I am curious what tools the IT guys on this board use to troubleshoot. Software or hardware. I have used some in the past like seatools, pc check and memtest, but I would like to see what else is out there. They dont have to be free, but it would be nice. I would like to find a good PE style bootable program that will give me access to registry and file management for virus removal. Anything cool really. I know a lot of people probably use software built for, or by specific companies and they may not be available for non-commercial use. I have been doing some research, but I know a lot of what I find is junk and or dangerous.
PC diagnostic tools
- Thread starter fionntan
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endlesszeal
Senior Member
Its black magic!
I personally use Ultimate Boot CD, it has MemTest, data recovery, and CPU stressing if OS is unbootable. If OS is bootable, I use MemTest86 for memory, Prime95 for CPU, FurMark for GPU, PhotoREC for data recovery and CPU-Z to get general info on the system.
A combo of Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware and CCCleaner gets a great deal of crap eg viruses, bad registeries (should never mess if you dont know), spyware, etc..
Hardware wise, I like to keep a PSU tester and multimeter handy. Helps eliminates PSU failures fast. Also, you can never have enough spares to troubleshoot especially Cruical Ballistix RAM with LED if motherboard doesnt have LED debugging.
I personally use Ultimate Boot CD, it has MemTest, data recovery, and CPU stressing if OS is unbootable. If OS is bootable, I use MemTest86 for memory, Prime95 for CPU, FurMark for GPU, PhotoREC for data recovery and CPU-Z to get general info on the system.
A combo of Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware and CCCleaner gets a great deal of crap eg viruses, bad registeries (should never mess if you dont know), spyware, etc..
Hardware wise, I like to keep a PSU tester and multimeter handy. Helps eliminates PSU failures fast. Also, you can never have enough spares to troubleshoot especially Cruical Ballistix RAM with LED if motherboard doesnt have LED debugging.
Thanks for the tip. I use memtest and prime 95 pretty regularly, but it is nice to have them together along with what appears to be tons of other diags on one disc.
Malwarebytes and spyware dr have been my virus go-tos for a while, but I will have to check out superantispyware. CCleaner is a given. I do know a bit about registries, but not enough to really mess around. I only go into the registry if I absolutely have to.
I always have a multimeter in my tool kit (that became a habit when working in the audio business).
Anyone else have any good tools they like to use?
Malwarebytes and spyware dr have been my virus go-tos for a while, but I will have to check out superantispyware. CCleaner is a given. I do know a bit about registries, but not enough to really mess around. I only go into the registry if I absolutely have to.
I always have a multimeter in my tool kit (that became a habit when working in the audio business).
Anyone else have any good tools they like to use?
Last edited:
we like to use-
ultimate boot cd
getdataback
malwarebytes
superantispyware
ccleaner
alot of the time we clean the reg by hand, its pretty easy if you know shortcuts.
ultimate boot cd
getdataback
malwarebytes
superantispyware
ccleaner
alot of the time we clean the reg by hand, its pretty easy if you know shortcuts.
Thanks for the suggestions. I work for a company right now that uses in house designed software for most of their diags., but I may not be there too much longer and I am trying to find a few things that I can use for the company that I am trying to move to, as well as the jobs that I pick up on the side.
Well, i guess i should rephrase.
I DO use my c drive, as its my only drive.
but i also run Online Backup, Data Backup & Remote Backup Solutions | Mozy home premium backup. so twice a day, all of my docs/pics/email/etc do a delta and perform an incremental backup. Other than windows and office, all of my other programs can be downloaded form the web again with a recepit link saved in the emails.
plus, it acts as a cloud too, so i can sync with my phone, or get a file on the road if i need it.
the cloud is here. embrace it.
I DO use my c drive, as its my only drive.
but i also run Online Backup, Data Backup & Remote Backup Solutions | Mozy home premium backup. so twice a day, all of my docs/pics/email/etc do a delta and perform an incremental backup. Other than windows and office, all of my other programs can be downloaded form the web again with a recepit link saved in the emails.
plus, it acts as a cloud too, so i can sync with my phone, or get a file on the road if i need it.
the cloud is here. embrace it.
I do everything with Hiren's Boot CD, which contains every possible piece of software you could ever need. Boots and runs itself and has bootable recovery OS's as well. It includes a mini, CD-bootable portable version of Windows XP so it technically has copyright issues, but except for that they've really been pushing away from that area and have used all legit open source or freeware utilities in the last few years.
Check out Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info for a full list. Hundreds of utilities there!
Check out Hiren's BootCD 15.2 - All in one Bootable CD » www.hiren.info for a full list. Hundreds of utilities there!
Hirens is great. can't argue that. we use mozy for our data that we don't want backed up locally.... like our CMS and financial stuff.
i can't do cloud. mozy works well, but i have a terastation at home that holds all my data, which is more or less just photos. i always archive those to DVD/BR yearly anyways.
i can't do cloud. mozy works well, but i have a terastation at home that holds all my data, which is more or less just photos. i always archive those to DVD/BR yearly anyways.
Thanks. I found it a little bit after I posted that question. I started messing around with it last night just to see how everything worked. i ran a bunch of different hdd tests and some mem tests. I started to freak myself out a bit because I failed a lot of the hdd tests. I need to spend some time reading about each different tool so I know when it is appropriate to use what. The ubcd seems to be a little easier to work with in my opinion.
Which ones were throwing failures?
