Dick Montage Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 Anti-static bands are rubbish. I've been ripping apart computers for years without em. Same, BUT... If I go on-site to fix a machine, I go through all the motions none the less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted December 8, 2009 Veteran Share Posted December 8, 2009 Anti-static bands are rubbish. I've been ripping apart computers for years without em. With all of the advancements in technology, I haven't had an issue in a while where I needed to wear a static strap. When working on servers many many many many years ago a simple memory upgrade fried the motherboard without one. A processor upgrade required a psu replacement, a motherboard replacement, and memory replacement. I don't know what has changed in more recent years but I am happy that it has. To say that they are rubbish is absolutly ignorant, to say that they aren't needed now is more correct. Not saying that these devices can't fry with static electricity, but these devices are either less prone to it or the cases have improved greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyAndyK Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 I'd like to suggest FixWin. FixWin is a 529 KB freeware portable application to repair & fix common Windows annoyances & issues. FixWin detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant fixes only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdood Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 To say that they are rubbish is absolutly ignorant, to say that they aren't needed now is more correct. Not saying that these devices can't fry with static electricity, but these devices are either less prone to it or the cases have improved greatly. It's certainly possible to break or damage (which is harder to detect) electronics in a modern PC as well, and bracelets and mats haven't been made redundant. When people say things like that on the web, it's worth considering scale. Are we talking about people who mess around with half a dozen of their own PCs over a span of years, or someone who deals with a hundred machines a week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thechronic Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) I fix computers as a side job for people every month (You know, a few people a month to make that extra buck) but I want to get to know more tools I can use to help with different issues. I am not sure what tools to use to remove a simple virus or trojan or what tool to use to optimize someones PC because theres just so many... I found this: <a href="http://www.paulspoerry.com/2008/03/30/be-your-own-it-free-computer-repair-tools/" target="_blank">http://www.paulspoerry.com/2008/03/30/be-y...r-repair-tools/</a> But It doesnt list all the categories. So does anyone have any links they can help me out? Hammer Blowtorch & Welder Kit Masking Tape Emulsion (apply with a roller) -- In all seriousness i find the following useful :) Plenty of Computer components An old Jar full of screws and Pillars for the motherboards! Power & USB Cables Screwdriver with different attachments, purely because Computers from Packard Bell, HP, Dell e.t.c may use different size screws. Small Pliers because the little pillars that the motherboard screws into may get stuck to the screw and come away from the Case. Simply use the Phillips Screwdriver, holding the pillar with the Pliers and job done! :) Key Chain Torch Out of all those, the necessary are Screws/Pillars Screwdriver Small Pliers If you intend to do network cables then obviously the crimper's, testers e.t.c ALSO - CD Wallet's were all the rage once, but these days its easier just to Carry some CD's and the rest on a Flash Drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
08993 Posted January 23, 2010 Share Posted January 23, 2010 Anti-static band costs what, maybe ?5. Being sued by a client for nuking their components costs a lot more than that, even if it was you that did it or not. If you travel to a clients site, always use an anti-static band just to cover yourself. I always wear a hard hat in my line of work and in 15 years nothing has ever fallen on my head :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jamesyfx Subscriber² Posted January 23, 2010 Subscriber² Share Posted January 23, 2010 (edited) If I'm working on a desktop, an anti-static wrist band (Just for insurance purposes) and a Philips head screwdriver. If I'm working on a laptop, 2 sets of screwdrivers (Philips head and Torx head), and possibly a soldering iron. As for software, I generally don't use anything other than MalwareBytes and whichever the latest version of Combofix is, and the 'cleanmgr.exe /sageset:x' and / cleanmgr.exe /sagerun:x' command. I try to use Windows' native tools to repair - using third party software to automatically fix things kinda looks bad. Oh, and If I'm working on a Mac, usually one finger. A stuck CD seems to be most common complaint lately. Just holding the mouse button