Pretty much the same, except I don’t carry a network tester all the time, and I have never had the need for a punch down tool. Instead of so many CDs, I carry a 300GB USB drive, with most everything I use. I usually try to assess the need before I go - like carrying more disks when I find that the machines in question are so old that no USB ports are present (it does happen now and then).

I’m not big on selling things directly, as I think it makes some think twice about my intent, but I always carry sticks of several types of memory, to show the client(s) how adding memory usually helps. I have worked on SO MANY Dells with Win XP and only 256MB of memory. You pop in another 256M and you become not only a fixer of problems, but a diagnostic hero!

My bag is very simple, a computer handy bag. Which contains all the basic tools one would need, has a few specialty tools which are three different drivers, a two inch extending pincher (for getting dropped items out of a case), a chip puller, which I never have used, a set of tweezers for taking out jumpers, and thats bout it far as odd tools.

I also take along Eurosoft’s Diagnostic Pro kit this includes a POST board, and a floppy, CD Rom set that tests just about everything.

I also take with me a multi meter, a extra power cord, some power extensions, a power lead, and a spare IDE cable.

But by far the best tool I bring is a lap top, you never know when you might just have to get on ole Google and pull up some references. I have found several times in the past that if I just had the ability to get on Google I could of shaved allot of time off the job. Not to mention I can keep every driver you could ever think of on it, and have it ready in a moments time, verses downloading it off the web from some web site where your not sure if it is the right driver or not. I hate “all in one” bundles as they not only some times not work, but they bloat the persons computer with twenty other drivers that they will never need.