31 March 2007 - 16:49Housecall USB flash drives

If you’re into computer science or information technology, you’ve no-doubt been unwittingly signed up as the tech support go-to guy for your entire family. In many cases, the same goes for your circle of friends and neighbours. Sometimes it’s an easy way to make quick money, but it can be a hassle. There are a few things you should bring with you to every housecall to make your job that much easier:

The first is a Knoppix live cd or equivalent, these come in handy for all sorts of tasks, especially when the machine is wrecked up really badly.

The second is a USB flash drive full of common utilities, the tech support equivalent of a cartoon doctor’s little bag with a red cross on it. Here’s a list of portable applications that could help you out in the field.

1. ClamWin portable – the portable Windows version of ClamAV. Scan your client’s PC and remember the number of infections you find, so you can tell your friends later.
2. Recuva – a utility for restoring things that were accidentally deleted. It’s safer to have it on your flash drive than to try to go to the website and try to download it onto your clients’ machine.
3. SIW – System Information for Windows. SIW lets you quickly get all of the information about a system that you could ever want. Especially useful for figuring out the specific devices in a system without opening the case up. Also be aware that it has some password- and key-recovery features, which you may want to be careful with.
4. Portable Firefox and 7Zip – Your client’s browser may be crippled and unusable, this is the most common problem I’m asked to help with. 7Zip doesn’t hurt to have, in case you need to get into archives that aren’t supported by the system.

If you come prepared, you’ll be done and out of your neighbour’s musky, cigarette smoke-filled house in no time.