down at boot fixes this. xD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madoshi Posted January 24, 2010 Share Posted January 24, 2010 (edited) some thoughts, some stuff i try to keep around: a way to clone hard drives. best way is to have a spare machine with easy access to it's SATA and IDE ports, that loads Norton Ghost or similar from a CD or something spare video cards for PCI, AGP, and PCI Express spare hard drives, spare power supplies, spare fans - you name it, its nice to have a spare of it a collection of freeware tools loaded onto a couple flash drives and several copies of the same on CD and DVD (at least 6 computers being worked on at any given moment) an external slim DVD burner, extremely useful for booting up a machine with a junk or iffy optical drive. especially useful for laptops. wrist straps... lol they got them but i never seen anyone use them. two fingers rubbed on the largest piece of bare metal inside the case every so often is more than enough to prevent the effects of ESD. decent screw drivers, extra screws, knowing the difference between the type used on CD drives and the ones on hard drives, and knowing when to stop and realize you are using the wrong thread type before you strip out holes. vice grips... extremely useful. you don't know what kind of moron was in there before you when you go to replace or upgrade something inside the average couple-years-old tower. compressed air and a place to use it. im not talking about those dinky little spray cans... im talking about something rated to run a small nail gun or impact wrench, with a nice flexible hose and a spray nozzle fitting. Windows CDs... always nice to be able to do a proper re-install when needed. you should have or come up with the following to be prepared for anything: Windows 98 SE Windows 2000 Professional, preferrebly with SP4 integrated Windows XP Home Retail Windows XP Home OEM Windows XP Professional Retail Windows XP Professional OEM Windows XP Professional Corp VLK Windows XP Media Center Edition, which is two CDs. you should know how to install this beforehand Windows Vista, Home Premium OEM 32-bit should cover most of what you'll touch Windows 7 DVD with ei.cfg removed so you can select what Edition to install upon boot. saves you from having about 5 DVDs of the same damn thing. Windows 7 is the future, at the moment generally what people want for their Vista PC is to either downgrade to XP or upgrade to 7. also, a 64-bit version of the same also some kind of live Linux distro, DSL highly recommended a nice neat area to work on stuff if at all possible an eBay account, to buy replacement parts if working on laptops test videos in multiple formats, MP3, WMA, AAC audio files, a (not burned) DVD movie, a (burned) DVD movie, a pressed audio CD an iPod dock cable, a USB quick charger (you never know) a decent 19 or 21 inch CRT, for test purposes, if you got room, as these can usually sync to the higher and widescreen resolutions that are common with LCDs better than any one LCD monitor can. think games, think the kid who tried to set a fullscreen directx game to 2048x1536 on a 15 inch XGA panel and has no way of resetting it outside the game. i speak from experience. keyboards, mice, at least one of each in the two interfaces (PS/2 and USB) that are being used today a small set of speakers, a pair of headphones spare AC adapters of any kind, especially for laptops: Toshiba has three different connectors, HP/Compaq have at least two, IBM/Lenovo have two, Gateway has it's own, Sony uses stuff not even remotely compatible with anything else, etc. a decent universal with swappable tips is nice if you understand the concept of voltages, amperage, and polarity. set prices, good reputation, no lying, no stealing/swapping, use new parts for replacements, don't do anything stupid, keep the customer informed on the whole process whatever it may be, never format a hard drive unless they understand completely, hand them back any extra, leftover, or faulty parts when the job is done, be nice, etc now i know that most of the above applies to hardware stuff and this thread is in a Windows subforum... but lots of software problems are actually due to hardware and you should be prepared thats about all i can think of really at 1 am on a cold New York weekend night. hope it helps! voidpharoh 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
master2k27 Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 the good old windows install disk :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfbane Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 Hammer... seriously: - Portable linux - Windows Recovery disk - CCleaner - SpyBot: S&D - AVG free - Driver Genius Pro (not necessarily all of the above, depends on the problem) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuckeratlarge Posted March 20, 2010 Share Posted March 20, 2010 a hammer is all you need Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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