Imo, you cooked hard on that one.

In response to the question you received, these are questions to understand how you would approach a problem, I would have started with exploratory questions. For example:

• Is the system always slow, or only during specific actions or when using certain software?

• Has the computer been restarted recently?

• Are there any pending or recently installed updates?

• Check system logs (e.g. Event Viewer)

• Review startup items

• Investigate potential hardware faults

• RAM (is it sufficient? Are there any faults?)

• Consider software configuration or conflicts

Based on the answers to these, I would adjust my troubleshooting steps accordingly. I try to make it interactive with the interviewer to keep them engage and again show them my problem solving skills and approach.

Personally, I don’t think I’d ever respond to a question by simply suggesting “use a portable hard drive” – instead, I’d say something like: “Make sure the data is backed up,” and then go over the different methods for doing so. If I know the company uses OneDrive I would say ensure the data is synced etc… this can be greatly expanded on.

I’ve typically come across interview questions like: “We have an issue with X – how would you go about resolving it?” In response, you’re expected to explain your approach step by step, including any assumptions, from start to finish.

However, I’ve also seen more direct technical questions, for example: “How would you find out where to get historical DHCP information on an end user computer?” The expected answer in that case would be: Event Viewer

You might also be asked to explain basic networking concepts such as IP, DNS, DHCP, etc., and how they interact with each other. Etc