Here is mini list of “must have” software that will make fixing most computers easy.

UBCD4Win – UBCD4Win is my preferred GUI repair environment because its Windows based and have already been loaded with many repair applications. Of course, you can use a Linux LiveCD flavor if that is more your style.

Ultimate Boot CD (dos version) – Ultimate Boot CD is a DOS based menu that allows you to do low level work to a system like testing the RAM for errors, doing a low level format or testing the condition of a hard drive. It contains the DOS versions of some commonly used applications such as Aida, Memtest86+, Dariks Boot and Nuke and more.
Offline NT Password & Registry Editor – Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is a freeware utility that allows you to change or blank the password of any user that has a valid account on a local NT/2000/XP/2003/Server 2008/Vista 32 & 64bit system.

Offline Update – Offline Update is a freeware tool that downloads all of the existing patches for the operating system you specify (choice of Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003) and creates an ISO file, for which you can later burn to a CD or DVD.

The DriverPacks.net CDs – The DriverPacks.net project is an open source project. The goal is to simplify the creation of a “uniform” Windows installation CD, i.e. an installation CD that works on every piece of hardware, without having to go look for other drivers after the installation.

Windows Installer CDs
A copy of:

• Windows 98 SE
• Windows 2000 Workstation/Small Business
• Windows XP Home OEM/Retail/Genuine Advantage
• Windows XP Professional OEM/Retail/VLK 32bit/64bit
• Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit / 64bit (contains all Vista versions)
• Microsoft Office 2000, XP, 2003, 2007

How do I get all of these I hear you say? I personally obtained most of mine as I bought the OSes for my own personal computers over the last 7 years. Some technicians create a copy of their clients CDs as they come in (without the CDkey of course since that would be piracy). Another option is to subscribe to theMicrosoft Action Pack which contains most of Microsofts Software. However, this only contains their current software and not older versions so you couldn’t get Windows 98 and 2000. I have also heard some technicians even suggest downloading the ISOs from bittorrent sites but not using the CD Key. However, this is not recommended as the internet version may be infected with all sorts of hidden nasties.

A copy of your USB Repair Tool Kit on CD – In some cases, the USB ports don’t work on a clients machine or you may not want to plug in your USB drive into a infected machine as your drive may also become infected. This is where having a copy of your USB repair tool kit on a CD is handy.

Driver Disks for Your Own Devices - I rarely ever have to use this driver disk for the devices I take onsite like my USB drive, USB DVD burner, USB network card & USB soundcard as Windows XP and above will automatically detect these. However, sometimes if I have to work on Windows 98 or a damaged version of a later operating system, it can come in handy if they are not being detected.

Windows Service Packs Standalone and .NET Installers
You can choose to keep this on your USB drive as well, but its nice to have them on a CD as well.

• Windows XP Service Pack 3
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 – 32bit
• Windows Vista Service Pack 1 – 64bit
• .NET Framework 2.0
• .NET Framework 3.0
• .NET Framework 3.5

Installers for Commonly Used Applications – This site has a great list of free installers that will fill out your computer toolkit.

Find wonderful animations of how to tie almost any knot at this site

I think I’ve found knot nirvana at this site.  It has the best animations of how to tie knots I’ve ever seen, using real line and color animation.

This site doesn’t have just a few knots. It has bunches of knots indexed to the knots usually needed for certain activities.  There are knots for fishing, boating, search and rescue, scouting, climbing, decorative knots, and more.

The knot animations can be viewed one step at a time by mousing over the numbers under the photo, or, you can view the animated version automatically.  If you view them automatically you can speed up or slow down the animations with the buttons at right.

One page outlines knot safety and security; why certain knots are used, and more important, which one’s you don’t want to use in certain circumstances.

The site author has published a CD-ROM on knots and sells wear pads. That information is not intrusive, and other than that and a rather oddly placed text ad, there are no other other ads.

Knots by Grog

Words will not describe the loss I feel right now.  He was a real friend to everyone who knew him for 14 years. I am crushed.

He tried as hard as he could to stay with us but he laid down and rose no more.  I knew this day would eventually arrive but nothing could prepare me for the juggernaut of pain and sorrow I feel with his death.  It seems that his passing culminated my life’s tragedies and served it to me as a jagged dagger through my heart.  I held him one last time, wrapped his frail shell in a virgin white blanket, and buried him 4 feet down with all the love and tears someone as cold as me can muster.  I thanked him for being apart of my small existence and proceeded to down a half bottle of Jack Daniels.  Now I’m as physically confused as I am emotionally.

Good night sweet prince.

The repository system is a great strength of open-source operating systems, but some people want the latest-and-greatest of a particular application while keeping the core system unchanged. There is also the situation where non-free applications aren’t available from within the standard repositories. In these two cases, adding outside repos can help you get the functionality you want. I’ve done some homework for you and here are the “Extra Repositories for Ubuntu 8.10 You Might Want.” Simply open up
System > Administration > Software Sources and add the repository lines listed below as a third-party repository. More »« Less