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PowerGUI is a real nice powershell script editor, a little more robust than the built in ISE.
@jack wallen
appreciate your reviews of the programs, but i have one complaint - why review programs that cant be downloaded???? Particularly Hirens BootCD. Followed the link to the home page BUT no download button. What gives???
appreciate your reviews of the programs, but i have one complaint - why review programs that cant be downloaded???? Particularly Hirens BootCD. Followed the link to the home page BUT no download button. What gives???
...Jack's link, but I used this one, http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/ and it IS hard to spot. Way at the bottom of the page, in the yellow block (at least, in FireFox) is a tiny text link to the program, it looks like.
The produkey software sounded useful, i downloaded it and installed it just to find out you need to purchase it for it to work.
Falls short of the title "The best free IT tools for cheapskate admins".
Falls short of the title "The best free IT tools for cheapskate admins".
Try Belarc Advisor. Also to add to this list, I've had great success with Overdisk as well as Auslogics' Defrag and Registry Cleaner
The newer one is view only. If you grab 1.5.3 it allows you to edit or modify the Win XP key and registration [not tested Vista or after]. [But some AV software doesn't like it as it opens another app in the background.]
Downloaded and tried WinDirStat but it takes too long to read the directory and report, I'll stick with TreeSize Free from Jam software as it reads the directory and reports the size very quickly.
These are not really all free for "IT admins". The Piriform software (CCeaner and Defraggler) for example are free for home use; not for use in a business environment.
I'm pretty sure MS Security Essentials and FileZilla ALSO say they're not free for corporate use as well.
If corporations are people, certainly IT admins are persons who are arguably at home in their work environment. Therefore these tools are being implemented for personal use.
Knee-jerk reply here, but I thought I read in the EULA that all Genuine Copies of Windows (XP and up) are viable candidates for MSSE. Like you say though, best to research it and be safe.
From the installer:
If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below.
1. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. Home Use. If you are a home user, then you may install and use any number of copies of the software on your personal devices for use by people who reside in your household.
b. Small Business. If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business.
c. Restrictions. The software may not be used on devices owned by government or academic institutions.
d. Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.
e. Included Microsoft Programs. The software may contain other Microsoft programs. The license terms with those programs apply to your use of them.
If you comply with these license terms, you have the rights below.
1. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS.
a. Home Use. If you are a home user, then you may install and use any number of copies of the software on your personal devices for use by people who reside in your household.
b. Small Business. If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business.
c. Restrictions. The software may not be used on devices owned by government or academic institutions.
d. Separation of Components. The components of the software are licensed as a single unit. You may not separate the components and install them on different devices.
e. Included Microsoft Programs. The software may contain other Microsoft programs. The license terms with those programs apply to your use of them.
Software by Piriform (depending on the product) is free for all. Support, however, is not ($25 for "Pro" $35 for "Business").
From the installer of CCleaner 3.21:
3. PRODUCT LICENSE
In consideration of your agreeing to abide by the terms of this License and subject to your compliance with the terms of this License, Piriform grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Product for the following purposes and in the following manner:
- You may NOT resell, charge for, sub-license, rent, lease, loan or distribute the Product without our prior written consent. We reserve the right to withdraw any such consent (or part thereof) for any reason and without notice and to demand that you immediately cease any activity in respect of which permission is withdrawn.
- You may NOT repackage, translate, adapt, vary, modify, alter, create derivative works based upon, or integrate any other computer programs with, the Product in whole or in part.
- You may NOT use the Product to engage in or allow others to engage in any illegal activity.
- You may NOT transfer or assign your rights or obligations under this License to any person or authorize all or any part of the Product to be copied on to another user's computer.
- You may NOT decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Product except to the extent that you may be expressly permitted to reverse engineer or decompile under applicable law.
- You are NOT permitted to grant any sub-licenses of the Product.
You are under no obligation to purchase any Product support from Piriform. However, where you do so, this License is subject to any further limitations which may be set out in your support agreement with Piriform.
----
There is no for private vs. corporate use. Furthermore,
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/faq/general/can-i-use-ccleaner-in-a-business-or-corporate-network
From the installer of CCleaner 3.21:
3. PRODUCT LICENSE
In consideration of your agreeing to abide by the terms of this License and subject to your compliance with the terms of this License, Piriform grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the Product for the following purposes and in the following manner:
- You may NOT resell, charge for, sub-license, rent, lease, loan or distribute the Product without our prior written consent. We reserve the right to withdraw any such consent (or part thereof) for any reason and without notice and to demand that you immediately cease any activity in respect of which permission is withdrawn.
