by constantly testing and cycling through the memory errors. Sometimes the machine
automatically switches off it could be that its heated up too much and a solution is a cooling fan or
the problem could be the Power Supply Unit (PSU) itself and this happens at random and this can be
checked using a volt tester to check the voltage and the current coming out. Also hard disk failure
could be a big problem, unless all the important data has back up and the solution to this failure is
that the hard disk should be replaced.

Symptoms: If the system has been infected by malicious software, it may begin to slow down, files
may automatically start duplicating and sometimes delete data or not do anything for a long period
and then just attack the system with brute force.

Effective communication: It’s good that the ideas of another person are understood clearly to
prevent conflict between the two or more. Communicating equally allows to effectively
communicating the users message through to others without disagreement. There are two types of
communication interpersonal communication and public communication. Interpersonal
communication uses sound, words, visual and speaking aid to get the user’s thought through and
then the receiver receives the message and responds and Public message is similar but sometimes it
can be one-sided. Below are again the types of communication:

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Effective Communication: It’s important for the person to understand the idea which is being
communicated through to him/her for a successful conflict. For a message to get through to the
other person is also good to be communicating the message consistent to effectively communicate
without any disagreement to who the message is being passed to.

Many types of communication methods can be used to pass messages through: Verbal
communication: this type of communication includes speaking, use of language (words), sounds on a
presentation but speaking is the best way of communicating if all the people in the conference can
understand the language also it is also the way of communicating which has be carried out for
centuries. There are two types of speaking communication: Interpersonal and public speaking
communication

Interpersonal Communication: this is the process that helps a person express his/her ideas and/or
thoughts and to share them with people around them within the conference. This normally helps
people to convert their thoughts and allow the person to design the message as appropriate which
then can be communicated across to the people this could be oral, visual or written and sometimes
it could all be together. Once the people get the message they can easily respond to it accordingly to
what they think and reply to the message.

Public Speaking: this is a process when speaking to the public or normally considered to be a group
of people in a deliberate reason intended to inform this can also be to influence someone to join a
debate or a riot and also just to entertain.

Cable tester: When a cable tester is connected to a Ethernet cable, a network cable tester tells if the
cable is able to carry an Ethernet signal. The network cable tester may vary in difficulty and prices,
although a normal tester contains of a basis of electrical current, a measuring device that shows if
the cable is good and connect the two, normally the cable itself.

Network monitoring: Network monitoring is normally used to describe the system that monitors a
network also notifies the network administrator using messaging system in the case of device failure
or error occurrence. In Addition they are used to certify availability and overall performance of the
computer and network service. Ping is one of the basic network monitoring programs, the ping
software is available on most systems which sends internet protocol test messages between two
hosts. It’s easy to run this test which can certify the connection between two computers working
and also measuring the current connection performance.

Firewall and Antivirus program: A firewall controls the incoming and outgoing communication
through ports, there are about 60,000 ports which can make the user’s computer invisible to hackers
that try to intervene with your computer but the Firewall is made to keep these unauthorized access
blocked while allowing authorized communications. At the same time antivirus program is used to
detect, prevent and remove these malicious software these include viruses, Trojans and worms.
Antivirus also prevents and removes adware, spyware and other types of malware. These both are
needed and should be working to keep the user’s system safe at all times.

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P3 – (Suitable Fault remedies)

Introduction: P3 is about tools that are used to aid IT system in troubleshooting and repair. It also
contains remedies for sources and suitable faults for some scenario. Technical manuals, internet
FAQ’s, discussion forums, colleagues, knowledge database etc have been defined.

Knowledge database: Most databases are normally quite rigid in terms of data and table’s they
require. Although a customer knowledge database should be capable of holding data in a wide range
of formats and styles, while allowing the information to be searched and to be accessed quickly, at
the same time allowing the database reliability to be maintained. Also different users should have
different level of access to different information depending on their precedence or the customers
that they are dealing with.

Technical manual: This is contains documentation about instructions of installation, use, operation,
parts list, maintenance, support, and training requirements for valuable deployment of equipment,
machine, process, or system.

Internet FAQ’s: Internet FAQ’s stands for Frequently Asked Questions, this is a list of questions
which are been being asked over and over again either by users or questions which a web owner
expects the users to be asking. It’s also suitable for the users as they don’t have to wait for answers
if what they want can be found amongst FSQ. However the constant changes in the growing nature
of the internet, the users probably have more questions than to know what to do with, luckily more
answers are available on the World Wide Web such as: FAQ central or FAQ subjects and many more.

