What do you put in your computer repair toolkit?

Question

Most of us "superusers" are regularly asked to fix computers for friends or family. To improve my chances of repairing a PC (or at least recovering important data) on the spot, I would like to assemble a portable kit of hardware and software tools that I can keep in my car.

What would you put in your "computer repair toolkit"?

One tool per answer please, so that the best tools can be voted to the top.

score 23 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 24 '11 at 04:09

23

All the Sysinternals tools. They are a must have for Windows troubleshooting...

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edited Oct 24 '11 at 04:09

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:08

fretje

10,702

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 13:48

17

SpinRite.

It's a tool that will scrub your hard disk, bypassing all the built-in mechanisms to repair sectors on the disk. It can fix many a hard disk that would otherwise be toast because of a few bad sectors here and there, and will in most cases help recover files. (I've personally never seen DynaStat working, but I guess that makes me lucky.)

SpinRite can run on any PC compatible system with a 32 or 64-bit Intel or AMD processor and a color screen. The previous SpinRite v5.0 is available to v6.0 owners who need to run SpinRite on older 16-bit 8086/80286 systems and/or monochrome screens.

SpinRite is self-contained, including its own bootable FreeDOS operating system. It can be used on any operating system and any file system. This means it can run on drives formatted with Windows XP's/Vista's/Windows 7's NTFS and all other older FAT formats (in addition to all Linux, Novell, and all other file systems.) It can be used to pre-qualify and certify unformatted hard drives before their first use. Drives on non-PC platforms, such as Apple Macintosh or TiVo, may be temporarily relocated to a PC motherboard for data recovery, maintenance and repair by SpinRite.

SpinRite provides complete interaction with IDE-interface PATA (parallel ATA) and SATA (Serial ATA) drives, and it can also be used with any other type of drive — SCSI, USB, 1394/Firewire — that can be made visible to DOS through the addition of controller BIOS or add-on DOS drivers. To obtain the best performance, IDE drives can be temporarily removed from their external USB or Firewire cases and attached directly to the PC motherboard.

Spinrite

edited Jun 12 '20 at 13:48

Community

1

answered Aug 02 '09 at 22:40

Manu

3,011

I've seen it working, but once I ran it on a drive which had hardware problems.. I could read about 80% before running SpinRite, but after running SpinRite for about 8 hours, the drive was fried... Lesson learned: try to get as many data out first, than run spinrite to fix your badsectors... – Davy Landman Aug 19 '09 at 13:10
i think its always best practice to image (ddrescue is good for that) or copy out as much as possible before trying anything drastic – Journeyman Geek Nov 09 '09 at 00:04
should note that spinrite now works with NTFS - for many years before spinrite 6 it didn't. – MikeJ Mar 02 '10 at 06:24
1

Does SpinRite do what it claims to do? - http://serverfault.com/q/51681/773 – Svish Sep 17 '10 at 13:30
1

I would never recommend SpinRite. Once your hard drive is broken doing a repeated surface scan will only break more of it. – Henk Poley Sep 14 '11 at 08:24
What you should do: 1. Buy a new hard drive 2. use ddrescue (not dd_rescue!) to copy as much as possible to the new HD while skipping problematic sectors 3. use ddrescue to fill in the blanks (problematic sectors) as much as possible (this will break your hard drive more) 4. Now do whatever you want with the data on either disk. You can take a gamble and do a writing surface scan like badblocks or Spinrite. ddrescue how to: http://www.forensicswiki.org/wiki/Ddrescue – Henk Poley Sep 14 '11 at 08:31
btw, SpinRite once actually did something useful. It optimized the layout of (now ancient) hard drives. The ones from before PATA became a standard. And well PATA has now been replaced with SATA already, so that has been a while ago. – Henk Poley Sep 14 '11 at 08:33
...bypassing all the built-in mechanisms to repair sectors on the disk I don't understand. The lowest level you can send commands at are the ATA commands. And those are designed to make the bad sector reallocations stay transparent. How does this software bypass those? – user541686 Oct 24 '11 at 04:20
SpinRite is $80 worth of snake oil. – rob Mar 10 '12 at 03:21

score 16 · Answer 3 · edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:38

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A tiny USB key on my keyring full of portable apps.

The portable apps include:

PuTTY, for SSH and telnet.
WinWGet, a wget alternative for Windows, to download files.
Firefox, for when I need an alternative browser if the current one is damaged.
7-Zip, for unpacking files in an efficient way.
ClamWin, an open-source antivirus client.
JKDefrag, for very customizable file defragmentation.
WinDirStat, for checking out file system usage.
Notepad++, for editing text files, as Notepad itself is not enough.
WinMerge, for merging differing files and folders.
WinMd5Sum, for checking whether something downloaded or copied is actually right.

