coolbluesurface
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SW/HW toolkit for general Sm.Bsns 'IT Guy'?
In regards to desktop support and PC security/networking/backup
I'm graduating with a B.S. Computer Science degree and may do full-time work as an 'IT Guy' consultant for a friend's real-estate business. The organization is small, but does a lot of business; it consists of a home office and mini-offices (of approx. 5 users each) across five states. I imagine I would be cleaning-up poorly-maintained & misused PCs, implementing better security, selecting/installing new hardware & peripherals, implementing a backup/restore system, troubleshooting PC & networking issues, etc.
In case I end up doing that, or doing general IT work in a different consulting gig where my sw/hw tools wouldn't be provided by an empoyer, I probably need to purchase software and hardware tools that will become the core of my 'IT toolkit.'
Please recommend any hw or software tools that you find indispensible for this type of work. Also, please explain any sw licensing issues/costs I'll need to be prepared for.
I suppose a laptop would be a good place to start; I don't have one yet. And I know I can buy a retail 'pc toolkit' with a screwdriver, line tester, cable ties, wire crimper, etc.
I'm sure there are a ton of hardware and software diagnostic tools and security tools out there that would be useful for a one-man IT department. I guess I'd just rather hear your trusted opinions on which to use instead of spending hours digging through info from a websearch.
Thanks much.
I'm graduating with a B.S. Computer Science degree and may do full-time work as an 'IT Guy' consultant for a friend's real-estate business. The organization is small, but does a lot of business; it consists of a home office and mini-offices (of approx. 5 users each) across five states. I imagine I would be cleaning-up poorly-maintained & misused PCs, implementing better security, selecting/installing new hardware & peripherals, implementing a backup/restore system, troubleshooting PC & networking issues, etc.
In case I end up doing that, or doing general IT work in a different consulting gig where my sw/hw tools wouldn't be provided by an empoyer, I probably need to purchase software and hardware tools that will become the core of my 'IT toolkit.'
Please recommend any hw or software tools that you find indispensible for this type of work. Also, please explain any sw licensing issues/costs I'll need to be prepared for.
I suppose a laptop would be a good place to start; I don't have one yet. And I know I can buy a retail 'pc toolkit' with a screwdriver, line tester, cable ties, wire crimper, etc.
I'm sure there are a ton of hardware and software diagnostic tools and security tools out there that would be useful for a one-man IT department. I guess I'd just rather hear your trusted opinions on which to use instead of spending hours digging through info from a websearch.
Thanks much.
Lee W, MVP
Request: I love this question and have thought about it myself a few times. Your asking it has inspired me to TRY to write up a web page answer to it. I'll post it regardless, but I would ask, if you can, wait at least a day before grading to give me a chance to post the link. I think you'll find it useful.
ASKER
Sounds great leew, thanks!
I had a similar experience when I found myself answering the same questions to many people about basic home pc maintenance. I used one of my college class projects to start a website about how to keep a home pc secure and well-running: http://jcarl.net. But the class was only a few weeks long and I haven't had time to work on the site since then. If anyone wants to contribute content to it, feel free to find my email addy via the About page.
I had a similar experience when I found myself answering the same questions to many people about basic home pc maintenance. I used one of my college class projects to start a website about how to keep a home pc secure and well-running: http://jcarl.net. But the class was only a few weeks long and I haven't had time to work on the site since then. If anyone wants to contribute content to it, feel free to find my email addy via the About page.
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Actually, the first section of the web page I provided is hardware. You should check it out. Maybe it will inspire you (I'm working more on it now - and you inspired me to add a couple of things too).
I didn't look - but I will now ;)
Speaking of hardware, one item I've found very useful is a small mirror, for those times when you must see around a tight corner behind something. And I find my PDA very handy for keeping misc notes in the field.
ASKER
Wow, thanks all. This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
Lee, your webpage is awesome! I'm sure I'll be referencing it for years to come. Really fantastic- great work.
I'll wait a little bit before I close my question to see if anyone else has additional insights.
Do you think any of the below would be worthy to add?
F-Secure Blacklight (http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight): rootkit-checker
Tune-Up Utilities (www.tune-up.com)
The disk check/repair utilities from the drive manufacturers, i.e. Western Digital's WDTools and Seagate's SeaTools- maybe they aren't any better than the all-in-one disk utilities?
nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html): creates custom, automated Windows install ISOs.
Lee, your webpage is awesome! I'm sure I'll be referencing it for years to come. Really fantastic- great work.
I'll wait a little bit before I close my question to see if anyone else has additional insights.
Do you think any of the below would be worthy to add?
F-Secure Blacklight (http://www.f-secure.com/blacklight): rootkit-checker
Tune-Up Utilities (www.tune-up.com)
The disk check/repair utilities from the drive manufacturers, i.e. Western Digital's WDTools and Seagate's SeaTools- maybe they aren't any better than the all-in-one disk utilities?
nLite (http://www.nliteos.com/nlite.html): creates custom, automated Windows install ISOs.
The Ultimate Boot CD includes the disk check/repair utilities from most hard drive manufacturers - which is why I didn't list them.
I avoid Tune-up and RAM boost utilities. Very few - IF ANY - will help your system. Most will just slow it down with more crap running in the background.
You can include the F-Secure program - basically, if it's free, it shouldn't hurt. But as I mentioned on the Malware Tools section, most of those tools do an incomplete job, which is why I don't USUALLY bother with them.
nLite is not a bad thing to have... I've never used it, but I've heard of it often enough that if I did more systems installations I'd probably find it useful.
I avoid Tune-up and RAM boost utilities. Very few - IF ANY - will help your system. Most will just slow it down with more crap running in the background.
You can include the F-Secure program - basically, if it's free, it shouldn't hurt. But as I mentioned on the Malware Tools section, most of those tools do an incomplete job, which is why I don't USUALLY bother with them.
nLite is not a bad thing to have... I've never used it, but I've heard of it often enough that if I did more systems installations I'd probably find it useful.