Discussion forums: Discussion board is a

tool which allows users or groups to
communicate online, similar to e-mail but
does not require an identity and can be
accessed by anyone. The group or the
users can read past and current messages
and also post messages on their view
about the discussion at any time. A
discussion is made up of forums and
folders consisting messages on a particular
subject on internet commonly known as
threads. Each thread is a series of
messages about the same topic, and each
message is a separate part of the
conversation on the same topic. The most
beneficial thing about these discussion
forums is that the user can join at any
time possible to them, catch up with posted messages which the user was away. In addition these
discussion forums are archived this means that the user can print any particular discussion they want
and read it.

Colleagues: Colleague is a fellow member at the user’s occupation or organization, staff or an

academic faculty also known as a friend or an associate. Colleagues can be very important for shared
conferences and discussion also friendship. The basics of being colleagues are to respect one’s
position and/or training.

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P4 – (Applying fault remedies safely to simple IT system problems)

Introduction: P4 is about applying the remedies to the faults which are necessary to be applied
safely to meek problems in IT systems. P4 is also about re-caps from P3 about use of tools which are
needed to be used and some equipment’s which are important. Also images have been used to show
key points throughout the P4.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD): Electro Static Discharge is one of the many things a user can do to
damage their computer or its hardware components. Electrostatic discharge might also occur when
using the computer and/or can cause components which are touched by the user might no longer
work properly or completely stop working. There is also a chance of this occurring without the user
feeling any type of shock but this only happens when working on the inside of the PC or using
expansion card. For example:

Zero Potential: It’s important the user makes sure that he/she and the PC are at zero potential by
frequently touching the computer power supply case or some sort of unpainted metal.

Standing: The user has to make sure that he/she tries to stand because sitting on a chair/stool can
create more electrostatic discharge so standing at all the time when working on a computer or
around it is important.

Cords: The user also has to make sure that he/she has taken away everything from the back of the
computer for example: Monitor, Power cord, Mouse, Keyboard, Power supply and other cords that
are connected.

Clothes: The user has to make sure that he/she is not wearing any clothing made of wool as it
conducts quite a lot of electrostatic discharge for example: woollen gloves, hat, sweater and any
other woollen clothing item.

Weather: The user should make sure that he/she is not working on the computer while there is an
electrical storms as this can create a raise the risks of electrostatic discharge unless it’s totally
needed to do so, and if this is done then the user should make sure and work on it with a slow pace.

Accessories: The user also should not be wearing any type of jewellery/jewelleries while working on
the computer to decrease electrostatic discharge and not cause any other problems.

Unable to connect to the Internet: When a user is facing internet connection problem it could be
caused by disconnected cables/routes or the modems could not be working properly as these are
common problems when there is an internet disconnection. Sometimes there could be problems
caused by a corrupted driver, incompatible driver, network connection setting, hardware/software
problems or even missing out on an update.

Antennas

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Check hardware: Many times the user faces problems because he/she hasn’t taken time to set-up
the hardware properly for example: loose or disconnected Ethernet cables, DSL or cable connection,
telephone cord or even a power cable can cause the network/internet connection issue. The user
always has to make sure that these cable connections are connected properly.

USB cable Coaxial Cable

Telephone cable

Ethernet Cable

To check the DSL internet connection:

 The user should check the phone line which runs from the jack to the phone line on the DSL
modem.
 The user should check the Ethernet cable which runs from the internet connection on the
DSL modem to the network adaptor on the computer.
 The user should make sure that the DSL modem is plugged into a power outlet and the
power to the modem is turned ON.

To check the cable for internet connection:

 The user should check the coaxial cable which runs from the wall to the user’s cable modem.
 The user should check the Ethernet cable which runs from the cable modem to the network
adaptor on the computer.
 The user should make sure that the modem which is plugged into a power outlet and the
power to the modem is turned ON.

Check the Indicator lights on the modem: The user should check the indicator lights on his/her
modem. The indicator light is usually labelled as “Broadband link”, “Internet”, “Online”, or
somewhat identical that indicated connection to the internet.

Cable modem

DSL modem

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Reset the modem: In some cases the IP settings/network configuration that the user gets from the
internet service provider might/could be false or in need of updating. Sometimes the user could e
experiencing problems because of the connection between the modem and the internet service
provider. If the user needs to update the settings on the modem then all he/she needs to do is reset
the modem, this also creates a fresh connection to the internet service provider.