Do you have a heap of diagnostic/troubleshooting and malware cleanup apps on there? Would be good to mention that ;). — jtimberman, Aug 03 '09 at 02:14

score 15 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 26 '11 at 04:01

15

Here is a must have that hasn't been posted yet. A Paper Clip. So many times I've visited a client with a CD/DVD drive that won't open. You can open any dead CD/DVD tray by sticking the end of an unfolded paperclip into the small pin hole at the front of the drive.

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edited Aug 26 '11 at 04:01

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 27 '09 at 12:12

Duey

394

score 14 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:39

14

Compressed air! Every computer gets full of dust...

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edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:39

Tamara Wijsman

57,463

answered Aug 03 '09 at 06:16

Kelsey

808

Fixes a computer that "keeps turning off" every time. – Travis Aug 03 '09 at 20:51

score 12 · Answer 6 · edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:13

12

A multimeter.

Useful if you ever want to check continuity or voltage levels.

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edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:13

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 02 '09 at 22:57

hanleyp

6,627

2

This should get bonus points for showing a Fluke. – Joe Internet Nov 09 '09 at 00:46
Im curious to know just how often you use this if you are doing consumer grade computer repair for users... – Aug 18 '11 at 16:46
It is hard to say how often you'd use it, but it can be invaluable in diagnosing a hardware problem. – hanleyp Aug 26 '11 at 02:42

score 11 · Answer 7 · edited Oct 24 '11 at 04:10

11

Screwdrivers.

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edited Oct 24 '11 at 04:10

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 02 '09 at 20:55

Dan Walker

9,327

the question states "one tool per answer"... – fretje Aug 02 '09 at 20:59
Blargh...I missed it under the big bold text – Dan Walker Aug 02 '09 at 21:00
Changed to only one tool – Dan Walker Aug 02 '09 at 21:01
You can add multiple answers, you know? – fretje Aug 02 '09 at 21:04
11

Thumbscrews so I won't have to use screwdrivers again – Ciaran Aug 02 '09 at 21:04
I keep this KR Tools 12609 screwdriver - the 6 most common screwdriver bits in 1 - all the bits actually stay inside little chambers and you can switch vry quickly between them using a shotgun type pump action. – Sanjay Sheth Aug 03 '09 at 06:25
Relevant, but also irrelevant: Why do we have so many screwdrivers? – Tamara Wijsman Aug 18 '11 at 16:11

score 11 · Answer 8 · edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:42

11

My laptop, if that counts. 80% of the time I'm troubleshooting network issues, so I'd rather use a tool that I'm positive works.

edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:42

Tamara Wijsman

57,463

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:10

hyperslug

13,736

How about a working DSL/Cable modem to go with that :) – Ciaran Aug 02 '09 at 21:13
A cable modem wouldn't work because it's provisioned to an account. I really don't feel like shelling out again for a service so I can carry a spare modem with me. – phuzion Aug 02 '09 at 21:50
Didn't actually know that! Good for future reference – Ciaran Aug 02 '09 at 21:56

score 11 · Answer 9 · edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:40

11

A bootable Ubuntu CD.

Whatever happens to the operating system you're working on, if (for example) you need to access the Internet to download a driver, just pop in the CD and do what you need to.

Along the way you might even convince your family or friends that Linux is quite user-friendly nowadays...

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edited Aug 18 '11 at 16:40

Tamara Wijsman

57,463

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:26

Yuval

2,272

Thats my favorite tool. I've used it to replace Windows on two people's computers so far. They liked what they saw in the GUI when I was working on their systems :). – jtimberman Aug 03 '09 at 02:15

score 7 · Answer 10 · edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:13

7

My (physical) weapon of choice is something MacGyver would recommend, the indispensible Swiss Army Knife. Except the one I always keep in laptop bag is an updated 21st century incarnation of tool, Victorinox Swiss Army Cybertool 29 Pocket Tool:

Cybertool 29

It has saved me on countless occassions, not just computer related.

The cybertool is literally an entire self contained toolbox unto itself.

And the software equivalent of the Swiss Army Knife I carry along always is Damn Small Linux:

Damn small Linux

edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:13

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 03 '09 at 09:11

GeneQ

4,987

I haven't worked without one of these for many years, and I use it every day. I can't recommend the Victorinox Cybertool (or Cybertool Lite) highly enough. They're indispensable, and the build quality is outstanding. – Collin Allen Sep 01 '09 at 02:05

score 6 · Answer 11 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:24

6

A UBCD4win (bootable recovery CD) disc and/or USB.

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:24

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 03 '09 at 00:17

Qwerty

1,759

score 5 · Answer 12 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:03

5

CCleaner. Is freeware.

