Putting a Tech Toolkit Together

Are you new to the computer repair industry? Perhaps you’re wondering, ‘How do I get started? What tools do I need? Do I need multiboot USB drives or a massive repair CD collection? Where do I get the tools?’ In this article we’ll take a look at some of the basic starting tools new Techs should include in their toolkit, and where to get them. Don’t be afraid to branch out and try new and different tools than the ones mentioned here, because as I mention later, that’s part of being a Tech.

Software Tools

Some of the most basic troubleshooting jobs don’t even require physically opening the machine, so we’ll start with some software tools. You’ll want to get some scanners and malware removal tools. Malwarebytes has some great scanners and removal tools, and Kaspersky also has a free tool called TDSSKiller which is an anti-rootkit utility. The last time I checked, you could get a 3 user license version of Kaspersky Internet Security on Amazon for around $30 USD, which is a really good price, and KIS got the top score in the last anti-virus test reported by this article. Pick up a copy of UVK as well. Also good tools to pick up are HiJackThis, and RKill, which has saved me more than once when the malware disabled everything else I threw at it.

As far as repair utilities are concerned, for your Tech Toolkit, you might want to have some repair discs handy when you’re working on a machine that doesn’t support USB boot. Most of the time you can get around that by using the Plop Boot Manager, which means you may be able to get away with only carrying around a few discs with you and carry everything else around on USB drives.

Get a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD or UBCD4Win, and create a bootable USB drive with multiple bootable utilities such as TRK, perhaps Clonezilla, and some Linux operating systems such as Knoppix and Ubuntu. You’ll probably want to get a copy of HDDerase as well, it’s a great utility for wiping hard drives clients hand off to you before reusing them or using them as used parts. Repair discs for each respective OS as far as Windows is concerned are useful to keep with you, which you can also put on USB drives as well.

I still recommend CCleaner and you might find Rizone’s Complete Internet Repair useful too, for troubleshooting and repair of internet issues. There’s a new version that supports Windows 8 and 64 bit operating systems that was just released. You might want to keep some popular wireless USB drivers on a USB drive with you, as I’ve found it useful when the customer lives in the middle of nowhere and it takes a long time to get drivers via dialup or intermittent internet, when that’s all they have, but that’s less of an issue now than it used to be, with high speed internet being available on mobile devices now.

As far as repair manuals, I’ve never carried any around with me. Part of being an experienced technician is the ability to observe the issue and be able to come up with possible causes of the issue based on knowledge of how the operating system works and knowledge of how software interacts with the operating system, or fails to interact with it. That’s not something anyone can just jump into without having any experience with computer repair and troubleshooting at all. You need to understand what you’re looking for.

With that being said, even experienced technicians come across proprietary or uncommon software that throws errors, and that’s where experience from past troubleshooting comes in handy, and that’s also why I recommend bringing a tablet or smartphone with you on the job so you can use your favorite search engine to pull up troubleshooting manuals for that particular software or operating system, or perhaps repair forums like Technibble where similar issues and solutions are discussed.

Other Tools and Hardware

Now, as far as actual tools for the job, I recommend picking up a PSU tester, a grounding strap, a basic screwdriver and small socket toolset, some mini screwdrivers for those tiny screws they put on hard drive enclosures and other small tight areas, and some small plastic containers for screws to help you stay organized. A small toolbox might come in handy, but you might find you’ll outgrow a small toolbox in a short time. A soldering iron and some solder comes in handy somtimes, and some canned air is good to keep with you for those overheating laptops that are clogged up with dust.

Some spare sticks of common memory are good to carry around as well, so you can swap them out with memory you suspect has failed. It’s good to carry around an RJ45 crimping tool around with you in case you need to repair a cable, and a cable tester should be part of your toolkit as well. You can find some toolkits at your local retail store, and possibly for less online at a trusted site such as Amazon.com, which is where I’ve found a lot of great quality tools for less than they’re sold in brick and mortar shops.

I haven’t really mentioned all the available tools a starting technician could use, but these are the basics. You might find a similar tool works even better for you than the ones I’ve mentioned, and that’s an important part of being a Tech: keeping up with new tools and updated methods. If you see a new software tool or utility advertised, check it out using a virtual machine, sandbox environment, or test machine if you have one available, and if you’re still new to tools like this, check out reviews on software review sites and forums, and you’ll get a good feel on whether or not it would be worth adding to your toolkit.

With experience, you’ll hone your Tech Toolkit even further, perhaps consolidating tools and using older tools only rarely, but this should get you off to a good start.