Our ultimate ‘tricks of the trade’ list for IT professionals – Part 1

Scientifically proven to solve precisely 99.3% of all technical problems faced by modern civilisation, your ability to "turn it off and on again" is perhaps the most powerful weapon you have in your arsenal as a seasoned IT professional. It's important to be realistic however, and, at some point it is I'm afraid, quite likely you'll be required to go beyond the call of duty. Of course you should always try pumping the on/off button of affected hardware hysterically to be absolutely certain the geek magic has transferred but failing that you should ready yourself for tough times ahead. Yes, you may well need to 'Google', to diagnose symptoms and worse still, troubleshoot with your brain. In extreme cases, you should be warned, it's not unheard of that the more demanding customers may ask that you plan to prevent the problem from happening again. Pooled from thousands of IT professionals around the globe, the following software utlities, web services and how-to guides will help you be prepared should the unthinkable strike.