Introduction
As with most businesses, the quality of your work is your livelihood. Good businesses have a great product, poor ones do not. The trick then is to be thorough in your repair, check all the edge cases and account for details that most would miss; in short, deliver a great product.
One of the more common questions we get here at RepairTech is “what are the tools other technicians run?” While we’re happy to hand out recommendations, it’s clear that there’s a need for a definitive guide on building out a great repair checklist. So we crafted our Preset Methodology Guide to help techs do just that.
The diagram is split into the 6 different sections of a complete repair
Sections:
- Backup & Setup
- System Info
- Hardware Diagnostics
- Malware Removal
- Cleanup
- Updates
Each section tackles a different and important aspect to repairing a computer. The proposed order is a strong suggestion. While we’ve heard of different shops switching 4 & 5 for the sake of speed, this method favors thoroughness. Keep in mind that in the PDF and sections below, the tools are suggestions. Each tool is an fully automated tool in TechWARU so you can be thorough and efficient with your time. If you find better tools or more favorable ones for your shop, please post back here in the comments section!
Backup & Setup
Backup
An important aspect to any repair is ensuring that any mistakes or accidents are reversible. Take the time in the beginning to ensure that you are able to reverse any work you’ve done. A right solution is always a full backup. If the time required simply isn’t available, then at least perform a system restore point. If the computer is of tremendous importance (a high value customer potentially), a system image isn’t out of the question.
Setup
Allowing the tools you use to function correctly is essential. Any programs that could interfere with any tool’s repair work should be shutdown, this includes something like explorer.exe.
Suggested tools
- Create Restore Point
- ERUNT Backup Registry
- Auto-KillEmAll
- Kill Explorer.exe
System Info
The more you you know about a computer, the better prepared you are to repair it. Consider these tools when looking to understand more about the hardware, software, OS, and various settings on a machine.
Suggested Tools
Get Product Keys
Installed Drivers List
List Installed Apps
DevManView
Hardware Diagnostics
The easiest time sinks are the ones that appear as software issues when hardware is the culprit. Save yourself the headache up front and do a few diagnostics at the beginning of the repair to see what could be going on under the hood. The tools below are available in TechWARU and are fully automated. For more hardware diagnostic tools, check out TechUSB.
Suggested Tools
DiskSmartView
BlueScreenView
BatteryInfoView
Malware Removal
Easily the most common types of repairs these days, malware removal’s importance needs no elaboration. Our first suggested tool, Registry Investigator is the product of a partnership with The Virus Doctor designed to quickly run through the registry and reset any malicious entries. It’s a powerful first tool in virus removal, but if there more manual fixes required, Ken has a great class on that. We follow up with three more staples of virus removal, Kaspersky, RKill, and HiJack This.
Suggested Tools
Registry Investigator
Kaspersky TDSSKiller
RKill
HiJack This
HerdProtect
Cleanup
A proper cleaning is in order now that we should be able to access all the relevant files. TechWARU uses a fantastic tool called bleachbit to run these cleanups. The recommended settings for this are listed below. Feel free to add your own, their entire program list is here.
Suggested Tools
System: All
Firefox: All
Google Chrome: All
Internet Explorer: All
Updates
Finally, once we’re done, let’s get the system, frameworks, and app updates installed.
Suggested Tools
Ninite Pro/One
WSUS Offline Update
Windows Update