Your Computer Toolbox

Actually. Yes, I always keep extra shells....:D

How ya doin GG1. Did ya get my email last week?

Anyways. I always keep my zip drive ready with the lastest version of Spybot, AdAware, HJT, and a few other goodies like Crap Cleaner. Excellant little program. www.ccleaner.com

I have all the tools to disasemble a PC, including Arctic silver 5 on hand. Extra battery, AMD and Celeron CPU's that have been pulled from working machines that are long gone now. (just in case)

I have ISO buster, Driver Image, WD's and Maxtors diagnostic tools. Wipeout. Win/98se bootdisk. Copy of Windows 95, 98se, ME,2000 all versions, 2003 All Versions, and XP home/pro, SP2 and diagnostic tools ready to go. I also have alot of updates for 2000/XP like the sasser, blaster virus fix tools and patches.

I do however need to make another bootable CD. My got lost. I think I may have ate that sucker thinking it was a thin crust pizza...:D

Oh yeah, I also keep a bottle of St. John's Wart with me at all times... (Enhances your Mood and give you energy. That way I dont kill someone else machine when I gets mad....:D)

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...what is the most important tool...

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But as I said, in terms of what the tool does or adresses, not the name specifically.

Whats up Dr. Been a long time since I've seen you around also.

Most important tool IMO is Yourself. You must have the knowledge and you must have the ability to stay calm. The rest will fall in place.

Dodge, No email from you. Server was down for three days. But you should hace gotten a notice on that. Try PMing me. :)

DrMDJ, Could you expand on that abit? Must be tired but if no name how do we know what we are refering to in a tool.

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Whats up Dr. Been a long time since I've seen you around also.

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Oh I been here making sure GG1 doesn't cause "too" much trouble. Tough job though.;)

Goose,

For instance, FDISK, Partition Magic, etc are names of tools that allow one to view and alter partitions. What I'm interested in getting people's input on is what functions (such as to be able to view and alter partitions) the tools in a good "toolbox" should be able to perform. Not the names of tools (for now) that they use to perform these functions (like FDISK or Pm in the example used here). Any clearer?

ERD Commander, for its ability to bring dead PC's back to life.
LSPfix, for it its ability to fix broken browsers.
Another browser on a USB key, to download stuff if the browser's really dead.
A 'live' CD - for lots of reasons.

Hiren's Boot CD... a CD that has lots of goodies on it
much like Philgo's My Groovy BootCD

MS-DOS 7.1 Boot disk(suports LFN's) with killhd.bat file included.

a 10 in one screw driver(for the screws duh)

If I got room a cordless drill(really makes taking out the screws fast, and love the "torque" selections when installing screws)

A Partition Magic Rescue disk set(to create/del/convert partitions)

A can of Compressed air(to remove dust)

A Mutimeter(craftsman or Fluke) to find shorts

A IC chip extractor tool(to remove onboard memory chips)

CDROM and Floppy Cleaning diskettes

Assorted Spare screws(never know when you'll loose one, AND NO we don't put cases back together with missing screws)

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For instance, FDISK, Partition Magic, etc are names of tools that allow one to view and alter partitions. What I'm interested in getting people's input on is what functions (such as to be able to view and alter partitions) the tools in a good "toolbox" should be able to perform. Not the names of tools (for now) that they use to perform these functions (like FDISK or Pm in the example used here). Any clearer?

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Much clearer now that I've slept a little. And we need to know how to use them.

Going a bit further OilPatch197 and zipulrich both did just that. Which helps save time for the reader that is not familiar with them at all. We might take for granted that because we know how one of our "tools" work in our toolbox others will know too when we mention it and how to use it. Such, of course, is not the case, especially when a person is starting out with a computer. When you think of it most of these if not all were made or created as a result of a need.

A screwdriver was, a multimeter, a boot disk, or a little program such as cwshredder which eliminates a bit of spyware (in the family of malware) that has to do with Coolsearch are a few examples. We also need to know how to use it which is most important.

With the posts already up and various comments is there any question as to the direction we need to go in?

One tool you need is your operating system CD. It has help, how to's, and other instructions on it. Needed to reinstall your operating system or extract files from it to replace corrupted files on your computer. From some an Emergency Restore disk (a form of boot disk) can be made which is very important especially in proprietery situations. :)

Let me rephrase my question again...

