Every PC builder should have:

[Barakka]

My most recent purchase, a cordless electric screwdriver... wow this thing could have saved me hours and hours in the past few years if just for taking the screws off the back of a case

But my all time fav has to be:

A Magnetizer/De-Magnetizer... costs about £2 and you poke the scredriver/pliers/tweezers through the bottom hole and they are magnetized, the top hole and, you guessed it, de-magnetized !

[0iD]

a good torch &/or lamp & an ethernet card with driver disk. Updating old PC's is such a pain without braodband.

[Captain Fizz]

A KVM is indeed one of the handiest things... But I can't believe that no-one has mentioned a switch.

For rebuilding PC's you NEED your own PC sitting with Apps&Utils shared.
30 GB of apps, drivers, utilities, updates etc - All held in one place with clear folder structure.

An Apps&Utils folder is ESSENTIAL and I'm continually amazed how people can survive without it.

Also put all of my PC tools into one toolbox. Now I have a portable fixing toolbox!

[Bindibadgi]

A Magnetizer/De-Magnetizer... costs about £2 and you poke the scredriver/pliers/tweezers through the bottom hole and they are magnetized, the top hole and, you guessed it, de-magnetized !

Something NOT to put on your desk next to your CRT.

[SmileyUK]

This is my contribution...

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

my god it comes in handy

[eldren]

Can't believe no one's mentioned it yet, but a spare harddrive. Plenty of times, I'd have found myself in a tight spot were it not for my little collection of small (~2GB) drives. Saved me from formatting my previous install when the OS went wonky (Too much data, no place to put it) - just installed Windows on a 2GB until I got some new drives.

[iranu]

usb flash drive memory pen thingy. I use 128mb cool drive where I keep all those lovely little tools, drivers etc. Saves carrying an awkward cd and is quicker to write/erase data.

!! Some don't work with Win NT!!

[chris123]

this list is very helpfull for a first builder (like me). can anyone recomend an all-in-one tool kit which i can buy, and where from?

cheers.

[Rythmic]

Can't recommend a single toolkit I'm afraid - most of them include useless rubbish like EPROM pullers (which didn't work properly 18 years ago when this was a common task - a biro top was a far better tool).

If you look up the list here, you'll notice theres only 4 real tools: screwdriver (one phillips, one power tested), torch and long nose pliers/tweezers. Your money may well be better spent on a more generalised toolset.

All the rest are bits of computer, and the way to get these is to hoard every spare bit you get with every motherboard/case/gfx card, and strip older computers

[SmileyUK]

i use the black and grey long screwdrivers from rs... the extra length on the screwdriver gives you extra leverage so hard to get screws are easy to remove without stripping the head.

i cant find the product on the website but they are always on display in the shops themselves...highly recommended

[hartz]

Plenty Screwdrivers mentioned:

(Reliable) Philips screwdriver
(Magnetic) Screwdriver
Non magnetic screw driver
Screwdriver with interchangeable heads (of every conceivable type)
Small power testing screwdriver
Cordless electric screwdriver
The black and grey long screwdrivers from rs


Other Tools

KVM switch
(or a) Dual-input monitor
Cross-over (Ethernet) cable
Pair of tweezers
Needlenose pliers
Hot Glue Gun
Paint brush
Cable ties
Gas powered soldering iron
Thumbscrews
8 port switch
A pair of long neck forceps
Grounding Equipment / anti static wrist strap
Power leads.
Anti-static bags
Surge protected socket for every plug
Danbee's Cybertool http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/swissar...ol-review.html
A little torch (/ maglite torch)
Voltmeter
Random converter plugs
Magnetizer/De-Magnetizer
Usb flash drive memory pen thingy.
Arctic Silver 5 (Thermal Grease)

Note to Rythmic - Not all these items are tools, some may even be considdered consumables ... but there's more than 4 tools here.

