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What are some of your "must have" IT Support / Repair tools? (self.AskReddit)

submitted ago* by TechFocus

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I've recently landed my first job as a IT Support Technician for a local hotel company. It's a lot of your basic IT Support (basic network issues, printer problems, why won't my computer boot up, etc). This will be my first professional IT gig and was wondering if there are any other people out there who have experience can provide some tid bits of information for your "must have" tools / programs.

Edit: They are all Windows OS systems.

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[–]ll_shades 13 points14 points ago

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The phrase: Have you tried turning it off and on again?

[–]TechFocus[S] 2 points3 points ago

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Hah, I do feel like I'll probably be using that one all the time.

[–]MarquisDan 0 points1 point ago

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heh, it really does fix like 80% of the problems I come across.

[–]BiGTeX8605 0 points1 point ago

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Sir we, in the IT field, prefer the term powercycle

[–]hollabeck 4 points5 points ago

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Google. Odds are someone else has had the same problem and has figured out how to solve it. Not a day goes by where I don't Google a new error.

[–]TechFocus[S] 0 points1 point ago

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I should have stated that was a given, like a free bingo spot. A lot of my home network issues are fixed by a quick 5 minutes google session.

[–]hollabeck 2 points3 points ago

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You would be surprised how many people don't think about that. So many people bring me the simplest problems and when I ask if they Googled they look at me like some sort of wizard with a power they didn't know I possessed. 90% of the time the first link will have the solution.

[–]TechFocus[S] 0 points1 point ago

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Thanks for the heads up then, makes me feel a little more comfortable knowing that others will google IT problems while at work.

[–]MildlyAwesome 0 points1 point ago

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Until you see the exact same problem asked on a forum from 4 years ago. Worse is before anyone had a chance to respond he wrote "solved it" without going into any further detail.

[–]hollabeck 0 points1 point ago

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My personal favorite is going through 6 pages of, "OMG! Me 2!! WTF! Did anyone find a solution! LOL!!1!ONE!1!"

[–]Remy45 5 points6 points ago

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A USB key with bootable Linux

[–]tehvlad 2 points3 points ago

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If you can get it with dual boot for ubuntu and knoppix it will do wonders to save your skin when Windows decide to take a dump

[–]yit 2 points3 points ago

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Why stop at dual boot? Check out YUMI(Your Universal Multiboot Installer), and pick from dozens of distros, rescue CDs, and other bootable utilities!

[–]tehvlad 1 point2 points ago

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yay! :D

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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HAVE MY BABIES

[–]Gold_Leaf_Initiative 1 point2 points ago

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Absolutely, I've been using a knoppix boot-CD for years to save folder structures from completely trashed file systems.

[–]docbrown85 2 points3 points ago

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http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
CPU-Z,
PC Check by Eurosoft,
inSSIDER,
Orthos Stressprime,
Atto HDD benchmark/tester,
Trojan Remover by Simply Super Software

If the systems are not on an Active Directory then you'll want some sort of bootable CD or flashdrive that can reset Windows passwords.

"netsh int ip reset ipreset.log" and "netsh winsock reset" will be your friends from time to time also.

[–]unjson 2 points3 points ago

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Duct Tape. Fixes. fucking. everything. Broken Cables? Use Duct Tape. Dead Pixels on your screen? Duct Tape them Over. People complaining about their PC being too slow, while having 15 tool-bars installed? Just Duct Tape their mouth, and you'll never hear their whining again.

Best. invention. ever.

[–]CowJam 1 point2 points ago

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Neuber's security task manager, notepad (physical thing, not Notepad) and pen, patience.

