Tool Kit

[Network Nazi]

Can someone tell me of a GOOD tool kit I could buy to work on Desktops, Laptops, etc...

I do not want no cheap stuff. I want some VERY GOOD QUALITY TOOLS.

thanks

[Gabriel]

With Me there are Few things
A. Leatherman - Super Tool.
B. Boot CD - AV, Partition Magic + Ghost + Diag Programs.
C. OSs

Nuff for almost every problem

[Mr_Miyagi]

Originally posted by Network Nazi:
<STRONG>Can someone tell me of a GOOD tool kit I could buy to work on Desktops, Laptops, etc...

I do not want no cheap stuff. I want some VERY GOOD QUALITY TOOLS.

thanks</STRONG>

choose stuff thats easy to handle and does the job....(try em out if you can)

price is not important, although the saying you get what you pay for is certainly true!

you also dont need too many! I got a couple of flat and a couple of philips screwdrivers; thats it.

get yourself one of those long long long shafted s/d's; they're useful for "printers" and awkward places!

IMHO
<IMG SRC="smilies/cool.gif" border="0">

[MacGyver]

Prepackaged toolkits are nice because you get a whole lot of stuff in one package. However, a kit like that is not going to be able to suit every tech's need, and some of the tools may be substandard. For example, I can tell you that if you work on HP equipment, you must have Torx (6-pointed star) screwdrivers or you're pretty much up the creek.

What I would do, is start out with a nice "toolbox." Maybe an aluminum briefcase or other similar aluminum case. It will look extremely professional when you are on the road, light weight, besides protecting your expensive tools! Then start with the basics, screwdrivers, flashlight, wrist grounding strap, CD's with OS/software/drivers etc.

Get one of those multisection parts trays with a lid and use it to store screws and such. When you find you need a tool, then go out and buy a good one and add it to your collection. Do not buy a cheap plastic toolbox with an integral parts tray in the lid - they might seem like a good idea, but they have a tendency to fly open when you open the toolbox. NOT professional there.

I can't tell you what you'll need, only you can answer that question. Having good tools makes your job easy. And doing this makes sure you aren't lugging around dead weight.

Here are some links to previous threads about tools and tool kits:

Buying Tools
Tools
Best Screwdriver
Magnetic Screwdrivers, why not?
and also
CNET Shopper for some price ideas
Hope that helps

[EvilCabbage]

Does anyone else use Snap-On tools... they are seriously lovely !

[sdrawkcab]

I have purchaes toolkits in the past, and they always seem to be lacking the thing I need *right now*, so I have a cobbled-together toolkit I carry with me, in a Plano tackle box (the best sized box I found.)

1 - 10" straight bit screwdriver
1 - 10 phillips #2 screwdriver
1 - 8" phillips #1 screwdriver
1 - 4" phillips #1 screwsriver
1 - kit of 6, eyeglass screwdriver set (aka machinist screwdrivers)

1 - 1/4" nutdriver
1 - 3/16" nutdriver (for motherboard standoffs and the screws on video cards, printer ports, etc.)

If you work on Compaqs:
1 - t8 Torx (for laptops)
1 - t10 Tork (for drive rails)
1 - t15 Tork (for case screws)

If you work on HP or some other laptops:
1 t5, 1 t6, and 1t7 Torx, you never know when some designer at Company X decided their notebook needed a little tiny Torx screw.

1 - good box-cutter or razor knife
1 - electrical pliers (I have a Great little pair of tiny needle-nose pliers with a wire cutter in them)
1 - needle-nose with a 45-degree bend(great for picking up the screws I drop into the mess of wires and cables)

1 - Sledge Hammer
1 - roll electrical tape
1 - roll duct tape
5-pack of super glue
Ink pens and Sharpies

And a sizeable CD wallet of stuff I burn "just in case" like Bootable restore CDs for common machines we sell, and TONS of diagnostic stuff. And Duke Nukem, for when I need to, ummm, test the customer's network.

I looked everywhere for those damn Torx screwdrivers, found them at the Sears hardware store (not the mall store, the ones they are building at strip malls.)

[http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum1/noncgi]

I got the large Belkin tool kit. Lots of useful and semi-useful tools. I'd replace the soldering iron with a dual wattage iron from Radio Shack, it'll be a bit more flexible than the single wattage iron that comes with the kit. And replace the flashlight with a better one; I got a penlight from Radio Shack with a button on the end, much easier to turn on and off with one hand. You'll also want to add a small heat sink clamp that you can get from Radio Shack, useful for soldering close to heat sensitive components.

In addition, you should get a 16-piece precision screwdriver set from Radio Shack. It's got a whole bunch of ultra tiny flat, phillips, and hex screwdrivers and some tiny hex nut drivers. I bought a set 15 years ago, and now have 3 of them, they're that useful.

I also recommend the Magna 29 piece Tamper Resistant Kit. It's expensive ($40!) and you'll very rarely ever need any of the bits in it, but when you DO, you'll be SOOOOO glad you have it. It's got some really funky looking bits, like Square head, Prince and Reed, NAS 4005 D, T-Torx, T-Hex, Split-head, etc.

You'll also need a good digital multimeter. You get what you pay for, but unless you work with individual components or require very high precision, the ~$20 pocket multimeter from Radio Shack should be adequate. (I have their $100 ultra-super-duper one that has a serial interface)

Also very handy is the Paladin Tools PC Cable-Check (and the Mac Cable-Check, if you do Apple work). Expensive, but well worth it if you do a lot of cable testing, and especially if you make your own cables.