Listed Good Spares parts:

AMD heatsink/fan (old cooler for current CPU in case of failure)
Screws (In a pot of some sort)
Fans
Old 350w PSU unit (external to any computer)
A few leftover lights and cables
IDE cables / ATA cables with 3 plugs
SATA cables
56k external serial modem (x 2)
Spare memory
Old CPU
Jumpers
An ethernet card with driver disk
Spare harddrive


Software Tools mentioned:

Win 98se boot CD/Disk (to get DOS)
VNC
OS backup disc with SP1a applied ( in case I loose the original )
A list of all my serial codes for various software programs
Disc with drivers and utils for system
Bootable ghost cd
Spybot search and destroy
Adaware
Norton AV
Zonealarm pro
All the latest updates and patches
All the little virus removing tools from Symantec eg for the blaster worm/ sasser
Winxp and keychanger ???
SiSoft Sandra
Cacheman (for old PCs)
Adaware
Syware Blaster
Any unified drivers for mainstream components
Standard MS fixes


Other Items:

Big Brother to bail you out.
Plenty of blood to spare
An internet connection (And a working pc to go with it)
Apps&Utils shared from your own PC via a network card.
Knowledge
Patience
Double-sided tape
Blank cds

Nobody mentioned it, but a small electric drill is sometimes usefull, esp if you're doing MODs or even just to get some cables through the side of a PC case. I'll add one other thing: Old component manuals. I don't always have a network connection, but I have stacks and stacks of motherboard, hard drive, and VGA card manuals... from the days when you still had to change jumpers on these things :-)

I also have some serial and parallel loop-back plugs, and a 20cm cross-over ethernet cable, a 3m straight ethernet cable, and an RJ45 female-to-female converter, which when connecting the cross-over to the straight ethernet cables creates a long cross-over cable. :-)

Finally, some boxcutters or a pen-knife.

On the software side, I want to add the Linux bootloader, and a bootable Linux CD. Partition Magic is also very much on my tools list :-)

I have most of the physical tools in two toolboxes, one with my oft needed tools, and a big one with the tools I don't need often, and plenty of spares, from ISA-8 multi-IO cards to SCSI cards. I know there are some MFM and RLL hard drives in my spares boxes.

As far as toolkits are concerned, I believe in building up your own kit up over time. Pre-made kits tend to be low quality tools and full of useless items. Good for frustration.

[daniel_owen_uk]

Well you crazy fools how can no one have mentioned coffee mug, guaranteed things will go wrong and you will be up half the night.

[Spunkey]

UTP Cat5 Cable
RJ45 Plugs
RJ45 Plug Boots (if you're into that king of thing )
RJ45/RJ11/BT Crimper
Dr Pepper

[Rythmic]

Note to Rythmic - Not all these items are tools, some may even be considdered consumables ... but there's more than 4 tools here.

Hey - I'm not going to argue about whats a tool.

Yes, there are more than 4, but have a look. Theres multiple screwdrivers there. For 99% of PC related business, you need 1. Long nosed pliers do triple duty as foceps and tweezers. Yes I know specialized tools are useful - but the guy who asked the question is just starting out.

Though some of these things are useful, they're certainly not needed for a beginner. I don't doubt that a soldering iron is going to be useful - but you're likely to do damage with one if you're not sure whats going on - (esp with a gas one). I've also seen horrendous uses of glue guns in PCs - and not just by amateurs (IDE cable might fall out in transit, so Glue gun it in attitudes). And theres no point having a voltmeter, if you haven't got a clue what to use it for or how (theres enough bad reviews of PSUs out there already!)

A good set of screwdrivers, a pair of long nose pliers and a torch are all you to start with - you'll build up the rest with time and knowledge. I started without a torch or the pliers! (And I had to live in a cardboard box in the middle of the road and work 27 hours a day - but tell that to the young people today, and they won't believe you).

[Stoo]

Gotta agree with folks about the Cybertool, incredibly useful little thing

[hartz]

Hey - I'm not going to argue about whats a tool.

Yes, there are more than 4, but
... [snip] ...
the guy who asked the question is just starting out.

Though some of these things are useful, they're certainly not needed for a beginner.
... [snip] ...
A good set of screwdrivers, a pair of long nose pliers and a torch are all you to start with - you'll build up the rest with time and knowledge. I started without a torch or the pliers! (And I had to live in a cardboard box in the middle of the road and work 27 hours a day - but tell that to the young people today, and they won't believe you).

OK, granted. When you talk about what you need to start with, I agree with you 100% ... Those are the essentials. Hmmm ... maybe add a pencil for jotting down notes and making lists and such ... or do these youngsters all just use PDAs?