- What's in your fixit kit?

[Proximon]

Many of us have a kit for fixing PCs. Some of us actually make a living at it while others like myself just do so casually.

Your Fixit Kit might just be a section of your thumb drive, or it might just be a bootable CD.

Or perhaps you have a duffel with tools of all sorts - screw driver set, flashlight, canned air, USB HDD docking station, Multi-meter, 5-pound hammer.

So, what have you got? Why?

 

[cmcghee358]

Ooo good question lemmie get my stuff!

 

[cmcghee358]

Rosewill 45 Piece Premium Tool Kit.

I got one of these lighted dental mirrors because I was on a crazy teeth kick to try for movie star teeth. Then one day I was trying to see some impossible spot in my computer and *DING* the mirror! And it's been in my tool bag since.

 

[cmcghee358]

What I really need is a quality molex pin removal kit so I can do some sweet wire wraps on my PC builds. Link anyone?

 

[Shadow703793]

My full kit:

Hardware:
A USB/eSATA 500GB HDD (usually blank)

A USB DVD RW

A few blank DVDs/CDs

2x 8GB Flash drives (blank)

4x 4GB Flash drives with various Linux distros (ie. Backtrack, Ubuntu,etc)

10 piece screwdriver set + torx bit set

2x needle nose pliers (different sizes)

LED flash light

Compressed air and a cheap paint brush

And a bunch of spare parts (ie 1-2GB DDR2/DDR3 RAM, PSU, SATA HDD, fans, etc)

Dentist mirror


Software:
UBCD

AVG Rescue CD

Various Linux boot CDs

Hiren's Boot CD

 

[Shadow703793]

What I really need is a quality molex pin removal kit so I can do some sweet wire wraps on my PC builds. Link anyone?

Many of the modders over at bit tech use this: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9388/slt-04/Original_Molex_Mini_Fit_Pin_Extraction_Tool_-_ATX_EPS_PCI-E.html?tl=g11c133s257

 

[Proximon]

Nice!

I can't say I have put a lot of work into a kit because too often I need to bring the PC home. Too many people around here have crappy internet speeds and I'm not into waiting.

One thing I keep on the flash drive is all of the XP and Vista service packs. That's very frequently needed.

 

[cmcghee358]

We need to keep this going. Also any advice would be good too. I can build a computer no problem, but alot of the time I get tasked with repairs, especially on crappy laptops and a thread like this is chocked full of wisdom

 

[mrface]

A dental pick is also a very useful tool...
Some other items of interest that I find I need more than often:
small cable ties
thermal paste
q-tips
goo-be-gone

 

[Reynod]

Don't forget the Dremel if your getting into modding ... along with a decent assortments of cutting and grinding bits.

I also like the Bosche electric nibbler for case surgery, as it will even make short work of the old steel V1000 thermaltake cases, which as cases go are akin to an old chevy pickup.

I also like the Makita cordless screwdriver / drills as these are light and easy to manage.

I have two small hand vices on a stand with heatsink pliers for solvering (they clip and lock to prevent the solder damaging the insulation).

Heatshrink of various sizes is useful for terminating / reterminating leads and plenty of spiral wrap for tidying up cables inside of the case.

My toolkit is a combined electronic technician / automotive light / fitters collection as I have collected plenty of stuff over the years working with electronics.

Some unusual but useful tools include:

aset of paintbrushes of various sizes ... for cleaning
A hairdryer / a can of WhiteSolve / a can of compressed air
A set of needle files
A hand drill (for small drill bits)
A short hacksaw (it holds a short piece of blade only)
A jewelers set of pliers (bend, round, flat, needle, etc nosed)
Decent Jewellers set of screwdrivers (replaceable tips)
A quality set of Electrician screwdrivers (1000V) ... because you never know.
A fine grinding stone (very flat) for checking a HSF for flatness ... and fixing it.
Various grades of sandpaper (wet n dry).

Two multimeters - I use coline leads and while Fluke's are very good, I tend now to use the cheaper generic models as I no longer need quality instruments for work. I only tend to use these for PSU repairs and since the cost of the mid range supplies have dropped over the last few years it is not practical to replace power regulator IC's on cheap units.

