Anyone here fix computers for a living? (at people's houses)

[nathaliev]

Hi guys,

I'm pretty handy with computers and fixing software and hardware issues and to make some extra money on the side I decided to start up a part time business as at-home/office tech.

In other words, I will travel to people's homes or offices to help them troubleshoot problems.

I wanted to get some advice from some of you out there who do this for a living, in terms of what stuff I should carry around with me (or in my car)


For example, someone today contacted me and may need some help, they said they are not getting any signal from their monitor and also tried two other monitors.. I guess to troubleshoot this I'll need to install a spare video card and see if that works to determine if it's their video card?


So, do you guys carry around extra RAM, video cards, hard drives, etc.


And what happens when something does need to be replaced? Do you keep extra stock in your car for common parts, or do you take a trip to the local tech store and buy a new video card for them and then come back to install it and have them reimburse you for the purchase?


I'm just trying to get an idea of how others handle these kinds of things.


Thanks
Nat

[Peter.Cort]

what we do (i work for a small company) is if we need to go onsite, we usually get a good idea of what the problem is, and we bring out stuff that could be a fix for the problem. and if they need a new product just have them pay for it, seeing as they need a new one anyway.

[S0ULphIRE]

I don't exactly do that for a living, but I do go around fixing people's stuff.
Seeing as most people are rather computer illiterate, I find it's difficult to get an idea of the problem from the average home user. So generally I take some spare RAM, of varying speeds and slot types, mebbe one hdd pre-loaded with an os, spare cpu, a flashdrive (or my external hdd) loaded with drivers, patches, virus scanner stuffs, codecs, etc.
Usually you can get enough of an idea, however, to know whether you should bring a graphics card with you.

Like peter said tho, try and gather as much info as you can first before going to the place totry and fix it.

[SirCyber]

Peter. Cort. he has the correct idea. bring the needed supplies. however, I will say this. having live cd versions of antivirus or anti-spyware is a good idea, some jobs you may need to take home to fix, so be sure this is not an issue *I'm assuming you don't have an office* each job will require different things. the burnable live cd's are the greatest asset to a computer troubleshooting shop though. you know your hardware. I don't think many of us know exactly where to search for a virus without the aid of an antivirus

[nathaliev]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yes I work from home, I do have a small home office, so if necessary I can bring a system home to fix.


Regarding live CD's for antivirus, what is recommended? I have things like Hiren's Boot CD, which does have some virus scanners on it, plus a lot of other useful tools.

Does AVG or Avast or any of those anti-virus programs have a live CD option? Or do you guys custom make your own boot CDs?


Nat

[SirCyber]

My boss wrote his own, so I don't know what's good. and yes, it's a custom boot cd. we used to make a new one every week *yes, that gets expensive, but it's minor compared to the income*

[luke992006]

i bring some ram because that is a common problem and a portable hdd packed full of drivers, patches, temp software, anti virus, anti spyware etc.(i have the whole drive(320gb) filled with that stuff) oh and some compresed air. If they need something installed i bring a little tool kit but thats about it. Most of the people just bring there comps to my house, it makes it a lot easier also.

If i have to go to there house i get them to tell me there problem over the phone (most of the time they don't explain it very well) and then i can bring extra stuff other then the usual stuff i bring.

[Eric1]

I like to solve other people's computer problems, but something about going to strange people's houses to fix their computer turns me away.

[mattew]

well i dont do that for living just do as a hobby....
every problem enriches ur experience ...... and solving new challenges undoubtedly increases ur efficiencies..
i have a teleconversation with the person and go to his house.... to diagonise it..
i have usually faced software challenges..
business point of view it a good way to earn only for ur living....
but if u teach the newbies who have just entered the computer field and do some similar stuff like that it will make gr8 business

[Saxon]

Your tool kit can vary from job to job (the parts you use) But always have a flash drive with a few tools on like Ccleaner, AVG, Mini stumbler (wifi auditing tool) winsock fix, XP an Vista service packs. A set of screw drivers an some precision screwdrivers, some ram DDR (stick to DDR400 1GB) an DDR2 (DDR2 667) In my car I have a USB Floppy drive, USB DVD-RW drive, External HDD with some various software tools on that i don't use every day but are handy to have I even have a laptop on me so i know that if i go on a sight there will be at least one working computer. I keep a ASDL modem / router an a Cable router an a spool of CAT5 network cable an some RJ45 ends an a set of RJ45 crimpers, a PSU, 2 hard drives (1 IDE an 1 SATA) a DVD-RW a AGP an a PCI graphics card.

I cater to business only so i am sometimes required to fix a PC a server or a network an fix it fast, at home I keep all my RAM, Mobo's, processors, PSU's Optical drives an harddrives. so I can just pop home an pick up any required parts. I just keep that many parts on my because my coustomers expect results an expect them fast.