Hardware repair

While computer hardware configuration varies widely, a repair technician will work with five general categories of hardware; desktop computers, laptops, servers, computer clusters and smartphones / mobile computing. Technicians also work with and occasionally repair a range of peripherals, including input devices (like keyboards, mice, and scanners), output devices (like displays, printers, and speakers), and data storage devices such as internal and external hard drives and disk arrays. Technicians involved in system administration might also work with networking hardware, including routers, switches, fiber optics, and wireless networks.

Software repair

When possible, repair technicians protect the computer user's data and settings, so that after repair, the user will not have lost any data and can fully use the device with little interruption, the problem. Addressing the issue, the technician could take action as minor as adjusting one or several settings or preferences, but could also apply more involved techniques like installing, uninstalling, or reinstalling various software packages. A reliable, but somewhat more complicated, procedure for addressing software issues is known as a restore, in which the computer's original installation image (including operating system and original applications) is reapplied to a formatted hard drive. It should be known though, that anything unique, such as settings, or personal files will be destroyed if not backed up on external media, as this reverts everything back to its original unused state.