Chapter 16: Troubleshooting

1. Chapter 16:Troubleshooting

2. Learning Objectives • Develop your own problem-solving strategy • Use the Event Viewer to locate and diagnose problems • Troubleshoot configuration, security, connectivity, and network printing problems

3. Learning Objectives (continued) • Troubleshoot boot problems, using a variety of tools including the emergency repair disk, safe mode, and the recovery console • Back up and restore system state data

4. Problem Solving Strategy • Develop a problem solving strategy to help you troubleshoot more effectively such as: • Understanding how the server and network interact • Training users to help you solve problems • Learning the essential business processes of your organization

5. Using Network Diagrams • Create network diagrams to help determine the location of specific problems

6. Training Users • Train users to work as allies in solving network and server problems by: • Learning to save their work when a problem occurs • Precisely recording error messages • Quickly reporting error situations and the conditions under which they occurred

7. Learning Business Processes • Learn the essential business processes of your organization and use this knowledge to help you locate and solve problems more rapidly

8. Solving Problems Step by Step • Develop a thorough step-by-step approach to solving problems: • Get as much information as possible before you start • Obtain the precise wording of error messages • Start with simple solutions • Determine how many people are affected

9. Solving Problems Step by Step (continued) • Check for alerts sent to your account • Check the event logs • Use System Monitor filtering • Check for local power problems

10. Tracking Problems and Solutions • Keep a database or log of problems and how they were solved, so that later you don’t have to guess how the same or a similar problem was solved in the past

11. Using Run As • Sometimes you have to work on problems when someone else is logged on or from another person’s computer. Try using the Run as option so you do not have to log off that account to have Administrator privileges.

12. Using the Windows 2000 Server Logs for Troubleshooting • Windows 2000 Server records valuable notification information in event logs: • System log: An event log that records information about system-related events such as hardware errors, driver problems, and hard drive errors • Security log: An event log that records access and security information about logon accesses, file, folder, and system policy changes

13. Using the Windows 2000 Server Logs for Troubleshooting (continued) • Application log: An event log that records information about how software applications are performing • Directory Service log: An event log that records events that are associated with the Active Directory, such as updates to the Active Directory, events related to the Active Directory’s database, replication events, and startup and shutdown events

14. Using the Windows 2000 Server Logs for Troubleshooting (continued) • DNS Server log: An event log that provides information about events associated with the DNS Server, such as instances in which DNS information is updated, when there are problems with the DNS service, and when the DNS Server has started successfully after booting • File Replication Service log: An event log that contains information about file replication events such as changes to file replication, when the service has started, and completed replication tasks

15. Sample Information in the System Log • Type of event • Date and time of the event • Source of the event • Category of the event • Event number • User account involved • Computer involved

16. Viewing an Event Log Figure 16-1 Event Viewer

17. Viewing a Specific Event Figure 16-2 Viewing a system log event

18. Troubleshooting Tip • If a server suddenly crashes or is not functioning normally, make the system log your first stop to look for a problem

19. Event Log Filtering • You can look for specific events in a log by setting up a filter on criteria such as: • Event type, including warning, error, information, success audit, failure audit • Event source • Event category • Event ID • User account • Computer • Date range • Time range

20. Setting Up an Event Log Filter Figure 16-3 Creating a system log filter

21. Event Log Configuration • There are several options for maintaining event logs: • To size each log to prevent it from filling to fast • To regularly clear each log before it is full • To automatically override the oldest events when a log is full

22. Event Log Configuration (continued) Figure 16-4 Configuring event log settings

23. Troubleshooting Server Configuration Problems • Steps you can take to troubleshooting server configuration problems include: • Check the event logs • Check the Control Panel Add/Remove Programs tool for components that need further configuration • Use the Configure Your Server tool in the Administrative Tools menu

24. Troubleshooting Server Configuration Problems (continued) Figure 16-5 Checking to make sure a Windows component is configured

25. Troubleshooting Server Configuration Problems (continued) • Use the Control Panel tools to solve configuration problems • Use the Network and Dial-up Connections tool to solve connectivity problems • Use tools such as Device Manager that are available in the Computer Management tool

26. Troubleshooting Server Configuration Problems (continued) Figure 16-6 Using Device Manager to find a configuration conflict

27. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems • To troubleshoot connectivity problems: • Determine how many stations are experiencing the problem • Check the server’s NIC connection • Verify the protocol setup • Make sure the NIC is properly configured and has the most recent driver • Make sure clients are set up for the correct domain or workgroup

28. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued) • Check cable connections and connectors • Examine network cable for damage

29. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued) Figure 16-7 Troubleshooting the NIC media type

30. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems

31. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

32. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

33. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

34. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

35. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

36. Troubleshooting Connectivity Problems (continued)

37. Troubleshooting TCP/IP Connectivity • Windows 2000 Server includes command line tools that can be used to troubleshoot TCP/IP connectivity problems (many of these tools are also available in Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows 98, and Windows 95 clients)

38. Ipconfig • Ipconfig is an example of a TCP/IP troubleshooting tool used to confirm information such as the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway of the Windows 2000 Server

39. Ipconfig (continued) Figure 16-8 Using ipconfig

40. Ping Figure 16-9 Using ping

41. Windows 2000, NT, 98, and 95 Diagnostic Commands for TCP/IP Connectivity

42. Cable Problems • When network communication problems occur, check for cable problems as one source

43. Troubleshooting Cable Problems Table 16-3 Troubleshooting Cable Problems

44. Troubleshooting Cable Problems (continued)

45. Troubleshooting Cable Problems (continued)

46. Troubleshooting Cable Problems (continued)

47. Troubleshooting Cable Problems (continued)

48. Troubleshooting Network Printing Problems • Try the simplest solutions first when troubleshooting network printing difficulties, such as checking printer connectivity

49. Troubleshooting Network Printing Problems Table 16-4 Troubleshooting Network Printing Problems

50. Troubleshooting Network Printing Problems (continued)