Calling all A+ Technicians....

[bpan]

"Delicate little chips???"

I suppose I have to say something...

Aside from the possibility that the HD could be damaged from a magnetic field in it's vicinity, the small field created by a lightly magnetized screwdriver is perfectly safe inside a PC.

Remember, there are at least three (and sometimes 5 or more) rather strong (some VERY strong) magnets in the average modern hard drive.

I am cautious, and keep magnetized tools away from the top/bottom covers of any type of drive mechanism, and of course make sure you never set the tool down near a diskette or tape cartridge.

ICs (chips) will not be affected (or damaged) by the small magnetic field generated by a magnetized screwdriver, whether the power is on or not.

No doubt a very large magnetic field might twiddle some bits in an IC if the power is on, but then you shouldn't be in there with big magnets while power is on anyway...

Now I'm getting waaaaaay out of my field, but in my experience, electronics on military/space craft must be shielded from such magnetic flux, but that is to prevent damage from the magnetic flux changes in the earth's troposphere, generated by sunspots and the like.

That's why sunspots can create so much havoc with RF and electronics. Magnetic flux lines moving about and such...

I always blame sunspots when a computer crashes for no known reason. Lots of furrowed brows on my customers faces from that comment

They might be strong enough to crash a computer, or disrupt a radio signal but at least on the surface of the earth, they aren't strong enough to do any permanent damage that I'm aware of.

BTW: I seem to remember that atomic blasts generate a huge EM pulse that can take out computers and other electronic equipment.

Just keep that nuclear warhead away from the computer, eh?

[Denton]

This has to be said......

If you received your A+ and suposedly know what your doing well enough to give the customer confidence when you arrive to do the service call.....

You should have a rough idea what generaly needs to be brought along

If not you should not have been certifiied

A polite observation

[Wombat]

Denton has a good point, you should already know what you need, but having said that, shared help and advice is always helpful.

Having passed my A+ last year and about to start my own home business while I work my way through MCSE, I have encountered what would be one of the most desirable aspects in dealing with clients and their computer(s). Confidence, self confidence in your work and abilities, also ask as many questions about their system before you go to the location so that you can be somewhat prepared and not seem like an amateur.

I hope this helps.

Paul

[KenKeith]

Denton, Wombat,...comforting to read you agree to obtain a preview of the problem before making the call.

I will add to my prior post on the subject: be prepared to be pleasantly or adversely disappointed as the problem often times is not what the user believes. As an example the user might describe the problem as not being able to boot. Resolution turns out to be machine is not plugged into AC socket! Many examples to draw from as the user maybe incorrect in their analysis or description more than 50% of the time.

[winger]

I'd just like to point out a couple of things...

The topic of the original post was what to bring in regards to an "unknown computer problem." He didn't ask what tools he should bring to service calls.

That being said, he is well within his right to peruse other minds on what they bring with them to "unknown problem" calls.

The tone of your response was clearly less than polite, the message had nothing helpful to add to the topic, and to suggest that

"You should have a rough idea what generaly needs to be brought along

If not you should not have been certifiied"

is, in my opinion, rather insulting.



Just MY polite observation.

Edit: a pocket multimeter is always a nice thing to bring along as well.

[veedub]

How about becoming Certified? Where at? Tech schools, Trade schools, Community colleges, Online? Where does one go? Does it take weeks, months dare I say Years?

Very Interested

Van

[winger]

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthre...threadid=93301

Much of the info you seek can be found inside. Myself, I bought the Core Books, studied up for 2-3 Months after work, and went and took the tests.

Hope this helps.

[KenKeith]

a polite response!

I was somewhat taken aback with the original posters' question regarding the prep for an unknown problem. But it may not be an inappropriate question when one considers that almost all training and tech education is solution oriented and taught by instructors that have never had practical experience in service calls via an on site installation.

Denton and Wombat didn't add much if anything that I had not posted previously. As a consequence, I was not, but Dentons' response may have been a criticism of an inadequate instructor and not a personal remark against the original posters' potentional.

[cuelebre]

Tell your clients that you charge double for On-site service,that way they choose to go to them or them come to you,anyway bring anything you may think of (even spare power cords).
And the best advice be honest,since you ask and now that you have your certification,you are putting all of us in the line.

[Wombat]

Boy, you can really tell the newbie’s to computers! As a matter of fact, I obtained my A+ at a place where they all had at least 10 yrs experience in the field. My instructor Carla ( yes a female) has been in the industry for at least 12 yrs and comes from a long line of techs, her current certs are: obviously A+, MCSE, Netware, and Cisco.
My self, I have dabbled here and there for the last 8 years in both the US and Australia and only now figured that I may as well get some paper work to hang on the wall.

