What's in a Computer Technician's Toolbox?

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Before you leave your shop/house and make a housecall, you should always check what's on your box. Here is a checklist of common tools you "might" need

1. Screwdriver - Even if it's a software problem that you will fix, you will never know when you will gonna use it. (Several times, i forgot to bring this, and i always blush when i asked the owner if he has one. What's a computer technician without a screwdriver?)
2. Paper Clip - Yes. You read it right. This small piece of metal saved me couple of times when i didn't bring my own cd/dvdrom. YOu will always encounter a CDROM/DVDROM drive that refuse to open.

3. PC speaker - You don't want to guess what's the problem of the CPU when you find out that it doesn't have pc speaker to help you know immeadiately the problematic part of the computer


4. CMOS Battery - Some motherboards especially those old ones need to have new battery to get rid of those annoying "CMOS CHECKSUM ERROR Press F1 blah blah blah"


5. Extra Memory - YOu can convert this to "EXTRA CASH" if you can convince the owner that he needs a memory upgrade if he/she wants to have a faster computer.
6. Tape - Masking Tape/ Scotch Tape / Packing Tape / Voice Tape j/k. You will never know when you will need it.
7. CD ROM / DVD ROM - Bring your own. Believe me, you never want to sit there the whole day praying that your installer CD will be read by your client's CDROM.
8. Tweezer - again you'll never know
9.
10.

I know i forgot to include several other "life saving" tools. So if you have any suggestion just leave a comment.

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Comments

Anonymous said…
I have with me a cd (not dvd) sontaining some frequently used utilities/software and updates/latest versions - freeware or opensource like virus removers, anti spyware, Firefox, OpenOffice (I enjoy convincing those who are using "pirated" software to just shift to this), etc.

Cindy :)
May 11, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Computer Repair said…
I think computer repair technician should have the following things in his toolbox:
• Standard screw driver (Phillips)
• Precision screwdriver (Phillips)
• Plastic pry tool
• Needle nose pliers
• Small LED flashlight
• Extra case screws
• Extra drive mounting screws
• 3.5″/2.5″ IDE/SATA to USB converter
• Cat5e or Cat6 Cable
• USB A to B cable
• USB A to mini B cable
• Standard module DDR/DDR2 RAM
• SO-DIMM DDR/DDR2 RAM
• PCI diagnostic card
• Thermal compound/paste
• Wallet of CD’s and DVD’s containing
• DVD with a compilation of all the drivers
• FalconFour’s Ultimate Boot CD/USB 2.0 – Hiren’s 9.9, ERD
January 11, 2011 at 4:38 PM
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