What is The first step to all good computer troubleshooting?

Computer troubleshooting is one of those things that is best learned from extensive personal experience with computers and computer problems. However, here are some techniques that can be helpful and certain common problems which you can easily identify: - If you're getting an error code, do an internet search on it. Someone else has almost always had the same problem and has gotten advice on it. - If a computer is crashing (blue screening, restarting, freezing) a helpful tool in finding what's causing it is the Event Viewer. In Windows XP you can access this by going to Start>Run and typing in "evntvwr" and in Vista you can find it by simply doing a search for Event Viewer. In here, you can browse the System and Application Logs looking for errors. Once you find ones that correspond with the crash times, you can generally find some useful error code or information that an internet search will bring up information on. - If the computer isn't turning on at all, it's probably hardware. Try removing different components to narrow it down to the problem. The only thing you really have to have plugged in to the motherboard is the power supply. You can disconnect the CPU, Hard Drives, CD/DVD/Floppy drives, and PCI Cards. Common problems are fried power supplies, bad motherboard (either fried or bad capacitors), and fried PCI cards. - If a computer is randomly restarting or crashing, check the motherboard capacitors. If they're bulging on top (not level) that may very well be the problem. - Malware is a common cause of a number of different problems. Good indications that malware is the problem are slowness, pop-ups (particularly ones about security and spyware/adware/etc.), and link redirection (do an internet search, click on a link, and you end up being brought to some other web page). Ultimately, there isn't a hard, fast set of rules for troubleshooting. It has alot to do with instinct and past experience but the more you do it, the better you'll get.