'It's important to show respect to others by taking their problems seriously. Self-discipline is important for meeting deadlines and delivering resolutions to the user. The tech should know the company's business, understand the role of each party and communicate with diverse groups of people, especially those who aren't tech-savvy. Being detail-oriented, thinking creatively and logically and having the ability to transfer knowledge to new situations are other important attributes.'

'The main duties are to install and configure hardware, operating systems and applications. Besides maintaining and monitoring systems and networks, they analyse and fix underlying issues and problems, test and evaluate new technology and perform safety checks. Other duties are answering, processing and logging support calls. They also validate and update software licences, manage supplies and replace parts.'

'I can prioritise instinctively. For instance, total network failure is a top priority because it affects everyone. Next is partial failures because those affect smaller groups of users, followed by small network failures that affect single groups of users. Following that, I would prioritise by a single workstation failure, where no tasks can be done, or partial failure, where some tasks can be done and lastly, minor issues.'

'First, I have to find and understand the exact problem. Next, I ask 'yes' and 'no' or quantifying questions. I try to get specific explanations of the problem and repeat my understanding of the problem. Then, I eliminate variables using error messages, event logs, screenshots, and the results of running diagnostics. The next step is to reproduce and isolate the problem and develop ideas about what's going wrong. Removing integrations helps so I can fix one thing at a time. The last steps are to fix the problem, test it, and put together a proactive plan for the future.'

'Using algorithms, encryption ensures that any intercepted data remains unreadable, and it's a vital tool for the security of data and systems. Within the company and shared communication channels, it changes data into an unreadable format when it's sent to another user. It's then decrypted so the user can read the information. Without getting too technical, a couple of network encryptions are wired equivalent privacy, or WEP and Wi-Fi protected access or WPA.'

'Firewalls are hardware or software devices that prevent cyberattacks and protects information when it's transferred between devices on the same network or remotely. They protect by setting rules for users and gather records of the traffic they receive so new rules can be established. Types of firewalls are circuit-level gateways, cloud, next-gen, packet-filtering, proxy and stateful inspection.'

'Every technical issue is different, so the time it takes to resolve issues varies. I consider the experience of the end-user and the software and equipment used. I try to minimise downtime, but some problems can take hours, and some require research, so I must go offline before responding to the user. In a normal shift, I would say that on average, I can resolve about 12 issues.'

'There are so many shortcuts, but one of my favourites is the *.msc shortcut. For instance, services.msc launches services applets, and dsa.msc launches the active directory of users and computers. The SET command gives me information about users and their sessions, and WIN+R brings up the Run dialogue. A really helpful trick is to use the steps recorder and create mini-screencasts for showing coworkers how to do some problem-solving, and to monitor network connections, I use NETSTAT.'

'Ghost imaging is also known as cloning because it copies the contents of one hard disk over to another server in a compressed file called an image. It's a software-driven backup process used to reinstall operating systems, restore a system, or allow one system to be cloned onto other systems. Other uses include setting up servers, notebooks, or blocks of tablets.'

'To fix a lot of problems, the first thing to do is reboot the system. I'd scan for viruses, malware and check for conflicts within the device manager. Sometimes slow-downs are caused by insufficient memory, so I'd delete temporary files, browser cache, and unused files or programmes. I'd run the defrag programme, and as a last step, I'd upgrade the hard disk to increase RAM, install an updated processor, and update the operating system.'

'The power supply, motherboard, network card, processor, memory, video interface and the bus system are the crucial hardware components. The hard drive, keyboard, mouse and monitor are also essential hardware.'

'Device drivers are software programmes that are linked to the operating system. The software allows the computer to interact with its hardware, such as the keyboard and mouse, monitors, digital cameras, printers, networks, and storage. These devices interact with the operating system and require security.'

'I'd first make sure the printer had power, that the computer and printer were connected to the hard drive, and choose the desired printer from the add printer menu. If working in a network environment, I'd use the option of adding a network, wireless, or Bluetooth printer and then install it and upgrade the printer drivers if necessary. Sometimes, a computer fails to recognise its network printer. In that case, I'd find the network and sharing centre in the control panel and enable the network to discover and file the printer sharing options.'

'The blue screen has a stop error or message that means you could lose your files if they're not backed up. This problem can be caused by the computer's hardware, driver software, or broken or flawed apps. The first thing I check for is installed, updated, or software changes made before the BSOD. I can use the screen's error or stop code to find the problem. First, I restart the computer and update the drivers. Or, I disconnect some of the hardware and reboot the computer in safe mode.  Other fixes are looking for bad hard drive sectors and cables, using the system restore, and installing any available updates. Also, from the boot menu, I can use the startup repair option.'