How it works
About It Boots Again
It Boots Again gathers useful YouTube videos on repairing and restoring retro games consoles and home computers, from hobbyists, repairers and parts sellers. Each video is picked on its own, and its page says what it goes through and why it is worth a look.
Videos are picked from what their makers say about them, so treat each note as a pointer, not a review. This is a trial version: the name, the list and the wording may all change.
Who made it
Every video carries a label saying what kind of source it is.
- Hobbyist or repairer: someone working in the field, who may sell their own services.
- Publication or museum: a publication covering the field.
- Sells parts or repairs: a business selling products or services in this field. Useful, but it also promotes what it sells.
Dates
A repair method does not go out of date the way software advice does, but parts, tools and replacement boards move on. Every video shows when it was published, so look at the newer ones before buying anything for an old job.
Videos and creators
Every video plays in YouTube's own embedded player, with YouTube's own controls and any ads the creator has chosen. Nothing is downloaded, rehosted or altered. Titles and thumbnails are shown as YouTube provides them and are refreshed monthly. If you are a creator and want a video removed from this list, use the contact details on the privacy page.
Take care
Old machines can hurt you. A picture tube and its flyback hold a high voltage charge after the set is unplugged, and a tube that is knocked or cracked can implode. A mains power supply has mains voltage inside and capacitors that stay charged. Leaking batteries leave corrosive residue. A lithium coin cell must not be shorted, heated or charged, and a swollen or leaking rechargeable cell must not be recharged. Isopropyl and contact cleaner are flammable. Hydrogen peroxide strong enough to whiten plastic burns skin and eyes. Soldering means burns and fumes, and old solder contains lead.
A page names the main risk of the job where one is known. That line is a pointer and not a safety guide, and a page with no warning is not a promise that the job has no risk. If a job is beyond your tools or training, take the machine to a repairer.
What is left out
Videos whose main purpose is running copied games, sharing ROM or BIOS files or getting round copy protection are not listed. Video output mods, region mods and repairs to hardware you own are. A page says what a video does and makes no claim about the law where you live.
Stack Exchange
Some videos were found through answers on Retrocomputing, Arqade and Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange. Their pages link to the post under "Found via". No text from those posts is reproduced here.
Names
Console and computer names are used to describe the machines. It Boots Again is not connected to any maker of them, and none has endorsed it. No page states a price, because parts and tools change price.