A tip: keep all of your magnetised tipped tools in one spot ... well away from laptop HDD's and old magnetic media.

I have some specialised tools and spares for laptop repairs as one of my lads is a Toshy Repair tech ... laptops are very delicate once you get inside ... so I don't recommend surgery on these unless you read the service manual ... and some expert help. Replacing a broken screen on a laptop is a pretty tough job on many models ... I simply watch ... its easier ... and less painful.

A muti tip set ... including torcX etc and standard hex drives.

 

[tecmo34]

My full kit:

Hardware:
■A USB/eSATA 500GB HDD (varies odds&ends software / drivers - try to download any required software ahead of time when working a PC, just to be on the safe side)
■A USB DVD RW
■A few blank DVDs/CDs
■1x 8GB Flash drives (blank)
■Inland 05213 25 Piece Tool Set

■Flash Light
■Compressed Air
■A few spare parts (ie 1-2GB DDR2/DDR3 RAM, SATA HDD, IDE HDD, etc)
■Thermal Compound: AS5 & IC Diamond
■A mix of cable ties

Software:
■Ultimate Boot CD
■MemTest86+ CD
■Windows XP disk
■Windows Vista disk (32 bit / 64 bit)
■Windows 7 disk (32 bit / 64 bit)
■Windows XP Service Pack 2 & 3 on CD (keeps from having to download through Windows Updates)
■Windows Vista Service Pack 1 & 2 on CD (keeps from having to download through Windows Updates)
■Standard Prime95, HWMonitor, CoreTemp, 3DMark06 & 3DMark Vantage... etc. software for benchmarking & system stability concerns

 

[buwish]

This is what I keep handy, even though they're never in the same place at one time because I'm a slob:

-Eye Glass Screwdrivers
-Various Windows disks
-MemTest86 CD
-Rubbing Alcohol/QTips/Thermal Paste
-Extra Screws (I always seem to lose them)
-Fine grit sandpaper (for lapping/smoothing out a CPU's thermal layer)
-Can o' air
-Wire Cutters/Strippers
-Old Flash Drive with CCleaners, Glary Utilities, Malware Bytes install files
-And my book of swear words

 

[davewolfgang]

What is in my truck and computer bag.

Screw driver handle with a snake attachment for those hard to reach places - with a 36 (48?) bit set with all sorts of bits.

6 piece small screwdriver set for laptops (Flat and Phillips sizes).

WinXP Pro and Home Install CD's from Dell and HP. XP SP3 on CD.

3.5" Win98 boot floppy w/USB floppy drive.

Snake USB LED light

USB with Spybot, AVG, and other scanning programs. A couple SD Cards and USB sticks (empty).

Spare USB wifi-G adapter. Small Belkin Wifi router w/ 4-port hub.

Extra Logitech M505 Mouse + Logitech Trackman Thumb-ball mouse.

 

[Proximon]

Lots of good stuff

 

[tecmo34]

Yeah... Lots of Good Stuff

Looks like I need to add some more tools to my kit I thought about building/buying a test bench but never got around to it

 

[mosox]

2 Kilo hammer
Big hammer
Hacksaw
Bolt Cutter
Claw hammer
Blow torch
Pickax
Crowbar
Dynamite
.
.
.
Beer

 

[gerry410]

i got a rosewile little folder of clamps, screw drivers and crap. it helped me a lot on my 1st build and all is well.

I also used a few of my girlfriends hair clips to hold my fan controller wires together.
a roll of electrical tape to keep them secured.
the usual plastic ties.

 

[Proximon]

I do keep a couple old 120mm fans also. They get too noisy for me they can still be good somewhere else.

 

[tecmo34]

2 Kilo hammer
Big hammer
Hacksaw
Bolt Cutter
Claw hammer
Blow torch
Pickax
Crowbar
Dynamite
.
.
.
Beer

I see you take the "Gallagher Approach" to PC Repair. [:mousemonkey:5]