A packet sniffer is used to analyze the network traffic. Sometimes they are also called network analyzers, protocol analyzers or ethernet sniffers. System administrators usually use them to analyze the behavior of an application or device causing network problems. I made a list of free packet sniffer tools for Windows. The descriptions are taken from the homepage of each program. Please let me know, if you know of any other free packet sniffer. I will add it to this list then. I will be writing about my favorite packet sniffer in another post these days.

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I must admit that disk defragementation is one of the many fields I neglected in the past. Usually, I only use a defragmentation tool when the performance of a machine is going down. Depending on the size of the hard disk, this can be a very tedious process and will slow down the computer even more. It makes much more sense to run a disk defragmentation tool in the background at certain scheduled times. This way, the hard disk structure will not get too messy and defragmentation will be done fast. If you have many machines in your network, you need a tool that you can manage centrally.

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You probably know the System Restore tool of Windows XP. It allows you to restore a former state of your Windows machine if your current setup has problems. Addlogix SnapShot Professional does the same, but in a much more professional way.

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It seems that WinFS as a new file system for Windows is dead. This is what Quentin Clark says on a Microsoft blog:

Since WinFS is no longer being delivered as a standalone software component, people will wonder what that means with respect to the Windows platform. Just as Vista pushed forward on many aspects of the search and organize themes of the Longhorn WinFS effort, Windows will continue to adopt work as it’s ready.

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I just stumbled upon a Microsoft web page that contains a list of their security tools. It seems that the list is not complete though. Antigen is missing, for example. I am sure you will find some tools there which you don’t know yet.

Sysinternals Autoruns is the most comprehensive free Windows tool I know for managing auto starting programs. It lists the corresponding registry entries, services, drives etc. etc. (see screenshot) You can disable auto starting programs with it and can use it from the command line too. If you really want to know what is going on your computer when it boots up, then you need this tool.

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WindowsITPro was asking its readers about their plans for upgrading to Windows Vista.

Of the 551 survey respondents, 39.6 percent said they had no Vista plans. However, 29.6 percent plan to move to Vista within one year of its release, 24.4 percent within two years, and 6.4 percent within three years.

These numbers seem to be quite high for me. Maybe the typical WindowsITPro reader is a Windows fan, and therefore, is willing to upgrade earlier than others.

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How many passwords do you use? I’ve already given up counting mine. The list just keeps getting longer and longer, since i use a new password for every application or web site. (I hope you do this too.) Of course, it’s hard to remember all of them. So I save them in an encrypted file using Locknote. Infinite Password Generator offers another solution for this password problem. Instead of saving your passwords with a password manager, you generate the password each time you need it. Sounds strange, but it works.

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Did this ever happen to you? You came back from the server room to access a freshly-installed Windows Server, and then, you realized that you forgot to enable Remote Desktop? If so, then Remote Desktop Enabler is the tool for you. It is a simple standalone-program. Just specify the name or IP address of your Windows Server, the credentials and here you go.

KillProcess 2.32 is a free tool that allows you to kill multiple Windows processes with just a mouse click. This is especially useful if you have to deal with malware like viruses or trojans. Sophisticated malware uses multiple processes checking each other constantly. If one of them got terminated, then one of its fellow processes will start it again immediately. So Windows Task-Manager is often useless if you want to get rid of this kind of malware since it only allows you to kill processes one at a time.

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Interesting press conference, not because of what they said, but if you read between the lines, it is obvious that they are quite nervous. I think Microsoft has enough smart people to replace Gates; however, there is a big psychological problem now for the company.

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Many Windows admins turn up their nose when it comes to Linux system administration. Although there are good graphical desktop interfaces for Linux, most of the system management is still based on simple text files. Centeris Likewise is a Linux management solution targeting this kind of Windows sysop.

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Marathon Technologies offers an interesting fault tolerance solution for Windows using virtualization technology. Server virtualization usually means that you have multiple virtual servers running on one physical server. EverRun FT is software that does the opposite. It unites two physical servers to one virtual server.

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I just added a new tool to my collection of CDP tools for Exchange. Atempo LiveServe for Microsoft Exchange supports Continuous Data Protection with brick level backups. Unfortunately, they don’t have a demo version ready for download. There is “trial link” on their web site, but after filling out the form, I only got a message telling me that a sales representative will contact me with download instructions. I made similar experiences with the other CDP tools in the list. So far I was only able to test Lucid8 DigiVault. The other vendors seem to be a bit shy.

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This is what Microsoft says about ISA Server 2004: ISA Server 2004 does not demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to provide solutions that maximize customer security and productivity. ISA Server 2004 does not provide a comprehensive set of Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services publishing tools, streamlined security and connectivity for branch offices, and an expanded array of OEM appliance offerings.

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