I am looking into going into computer repair, i am not talking about best buy’s geek squad, i am talking about a real, nerd’s "run from his basement" computer repair shop.

I am aware that the certification is, if not a must, then almost a must, and will be taking the courses necessary.

What i need though, i a computer that is capable of externally hooking up an internal hard drive, the same way you might hook up an external one. I need it to be able to run security suit software, to clean those hard drives, i need it to be fast, with a good bit of ram, i am thinking 2.66 core 2 quad and 6gigs of ram, i can skimp on the hard drive and the graphics card, because this thing is only going to be scanning other computers.

I know i am going to need serious tools, tools i already have or will acquire.

I was telling you all that, to get the bull crap out of the way, so i dont have a bunch of no nothing 2bit hacks telling me that i "get a fast computer"

What i need to know, are good brands of external hard drive "docks", and what is the correct terminology for them, i know my way around the inside of a computer, but i need to be able to build a computer that can slave an internal hard drive externally.

I also need to know what kind of diagnostic software is available for error checking the registry of a hard drive that is in slave mode

Computers are my passion, and it pains me to see those people at best buy, 90% of them doing a job that a trained monkey could do, I want to really offer personalized help, and creative solutions.

I also plan to do advising, and upgrade installation in computers.

Also, if anybody knows any good books on the subject manner, that would really rock too

and this is a warning to spammers, i will delete and report spam answers.
note: i would use an external hard drive for the data recovery, that way i wasn’t risking copying something something a virus to the main hard drive of my computer.

Summer is coming up and I’m thinking of getting my 1st job.

Since this is just going to be a temporary 2-3 month summer job, I’m not looking for something that is going to pay me a full time salary or possibly lead to a great career (although that would be great). Apart from all of that, I’m just looking for something that I will enjoy doing so that I don’t feel like I’m waisting my summer.

As far as what I enjoy doing, my strengths, etc, as my question points out, I’m good with computers and other electronics. I don’t have any formal training, classes, etc, but I definitely know a lot and am a quick learner for what I don’t. I am particularly good at the installation/set-up of electronics and software, troubleshooting software and hardware failure, malware removal for pc’s, and explaining things in an easy to understand fashion.

So far I have considered places like Best Buy, Frys, and (maybe) walmart. Are some electronics stores better to work at than others? Have you had any bad experiences working at one of these (or other) electronics stores? Would it be worth it in the long run to get a very specialized job like with Best Buy’s Geek Squad (I could probably past the test needed for a basic position in the field with a month or two of reviewing DOS and the technical terms for the connections on a pc motherboard)?
I’m 17.

I also just realized I have a typo: *I could probably pass (not past) the test*

^sorry about that

I’m trying to figure this out for a small business situation. I know the price will vary from situation to situation. I am not looking for an answer that says it depends on this or that… I know there are different factors that affect a price. However, if you could give a ball park average for a business making a few million in sales a year. (I worked at a Chick-fil-A restaurant that makes 3.5 million a year.) A busy fast-food restaurant should fit that description. I’m not talking about companies like Apple or Best Buy.

The best answer would be one that breaks the price down to a monthly cost for each platform. The price could even vary. I.e.
1. How much would it cost for a Facebook fan page? 0 – ,000
2. How much for a Twitter page? ,000 – ,500
3. How much for a blog… and how many posts per a week would that price include? 0 per blog entry
4. How much to have a website optimized for search engines? 1 million a month
5. What else is there and how much does it cost. EzineArticle marketing – 0 per article
…

Thanks for any help you can give me.

Forget that most of us use computers most of the time. If you don’t use a computer you use a cell phone or cable box or something…….. it’s a computer.

A lot of our programming work is being outsourced to poor countries which is devastating our own intellectual capacities in terms of software development. We are becoming dependent on everyone else to do programming which we should be able to do here (both to hedge economic stability and for military reasons).

Also think that every little inconvenience you experience on a computer could be solved or helped by a programmer.

When we outsource a factory job we aren’t loosing much skill. But when we outsource a programming job we lose both the intellectual capacities of an above average mind AND the years of training and practice that it requires to train that person. In this age of technology can we really AFFORD to give away all our programmers instead of using our own?
maybe if there were more jobs for programmers there would be les hacks???

if i can make /hr OR write a hack to steal some money from someone that is making 5x as much as me what will i do? hmmm….
Mad Max I think you are lying.

Can you write a program that creates a thousnad files on your desktop named madmaxisanidiot.abc?

You have 5 minutes to respond
Mad Max, lol, good job
there is nothing better about an Indian programmer. it is the exact same composition of a human being. it just so happens that they get programming jobs and therefore experience while American programmers are working at best buy

I have gone onto tons of websites that let you build your own computer, and they always cost a lot more than they really should. Does anyone know of a website that lets you build your own computer but that still gives reasonable prices. I mean, come on, i built a computer and this sight said that i had to fork over 00 when i could get the same thing at best buy for 00.