Identify the Symptoms and Potential Causes
The first step in the troubleshooting process is to establish exactly what the symptoms of the problem are. This stage of the troubleshooting process is all about information gathering. To get this information, we need a knowledge of the operating system used, good communication skills, and a little patience. It is very important to get as much information as possible about the problem. You can glean information from three key sources: the computer (in the form of logs and error messages), the computer user experiencing the problem, and your own observation.
Once you have identified the symptoms, you can begin to formulate some of the potential causes of those symptoms.