thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $69
Enroll

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

IT Support & Hardware · Foundational

CompTIA Troubleshooting Methodology

CompTIA's six-step process: identify the problem, theorize, test, plan and implement, verify, and document.

Definition

The steps are: (1) identify the problem, (2) establish a theory of probable cause, (3) test the theory, (4) establish a plan of action and implement the solution, (5) verify full system functionality and implement preventive measures, and (6) document findings, actions, and outcomes. Considering corporate policies and backing up data come before making changes. It applies across A+, Network+, and other CompTIA exams.

Example

A technician gathers info from the user, suspects a bad driver, rolls it back to test, then documents the fix in the ticket.

Exam tip

Questions often ask 'what should the technician do NEXT?'; map the scenario to the step that follows.

Related terms