Computer Repair People: What tools do you use?


Recommended Posts

If its malware, (and their system is still bootable), I'll use teamviewer, (either in normal windows or safe mode / networking), and check it out. And if there's no programs for it, I'll download them from the other end. Since, I dont drive, I cant tiki-tour around the place. And if whoever wants me to install something, they'll have to bring it here

I Do Computer Repairs for a living, heres the bulk of what I carry:

Tools:

1 Folder of OS Discs from XP up to date OEM and retail versions as well as x86 and x64 versions, All in ones or each different type, all with the latest sp's integrated.

Hirens Boot CD (10.6 or earleir I think 11.0 broke a ton of things)

1 500GB Freecom HDD with about 200gb of software on it (includes images of the discs above just in case they happen to get scratched) including Hijack this, and variosu security tools and the latest definitions such as malwarebytes, and Microsoft security essentials.

1 USB DVD-RW

1 Set of good standard screwdrivers, and 1 set of good precision screwdrivers. Needle nose pliers, tin snips, soldering iron, solder sucker, solder. Thermal paste remover, thermal paste (AS5), Disposable Jay clothes, PSU Tester. Usb to SATA/IDE cable + Standalone single Molex PSU with Molex to sata adapter.

1 Multi Meter (I use a fluke one, but a cheap one is better than none), 1 Ethernet cable tester, RJ45 Crimps, Cable stripper. Insulation tape, zip ties.

Laptop (with integrated 3G connection)

Stock:

A selection of SATA Hard drives, 1 IDE Hard Drive (80gb) for desktop and laptop.

Sata and IDE DVD-RW Drives for desktop and laptop.

A low end CPU for each socket type (might only be used for testing, as user may want you to collect them a higher spec CPU)

A Good selection of DDR1 and DDR2 RAM (most common PC's use this) DIMM and SODIMM

A low end 775 fully integrated motherboard (most commonly used socket, and often peopel just want a cheap fix)

A Low end AGP and a Low end PCI-E Gfx Card

A PCI Sound Card

Several Wireless N USB adapters.

ADSL2+ Wireless Router & Ethernet Wireless Router.

A USB NIC

Various heatsinks / fans.

A Selection of ATX 24 Pin Power Supplies (Some really cheap, some with 6-pin PCIe ports)

I Also carry a selection of second hand hardware for people who just want their system running with minimal cost, these were usualy donated by previous customers who i upgraded.

1 Reel of Cat5e Cable (was 300m when baught)

100+ RJ45 Connectors & Boots

Spare ADSL Microfilters.

Quality Universal laptop chargers (not imported crap on ebay)

A Selection of laptop DC power sockets.

That just about covers it. i never find myself needing anything for a diagnosis, I only ever have to visit the supplier if the client needs parts and opts for high end parts (rare). or to restock.

i agrea with BouncinDave above, if its realy bad, just rebuild, its usualy more efficient than trying to remove a load of malware and junk, often my fix is to quickly test the hardware isnt showing signs of fault, then backup the users Data and just rebuild the system.

Sometimes you remove all detectabel traces of malware, but you leave in some rootkit that cant be seen or some similar nasty, and within 24 hours the computer is as infected as before.

  • 3 months later...

Hi all,

As an experienced computer technician i use theses softwares. Hope it'll help some of you

Scanning for malware using :

- Combofix ( NOW SUPPORT 64BIT :D )

- MalwareBytes'

- Spyware Doctor 8

- Emsisoft Emergency Kit

- Runscanner 2.0

- Autoruns

- Customer AV if it's good ( Kaspersky, Nod32 etc ...)

- I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials

Temp Files

- Ccleaner 3.02 + Ccleaner Enhancer

- Glary Utilities

Registry

- Registry Mechanic

- Iobit Advanced system care

Other Tools

- NTFSCHK

- EASEUS Data Recovery Wizard

- EASEUS Partition Master

- Many others sysinternals softwares

- Many others NirSoft softwares ( Such as Produkey and BluescreenView )

- My own version of Hiren's Boot CD 13 ( I added a few softwares )

Hardware Check

- HDD Regenerator 2011

- Memtest +86 4.10

- Goldmemory 6.92

- Passmark Burnintest

- A few windows cracks

A lot of Windows CDs slipstreamed with latest SPs

Some Docs

And everythings you may find in a computer store !

I repair about 15-30 PCs a week (yeah, I'm busy). I use these tools for virus removal.

- Combofix - hands down the best removal tool out there

- MBAM - I usually run this after Combofix to remove any traces left behind

- Autoruns - more of a tune up tool, than a removal tool but I run it on every PC I work on

- CCleaner - again, more of a tune up tool but I still run on every virus removal

That's about all I regularly need for virus removal. Sometimes I scan offline with Avira or use a tool called TDSSKiller when Combofix doesn't seem to remove everything or the bootloader is infected.

  • 1 month later...

A few more things:

A product key finder. There are loads available, just do a google search. For the installed serials of things like windows and office. If you need to do a reinstall and the client has lost them.

A zip utility that is compatiible with all formats. Like 7zip which is free

A media player that plays pretty much everything without additional codec packs. Like vlc. Because "repairing" often means "make it play my videos"

  • 7 months later...

Figure I'd throw this one out there for the techs:

D7 - http://www.foolishit.com/ if that gets blocked by the filter search google for Foolish.it or Foolish it

Tool is amazing, has a Ketarin file ready to go and update all apps used by the program and has sometimes more then 1 update a day. This tool is now indispensable for me.

I have a USB Key ready to go that will literally fix everything.