[–]tehvlad 1 point2 points ago

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Also, get ready in your USB the next:

a) Firefox installer, just when the machine is royally fucked with malware from internet explorer. Chrome could work too but im not so sure if the installer needs to connect to the internet.

b) Wireshark portable: You run it in your network and you can find who the fuck is stealing all the bandwith. Torrents, virii, malware. It can read the msn conversations as well... so... dont be evil.

c) "netstat -o" from the command line: you can find whats the process and its PID who is connecting to where. Super useful while tracking hidden virus in the local box. You run it, find the PID who is causing ruckuss, you find it in the taskmanager, force the shutdown... bingo.. machine recovers itself. But sometimes you have to track the "master" as the connecting PIDs are nothing but threads. You kill the master and the machine is back to usable mode while you clean it.

d) Adaware, spybot or malware bytes. Any of them will be perfect to nuke shit that's driving your box slow.

In my experience, I dont neet to reinstall a box if you do use all of these tools, you will find plenty of clueless users who will get infected from searching pr0n. And it will be like the 90% of the time.

Also, as ll_shades pointed "The phrase: Have you tried turning it off and on again?" xD

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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There are some pieces of malware that cannot be removed without a reformat and they are pretty common.

[–]tehvlad 0 points1 point ago

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Nah, I do disagree.

There's of course very nasty malware that cripples your system to the point of not being usable, but if you have enough knowledge of the registry, and you can track back every reference of the malware and nuke it manually. As far as you remove the entry point of the malware, you will be able to remove the additional files and registry entries that call the bastard and enables it. Most of the malware is deactivated if you boot on safe mode, and from there, its just about find the culprit and deactivate it. A bit of research, a bit of knowledge, a bit of that sixth sense that experience gives you, and you will be capable of nuking malware.

I havent reformated a customer machine in a bit of time: why? Because Im able to remove the nasty from it using manual cleaning and the mentioned software. Also because it will take me the very same time just to make a backup of 200gbs of lame ass documents and music (its a royal pain in the arse to make the backup and a bitch to get the customer to scream at you because you did lost his or precious photos with no backup): and Im not even counting the "copy back to the hard drive and be sure everything is on place" time. Time is a resource quite scarce for me.

As a side note, besides of malware, most of current common virus are not really that hard to kill. If you have enough skills, you can be able to remove them even with no antivirus software. The process remain the same as for malware. Virus are not like back in the old ms-dos time, when the nasty did remain resident on your memory or it gets into your boot sector and it was a bit tricky to remove. Hell I still have nightmares about the NataS virus and how a Chernobyl virus did kill two motherboards of mine :c

Still I havent found a machine lately, that I wasnt unable to recover and get it back to work by using the techniques I've mentioned before. And I used to have a cybercafe, so I did deal with virus from almost every school in the city. So I got a decent share of experience on the topic. Also relevant > www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/cq516/by_request_iama_white_collar_slave_some_plus_i_do/

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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Rootkits.

[–]tehvlad 0 points1 point ago

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HA! You almost got me there... but let be honest... if someone write how to get it in... someone has written how to find the way out...

But yes, parcial credit to your answer.. well done...

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point ago

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Not really, the biggest problem with them is battling them since most of the time a bsod occurs. Then not to mention rootkits that continuously put themselves in the memory of other programs to stay running.

In my eyes, after having so much exposure to that whole 'scene' once a computer becomes infected to a point where you can know without a doubt its infected then you are at a point where you need to reformat.

edit: Lets not forget about viruses that install themselves into system drivers ! :D

[–]tehvlad 0 points1 point ago

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wait... virus in system drivers? thats fucking brilliant! I will google more about that, thanks for the tip!

And yes, I can relate to the BOSD, but those are easier to detect as the windows throw a memory dump and you can dig info from it. And the rootkits that keep comming back to memory, those are the ones I do mention that you have to find the process that spawn those... kill it, and kill the spawns... then you can do the cleaning... but yes, keep in mind that we are talking about a massive fucked up system. My only point is that 90% or 95% of the time, its possible to recover the system.

[–]thomps1d 1 point2 points ago

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My laptop bag always has a phillips screwdriver, a robertson screwdriver, a USB->serial cable, a Cisco console cable, and a null modem cable. Also usually a Knoppix live CD and thumb drive.

