Diagnose & Perform Basic System Administration
What does a sysadmin actually do on a normal school day?
- Describe the role of a sysadmin in maintaining uptime, performance, resources and security
- Apply diagnostic tools (Task Manager, Event Viewer, Device Manager) to find issues
- Perform a basic repair task — driver update, disk cleanup or malware scan
Overview
A system administrator (sysadmin) keeps the lab running. This week we open three of Windows' built-in diagnostic tools, identify one warning on each PC, and fix a small fault the teacher has planted (an outdated driver, a full disk, or a suspicious startup item).
The sysadmin's four jobs
Uptime — keep the machines running. Performance — keep them fast enough. Resources — make sure disk, RAM and licences are enough. Security — patch, back up and lock down.
Three diagnostic tools
Task Manager shows what is running now (CPU, RAM, disk). Event Viewer shows the log of past problems (Information, Warning, Error). Device Manager shows the hardware — a yellow triangle means a driver problem.
The repair workflow
Symptom → Diagnosis → Action → Verification. Never skip verification: 'I applied a fix' is not the same as 'the problem is gone'. Record every step in a repair log.
Diagnose and repair a lab PC
- In pairs, open Task Manager, Event Viewer and Device Manager on a lab PC.
- Identify one warning or error in each tool and write down what it means.
- The teacher will seed a small fault — repair it (driver update, disk cleanup, or malware scan).
- Complete the repair log: symptom → diagnosis → action → verification.
- Name the sysadmin's four core jobs.
Reveal answer
Uptime, performance, resources, security.
- Which tool would you open first if a PC is very slow?
Reveal answer
Task Manager — to see current CPU, memory and disk usage.
- State the 4 steps of the repair workflow.
Reveal answer
Symptom, diagnosis, action, verification.
Interview your school's IT technician for 10 minutes. List three tasks they do that were not covered in class.