If you were advising someone looking to put a "toolbox" together, what functions would you say the tools they put in it should perform (both for the basic and advanced case)? What should their "toolbox" enable them to do?

Interesting question. I would have to write abook to answer it completely. :D

Let's suppose a person buys a PC for the first time. And he/she gets it up and running. At this point most new users have not yet realized their computer will require to be taken care of. They have no "toolbox" either as they do not know the concept yet. It is also at this point that this computer needs to be taken care of to run properly and give the user optimum performance.

I know of no computer on this earth that is trouble free.

So the computer keeps being operated and it starts to get slower and slower. The user sees what is happening but does not know how to remedy the issue. Ultimatley, he asks for help and is told he needs to clean out the computer, scan or chkdisk, and "Defragment" the hard drive. Which is done. Results - still slow operation. More questions asked and again (for example) and is told there is malware on the computer. The question is how do to get rid of it. Use a malware program is the answer written speciffically for this. Then a download, install, and running of the program is done. Results? There is now one tool in the "toolbox.

The user needed a tool to solve his problem and got one.

This is usually what happens with a computer. What needs to be done is build the "toolbox" based on what you need or will need. But how in the heck do you know what you need? This is what this thread is about. Users with experience can answer this as they have been through it.

Why do we put the tools we do in the toolbox?

One tool I would not be without on my PC at home (and at work if the boss would agree to purchase it) is something like System Mechanic.

This is, in fact, a lot of tools rolled into one app. Call it a general system de-junker.

It will rid you of unneccesary registry entries, random temp files, and such. It may even also control Startup Items, etc.

It is amazing how fast a PC that is being used 'normally' (I.E not being used excessively) can build up these temp files. And also amazing how much they can slow a system down, or even cause instability.

Is this what you were looking for?

Hong

Why I put the "Tools" I use in my toolbox? Because I've found as GG1 says, most computer users, new and old alike don't have a clue what spyware or malware is. When going to a clients/friends house, I take along the usual screwdrivers/tools. Then I take also a cd or floppy full of software tools.

Floppy emergency bootdisks.

CD contains spyware detectors; Spybot Search and Destroy, Adaware, CWShredder, and McAfee's Stinger. AVG free version. And finally SpywareBlaster.....installed, updated and setup before I leave clients/friends house/computer. And the CD contains one more piece of software: Everest, to detect what kind of computer, what ram, what motherboard, what video card, what sound or sound card. Ok, one more thing I put on the cd is a text file, opened with any computer with Notepad, on how to use these spyware detectors, and what to do weekly.

A can of compressed air; comes in handy for those dust bunnies. A tube of Artic Silver? yeah, that's a good idea and never though of that, thanks for who suggested it. I don't carry extra parts, as so far I've not had any of those problems.

Sometimes, I carry extra CD's full of those spyware/malware and antivirus software to give to clients. You wouldn't believe how many times I have heard, "Can you come install that so and so program? I think I deleted it, I didn't think I needed it."...:rolleyes: Some of my clients live pretty far out, or used to and leaving them a cd with that software on it saves me and them time.

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Let me rephrase my question again...

If you were advising someone looking to put a "toolbox" together, what functions would you say the tools they put in it should perform (both for the basic and advanced case)? What should their "toolbox" enable them to do?
Thank-you Dr
I do not wish to fuel this thread,but I would like also to know what and how the tools are used,not what is just whacked in there tool box,we all know what a "spanner" is,but how is it used,am sure this is the way to go..

:cool:http://www.towerdesign.co.uk/spanner.gif

Thanks Photolady

I like the text file in the "toolbox" idea. I have never thought of that. Saves you from having to remember things until you need them. Nice input.

Bingo hongman - exactly what we need.

And guess what I got a couple of ideas to try based on what you both said. Thanks.

PhotoLady, I would certainly suggest that you use a USB drive instead of a CD. Much easier if you have to add programs, or basically move anything from your computer to the clients. Its also great for those numerous program updates.
I also make a folder on every persons desktop that I go to called "PC Maintenance" where I put Malware programs (Spybot, Adaware etc) Everest and any other programs that I deem necessary. I have also made a small txt file explaining how to use the various programs for those customers that don't know.