Case study: one laptop, one very bad week
Work a realistic multi-symptom laptop end to end, using evidence from several tools to reach and verify a diagnosis.
- Level
- Advanced
- Length
- About 40 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Combine evidence from system information, events, performance data and update history into one diagnosis.
- Separate cause from symptoms when several things are wrong at once.
- Prioritise fixes and verify each against the original complaints.
Course outline
- 1.Case study: one laptop, one very bad weekVideo · 4 min
- 2.The caseLesson · 8 min
- 3.Case 2: repairs that need a sourceLesson · 8 min
- 4.Case 3: the backups that weren'tLesson · 8 min
- 5.Case study: one laptop, one very bad week: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 17 questions
- 6.Case study: one laptop, one very bad week: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 7."It's been slow since the update"Scenario
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Starter library case study (fictional laptop and data)
- Microsoft Learn: Windows Event Log
- Microsoft Support: Windows Update: FAQ
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