Advice needed from you IT pros with your own techsupport business.

[bupkus]

I need to start a tech support business where I go to homes or offices and fix whatever.
I do it now for friends, family and word-of-mouth but now I need to earn a living. I like doing this but I want to do more and earn more.
I'm looking for suggestions as well as advice about a laptop or other tools I may need to take with me.
I have a BS degree in Comp. Sci. so I should be earning something.

 

[Slikkster]

Well, by no means an exhaustive list of "tools" but I'd say you should always have:

A Wi-Fi laptop
CDR Bootdisks with both diagnostic and Antivirus tools
(AVG Antivirus, Regseeker Registry Cleaner, Diskeeper Lite, various Hard Drive
Diagnostics, etc.)

Bootable Floppy with antivirus (read-only)
IDE-USB Adapter (lets you attach hard drives to USB ports)
An account with a Microsoft OEM supplier.
Petter Nordahl-Hagen's Offline Password Editor
Knoppix Linux CD (to see NTFS folders)
NTFS for Dos Floppy
Win98SE Bootdisk
Crossover cable
Extra PC Power Cord
Power Strip
Good mini-Mag flashlights
Compressed Air
Tools (screwdrivers, crescent wrench, )
Standoff insulator posts (for motherboards that might be grounded)
External USB Drive with lots of the aforementioned software installed, including
Windows XP.
Ground Straps (so you don't end up buying their pc!)
Mice (usb and ps/2)
Keyboard
Monitor
Possibly the Soyo PCI Diagnostic Card (although I have never used it)
Something like GoToMyPC so you can grab stuff off your home pc from the road.

Anyway, that's just for starters. I'm sure there's lots others can chime in with.

 

[Iahova]

Good list slikkster

The only things I would add are this:

1. a copy of XPE (Disk that boots XP to the CD much the same as Knoppix for Linux)
2. Spyware tool installs added to your USB storage device. I find that more and more I am called to peoples houses to do nothing more than remove spyware, I recommend Spybot, Adaware, Hijack this, and CWShredder. You can also add Killbox to this because there are some persistant processes that are hard to terminate and wont allow you to remove the spyware unless they are dead.

 

[imported_CromsDog]

More to slikkster 's great list
1.USB network adapter for ease of transfer of files
2.Pocket hub (just a lil four port hub)
3.Norton Ghost boot disk (for replicating drives)
4.Screwdriver with magnetized head (do not give me grief about magnetic fields and hard drives)
5.Patience of Job 🙂

 

[montag451]

And try and get your customer out of the room while you work, as it can be a pain in the arse when something you do comes up with an error ;-) and the last 10 minutes have been a waste of time!!!

 

[imported_CromsDog]

I charge double if you want to watch, triple if you want to help 🙂

 

[montag451]

Also, DON'T WEAR A FLEECE JUMPER when working on someone else's computer.

They get impressed by the way your hair might stick to the case, but not when there is a very light pop when you are holding their precious hdd with all their data - and your face goes red.

Make sure you tell them before you touch their computer that you are not responsible for their data, but if they want you to back it up, you will be happy to charge them to do this.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Originally posted by: bupkus
I need to start a tech support business where I go to homes or offices and fix whatever.
I do it now for friends, family and word-of-mouth but now I need to earn a living. I like doing this but I want to do more and earn more.
I'm looking for suggestions as well as advice about a laptop or other tools I may need to take with me.
I have a BS degree in Comp. Sci. so I should be earning something.

Doing repair work for family, friends, acquaintances, is totally different from
working on complete strangers PC.

Make sure to make up a detailed worksheet that you can have the customer sign, leaving
no doubt on what work you will be performing on the PC and the charges.

Also, be prepared to work late evenings & nites when working on Home users as that is
generally when they are available.

You may want to look into working for someone else (an agency) before starting your own
business to see if it is right for you.