The Mill's method for finding a cause of a problem after seeing an effect can be applied to troubleshooting problems. In fact, Mill's method is the first approach most technicians use to systematize the troubleshooting process.

For this assignment, you have been hired as a computer consultant to help troubleshoot problems experienced by several employees of ACME Products.

Background

ACME Products is a medium size marketing company with about 500 employees in the New York office. There are at least 5 servers and 250 desktop computers at that location. ACME uses FIOS high speed broadband for Internet access. Sales people can bring their own laptops to the office. Employees can also use mobile devices to connect to the company secure Wi-Fi.

Problems

1. One employee complains that he cannot connect to a particular website, but he can access other websites.
2. At least 5 employees, all located in same room, have a problem logging into the company servers.
3. One employee complains that her computer is running very slow after she downloaded the latest Windows 8 security update from the Internet.

Project Deliverables

For each of the above scenarios, use one or more of the 5 methods (method of agreement, method of difference, joint method, method of concomitant variations, method of residues)to propose possible causes of the computer problem. Address each of the following points:

• State what method(s) you are using.
• Explain why you chose to deploy this method.
• What questions would you ask the employees?
• Based on a possible response, what additional questions would you ask? What additional tests would you perform?
• Identify possible causes of each problem.
• Propose possible solutions for each problem.