In my last post I described how you can configure jobs with VisualCron. Today, I will introduce the tool’s user interface and some of its special features.

You can install the frontend (the documentation calls it the client) and the backend (server) separately. The frontend can be used to manage jobs remotely for one or multiple servers. Of course, you can also install the client and the server on the same machine.

VisualCron’s product name fits very well because its graphical user interface makes it easy for you to track all of your jobs. The user interface resembles the ribbon interface used in some Office 2007 applications. Microsoft introduced the ribbon in Office because the features had become too numerous for the menus and toolbars of the old interface style to handle without being cumbersome. I suppose this was also the reason why VisualCron chose a ribbon-style interface type.

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In the first post of this series I outlined some of VisualCron’s general advantages over the Windows Task Scheduler. When you read today’s post, you will notice that the tool has quite a few additional interesting features.

Before we dive into the details, let us have a look at how VisualCron works. The diagram below shows how a job has to be configured with VisualCron. For most jobs you have to configure one or more tasks (the actions you want to perform), triggers (defined circumstances that will initiate the task), and optional conditions (states that can prevent a task from being launched even if a trigger is present). As you can see in the diagram, VisualCron supports many more task types than the Windows Task Scheduler supports. Once the task has been launched, VisualCron can notify administrators by several means.

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VisualCron is raffling three licenses for 4sysops readers. The winner will receive a 5-Server license worth 717 US dollars and the two runners-up will each receive a 1-Server license worth 197 US dollars. More information about the contest can be found at the end of the article.

VisualCron is the most sophisticated task scheduling tool I have ever tried. I was already quite impressed with the Task Scheduler in Vista and Server 2008, but VisualCron comes with far more advanced features. The ability to manage task scheduling on multiple machines from a central location, in particular, makes the tool an interesting alternative for large organizations. VisualCron targets task scheduling for server environments, but you can also use the tool on desktops.

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WinRAP is a nice little freeware tool that allows you to hide applications from view on your desktop while letting them to continue running invisibly in the background. There are a few cases where such a tool may prove to be useful. The first thing that probably comes to mind is the hiding of programs that are unrelated to your work from your boss and colleagues. However, there are other uses that could also make this utility valuable for your work.

For instance, if you have started an admin tool on a user’s desktop and want to leave the place for a while. You can then let the tool finish its work while the user continues working with the computer. This way, you don’t have to worry that the user will interfere with your work. Another way to use the tool is to reduce the number of icons in your taskbar if it is cluttered with too many apps.

WinRAP is a tiny standalone tool which doesn’t have to be installed. It displays all running applications in the upper pane. You can hide each of the applications with a mouse click which moves the app’s name to the lower pane. The application’s interface will then disappear from the desktop. Of course, you can also unhide an application, if you want to access its interface.

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Until my recent discovery of Process Hacker, I assumed that Process Explorer was the best Task Manager alternative. However, in some areas, the Open Source tool Process Hacker is more than a match for Microsoft’s Sysinternals tool. The user interfaces of both tools look quite similar. As in Process Explorer, you can add additional columns to view more details of running processes on a Windows machine. Unfortunately, Process Hacker doesn’t allow you to view DLL and handle information in the lower pane like Process Explorer.

To access such data, you have to open the process’s properties. Process Explorer (left hand) and Process Hacker (right hand) differ here (see screenshot). I am missing the open TCP/IP connections in Process Hacker’s process properties. However, the main user interface has an extra tab that lists all processes with their open network connections.

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Low responsiveness is the most common reason why people think that their computer is slow. Usually they blame the operating system, and in particular Vista. However, assuming that the hardware is as modern as the operating system, the real culprit is usually an application that had gone mad. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the program has crashed and is in an endless loop that is consuming all of your processor power. Some applications just misbehave by pushing other programs aside, claiming most of the resources for themselves. Sometimes it can take several seconds for a program that has already been loaded to respond to a mouse click.

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Have you ever had a local print job hang and were not able to cancel it in the print job queue? I have experienced this problem several times recently. It is quite annoying because usually one can’t print as long as the erroneous job is in the queue. I am guessing that your helpdesk often receives similar requests about this issue.

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Submitted by Maks

AnVir Task Manager Free provides full set of Windows enhancements that help in every-day work.

Security & Performance

• Full information about processes, services, Internet connections, drivers, DLLs
• Detects Trojans with security analysis and get alerts on new startups
• Speed up boot time (Delayed Startup), balance CPU usage, optimize memory
• Run programs as services on Windows startup before user login

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Submitted by Colin Bowern – Blog: Colin Bowern

When it comes to figuring out why something isn’t operating the way it should having a view of the process, file, and registry activity gives you insight that is indispensible.

Process Monitor and Process Explorer

Microsoft has released the free Sysinternals Process Explorer 11. Most of the new features are related to Vista. Not everything is improved, though.

Process Explorer is certainly a must-have tool for any admin. I blogged about Process Explorer 10 a while ago. What I don’t like about it, is its sparse documentation. Some of the new features sound quite interesting, but searching for them in the Help file won’t reveal much in most cases. For example, I wanted to find out what “Show details for all processes elevation menu item on Vista” is supposed to mean. But my full text search for “elevation” got no hits.

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Actually, you could also say, it is an introduction into Windows Powershell from Microsoft. When I skimmed over the document, I came once again to the conclusion that Powershell is not really a shell, but just another scripting language.

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ProcessWatchV2 is a simple, free tool which allows you to automatically:

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The Neuber Software Security Task Manager rates the security risk of all running Windows processes. The rating is based on criteria, like the ability to record keyboard inputs, if its files are hidden or if the process could manipulate other programs. All in all, I counted 20 similar criteria. There are also criteria which reduce the rating, for example, if it was signed by Microsoft or if you commented the process.
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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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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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