What are your favorite PC troubleshooting tools?

I was asked how did I learn to troubleshoot a PC, and what steps do I take. Maybe I’ve done it for so long it's like riding a bike; I just know what to look for please comment on your favorite steps or procedures.
I use a Linux live CD a couple of thumb drives a few DOS commands and a backup power supply, and Google to do about 95% of my troubleshooting.

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Bryzey

In the workplace google.. I spend a lot of time researching fixes on google.

For friends Ccleaner and anti malware bytes seem to be the main go to tools when Troubleshooting issues.

bloodmagexd

Well for me, it's event viewer or any kind of logs. If that fails, I'll use google which usually solves most of my problems.

gadav478

bloodmagexd wrote: »

Well for me, it's event viewer or any kind of logs. If that fails, I'll use google which usually solves most of my problems.

I second the Event Viewer. I rely on it constantly at work. I guess it depends on what you're doing though.

Bokeh

When in doubt, hit it with a bigger hammer

anataronik

I use hiren bootcd, I would recommend it to everyone.
I have a bootable usb stick with hirenbootcd, thats all I need when I go to customers for pc troubleshooting.

Steve202

I like to test for hardware issues first before looking at a software fix (unless its a virus infection). First I test the memory and hard drive for errors, if both of these pass, I give the motherboard and other components a visual check. After I've done this, I'll start looking at software and what could be causing the issue.

Asif Dasl

My favorite? Easy, it's got to be ping... Where would you be without ping? Stuck in the mud, that's where!

As for other tools, BartPE, increasingly Windows-8-To-Go, netstat, chkdsk, event viewer, Memtest86+ and maybe a few others that don't immediately come to mind. What order I troubleshoot would depend on the problem..

mistabrumley89

As far as a PC goes, ERDCommander, Hirens, R2D2, event viewer, chkdsk/r.. etc. I guess it just depends what your trying to do. As far as networking goes, debug commands, angry IP scanner, Brocade Ironview, tftp32, gns3, etc.

jibbajabba

Credit Card ....

rsutton

-Ping, telnet, Wireshark & tracert for network issues
-Event viewer, Task Manager & Resource Monitor for general issues
-Process Explorer & other Sys Internals tools for difficult Windows OS issues

RomBUS

anataronik wrote: »

I use hiren bootcd, I would recommend it to everyone.
I have a bootable usb stick with hirenbootcd, thats all I need when I go to customers for pc troubleshooting.

+1 on Hiren's boot utility. Love the Mini XP and the tools it comes with. Life saver

ally_uk

If its a windows problem pop in a Linux cd hit install problem resolved

LeifAlire

Eventcombmt.exe and lockoutstatus.exe