Some various misc tools to have are a PC Power & Cooling ATX Power Supply Tester, a 3-prong AC outlet tester (you'd be surprised how often an incorrectly wired outlet can be the cause of computer problems), a telephone line tester, a laptop hard drive adapter, a glass fiber sanding brush (good for cleaning contacts), a decent scientific calculator, a jeweler's loupe, and perhaps a PLCC puller.

A more frivalous item that is sometimes useful is a laser thermometer, good for quickly checking if a part is overheating.

And I always carry a tweaker tool and a Victorinox Swiss Champ knife with me, these two items solve 95% of all my tool needs. (Victorinox makes a computer Swiss-Army knife now, but it lacks a few of the things I use alot, like the nail file.)

[corelogik]

I have,. in a laptop bag with carry strap,
1 cordless drill/screwdriver,
1 kit of assorted drill its/screwheads/and torx drivers. (black & Decker)

2 different size phillips screwdrivers,
2 different size flat screwdirvers,
1 needle nose pliers,.
1 set of jewlers screwdrivers,
1 4" pocket knife, electrical tape,
1 20' USB cable,
2 IDE cables,
1 10' serial cable,
1 5' serial cable,
1 win98 boot floppy
1 win98 boot cd
1 win2k cd (bootable)
1 win95 cd (bootable)
1 cd with win 3.x
1 cd of various utilities (bootable)
2 cd's of assorted drivers (bootable)
jumpers
cable ties
assorted screws
1 calculator
1 PCI 8MB vid card
1 64MB pc-100 ram

this is what i find works for me.
good luck on building your kit. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[electroservice]

90 percent of my calls are fixable with a phillips screwdriver. I use a cordless Black and Decker versapack screwdriver. I keep a bit box that has torx, nutdrivers, and security bits in it. I magnitize the bits, it reduces time. Do not let the bits get near a diskette, you could loose the data.

I cary a VOM, a soldering Iron (Very rarely use it), a tin snip, Hemo-stats (for Jumpers), a flashlight, a mini post card, an ISA video card lubricant, heatsink compound, a spare set of cooling fans, a tube with an assortment of screws in it.

I carry a copy of diskettes:
Microscope 2000
95 Boot
98 boot
NT boot set (4.0)
DOS 6.22 (3 disks)
(Old Mcafee DOS/boot Virus Check)
(seagate Hardrive utilities)
Ontrack, and WDdiag

On CD:
Win 95, OSR1
Win 95, OSR2.5
Win 98
Win2K Pro
Win NT4
Driver DISK (2 disk full,I downloaded the most used ones)
office 95
office 97
office 97 OSR2
office 2000
Partition Magic
Ghost

I got a generic tool box from Harbor freight tools to cary that stuff around in.

This is what I carry, I hope this helps you. I have been doing this for a long time!

[Web Master]

9 out of 10 jobs just require my Trusty Phillips head and a CD with Win95,98,ME cabs.

[http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum1/noncgi]

I personally recommend AGAINST using a power screwdriver. It's way too easy to strip the threads or damage the head, making it all but impossible to remove the screw again (happened here with a bunch of rack-mount Alpha test units, some schmuck in Production over-tightened the screws, completely stripping the threads off!)

A person who's skilled with a hand screwdriver can screw or unscrew just as fast as someone using a power screwdriver (I've actually BEATEN someone at this before! I got 5 screws fastened in the time it took him to do 3!)

Power screwdrivers are heavy, and they always seem to run out of juice at a bad moment. Practice your skills with a hand screwdriver instead.

[rscos]

they say every technician only needs 2 tools:

1)a hammer
2)a bigger hammer

seriously though - we only tend to carry around a torx screwdriver (all our pcs and servers are compaq), and all the software is stored on build library servers. The only other thing we carry is a floppy disk for those wkstations which won't network boot when we need to rebuild them. And of course our hammers........

[kingtbone]

Originally posted by MacGyver:
<STRONG>I can tell you that if you work on HP equipment, you must have Torx (6-pointed star) screwdrivers or you're pretty much up the creek.
</STRONG>

This used to piss me off to no end. Why can't they use regular screws? What makes them so special? Useless.

[corelogik]

Originally posted by Captain Packrat:
<STRONG>I personally recommend AGAINST using a power screwdriver. It's way too easy to strip the threads or damage the head, making it all but impossible to remove the screw again (happened here with a bunch of rack-mount Alpha test units, some schmuck in Production over-tightened the screws, completely stripping the threads off!)

A person who's skilled with a hand screwdriver can screw or unscrew just as fast as someone using a power screwdriver (I've actually BEATEN someone at this before! I got 5 screws fastened in the time it took him to do 3!)

Power screwdrivers are heavy, and they always seem to run out of juice at a bad moment. Practice your skills with a hand screwdriver instead.</STRONG>

Mine has an Adjustable torque setting,. when on #1 it has just enought to tighten even an HDD screw just right. after the screw is in, it just clicks without turning if you try to kepp going. <IMG SRC="smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0">

[da_grinch]

Whatever tools that you decide to get, make sure that they are demagnetized. You don't want to cause problems when you are trying to solve them.