In most service situations, common sense and experience pay off.

I hate the new wave of paper certs, from A+ onwards they don't really know much, as books are one thing but reality rules.

Just my 2 cents.

Paul

[hispeedltd]

Zak,
After reading your post and the responses, allow me to share this with you (and anybody else who may care to read ).

Since you have obtained the coveted CompTIA Certified PC Technician A+ Certification, you probably have a sound foundation on the fundamentals (IT Industry standards), theory and safety precautions, which only improve while "on the job". That being said, when heading for a "COLD CALL" with no more information than "it don't/won't work", it's been my experience to "expect the worse and any thing less is a perk" (after 22 years in the Navy, it's an attitude I picked up cleaning up after and dealing with officers ). While servicing PC "Break/Fix" and Desktop Support, I'd say 80% of the calls I've gone on are attributed to "Bad U.S.E.R. Modules" (read user). Many fixes I've completed with nothing more than the Leatherman tool I carry on my belt. For service calls, and to promote that "professional appearance" (which in some cases, is everything in the eyes of certain clients), I carry my JTK-88 Field Service Tool bag (Jensen Tools, Inc @ www.jenstontools.com). I've populated the tool bag with common and specialty tools I've acquired over the past 14 years (Don't let anybody tell you have to purchase the "XceLite" specialty brand tools when Sears Craftsman make a same and/or similar tool for half the cost, and with a lifetime warranty!), and usually have on hand floppy & HD ribbon cables (both UDMA 33 & 66 spec). One software Diagnostic utility I always carry (fits on a 1.44M bootable Floppy disc) is "Trouble-Shooter" (Eurosoft). Even though it's expensive, this utility application has paid for itself many times over just in trouble-shooting and time savings.

A good technician is always open to learning new technology as well as mentoring and or sharing with his/her peers. There's probably 100 different ways to get the same end solution, some better, quicker and easier than others. I've been repairing systems for 14 years (started with Open Ended 8088/86 and have worked up to present P3 & P4 systems as well as high end Alphas and other RISC processor type PC's). What I did 2 years ago as second nature.... I'd have to check a reference book to "refresh" my memory doing it today. I've always stated "I'll never know everything there is to know about PCs... the technology changes too fast... on a daily basis." Be wary of the techs (I call them "Big Richards") that state they know everything or criticize others because they were asked a question that may seem simple to them.

Last but not least, every paying customer is not stupid.... they may be computer illiterate, but they were smart enough to get you there, therefore treat them accordingly. Speak to them in an Honest, easy-to-follow and professional manner, and ask if you're being too technical. In cases like that, I usually will equate what's wrong or what I'm repairing with an analogy that the client/customer can relate too. Of course, when helping out "non-paying" friends and family..... I'll "dawg-em" real good! By the way, just because an individual has a MCP or MCSE/CNA/CNE certification doesn't make them a Break/Fix PC Technician (read Hardware). IMHO the best engineers already have a solid skill-set and background with Hardware (A+). The same could be said for developers and programmers... which would sure help out with that hosed up code some of them write. Most of my best paying customers/clients are MCSE and programmers and, believe it or not, they keep me plenty busy!

Good luck to you and your customer service endeavors.

[Apemantus]

"I never thought about partion magic, that's a good idea ! Can I fit that on a floppy ?"

Partition Magic 5 has two floppy's as part of the set.

The 1st one is a simple IBM DOS boot disk with a command in the autoexec.bat to load the PartitionMagic from the second disk.

The 1st disk also means that using PartitionMagic from floppy is independant of any OS installed on the users system.

Seeing as PM7 is virtually unchanged from earlier versions if it includes a boot disk resuce it should also be limited to a few floppies.

Regards,

Ape.

[KenKeith]

In a cautionary sense all calls are cold calls as one cannot put total reliance on clients' input on the problem. However, with experience one is usually able to filter a good call from a bad call.

If the only info obtained from a client is, "it don't/won't work", I suggest this is a caller with a bad attitude or stupid; as it would be in the callers' best interest to be co-operative. However, it is the tech or dispatcher's responsibility to obtain useful info from the caller before sending or going on the service call, and it may require more effort or experience by the dispatcher or the tech in that regard.

As a side bar, if the service rendered is not expected per clients' description or analysis, it gives the service tech, engineer leverage if necessary to explain additional time spent on the problem to his or her boss as well as the client if self employed.