A technician is dispatched to troubleshoot a slow performance issue on a PC.
Upon arrival, the technician immediately opens Task Manager and sees that CPU and RAM performance are within normal ranges.
The technician then checks and verifies the speed and duplex settings and performance on the network card.
The technician then temporarily disables the antivirus to see if performance is affected, and it is not.
After re-enabling the antivirus, which of the following is the NEXT best step for the technician to take?
Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer
A. B. C. D.A.
Based on the given scenario, the technician has already checked the CPU and RAM performance, verified network card performance, and temporarily disabled the antivirus. None of these actions resolved the slow performance issue. Therefore, the next best step for the technician to take would be to systematically troubleshoot and narrow down the cause of the problem.
Of the four given options, updating the operating system, drivers, and firmware on the PC would be the best next step for the technician to take. This is because outdated software and drivers can cause performance issues, and updating them can often resolve such issues. Additionally, firmware updates can improve the performance and stability of hardware components.
Option A, checking for insufficient hard drive space, is also a valid troubleshooting step, as a lack of disk space can cause a computer to slow down. However, this step would be better suited as an earlier step in the troubleshooting process, before checking the CPU and RAM performance, as insufficient hard drive space can affect these metrics as well.
Option C, logging into the PC with another user profile and testing performance, may help to identify whether the issue is specific to the user profile, but it is not a definitive step towards solving the problem.
Option D, shutting down the PC, unplugging the power, and then booting the PC, may help to clear any temporary issues with the hardware components or system settings, but it is not a targeted troubleshooting step and may not address the root cause of the issue.
Therefore, updating the operating system, drivers, and firmware on the PC would be the most effective next step for the technician to take in resolving the slow performance issue.