Your Computer Toolbox

[Dodge]

I just found something else you need to have in your toolbox. A keyboard. There are some Office keyboards out that have a scroll wheel on the left side of the board. For some reason the F8 key will not allow you to get into the start menu so you can get into safe mode.

So having an extra keyboard with ya is very handy if you run into this.

[OilPatch197]

and a adaptor for those old serial keyboards.

[Undertaker02]

The toolbox is dependent on what your doing..

If only for your self:

You need the hardware to get you up and running (without investment in a whole pc).. spare mouse, keyboard, cr2032 battery (ok more a tecks tool kit), power lead, phone lead .. these could be new in packets.. perhaps a 2nd hand (tested) FDD, and or a CD rom..
These all just incase a failure.. you have the starting points to test, or get yourself backup.

Software tools: you need the software to recover from the malware attacks.. clean the system.. or even system restoration softwarre.. that is restore from backups.. (we do keep out data on a seperate HDD or partition) .. I have seen various recommendations for these sftware tools..

Now If your planning on helping friends, or doing PC repairs as a second income or professionaly..
Hardware: a complete PC in Spare parts..hmm I joke..
in my situation:
CDROM, FDD, 40G hdd, CD-RW drive, Various Ram sticks, ATX PSU and assorted leads including USB, audio, PC/Molex Power, PS/2, IDE, SATA, Mains power, powerboard. a PCI and a couple of cheap AGP video cards, a x1 and a x4 .
This was built up over time.. and the devices used most will vary with time of year .
Some of these are for testing, some as replacement parts.. I normaly keep an old 20Gb hdd for data backup, drive imaging, testing
In the kit is 2 Digital Volt meters and an analogue Multitester,. the Analogue meter is for current testing .. watching for changes that the digital ones miss..
I recommend only a cheap DVM for starters that is what one of the digi meters is.. You will want at some time to kick start a PSU and check for life.. or test for Juice from the wall socket..boy the number of faults caused by lack of the Mains juice..
A cheap 4 port Hub, and network cables..

Software: CD's, Floppies, and USB drives

Drivers.. disks and disks of drivers... you have a clean install or called in after a clean install and some dodgy hardware.. leeching driver sites, copying driver cds has paid time and again..

OS disks.. Yep saw some one else with this.. You need these for repairs warm instals.. BTW.. if the Product key is not there.. ASK to sight it.. dont be a party to piracy..
CD's with patches, updates, Service packs.. regardless of the internet connection speed, a cd update is quicker than downloading .. and less risky

Live CD OS:
My current prefered is BartPE.. more because it is windose, we are able to get tools to edit the registry.. use other malware scanning tools.. Hirens boot CD is my second choice.. HDD tools, HDD regen, an extra AV source.. Partition tools, etc

Knoppix, FIRE, Plack.. tried each of them.. they are ok.. esp for file recovery, and spotting that hidden (even from BART) file that belongs to the new virus

General software: NTFSDOS.. you will need to run a dos utility on a dead NT machine.. I cried at the inital cost.. but it has paid for itself several times over now..

All the Adware/Spyware utils,

Virus Removal tools.. leeching Symantec, AVG, F-Secure and others helps.. some times one tool just wont clean it.. generaly Symantec tools 95% of time will ..

Boot Floppies.. just because.. some machines still need them.. in here I also keep the NTFSDOS boot floppies, some good ol'e dos tools including, registry tools mainly for 9x repairs..


And a well trained user..
read any and all pc magazine articals.. and question the comments.. some of those guys would learn a lot from this site.. Visit several online forums, you will wade through rubbish.. but the golden information is there..
Don't forget there are the hardware news sites, tech news,

Your education is the most important tool in the kit..
I have home crash test network.. this is for learning and is seperate to our Home network..
Having a machine that can be fiddled with is still a handy learning tool..

That covers some of my thoughts on this area.. oh and there are only 24hrs in a day.. the brain works best when some of the day time is spent with family and friends..

cheers

[dlymor]

OK, I like the thread and the way it's going. It took me a few pages to realize there are (to me) 2 types of toolboxes being talked about. One is a physical toolbox, the other software.

So, for a beginner, I'd say you want the following in a PHYSICAL toolbox:

One of those black case toolsets with a couple of different sized screwdrivers. You want at least 2: one with a short arm and another with a long arm (something that extends maybe 6 inches from the base of the handle to the tip. Cases always get in the way). OH! Just about everything in a computer is attached with Phillips head screws. Keep a flat head on hand all the same!
Some strong sturdy pliers
A pillbox (like people use for taking pills) to hold screws, jumpers, etc. (and to have the same on hand should you need them).
Tweezers!!!!! Either the real kind or the ones that you can push down on and extend into small spaces to pick stuff up (I have large hands, which is not good when you drop a screw between memory slots or pci cards).
Can of compressed air. I hate working in/with dusty motherboards and fans!
Permanent market.
Pen or pencil, with some paper to make notes.
AntiStatic bag (in case you need to take something with you.
Scissors! (You just never know).


Now, for a beginner, dont' worry about getting the best or priciest stuff. For one, it makes no sense. You don't know what you like best yet!!! I've been at this for nearly 20 years now. My first toolcase is still the best one I have ever used. Cost me about $9.95 (US) (and that's adjusted for today's dollars). I've used some with 20 different tips for the ratcheting screwdriver. They had 5 different screwdrivers in this kit, as well as wet wipes, hex wrences, ..... I used it one time and got fed up with it. I have it, but never use it.

