Useful tools for Technician? Just about to start my first job.

[chrisredfield93]

Here are some i use

 

IT Related

• Angry IP Scanner
  
• Tight VNC
  
• WireShark
  
• NetBootDisk
  
• HP Bootable USB Disk Creator
  
• PuTTY
  
• WinDirStat
  
• Windows Installer CleanUp Utility (really handy to remove software that wont remove)
  
• Bulk File Name Utility
  
• driverpacks.net
  
• Orca
  
• Unlocker
  
• WinRAR
  

Boot Disks

• Ubuntu
  
• WinDART / ERD
  

I also use Robocopy allot, although that built into Windows Vista & 7. If your still on XP you will need to download it.

 

 

Can someone enlighten me what is "WinDART / ERD" is i am not familer with this, can some shine some light what this is? and where i can obtain it?

[mac_shinobi]

Can someone enlighten me what is "WinDART / ERD" is i am not familer with this, can some shine some light what this is? and where i can obtain it?

 

+1 to that - IDK what either of those are either.

 

I normally use bart pe with xp but don't think bart pe supports win 7 hence my earlier question, I do know about linux live discs but again not fully supported and can corrupt FS on the HDD

[markcuk]

posted in wrong thread

 

Microsoft Windows Enterprise: Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset

 

versions

 

ERD50 for Win 2K, XP, Server 2003 - x86

ERD60 x86 for Vista 32 bit

ERD60 x64 for Vista 64 bit

ERD65 x86 for Windows 7 32 bit

ERD65 x64 for Windows 7 64 bit

msdart 7.0 is in beta

[chrisredfield93]

posted in wrong thread

 

Microsoft Windows Enterprise: Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset

 

versions

 

ERD50 for Win 2K, XP, Server 2003 - x86

ERD60 x86 for Vista 32 bit

ERD60 x64 for Vista 64 bit

ERD65 x86 for Windows 7 32 bit

ERD65 x64 for Windows 7 64 bit

msdart 7.0 is in beta

 

can you provide screenshots and more infomation and i see that it not avaible to the public , and well may i be cheeky asking for upload ? or these reuire product keys

[markcuk]

This guy is good and shows it well. you need Technet or msdn subscription to get it or you can google it and find it unofficial ways.

[cpjitservices]

Backtrack 5

[link470]

First off, congratulations on the job! As mentioned by cpjitservices, Backtrack 5 is fantastic especially when doing security auditing. I also can't live without Ultimate Boot CD. Gotta have one of those on you at all times

 

The actual item I came here to mention is a multitool. I've seen one mentioned already in this thread, but I'm just here to back up that statement. Aside from all things digital on a computer and all the downloads and software and bootable tools available, never underestimate the power of a multitool. I personally use the Leatherman Juice Cs4, and I absolutely love it. It comes with a leather case with a strong belt hook and I can't tell you how many times I reach for it during a day for many different reasons. When I don't have it with me, I definitely notice. The other thing I really like about it is it has the essentials without too many things you don't need, allowing it to be a LOT less bulky than a lot of tools I've seen. It's a really nice compact size and with a 25 year warranty [if I remember correctly], you can't go wrong.

[Arthur]

Backtrack 5

BackTrack 5 + Alfa AWUS036H 1000mW Wireless USB adapter (£23 from Amazon)

 

Would be nice if you could have a bart pe type bootable external usb HDD with all the relevant plugins that supported windows xp /7 etc as far as the filing system along with all the other utils, backup, hdd diagnostics, ram diagnostics etc etc

Win7PE_SE, Win7PEx86 or Make_PE3

[synaesthesia]

Re Hirens, V14 is very clean indeed however it does have some workarounds for some software to work - for instance Seagate Diskwizard (aka Acronis) won't work without a Seagate drive in but a simple key combination provided on said disk makes it work anyway

 

Regardless of that, its just a bloody handy disk due to the hdd diagnostic utilities all being in one place - lifesavers for me, death sentences for many a Maxtor drive

[fredted40x]

First off, congratulations on the job!

 

Thank you link.

 

---------

 

Thanks to all the people that have posted. Alot of useful tools to download and play with. Have also been using spiceworks, seems a good piece of kit as well.

 

Have brought myself a HDD enclosure with virstual disk capabilities so all the iso images can be run straight from the HDD.

 

Hopefully i can now go into the school when i start and make our lives easier. They are bound to need some tool. WIll also be useful for when im doing friends computers at home, thats why i brought it myself mainly. When i was on work experience i found that some places are a bit funny about you taking school property home, even if it was to help them out. The IT manager in the end brought several memory stick himself.

Edited August 21, 2011 by fredted40x

[joe_Burge]

But be careful about carrying it when you're not at work. Knives with locking blades are classed as offensive weapons.

 

Sound advice, if a little off.

 

You are allowed to carry all but a few knives in the UK (The Criminal Justice Act 1988 limits these to a few exotic martial arts weapons, automatic (or "flick") knives and butterfly knives (where two split handles swing like wings around the knife to close or open it.) as long as you have a good reason. Carrying your tools to your place of work is a good reason, I forgot to take my tools off my belt when I went to the pub is a bad reason.

You are not required to have a good reason if your knife has a non-locking blade and the blade is under 2" (3 inches) long - so just about most old timer pen knives are fine in most places.

 

I'm a bit anal about this as I think the knife is a very underrated tool for loads of things from opening boxes to stripping cable sheath and popping the retainers on badly made CAT-5 cables etc and I dislike my rights being erroded so that it's not enough I will never cut another person, even carrying a tool is an offence.

 

But back on topic (SORRY!)

 

A decent multitool from Gerber or Leatherman is a godsend.

An iPad (if you can blag one) is an amazing tool with the right apps.

A USB key with lots of portable applications (all the good ones have been mentioned) is invaluable.

[OutLawTorn]

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but one of these USB to Sata/IDE cables has proven itself invaluable... being able to connect an optical drive to a PC that doesn't have one, or to stick a hdd in another PC for testing/recovery/cloning/etc...

[fredted40x]

An iPad (if you can blag one) is an amazing tool with the right apps.

 

Thanks Joe. They have arranged to get us iphones for email and work related calls.

An Ipad 2 would be so much more useful but at the moment im finding it hard to find a price that would make them want to change from the iphones that they want to order to ipads. They are working out about £150 more than the iphone over 24 months and the ipad doesnt have inclusive minutes.

 

They have a few tools tha they said i will have use of but there are some programs that i think that they might find usefull.

[joe_Burge]

iphones can be useful in a pinch but with the much smaller screen are harder to use for the same tasks...

 

Great apps I use are:

 

AD Helpdesk: AD HelpDesk for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

PC Monitor: PC Monitor for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

LogMeIn: LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

Kypass & Dropbox: KyPass for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store / Dropbox for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad on the iTunes App Store

 

Plus a load of other useful tools like xmarks and office/productivity applications... Well worth investigating for either platform.