Required Tools for PC Repair?

kennethrona asks: "I seem to be spending a lot of my time installing friends' WiFi access points, replacing power supplies, hard disks, blocking ports, installing software, etc. I can usually find any of the software I need on-line, but am thinking about putting together a "toolkit" for PC repair. What tools, both hardware and software, does the community think are essential for PC repair? Bonus points for free software (I always install a free firewall and spyware checker). Also, keep in mind that most folks are running Windows."

Comments

Knoppix

[dJCL]

Keep a knoppix disk handy, helps to determine if it a software or hardware issue. If it fails in windows and works in knoppix, it is most likely software, but if it fails in knoppix too, it startes too look a lot like hardware. That is usually the most annoying thing to figure out in a lot of cases. Knoppix just has the advantage of not doing any damage to the tested system and will put it throu the paces quite well.

Other options for inclusion are to taste.

Re:Knoppix

[zcat_NZ]

Not only does knoppix correctly configure and use a large amount of current hardware; it'll also detect a much larger amount of hardware that isn't actually supported (winmodems, USB cameras, etc..) and display the details in dmesg.

Under XP, stuff that 'isn't working' for whatever reason just vanishes from the Device Mangler with no clue as to why. And when you plug in a new device, windows tells you it found "A camera" or "A scanner"; linux will actually identify it so you know what drivers to go download.

Re:Knoppix

[Sancho]

There are cases where the opposite is true, though.

I had a Windows PC that had random crashes, etc. Typical hard-to-diagnose problems. It booted Linux just fine, but Windows would bluescreen anywhere from the Starting Windows 2000 screen to the login screen or even sometimes after logging in. Linux was (apparently) just fine. So I assumed something corrupt in Windows, and I decided to reinstall. Install wouldn't work, again, crashing at random points.

Most people who troubleshoot PCs are probably screaming "Bad RAM!" right now, and they're right. Some of the memory in the machine had gone bad. Apparently the way Windows and Linux allocate resources was different enough that Linux never hit the bad memory during the short periods I'd use it (for troubleshooting) but Windows tried to access it fairly early on in the boot cycle and crumpled.

So while there /is/ a software problem (Obligatory "Windows Sucks") the problem was hardware, and just checking it in Linux didn't help.

A few more items you might want...

[scj]

This is probably more junk than you want to haul around, so pick and choose what will be most useful to you.

• Try to keep a known-good video card handy. Then if the computer is really messed up you can pull everything but that video card and one stick of memory to see if you can boot.
• It's also a good idea to keep a known-good network card handy along with driver disks.
• Get a good DOS bootdisk. Try to get one that will let you mount SMB shares from DOS.
• I seem to recall utils to let you read NTFS from DOS too, so try to get that on a disk or CD.
• Copies of Norton Ghost and Parition Magic can come in handy sometimes.
• Is there a way to write to CD-R from DOS? Or maybe Knoppix will work for that. Might be useful for backing up stuff before major surgery.
• Heck, CD-R drives are pretty cheap now ($50-60, I think), so bring one along if you want a very complete kit. Or maybe just pack a cheap 30GB hard drive (I recommend you keep it at 30GB or less so it will work with older BIOSes).
• Knoppix and Memtest86 (as others have mentioned) are very good. Tomsrtbt is also good.
• Pack some zip-ties for making wires and cables neat. And bring something to cut out old ties.
• Bring a paper clip for ejecting stuck CDs.
• Super glue. Duct tape. Thermal compound.
• An "L" shaped phillips screw driver for when a longer one won't fit.
• Bring a hex-head screw driver for removing case screws that have been stripped.
• Something long with a magnet on one end for fishing lost case screws.
• A pair of long, thin "pliers" that lock tight when you close them for gripping things. I forget the name, but they almost look like a medical instrument for clamping veins and such.
• IDE cable, floppy cable, phone cable, ethernet cable. Extra screws of the normal type for computer cases. Extra jumpers.
• A kit to mount a 3.5-inch drive in a 5.25-inch bay.
• I think you can fit the install files for win95/98/Me all on one CD, so burn one and keep it handy for when windows demands the install CD for drivers.
• It might also be a good idea to burn all the service packs and bug fixes you can find for old versions of windows. Include the latest version of IE and DirectX.
• A pair of cheap headphones for testing sound cards.
• A can of compressed air and maybe some of those moistened towels in packets for cleaning stuff. Get some Goo-Gone if you want to be extra prepared.