This is a collection of tools I allways keep on my management desktops, some of you may dissagre and I hope you do to raise some discussion and maybe even show me some new or better tools to get the same job done.

I tried to collect the tools I install first on any of my new computers to make my life easier. They are not in any specific order.

Sysinternals

Sysinternals have supplied us whith so many great tools and the ones I install ASAP are just a few. To see the full list go to the Sysinternals website and check them out.

Process explorer

This program can do anything the Windows taskmanager can and even more. It has helped me find rougue programs and problems more than once I can tell you.

You can see the files a program has open, or which progam is holding on to a directory you can’t delete. This is something every systems administrator should have installed on their computer

Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Process monitor

Quote from the sysinternals website

Process Monitor is an advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon, and adds an extensive list of enhancements including rich and non-destructive filtering, comprehensive event properties such session IDs and user names, reliable process information, full thread stacks with integrated symbol support for each operation, simultaneous logging to a file, and much more. Its uniquely powerful features will make Process Monitor a core utility in your system troubleshooting and malware hunting toolkit.

That should sum it up for you.

Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

Autoruns

Ever noticed that a preinstalled computer has hundreds of programs running in the background. All of them hogging your precius recources, and all of them slowing down the computerstartup due to autorun. I’m talking about Adobe, Install shield, IBM/Lenovo programs and so on. Mostly useless programs that tend to take alot of the performance in your brand spanking new computer. This is the tool I fire up to begin with. Getting all the usless programs out of autorun and giving myself the choice to start them when and IF I need them.

This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Tcpview

This progam shows you a listing of all TCP and UDP endpoints on your system.

TCPView is a Windows program that will show you detailed listings of all TCP and UDP endpoints on your system, including the local and remote addresses and state of TCP connections. On Windows Server 2008, Vista, NT, 2000 and XP TCPView also reports the name of the process that owns the endpoint. TCPView provides a more informative and conveniently presented subset of the Netstat program that ships with Windows. The TCPView download includes Tcpvcon, a command-line version with the same functionality.

Download from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897437.aspx

Microsoft

Theese programs or should we say packs are essential for me administering my systems from my management workstation.

Windows Server 2003 adminpak

Includes all the tools included in Windows Server 2003. You can administer your Active directory users, DNS servers, DFS(Distributed filesystem) from your own management station. A must have for me

Download from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=86B71A4F-4122-44AF-BE79-3F101E533D95&displaylang=en

Virtual PC 2007

A free virtual environment on your PC. This allows you to install servers or desktops on your own management pc to use for testing, debugging etc. I even keep some Linux installations in Virtual PC.

Download from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/virtualpc/default.mspx