To reset a modem:

 The user needs to disconnect the Ethernet/USB cable that connects his/her computer or
router to the modem.
 The user then needs to Turn OFF the modem using the “power OFF” switch on the front or
the back of the modem. If the user cannot locate the switch or the modem doesn’t have a
switch then he/she can simply disconnect the power cord on the back if not then just unplug
it from the wall.
 The user then needs to restart the PC.
 Then the user just needs to test the connection to see if he/she can access the internet.

Use device manager: Device manager is used to validate that the network adapter is working
correctly.

To use device manager:

 The user needs to Left Click Start on the desktop; then Right Click on “Computer” and then
Left Click on “Properties”.
 The user than needs to Left Click on the “Hardware Tab” and again Left Click on “Device
Manager”.
 The user then needs to continue to Double Left Click on “Network adaptors” and then Right
Click on the “Network adaptor”.
 T he user then needs to Left Click on “Properties” and then under “Device Status” check to
see that the device is working properly or not.
 Then if the network adaptor is disabled then he/she needs to Left Click on “Enable Device”
and enable it.

Check Wireless Switch: If the user is using a laptop with wireless connection to the internet, then
the user has to make sure that the network adaptor switch on the laptop is turned on. Many laptops
have a physical switch either on the top or either sides left/right which can be used by the user to
turn the network adaptor on/off, Also there is an indicator light on the laptop that shows if the
wireless network adaptor is enabled or not.

Use an Automated Trouble-shooter: Automated trouble-shooter is a tool which can find and fix
problems with the computer automatically. This tool does not automatically find and fix every single
problem but it is a very useful tool to try out because it can often be time efficient and effort saving.

To run the network trouble-shooter the can follow these simple four steps:

 The user needs to Left Click “Start”, and then Left Click on the “Control Panel”.
 Then on the right panel the user needs to Left Click on “Network and Internet Connections”.
 Again on the right panel the user needs to Left Click on “Network Connections”.
 Then the user needs to Right Click on “Local area connection” , and Left Click on “Repair.

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Update Drivers: Corrupted, Outdated or Incompatible network adaptor drivers can prevent network
connections and also cause irregular disconnections.

Ways to find and install a driver:

 Using Windows Update, the user might need to set Windows Update to Automatically
download and install the recommended updates. Installing any important, recommended
and/or optional updates can update the systems features and other software’s which
might/could help fix the networking connection problems.
 Installing the software from the device manufacturer for example: If the user receives a disc
that came with the network or PC adaptor, this disc could contain the software that installs
the drivers for the network adaptor.
 The user can also Download and Install the driver him/her by themselves and the driver can
be found by the user on the manufacturer’s website.

System slowdown in Windows: When a person buys a new computer, he/she always will have a fast
computer to begin with and over time it will get slower and slower. After the person has bought and
used the PC/Laptop for a couple of months and has started downloading few or more programs,
install antivirus tools and download un-needed images, files and software from the internet. The
slowdown always happens so slowly in pace that the user hardly notices that it’s even taking place.
But there is a lot of ways to help speed up windows and make the PC/Laptop work better, even
without upgrading the hardware.

Getting rid of programs the user never uses: PC/Laptop manufacturers install their new PC’s or
Laptop’s with programs as trial and limited edition versions for everyone who finds it useful and
then he/she can pay for it to be upgraded to the full version, but not everyone finds it useful and
only use the trial/limited edition then never pay for it or use it but forget to remove it from the
system and it stays their until the user has installed; and by the time he/she has done that it too late
because it was there all that time using up all that precious memory, disk space and processing
power and most importantly slowing down the user’s PC or Laptop.

It’s not important but an advantage for the user to uninstall all those programs which he/she does
not intend to use for the future, this list should include both the software’s that has been installed
by him/her and the manufacturers especially software’s designed to help run and adjust the
computer’s hardware and software. Some of these software’s are virus scanners, disk cleaners and
also backup tools these programs run in the background automatically at the start-up, as they are
quiet and running along with other programs in the background the user cannot detect them.

Limiting how many Programs load at Start-up: Few programs are designed to automatically run
themselves when the PC or the Laptop turns on. Software manufacturers always set certain
programs to run in the background, where you can’t see it running into the background, this means
they will open up right away as soon as the user clicks on the icons, unless the user he/she decide
themselves if you want a software/program run at Windows Start-up. These programs run
automatically when the user starts up Windows but these can be seen in the notification area on the
taskbar, where the user can see it running.

