Many of us earn a living, or make money, fixing computers. Maybe you're the person the whole family refers to for computer problems.
This guide is intended for novices as well as seasoned professionals, and aims to be more a reference to what tools and techniques a PC Repair Technician could or should be using, both for fixing PC's and dealing with customers; it is not intended (at the moment) as a full fledged guide and detailed guide on how to fully repair PC's, nor is it meant as a guide on how to setup and run a PC Repair Buisness.
Note: This guide is currently incomplete.
1: Pre-requisites
Knowledge and experience that you should have before doing PC repair work:
A comprehensive list of software tools is currently somewhat beyond the scope of this guide, and as such we will only concentrate on collections of tools.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ - available in both basic and full version, a full list of software is available on the site. Handy when preparing a new computer for install, or for flattening and re-installing. It's also handy for hard drive analysis, and fixing.
http://www.ubcd4win.com/ - a windows based version of the above, with many excellent tools, details on the site. Especially usefull for heavily spyware/virus infested computers. Also handy for burning in freshly built computers.
http://www.bootzilla.org/ - Free toolkit (maintained by SA member jimmsta) designed to simplify spyware and virus removal on Windows machines. Designed with the intent of being used by both technicians and advanced users.
http://www.Knoppix-std.org - Knoppix based security tools distribution for the security professional. An excellent collection of security software, all in a linux distro, usefull for all manner of things.
Hardware
You should always get as full a picture of the situation you'll be faced with before arriving at the customers, and take whatever hardware along you may need. This could include, but isn't limited to:
256mb USB Thumbdrive - amazingly handy both for University work, and for keeping about 60mb of the most handy spyware/anti-virus software on - you never know when you'll be without your cd case and faced with someones hijacked IE homepage.
hard drive in usb enclosure. building your own is cheaper than a shop bought external hdd. Handy for downloading linux .iso's on that superfast uni pipe, and for backing up customer's data if you aren't taking their box to work on at home or the office.
Laptop (dual booting Xp/linux) - As well as being handy for Uni, useful for testing/setting up a customers connection/Lan and for letting the customer use while you are there fixing their computer. You can also keep technical reference material on it, like linux and windows documentation (you can't remember everything, right?).
Spare: network cards, video cards, ethernet (patch & crossover) cable, power cables, usb cables, IDE ribbon cables, sata cables, serial cables, PSU and a spare floppy drive.
Spare desktop - if you can and/or are willing, a spare desktop machine that a customer can borrow if you take their machine to work on it at home or at the office. Don't charge them for it.
A KVM switch box for when you do bring PC's home to work on
Lots of disk space on a server or you main machine, which you could use for creating drive images of clients machines, on those instances when I simply have to flatten and re-install. Handy for "But you haven't saved important.txt, it was in C:\Program Files\stuff\OLD\backup\new folder\needs sorting\important\, I need it!". (I usually keep the image on my server for a month, and then if there's no comeback, I burn it to disk and leave it in a cd case, for destruction after six-months.
Good quality set of magnetic-tipped screwdrivers, pliers, zip ties, air, electrical tape, a good sharp knife and a torch.