This can fit on a 8GB stick:

-Win 7/Vista Drivers

----x86/x64 (From driver packs)

------>Chipset

------>Lan

------>Mass Storage

------>Misc

------>Touchpad

----AMD/Nvidia official drivers

-Tools

----CCleaner Portable (With custom batch files)

----D7 (YOU NEED TO GET THIS)

----Filezilla Portable (With custom batch file for work)

----Fixes

------>Common registry fixes (54 different fixes)

----Removal Tools

------>Common removal tools such as Norton (20 different tools)

----Team Viewer (To work on more then 1 computer at a time)

------>Quick View

------>Team Viewer Portable

----YUMI (I just keep that for myself)

-Windows 7/Vista Recovery Disks

----Win 7/Vista x86/x64 recovery disks only with loaded to memory versions

-Windows 7 Complete (Custom)

----Includes all Win 7 versions with SP1 slip streamed

-Hirens Boot 14.1

----So many tools it's crazy (Mainly use MiniXP and GParted Live, love Kon-Boot)

Would love to hear some more apps from you guys/gals also.

Cheers!

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Zoom Workplace 7.1.0.41345 by Razvan Serea Zoom Workplace for Windows is a reliable video conferencing tool that makes it easy to connect and collaborate. With features like messaging, file sharing, and app integrations, it’s designed to streamline teamwork. You’ll get high-quality audio and video, strong security with end-to-end encryption, and an intuitive interface—all of which help remote teams and businesses stay productive and connected. Zoom Workplace key features: High-Definition Video & Audio: Provides clear, reliable communication for virtual meetings. End-to-End Encryption: Ensures secure communication with strong data protection. Multi-Factor Authentication: Adds an extra layer of security for user accounts. Integration with Productivity Apps: Supports seamless integration with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, and more. File Sharing: Easily share files during meetings for efficient collaboration. Real-Time Messaging: Enables team chat for ongoing communication. Collaborative Whiteboarding: Allows teams to brainstorm and collaborate visually. Webinar Support: Host large webinars with interactive features. Administrative Controls: Manage user permissions, meeting settings, and security features. Cloud Storage: Automatically stores meetings and files in the cloud for easy access. Cross-Platform Support: Available on Windows, macOS, and mobile devices. Meeting features: Virtual Backgrounds: Customize your background for meetings to maintain privacy or enhance professionalism. Touch Up My Appearance: Automatically smoothens skin tone for a more polished video appearance. Breakout Rooms: Divide meetings into smaller sessions for group discussions or workshops. Live Transcription: Automatically generate real-time captions during meetings for accessibility. Zoom Apps: Integrate third-party applications directly into Zoom for enhanced functionality. Meeting Reactions: Participants can use emojis for quick, non-verbal feedback during meetings. Polling: Conduct live polls during meetings to gather instant feedback from participants. Attention Tracking: Monitors participant attention during meetings to ensure engagement. Closed Captioning: Enable manual or automatic captions for a more inclusive experience. Webinar Replay: Record and share webinars with analytics for audience engagement. Download: Zoom 64-bit | 145.0 MB (Free, paid upgrade available) Links: Zoom Website | Zoom ARM64 | Zoom Installers | Release Notes Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • UK funds £60M AI labs to challenge US tech dominance with open-source models by Paul Hill The UK government has awarded £60 million to Oxford University and University College London to help keep the country in the AI race by focusing on open-source, low-hardware alternatives. This is in stark contrast to the expensive, closed-source, and high-hardware-requirement models being created in the United States and elsewhere. The money will be shared among two new academic research labs over six years to help them redesign the fundamental mathematics and architectures of AI to help the UK reduce its reliance on a handful of US tech firms. Commenting on the development, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: Initially, the government planned to fund just one lab with a £40 million investment, but with this update, two labs will now get access to a larger pool of funds. The labs are expected to invest in the top AI researchers at every career stage, with £2 million per lab being set aside for hiring at least ten doctoral students. The government hopes that this will grow the UK’s talent in the field of AI. The labs are also expected to work closely with the leaders in British AI research, such as the Alan Turing Institute and UKRI’s AI research hubs. This will allow the various teams to collaborate and create new solutions faster than they could alone. This development is pretty interesting for a number of reasons, chiefly that it could create a long-term challenge for US tech firms if these labs successfully scale these open-source architectures that bypass the proprietary ecosystems. It could also give British businesses and public sector organizations access to AI features without paying high licensing fees to foreign providers or needing to invest in specialized server infrastructure.
    • If I were them, I'm gonna hold out until the prices of these semiconductor parts normalize. $1,049 for a ~5 year old hardware is DoA, more so for gamers. On a deeper note, if Steam Machine is priced like this, we are soo effed up for the next gen Xbox console and PS6. With great AAA titles releasing at the end of the year, this just creates more demand...and more tears for me. Lol.
    • I suspect one reason its hard to justify subsidising is that it's not a locked down device like a traditional console is. In this climate sadly if it was a "good deal" you'd get people hoarding them for anything but gaming. The Lenovo Legion Go 2 with the Ryzen Z2 Extreme is £1300 here ($1720) for some context on how other SteamOS like devices are now priced. I got the older Z1 Extreme model for £300 with a dock, just shows how insane prices have got recently.
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Month Later
      nates earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Rookie
      dorf went up a rank
      Rookie
    • First Post
      mike_rumble earned a badge
      First Post
    • Dedicated
      tuben earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      455
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      180
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      92
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      87
    5. 5
      neufuse
      69
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!