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The programs which run automatically at the Windows Start-up can be seen in the notification bar,
yet not all background running programs are shown in the notification bar to the user, in order to
disable these programs the user has to be able to use Windows Defender and this is the only way
the user is able to disable these certain programs that run in the background that he/she is unknown
to. If the user is not sure that where he/she should be allowing a or many programs to run
automatically at start-up then the user can try and disable this program and restart the computer,
and then he/she should proceed to try using this program.

Checking for viruses and spywares: If the user’s PC or Laptop is running slow, a main possibility
could be that the PC or Laptop might be infected with a virus or a spyware, if in any case the user
needs to check it his/her PC or Laptop is been infected with such virus or a spyware the user can use
antispyware. The most common symptom of a PC or Laptop being infected by a virus or spyware is
that the PC or Laptop will gradually start slowing down than the normal performance it’s giving to
the user. With that being said there are other things that could occur while on the PC or Laptop such
as: the user gets Pop-ups or irrelevant message, the user could be experiencing that his/her
hardware is constantly working and this would create a sound or it could be that it opens up files
which the user doesn’t need, programs start running automatically or even websites which include
only adult scenes.

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Spyware is installed on the user’s PC or Laptop without him/her knowing and without his/her
permission mainly this is done because the person who has installed the spyware so that he/she can
monitor activities when the user in on Internet or even just to see what the user is doing while on PC
or Laptop. The user is only aware of this program running when he/she uses the Windows Defender
or any other types of anti-spyware programs, but even the user could not know and have spyware
on the PC or Laptop because some of the anti-spywares include a spyware within.

In order to prevent the virus’s from infecting the user’s PC or Laptop he/she needs to have anti-virus
on the PC or Laptop and sometimes even when the user has this program on his/her PC or Laptop
can be infected again because some anti-viruses come with virus/viruses within it. It’s best for the
user to prevent the virus before it gets worse and even before that the user needs to make sure that
he/she uses anti-virus and keep it up-to-date so that not any type of virus can get through and infect
the PC or Laptop.

Checking for updates from the manufacturer: There is always a support website for the user on the
PC or Laptop to see if the company has recently released any updates for the programs they
might/could have shipped with the PC or Laptop this is especially when the user has brought the PC
or Laptop and when it’s quite new. There is much information that the user is able to find by just
checking the manufacturer. There is always a user that has a problem with some other user and if
this is the case and if both or all the users have reported the same issue the manufacturer could
have already issued a fix to the fault if not then the minimum is that the manufacturer provides the
information about the problem on the website.

Equipment fails to be recognized by the PC: The user sometimes faces a common problem that the
equipment they want to use is not recognized by the PC or Laptop some examples of these
equipment’s are: the audio and sound, the keyboard, mouse, monitor or a USB failure of
recognition. When this happens the user should simply just check to see if the equipment is
connected properly or to see the equipment manual if it still is not recognized than the user should
refer to the manufacturer’s website to see for the connection of the equipment.

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Mainly the common problem is that the user hasn’t securely plugged in the equipment and isn’t
receiving power, for equipment which primarily rely A/C power adaptors or the user can double
check that the outlet is functioning correctly by plugging in any other device and observing if the
device starts up or maybe begins charging. The user should also make sure that all the cables are
plugged in and connected properly into the correct port and check to see if it’s turned ON. So the
user has to check and see if there are any error messages on the equipment if possible or on the
desktop.

However installing or reinstalling drivers for a/or many devices in windows or windows 7 or windows
vista, when a device is connected windows automatically searches for its drivers and notifies the
user if there are any available updates. Sometimes it might be important to manually install them
only if the files are contained directly on the device or on a CD accompanied with the equipment
when bought also could be on the manufacturer’s website. The user also needs to confirm that
he/she is using the latest drivers for his/her hardware, Manufacturers usually issue patches to
correct errors and variations that the users encounter.

Repairs: IT system problems which are out of order or damaged involve fixing or repairing. In order
for the device to be working in order or to prevent problems performing routine actions has to be
carried out by the user too.

Applying Software Patch:

It’s the responsibility of project maintainers to evaluate and where appropriate apply the patch,
once the patch has been submitted by the provider. Different approaches have to be applied to
different projects to reviewing and applying patches. Although all have common steps:
 Quick evaluation the value of the patch.
 Prepare prompt and accurate feedback to the provider.
 Experimentally apply the patch.
 Run any test suites against changed code.
 Reporting problems to the provider and request for a resubmission
 Commit the patch to the version control system

Patch files can be read and understood with their implications without applying them to the code
base by skilled developers. This makes it easier to provide swift feedbacks to the provider. If the
project maintainer feels the patch has a solid contribution, they will apply it to the local
development copy and test it. This is a simple matter for the maintainer as a good contribution will
have already undergone the extensive testing. Further testing should always be carried out as
mistakes can be made.