The compressed air comes in handy for blowing out fans that are making noise (funny how heavy dust can be!). It's also good for blowing screws out of tight places when they drop and are just out of reach of your stubby nubs.

Speaking of reach, I use both types of tweezers. The ones found in a ladies cosmetic case as well as the ones with the wire grabbers on the end.

Antistatic bag because if you pull a card, memory or anything else, you'll want to protect it (even if it's defunct, you don't want to add to it's problems).

Marker, pen, pencil and paper: Sometimes you forget what cable is going where! Nice to make a mark on it saying this is the master connector, this is the slave and this is the controller (I still come across older systems with those generic colorless cables). And, hey, I'm an old man. I need to write down everything!

If you are just starting out, make sure to not get drowned in what others say. Keep your toolbox small starting out. When you find you are forgetting a necessary item 3 or more times, then add it to your standard setup.

If something makes life easier FOR YOU, add it to your standard setup. I used to keep screws in a little plastic bag tied up with a rubber band. Finally, I found myself tiring of sorting out jumpers, so I got the pillbox and split them up as needed.

Now, that covers the physical. In software, I'd suggest the same as a few others have:

Something (disk or cd) to allow you to:
scan for spyware/malware
antivirus tool
Windows xxxxx cd (the original that you can boot from) - xxxx would be the operating system the user is using.

I have some suggestions for each, but you've seen them all by now i f you've followed this thread this far!

Again, these are the basics. When you find yourself attacking the same thing over and over, add that package to your cd.

Oh, yeah, I suggest the original cd for whatever operating system as a final catchall. I happen to work on a lot of older systems. I can't always be assured that their drives will be able to read my CD R/RW discs. So, just in case .......

Now, as you move along, you will get familar with manufacturer utils such as MaxBlast for checking Maxtor hard drives. Or IBM's Drive Fitness Test utility. But, there's no reason to add them to your first utils cd until you've used them. I mean, if you are in a Maxtor shop, you will just be wasting space having IBM's utility.

Well, enough from me on a beginner's setup.
If you are new to the game, what do YOU think you should have?

[Szara]

So far I've only worked on mine and my office's computers, but if I were to branch out, I'd use quite a few of the suggestions from this thread.

Sorry if I'm sidetracking a bit, but...

One of those black case toolsets with a couple of different sized screwdrivers....A pillbox (like people use for taking pills) to hold screws, jumpers, etc. (and to have the same on hand should you need them).
Tweezers!!!!! Either the real kind or the ones that you can push down on and extend into small spaces to pick stuff up (I have large hands, which is not good when you drop a screw between memory slots or pci cards).

I recently found a toolkit distributed by Fellowes for under $20, containing a multitude of screwdrivers, including the little tiny ones; a grabby-claw tool for picking up small lost things; two types of tweezers; and a "pillbox" with four compartments and four each of extra jumpers, screws, spacers and washers; and a tube with a lid for those spare parts that have no place. All the tools are demagnetized, easy to handle, and strapped in with elastic...though I've added a couple of my own to the bunch.

I don't know HOW I did without it anymore. =^.^=
Twisty-ties in varying lengths are a good thing to have also, to get those loose cords out of the way, whether temporarily or for good.

I've found an external hard drive case to be a godsend when trying to troubleshoot a drive with problems, in addition to being good for additional storage when I'm not actively working on a troubled system.

My software is carried around in a little Case Logic mini-binder with removable, labelable pages, so it's easy to take with me and I can keep everything organized, including product keys and such on the individual CD sleeves.

As for software, I keep the OS installation discs on hand, all software installation discs that I've put onto systems I've worked on, labeled accordingly; Windows security updates and SP2 (I prefer to install these before connecting to the internet)...and a couple discs with "Essential software" which, for me, includes the latest versions of the following (my preference in brackets): browser (Firefox), anti-virus (AVG), firewall (Zone Alarm) anti-spyware (Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D), PDF reader (Adobe), system configuration monitor (Everest), and file explorer (2xExplorer). I consider these all to be essential when working on a new system, or even when someone lets me clean up their system (which has only happened once, so far). On this disk I also keep some not-so-essential programs that might come in handy ~ Access Manager and my password database, so I can access my online resources; a list of said online resources in an html file; MSN Messenger in case I need to call on a friend for help; TweakUI, because there are some features I'm just so used to I can't do without them anymore. =^.~=

And I'll always be adding more.

[104456]

Hi All
Certainly a comprehensive list of spyware,malware and repair tools.One which may come in handy for systems that will just about boot but need a complete format and reinstall the legally registered owner having lost/mislaid the installation product key is Magical Jelly bean key finder.

The Magical Jelly Bean Key finder is a freeware utility that retrieves your Product Key (cd key) used to install windows from your registry. It has the options to copy the key to clipboard, save it to a text file, or print it for safekeeping. It works on Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP. This version is a quick update to make it work with Windows Server 2003.

The most important item in your toolbox is your own brain which encompasses common sense,knowledge and skill all of which can be found for free

[104456]

Another useful freeware tool for looking up your main IP if you are on a network is IP2 .

IP2 is a small program that you can use to determine your IP addresses - both WAN and LAN. What this means is that along with showing you the traditional IP address that your computer is using in its local environment (e.g. a LAN) it will also show you what your IP address is from the perspective of an "outsider" on the Internet. This is in contrast to the many tools and utilities available on the Internet that simply return the LAN address, which is useless if somebody on the Internet needs to connect to your computer.

[bistro]

The most important item in your toolbox is your own brain which encompasses common sense,knowledge and skill all of which can be found for free

Aw heck....if THAT'S the case, then I'd definitely better be off to Home Depot....