CATEGORIES OF HARDWARE TOOLS AND ITS USES

Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) Tools

Static electricity is easily generated by friction on carpets, tile flooring, clothing, hair, fabric, etc. The friction of moving air alone will charge suspended particles and cause the
build-up of static electrical charges on people and objects in the environment.

Anti-static wrist strap – protects computer equipment when 4. Philips head screwdriver – used to loosen or tighten X-slotted screws.

grounded to a computer chassis.

Anti-static mat – used to stand on or place hardware on

to prevent static electricity from building up.
5. Tweezers – usually used to hold and manipulate small parts.

Hand Tools
Tools that are used mainly by our two hands to operate. 6. Flat head screwdriver – usually used to tighten or loosen screws that have a straight, linear
notch in their heads.

1. Torx screwdriver - used to loosen or tighten screws that

have a star-like depression on the top, a feature
that is mainly found on laptop.

2. Needle-nose plier – it is commonly used to cut

and bend small wires and electrical wiring.

7. Part retriever –to retrieve parts from the location that are small for your hand to fit or jammed
bits in the motherboard.
3. Wire cutter – commonly used to cut copper,
brass, iron, aluminum, and steel wire.
8. Flashlight – it is used to provide light in areas that 11. Solder stand – it is used to hold the soldering iron.

you cannot see well.

9. Hex driver - commonly used to loosen and tighten bolts 12. Solder - it is used for connecting an electrically conductive element

that have a hexagonal(six-sided) head.

10. Crimping tool - is a device used to conjoin

two pieces of metal by deforming one or both
to hold each other. 13. Desoldering tool- it is used to remove excess solder in a printed circuit.

11. Punched-down tool - it is used to terminate wire into

termination blocks. Some cable connectors must be connected
to cables using a punch down tool.
having scratches.

12. Wire Stripper - a small hand-held device that

usually used to strips the electrical insulation
from electric wires.

13. Soldering iron – it is used to join two or more items together

by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint.
Cleaning Tools
It is important to have an appropriate cleaning tools when repairing or maintaining computers. Using these tools will keep computers away from damaging or having scratches.

Lint-free cloth – used to clean different computer components Diagnostic Tools

without scratching or leaving debris.

Compressed air – used to blow away dust and debris from 1. Multimeter is a handy tool that you use to measures AC/DC voltage, electric current, and
other cable and electrical characteristics. different computer parts without touching the components.

Cable ties – usually used in holding the items together, 2. Loopback Adapter - it is used as a testing tool for a virtual network environment
where network access is not available.

Parts organizer – it is used to storing screw, jumpers, fasteners,

and other small component and avoid the small pieces to mixed.

3. LAN tester - it is used to check most network cable wiring.

Diagnostic Tools
Diagnostic tools can be used to scan your computer’s hard drive, check your ram for errors, check microprocessor temperature and give you information about any other devices
connected to your computer.