Its primary purpose is to remove unnecessary files: in the recycle bin, memory dumps, file fragments, log files, system caches, application data (like cached files in Opera). And the Registry Cleaner can locate and correct problems in the Windows Registry. It can be used to disable start-up programs.

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:03

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:34

EvilChookie

4,579

score 5 · Answer 13 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:45

I always have a bootable USB-stick containing SystemRescueCd in my backpack. It's one of those "Linux Live CDs", but one that is packed full of relevant rescue/recovery tools.

It only needs a 512 MB stick, which everyone probably still has lying around idle in a drawer somewhere (notes for installing to a USB-stick are here, and if you have trouble getting it to boot, you might look here).

score 5 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 02 '09 at 23:10

5

A SATA/IDE-to-USB adapter. For a great variety of problems, it's a great help to be able to pull the harddisk out of the system to hook it up to your laptop...

The model in my repair kit is this one, but there are plenty like it. These things don't require any drivers on any OS I've come across in the last 4 years; they're just plain Mass Storage Devices.

answered Aug 02 '09 at 23:10

yungchin

151

dead link. good advice, tho. make sure to get one that will handle both 3.5" and 2.5" IDE, for those PITA laptop drives. :) – quack quixote Nov 08 '09 at 23:08

score 4 · Answer 15 · edited Mar 10 '12 at 02:54

4

HijackThis™ is a free utility which quickly scans your Windows computer to find settings that may have been changed by spyware, malware or other unwanted programs. HijackThis creates a report, or log file, with the results of the scan.

edited Mar 10 '12 at 02:54

Kevin Vermeer

467

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:14

Umber Ferrule

3,489

Paste the log into http://hijackthis.de/ for an automated review of the things it found. – Henk Poley Sep 14 '11 at 08:46

score 3 · Answer 16 · answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:50

3

Linux USB Boot. Brilliant :D

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:50

whoami

225

score 3 · Answer 17 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:47

3

A smart-phone with 3G Internet access and the ability to share that Internet access over Wi-Fi. Great for googling network/Wi-Fi problems :-)

I use my Nokia N95 + Joikuspot Premium for this.

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:47

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 02 '09 at 23:58

wcoenen

2,290

score 3 · Answer 18 · edited Mar 04 '10 at 23:53

Hardware:

Anti-static wristband
Screwdrivers
Multitude of driver bits (security bits included)
Hex keys
Angle pliers
Needle-nose pliers
LED flashlight
LED tester
Soldering iron & solder
Electrical tape
I.C. clipper (haven't had use for it for a while, though)
Wire cutter/stripper
Tons of screws
Zip-ties
Cables and adaptors
Leatherman and pocketknife (multitools)
Razor blades

Repair-related Software: (Kept on a flash drive)

CCleaner
ClamWin
CPU-Z
DeepBurner
Drive Manager
eToolz (German site but program has English localization)
FileZilla
Firefox
Foxit
IrfanView
PuTTY Portable
RegScanner
SIW
SmartSniff
VLC
RealVNC Viewer
winMd5Sum
I also have an installers folder that contains:
- Spybot and semi-recent definitions file
- A few crucial Windows updates
- Recent Firefox installation
- Microsoft Office compatibility pack (for opening new filetypes on old versions)
- Tunnelier installation
- VNC server

score 3 · Answer 19 · answered Nov 15 '09 at 06:39

3

Crimping tool & connectors and spare wire. I've seen too many cases where people break off the locking tabs off of RJ-45 and RJ-11 connectors and the plugs start to fall out.

answered Nov 15 '09 at 06:39

Blackbeagle

6,652

score 2 · Answer 20 · answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:17

2

One cd with gparted for partition management.

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:17

Mercer Traieste

2,322

score 2 · Answer 21 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:22

2

Get/make yourself a boot CD in conjunction with a USB key of SysInternals Apps/NirSoft Apps/PortableApps. I use BartPE (freeware) to get it exactly how I want it. Alternatively, you could use a Linux boot CD or whatever you're most comfortable with.

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:22

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:27

Umber Ferrule

3,489

score 2 · Answer 22 · answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:28

2

A recent Bart PE bootable live Windows CD.

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:28

fretje

10,702

score 2 · Answer 23 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:09

2

Something to access laptop HDD's on "dead" laptops.

Like http://www.cooldrives.com/saandidehadr1.html, a SATA/IDE-to-USB adapter.

It's invaluable to have as it's a problem that arises more often then you would think.

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:09

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:42

Patrik Björklund

283

score 1 · Answer 24 · answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:10

1

I don't actually do this. But for hardware troubleshooting purposes, I'd love to have good working hardware. Motherboard, PSU, cabling, memory modules, etc. That would make life so much easier

answered Aug 02 '09 at 21:10

Ciaran

4,505

score 1 · Answer 25 · edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:11

1

PCinspector Data Recovery, I'm often asked to magically retrieve files deleted by mistake.

