Additional Tools...

[Glenn9999]

What kind of software tools do people carry around, in addition to the obvious ones (standard anti-virus, standard anti-spyware, etc), to fix computers?

I've picked up ProcessExplorer (to monitor processes, see what is running on the system, etc), HijackThis (should be obvious at this point), ADSSpy (an alternate data stream identifier and remover), a Winsock fix program, and recently I found out I needed a program called LSPFix to fix a machine...

Are there any others that I would really want to have to work on computers?

(I'm sure there's got to be a FAQ link somewhere - I'm not finding it though on search, so that would be a good answer too)

 

[theravager]

A bootcd with winpe with a fair few tools is great. If its a modern enviroment a usbkey with winpe is even better.

 

[Mastabeam]

Take a look at IARSN TaskInfo. Free version 7.2.0 available for download.

 

[JockMullin]

I find System Info for Windows (SIW) by Gabriel Topala very useful. It is a 1.5 mb standalone .exe so very portable and does not require any installation and provides a lot of information about a system:

* Software: Operating System, Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key).
* Hardware: Motherboard, Sensors, BIOS, CPU, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.
* Network: Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.
* Tools: Password Recovery, Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks, MAC Address Changer, Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.
* Real-time monitors: CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

It is free for personal, non-commercial use.
Available at

http://www.gtopala.com

Jock

 

[Mickerry]

Ultimate Boot Disk for Windows (UBDC4Win) boots a non-operative computer and has a number of recovery tools built into it. You need to bring some of the tools up to date before building your boot disk so they're current. it's all explained on the website - UBCD4Win.com/downloads.

Mikl

A bird in the hand makes typing difficult.