FLINT HILLS TECHNICAL COLLEGE
Network Troubleshooting Flowchart

START
Windows Workstation Unable to Access a Network Service
Gather Clues
A. Ask Questions.
 i. What were you doing when the problem occurred?
ii. Have there been any recent changes to the network?
B. Have the customer recreate the problem while you watch.
While watching, check for obvious user errors (ID10T errors), such as Caps-Lock being on.
Do other workstations on the LAN have the same problem?
Yes  or  No
↓        
Are the switch, hub, or wireless access point's power & link-lights lit?
Yes  or  No
↓        
ping the destination by name. Successful?
Yes  or  No
        ↓
ping the destination by IP address. Successful?
Yes  or  No
        ↓
Execute: ipconfig /all
on at least two LAN workstations having the same problem. What type of IP addresses?
DHCP starting with 169.254 (APIPA)  or  DHCP IP addresses  or  Static IP addresses
↓                                                                                                                
Possible Solutions
A. DHCP server down, not configured properly, or not installed on LAN. Start it back up, configure it properly, or install it.
B. Locked-up switch, hub, or access point. Unplug it and plug it back in. If it is managed and still unresponsive, try resetting it back to factory default settings.
C. Misconfigured managed switch or access point. Configure it properly. If all else fails, reset it to factory default settings.
D. Bad switch, hub, or access point. Power lights are still lit, but link lights probably are not. Swap it with another one to test. Replace if bad.
E. Chatty NIC on LAN. Malfunctioning or faulty NICs sometimes become "chatty", putting out excessive packets on the network and using up all of its bandwidth, which affects all workstations in that broadcast domain. Unplug the power from the computer with the chatty NIC and then plug it back in. If this doesn't fix the problem, the NIC is probably bad, in which case it will have to be replaced or disabled.
Problem Solved?
Document Your Solution
FINISHED

Click here for a graphical version of this flowchart.