If I'm heading out on the road and don't anticipate being near my usual supplies, I also make sure to bring zip ties, wire cutters, an ethernet crimp kit and box of cable, cable testers, USB and PS/2 mice and keyboards, and a small monitor. If you ever find yourself at a remote site in the middle of nowhere, having a trunk full of that stuff can save a great many headaches.

[–]smellypants 0 points1 point ago

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  1. Reimage that shit.

[–]jamesholden 0 points1 point ago

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use XBOOT to create a USB key with: xp home OEM, xp pro OEM, vista home premium x64, vista home basic x32, w7 home premium x64

then add hirens boot disk, ubuntu 10.04, kapskery rescue disk, avira rescue disk

keep a copy of combofix, tdsskiller and related utilities around..

ninite.com and microsoft essentials.

[–]NikkoTheGreeko 0 points1 point ago*

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  • Cracked version of GeekSquad's MRI
  • PC-Doctor bootable CD
  • ComboFix
  • MalwareBytes (With recent definitions installer)
  • Kaspersky TDL3 Master Boot Record virus scanner
  • Hitman Pro
  • The ability to see right through someone's bullshit story about what they really did to break their computer.
  • FireFox standalone
  • Experience

[–]mwardrop2 0 points1 point ago

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Seen a lot of good ones here, but i also add in hijackthis and PsExec (this one is REALLY nice for background remote support if you have local admin rights on the machine.

If dealing with reinstalling windows lots on machines or refreshing hardware, learn how to sysprep for windows xp (cant remember 7 equivalent atm). and create an image out of that. So much better.

oh and document document document. what images have on them exactly, what subnets are you using for different area's/hotels etc.

[–]mattoly 0 points1 point ago

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Check out teamviewer. It's a great way to check out client issues without leaving your coffee shop.

[–]Gold_Leaf_Initiative 0 points1 point ago

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My favorite windows OS tool is Scotty WinPatrol by BillP studios. It has a lot of features, but the truly essential one is a registry guard that works perfectly. It alerts you and prompts you to approve EVERY CHANGE to the registry.

There is a freeware version.

[–]NinjaViking 0 points1 point ago

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Along with all that clever stuff to fill your USB drives with that others are listing, carry a Leatherman.

[–]nathanielban 0 points1 point ago

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I love my skeletool.

[–]nofixie 0 points1 point ago

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Google

[–]KT88 0 points1 point ago*

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First off, congrats! it support's a cool job if you're good at listening to users and troubleshooting using intuition and logic. Also people love it when you fix their sh!t.

Best advice I think is to give everything a go- jump in the deep end where you can and your knowledge will grow exponentially. If you can't immediately fix a desktop issue, tell the user that you'll get back to them- and do so once you've solved it. If you see something that could be done better, mention it to the boss and you might get the experience of doing it. Try to get training paid for if you can- the basic MS courses cover a lot of really useful stuff that will see you right, esp if you move into Wintel sysadmin work.

Plain old windows RDP and windows remote assistance, msconfig, mmc.exe, services.msc are some built in really useful tools, and the admin disk share C$ makes life verrry easy if your desktops have it enabled. Also learn to use the command line for basic tasks and you'll soon appreciate how efficient it is. A good understanding of how user profiles work, also properly setting up sharing and security are damn handy.

For software I use Hirens boot CD, a "dodgy PC" USB stick with malwarebytes w/updated definitions and so on, and another one with copies of lots of installers. Teamviewer is a good one.

Hardware: spare network cables of various lengths or a crimp tool and RJ45s. If you ever see a cable with the retaining clip broken off, replace it then and there- it will be guaranteed to come loose at a later date at the worst possible time.

Hopefully they give you a smartphone- google on the go is damn handy, and of course reddit for when you're waiting for something to reboot...

[–]stalinsorgan 0 points1 point ago

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Best thing I've got is a CD with UBCD for Windows on it. You can literally boot into a Windows desktop from a CD, and it has lots of utilities on it that are useful.

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