PC Technician Toolkit 3

[wackjack]

Hey everyone,

I just started a job in the IT field. And as you can guess by the title of the post, my position is a PC technician.

I've been getting acclimated to the job, except that when I go out on sites I sometimes am, how should I say this, less than prepared. What I mean is that I always have to go on the web and download software and such. I just want to be as efficient as possible when I go out to these sites. What I would like to know is what kind of software should I always carry with me?

From my limited experience, I've been taking Spybot and Ad-Aware and the most recent updates for those. I've also been taking with me something like HijackThis and CWShredder. As you can see by the software, I deal with mostly spyware infections and general PC slowdown issues. So I would like to know, what other software should I have with me for diagnostic and troubleshooting purposes?

I appreciate and welcome everyone's input.

 

[2ffat]

I would like to recommend:

http://www.systernals.com

and

http://www.winternals.com.

Both are run by the same people. Systernals has a lot of free programs that are very helpful. Winternals has the "pay" programs. If you deal with a lot of computers it is well worth the price but you will have to convince your employers to pay for it, though.


James P. Cottingham
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^{To determine how long it will take to write and debug a program, take your best estimate, multiply that by two, add one, and convert to the next higher units.}

 

[mattjurado]

You should have Windows cab files for every operating system, and copies of Windows NT, 2000, and XP disks in case you are ever prompted for the CDs.

Pestpatrol and spysweeper are also must haves.

For Antivirus, you'll want a few different ones. A copy of Norton, and I prefer Hauri antivirus, and F-Prot. Hauri is nice because it often removes viral code from files, thus restoring a file, whereas a norton will just quarantine/delete it. Plus, its small enough that virus writers don't target it in their code.

You'll really want to try to get copies of any programs your clients use, so you'll have CDs, when they lose them.

Remote administration tools such as the Remote Desktop Client, PC Anywhere, and perhaps setting up a gotomypc account are very helpful for that client that is a pain to drive out to, for a 5 minute repair.

Win9x bootdisks, a dos bootdisk with ghost on it, and some of the tools from sysinternals.com will be useful.

There are many others, but these are the most common things that I use.

Matt J.

Please always take the time to backup any and all data before performing any actions suggested for ANY problem, regardless of how minor a change it might seem. Also test the backup to make sure it is intact.

 

[bcastner]

http://www.windowsubcd.com/index.htm

http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

http://www.knoppix.net/get.php

 

[wackjack]

Hey, I thank you all for your valuable and quick replies.

I'm in the process of reviewing the websites/tools you guys have pointed me to, and so far they look just like the stuff I was looking for. Thanks again.

 

[Jump1ng]

Another good set of tools is a good memtester

http://www.memtest.org

I would also recommend you to have every hard drive manufacturers diagnostic tools so you can check hard drives.

Another good thing to have is to create a cd with drivers. Keep building this up and keep it up to date. I would start with the mobo chipset drivers as they can usually sort a lot of problems for the users.

As mentioned by Matt you will most likely get a feel of what your companies customers has and you will build up a tool kit taylored for their needs.

One thing just because a piece of software is on a machine doesn't mean that they always have a license for it so if/when they ask you to re-load it make sure that they can provide the cd and license key or it might come back and haunt you.

Have fun on the road fixing machines!


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Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.