Compressed air, cleaning solvents, and lint-free cloth and swabs
DOS/Windows utilities
Tools generally fall into two groups: the set of tools that you absolutely need when working on any PC problem, and the expensive or bulky specialized tools that are nice to have in a workshop environment.
The standard tools are listed below.
3/16 -inch and 1/4 -inch nut driver
Small and medium sized Phillips and flat-blade screwdrivers (not magnetized)
Chip extractor and chip inserter
Tweezers or other claw-like grabber
T10 and T15 Torx drivers
Digital multimeter
Flashlight
ESD protection gear
Compressed air, cleaning solvents, and lint-free cloth and swabs
Small kits such as the one shown in Figure 5.2 are available at most computer or electronics stores and can be purchased for as little as $20.00. Multimeters can be purchased at most electronics stores for as little as $25.00.
The more expensive or bulky equipment that is nice to have for a shop environment includes a vacuum that can suck or blow, logic probes, SIMM testers, oscilloscopes, soldering stations, and outlet testers. If the problem appears to warrant using any of these items, it is nice to have them available.
Digital Multimeter
A digital multimeter (DMM) is used to test electrical voltage, resistance, and current. However, the amount of AC or power available is measured in watts, and the typical multimeter does not measure wattage.
You can take four measurements with a DMM and the units of measure:
AC and DC levels — measured in volts
Resistance — measured in ohms
Capacitance — measured in farads or microfarads
Current — measured in amps
Other capabilities are available on more expensive models of DMMs. The display on a DMM is a digital display. Analog multimeters are also available. The DMM has two wires called test leads or probes. One of the leads is black, the other red. Figure 5.3 shows how to use a DMM to test the 5 volts DC and 12 volts DC output of a power supply.
When checking DC voltage, connect the black lead to ground (the black wire or chassis) and connect the red wire to the output voltage lead (the colored wire). To use a DMM to test voltage, follow these steps:
Set the DMM for DC voltage and select an unused common output connector.
Place the black test lead into the connector with the black lead.
For testing 5 volts DC, place the red lead into the connector with the red wire. Verify that the reading is 5 VDC.
For testing 12 volts DC, place the red lead to the connector with the yellow wire. Verify that the reading is 12 VDC.
MS-DOS Utilities
The utilities used to perform repairs, view configuration information, or optimize performance include those listed below.
Chkdsk — This utility reports the current status of the disk. It can tell you how many files are on the disk and how much of the disk is in use. It can also check for lost clusters and can locate and repair defective areas.
Fdisk — This utility can be used to create the partition table or set the active partition for a fixed disk (hard disk). The /mbr switch is used to overwrite the Master Book Record.
Format — The format command performs a high-level format on hard and floppy drives. The /s switch copies Io.sys, Msdos.sys, and Command.com to the disk and places them in the proper location to allow the BIOS to find these boot files. The /q switch performs a quick format. The /u switch perform an unconditional format.
Scandisk — This is a more powerful version of Chkdsk; Scandisk was introduced with DOS 6.21. It displays a menu that lets you fix any errors found.
Sys — This command writes the three boot files to the proper location of a floppy or hard disk that has already been formatted. Note that this command may not work if data has been saved to the disk.
Mem — This command shows the status of the RAM and how much is in use. The /c switch lists the programs that are loaded in memory.
Memmaker — This utility optimizes the system memory usage and relocates programs from conventional memory to upper memory, which increases the capability and overall performance of the PC.
Msd — Msd is a diagnostic utility that lists the system’s configuration settings.
Tree — This command gives you a visual display of the hard drive directory and subdirectory structure.
Unformat — This command reverses the results of the Format command.
Windows 3.x Utilities
Windows 3.x is a GUI interface that runs on top of DOS; it doesn’t replace DOS. The utilities that work in DOS also work with Windows 3.x. Windows 3.x also includes Dr. Watson, a user-level debugging tool that captures data about software failures and crashes.
Windows 3.x also introduced the Control Panel, which is used to modify system settings for the Windows 3.x environment, such as mouse pointer style, COM port settings, and time/date settings.
Windows 95 Utilities
The Control Panel concept carried over into Windows 95, but most of the important configuration and initialization file settings were moved into the Windows 95 Registry. To change configuration settings, you view and modify settings using the Regedit command. You should use this utility with extreme caution, because incorrect settings can have an adverse effect on the system.
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