The maintainer will commit it once the patch is read to be applied to the version control tree. That
is, they will make it available to the public control system. Action likes this commonly result in an
automated notification to the developer community by a commit e-mail list. Now the wider
community is given an opportunity so that they can review the contribution; if the change is in
response to a bug report or a feature request, the associated ticket in the issue tracker should be
updated.

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P5 – (Working practices when applying fault remedies)

Introduction: P5 is made of good working practices when applying fault remedies. So it includes
main pointers such as: integrity, data security and obtaining permissions etc. Also P5 includes
examples and facts that are essential for good working practices.

Obtaining Permission: Before anyone can legally sell, distribute or publish someone else’s copyright
work, the person must obtain permission of the copyright owner. The rule applies even if the person
is using a sample or an extract of the work. So website contents, it’s normal to contact the
webmasters of this site. The person requesting for permission may get the permission directly from
the webmaster or he/she would be transferred to refer his/her request to someone who is able to
deal with the person’s request within the company.

Health & Safety practices: It’s a law that all the employees have the responsibility to carry out a risk
assessment. The development of safe environment, the employer has to provide training to the
employees to ensure that they are all formally trained, also have a employee reasons for meeting
department health and safety goals.

Data Security and Data integrity

Data Security: Security of the user’s or the person’s data means that the data has protection. This
security involves the protection of data and software in any case such as: lost, destroyed, corrupted,
modifies and disclosed etc.
Threats to the user’s data can be from hacking meaning obtaining access to the user’s computer
systems without authority. One example is when a virus infects a computer its common that it’s
going to create many copies of itself without the users intentions when this happens the user’s data
can be in risk of being lost so it’s best to create backup files in case something happens to the
original and it could be the USB, CD and hard disk.

Physical safeguard of data include: Physical safeguard is when the user keeps his/her files in a fire
and/or waterproof places so they are safe and in order to protect the user’s files he/she should use
the write protect tab on their disks and tapes by which their data cannot be overwritten. Also
keeping security locks and passes so it keeps unauthorized personal from entering. Safeguard for
software’s can/may also include the user to have an identity and password, users which are part of
these types of system have to log in and out each time they wish to use the computer. Data can also
be encrypted this means that to encode it so that anyone else who doesn’t have the key is always
unable to read it.

Copyright
Permission Form.

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Data integrity: Integrity of any type of data means that it is accurate and complete. The data only
has integrity if it has not been corrupted in any way. Common errors can be such as: transmission
errors, transcription errors and mistake in data capture etc. There are many different way to check
for data integrity such as: a check digit is an extra added number so that if a number is changed n
any case the change will be detected as a error.

Verification is checking that data which has been copied from one place to another to see if it’s still
similar or the same. Double entry verification has the involvement of 2 people keying in the same
data and then the comparison of the data for differences. Validation is when checking data before
processing to see if the data is acceptable or not for the process and this includes type check, range
check and length check.

Adjustment of the Contrast and Brightness on the monitor: The user is able to adjust the contrast
and brightness of the monitor for the improvement in reading and so that they are able to see what
digital images would appear like once they are printed. Using the calibration program gives its users
the best results. To optimize the monitor display these days there are many programs which can
help the user do that. This commonly works with combining a device which temporarily is attached
to the front of the monitor to read light and colour levels and make changes to the monitors display
automatically.

Monitors can also be adjusted manually to improve its contrast or brightness

simply by using the controls which are commonly found on the front of the
monitor but these configurations are less refined because it’s been done
manually so it’s best to use a calibration program. Most monitor use standard
symbols to represent contrast and brightness but since the operation and the
location of contrast and brightness may vary from monitor to monitor the user
might need to experiment or simply check the information booklet that came
with the monitor.

Access rights: In a computer system the rights are arranged to a user, program, to read, write and
erase files. Access right can be tried with a particular server, for direction within the server or to a
specific programs and data files. Having the access rights to a computer the user can just be done by
changing the account type from which the user originally has. Limited users have restricted access
rights where as the administrator has full rights and is allowed to do whatever with their computer
system as they wish. The restrictions which a limited user is forced to have on a limited access
account are that he/she can install/uninstall programs, make wide changes to the system and access
files which are not on their own system user profile. So the user has to be logged on as a system
computer administrator to change the account type.