PCinspector Data Recovery

From the product website:

PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery 4.x is a data recovery program that supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems.

edited Aug 19 '11 at 05:11

Gareth

18,809

answered Aug 02 '09 at 22:42

Manu

3,011

score 1 · Answer 26 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:31

1

An .iso file of your whole hard disk BEFORE it crashes ...

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:31

Peter Mortensen

12,190

answered Aug 03 '09 at 08:38

user4100

541

Which program backups hard disk drives (or partitions) into .iso files? – Manuel Faux Aug 03 '09 at 11:01
A Time Machine to go back in time to before the HD crashed. To collect a .iso backup.... – Matthew Scouten Jul 16 '10 at 04:18
This, so very this. Always capture a ghost before working just to cover my bases. – Aug 18 '11 at 16:44

score 1 · Answer 27 · edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:58

1

Precision Screwdrivers
- T8 x 50 mm
- T9 x 50 mm
- 2.4 x 50 mm
- 2.4 x 50 mm
6in Wire stripper pliers (0.2-0.8 mm)
Electrical test screwdriver
Soldering iron and stand
Desoldering pump
25-pc Bit set
5-pc Socket set: 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 mm
5in Side cutter pliers
6in Long nose pliers
Part box
8-pcs Mini electronic combination wrench: 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 mm
PU carrying case (315 x 240 x 93 mm)
Ratchet driver
Extension bar (60 mm)
Extension bar (100 mm)
3-pc Soldering aid set
Heat sink
Solder core
Operating System CD or DVD
Boot Disk
Power Cables , Data Cables
Mother Board ,processer Manual

edited Aug 03 '09 at 10:58

Manuel Faux

956

answered Aug 03 '09 at 09:17

joe

12,395

Sounds about right. Only thing I have to add is a giant box of every screw I've ever "not needed anymore" and zip-ties. – Travis Aug 03 '09 at 20:30

score 1 · Answer 28 · answered Nov 15 '09 at 05:46

1

An XP account cracker.

Burnt onto a bootable CD, VERY useful for people who forget their administrator account passwords.

Cough COUSIN Cough

answered Nov 15 '09 at 05:46

score 0 · Answer 29 · edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

0

for a list of useful software tools to have (usb key/boot cd), look at my answer to a similar question

edited Mar 20 '17 at 10:17

Community

1

answered Jan 29 '10 at 09:17

fluxtendu

7,169

score 0 · Answer 30 · answered Aug 07 '10 at 01:05

0

Well, I just found this... but you might be interested to review my web page on the topic - www.lwcomputing.com/tips/static/techtoolkit.asp

(I'll definitely review the items here to see if anything posted is missing...)

answered Aug 07 '10 at 01:05

Multiverse IT

4,498

score 0 · Answer 31 · answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:22

0

Linux live CD (I've normally got Ubuntu and Knoppix)
Set of screwdrivers
Network cable
Known working ADSL filter
Ophcrack CDs
Blank CDR and/or Empty USB key for data recovery

If I know I'm going to be fixing a computer I'll try to take some bigger things along:

Laptop
USB hard disk
ADSL gateway/router

answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:22

CK.

101

+1 for the Ophcrack distribution. I've used it plenty of times and can vouch that it's worked 80% of the time. – Travis Aug 03 '09 at 20:47

score 0 · Answer 32 · answered Nov 08 '09 at 23:12

on my BartCD (a bootable USB stick actually) i have the following:

WinHex - the ultimate in data recovery

Partition Table Doctor & Test Disk/PhotoRec

SIW & CPU-Z

Ghost, DIXML and Drive Snapshot

HDD Regenerator

Unstoppable Copier

Total Commander

InfraRecorder

Sysinternals Suite

... and other more or less useful stuff

i still carry a few CDs with me, such as Knoppix, SysClone, Administrator's Pak/ERD Commander SpinRite, NT Offline password editor.

score 0 · Answer 33 · answered Nov 19 '09 at 04:39

0

A bag of known working cables of several types. Network, usb, etc.

answered Nov 19 '09 at 04:39

Matthew Scouten

1,883

score -1 · Answer 34 · answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:36

-1

BartPE / VistaPE (A windows live cd, which is nice for the NTFS write support)
Ultimate Boot CD
Laptop
Working network cable

answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:36

Davy Landman

4,542

score -1 · Answer 35 · answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:58

-1

Telephone (knowledge everywhere!)
Laptop with Working network cable
Linux live CD
screwdrivers and
UMTS card
multimeter (for wirechecking)

answered Aug 03 '09 at 11:58

Martin K.

133

What do you put in your computer repair toolkit?

35 Answers35

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