PC Diagnostics, Testing, and Maintenance - Upgrading and Repairing PCs - page 1267

• Windows 98/98SE or Me startup floppy —These disks have DOS 7.1 or 8.0 and
real-mode CD-ROM/DVD drivers, which can be used to boot test the system and
possibly load other software. You can download these and other boot disks from
www.bootdisk.com .
• Windows install discs —Install discs for Windows XP, Vista, and 7 can be used to
boot test the system from a CD-ROM/DVD drive, to attempt system recovery, to in-
stall the OS, or run memory diagnostics (Windows Vista and later).
• Diagnostics software —You can use this software for PC hardware verification and
testing.IespeciallyrecommendtheUltimateBootCD( www.ultimatebootcd.com ) and
theUltimate BootCDforWindows( www.ubcd4win.com ),bothofwhicharefreecol-
lections of diagnostics on bootable discs.
• POST card —This displays POST diagnostics codes on systems with fatal errors.
• Nylon cable-ties —Thesehelpinroutingandsecuringcables;neatlyroutedcablesim-
prove airflow in the system.
• Digital multimeter —This checks power supply voltages, connectors, and cables for
continuity.
• Cleaning swabs, canned air (dust blower), and contact cleaner chemicals —These
clean, lubricate, and enhance contacts on circuit boards and cable connections.
Products include those from www.chemtronics.com , as well as contact enhancer chem-
icals such as Stabilant 22a ( www.stabilant.com ) .
• Data transfer cables and adapters —Thesequicklyconnecttwosystemsandtransfer
data from one system to another. This includes serial and parallel cables (often called
Laplink, Interlink, or Direct Cable Connect cables); Ethernet crossover cables; as well
as more specialized USB-to-Ethernet, USB-to-USB, or USB-to-parallel adapters.
• 2 1/2-inch PATA drive cables and adapters —These connect 2 1/2-inch (laptop)
PATA drives to desktop systems for transferring or recovering data. This includes
44-pin (2 1/2-inch) PATA-to-40-pin (3 1/2-inch) PATA ribbon cable/power adapters,
44-pin PATA-to-USB/FireWire adapters, and 2 1/2-inch USB/FireWire external drive
enclosures.
• 3 1/2-inch drive enclosure —A hard disk drive enclosure equipped with a USB 2.0 or
USB 3.0 port enables you to recover data from a hard disk if the original host system
is no longer functioning. Normally you will need separate enclosures for PATA and
SATA drives.
• Spare keyboard and mouse —You can use these to operate a system if the existing
keyboard or pointing device is defective or difficult to use.