Physical protection: Computers must be protected from heat, shocks, dust, cuts of tension,
electromagnetic radiations and moisture etc. To ensure that the computer is protected the user
needs to secure the edge of the area against unauthorized access. The user has to be varied of the
danger posed by roof access and windows which are not locked. The user can install a alarm system,
also use CCTV accompanied with monitored screens.

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P6 – (Accurate records of fault diagnosis and repair activities)

Introduction: P6 is made up description of fault diagnosis and solution of how a user can identify
faults and how to repair them. P6 contains possible solutions and nature of reported faults, also
unknown faults which could occur due to issues of memory or hardware. The form proposes a
explanation about the ways some problems can be fixed such as: modem, printer, hardware and
monitor etc.

Fault: A failure or error while the user is on the computer is known as fault. When software
programs direct the computer to go outside of its restricted memory limit it’s a software fault but
commonly known as “crash”. Failure in one of the circuits is known as a Hardware fault.

Fault diagnosis: Fault diagnosis tests are used to select technical employees which need to find &
repair faults in electronic and automatic systems. As equipment of all types become more
dependent on electrical control system the capability to advance problems logically in order to find
the cause of the fault is more necessary.

Symptoms: When a computer is infected by a virus or malicious software, the computer

automatically indicates that something is wrong with the computer and there is malicious software
which is causing problems. This type of software can be very harmful and damaging the computer
system, its root files and many important program files.

Remedy: Remedy is a cure to an injury or in computer term a repair to a crash or a fault. Also it is
known as a solution for a fault.

Faults Possible causes Remedy

Computer does not boot from
Hard disk but it’s able to
booted from external devices
like CD ROM.
The user might be getting an
error message saying “SECTOR
NOT FOUND” while he/she is
trying to retrieve some data or
files.
 Most possible cause for  The remedy for this
this problem could be fault is that the user
that the hard disk or should try and format
the HDD controller is the hard disk if still
damaged. non-functional then the
hard disk has to be
replaced.
 Less possible cause  The remedy for this
could be that the Hard fault is that the user
disk directory or FAT has to format the Hard
system is defective disk before doing that
he/she has to make
sure the data is backed
up.
 Main possible cause  The remedy to this is
could be a number of first make sure the data
causes but the ones is backed up then
which stand out are perform a low level
bad sector in HDD or back-up then divide the
due to a virus infection space and then a high
and the most common. level format.

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Problem which sometimes is
not an actual problem but
mistaken to be it so which is:
No Power in the system, fan
doesn’t turn on, keyboard lights
don’t turn on Power ON light
doesn’t turn on.
Problem which frustrates users
is when there is no colour on
the monitor screen.
The user also faces a C: Drive
failure sometimes.
This problem has a low level
threat to the computer at times
and the computer doesn’t boot.
Mihir Amin
AMI11137281
 Simple cause of this  The remedy to this
problem could be that problem is making sure
the power cable is that the plugs are
unplugged or faulty. plugged in and if faulty
then just replace it with
a good one.
 Rare problem could be  The remedy to this
that power supply problem the person has
failure. to check the mains
supply outlet with a
tester or multimeter if
problem persists than
it’s best for the user to
contact technical
support.
 Possible cause is a  Easiest remedy is the
faulty monitor. replacement of
monitor.
 Less chance of this  The remedy for this
possible cause but it problem is the user
could be when there is needs to enter CMOS
a error in the CMOS setup and correct the
setup error if the user is not
use to this then call
technical support and
the problem can be
solved over the phone.
 The possible cause for  The remedy to this
this problem could be cause is to check if it is
that the Hard disk is not the problem and if yes
connected to the then reconnect HDD
mother board. cable.
 Possible cause could be  The remedy if the OS
that operating system doesn’t load then just
will not load. checks for virus and re-
install the operating
system.
 Another possible cause  Simple remedy for this
could be that there is just to check and
could be a error in the correct the start up
CMOS sequence sequence in the CMOS
setup
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M1

Effective communication: the listener should always be paying attention and listening carefully and
this could be the change on the whole complexion of where/what/ and how the listener responds.
The listener/talker should be interested in talking to everyone or even who they communicate with.
And if the person is the listener then he/she should be ready to respond and if the talker then should
be ready to listen to others.

Types of Problems
Hardware and Software diagnosis software
Verbal and written feedback
Communicating with users
Angry users
Confused users
Experience Users

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