- You may NOT repackage, translate, adapt, vary, modify, alter, create derivative works based upon, or integrate any other computer programs with, the Product in whole or in part.
- You may NOT use the Product to engage in or allow others to engage in any illegal activity.
- You may NOT transfer or assign your rights or obligations under this License to any person or authorize all or any part of the Product to be copied on to another user's computer.
- You may NOT decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Product except to the extent that you may be expressly permitted to reverse engineer or decompile under applicable law.
- You are NOT permitted to grant any sub-licenses of the Product.
You are under no obligation to purchase any Product support from Piriform. However, where you do so, this License is subject to any further limitations which may be set out in your support agreement with Piriform.
----
There is no for private vs. corporate use. Furthermore,
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/faq/general/can-i-use-ccleaner-in-a-business-or-corporate-network
Why am I not surprised Jack didn't do his homework. Most can assume that if you are an admin, it is a decent size company.
I used to use Filezilla but I have switched to Core FTP. More options and easier to use interface.
Some sites that host/offer Hiren's Boot CD are potentially dangerous and could contain social engineering tactics and other trojans. Please beware. At least, that has been my experience.
That some of the apps on there are sketchy to say the least. It does seem that they have removed many of them but a couple still remain as of the 15.1 version. Probably best to stay away from that one.
I don't know how I managed without BullZip PDF Printer!
Simply a great tool to print to a PDF or JPG file!
Simply a great tool to print to a PDF or JPG file!
great tool
used to use FTPV'ger
but got tired of the please pay for the next update nag
and they crapped their own bed when they burned me on the "last day"
they sell you 365 days but only give you 364 or less
I get a nice notification "new version .... is available"
great, I check my expiry which was wx/yz/2009
same date as new release
go to get it, and the site pops in my face,
you need to renew before you can have this one
I call BS, because every other program I've paid for gives you updates until 23:59:59:99 of the end date
I contact v'ger support and they tell me,
nope yer expiry is @ 00:00:00:01 of the end date
nice, they gave me 363.5 days for the price of 365
around the same time I see review & recommendation for FileZilla
never looked back
used to use FTPV'ger
but got tired of the please pay for the next update nag
and they crapped their own bed when they burned me on the "last day"
they sell you 365 days but only give you 364 or less
I get a nice notification "new version .... is available"
great, I check my expiry which was wx/yz/2009
same date as new release
go to get it, and the site pops in my face,
you need to renew before you can have this one
I call BS, because every other program I've paid for gives you updates until 23:59:59:99 of the end date
I contact v'ger support and they tell me,
nope yer expiry is @ 00:00:00:01 of the end date
nice, they gave me 363.5 days for the price of 365
around the same time I see review & recommendation for FileZilla
never looked back
1. Absolutely and totally miserable to download experience.
2. My AV activated on several 'clicks' during the process - but it was on Tech Republic's recommended list - shouldn't be an issue - hey?
3. Yes, my machine got 'Quirkey'. OK, uninstall, clean and reinstall fresh version of MalwareBytes (Along with several re-boots (great fun))
4. Ok, so it's almost impossible to specify 'exactly' where something came from, but my unit gets a 'deep-scan' every night. And now, Malwarebytes finds: (PUP.CrossFire.SA) -> Data: CouponDropDown . Etc.
5. Yes, it could have come from somewhere else. Are you will to take that chance?
2. My AV activated on several 'clicks' during the process - but it was on Tech Republic's recommended list - shouldn't be an issue - hey?
3. Yes, my machine got 'Quirkey'. OK, uninstall, clean and reinstall fresh version of MalwareBytes (Along with several re-boots (great fun))
4. Ok, so it's almost impossible to specify 'exactly' where something came from, but my unit gets a 'deep-scan' every night. And now, Malwarebytes finds: (PUP.CrossFire.SA) -> Data: CouponDropDown . Etc.
5. Yes, it could have come from somewhere else. Are you will to take that chance?
Just in case people get worried over the comments and non-research of other 'expert opinions' this is the flip-side...
1) It's free (2 guys labour of love)
2) You are in IT but logically this may not contain any programs that could cause false positives at all...therefore must be a virus.
3) This has been doing the rounds for over 8 years - how many techies have not at least heard the name if not used it in some way.
1) It's free (2 guys labour of love)
2) You are in IT but logically this may not contain any programs that could cause false positives at all...therefore must be a virus.
3) This has been doing the rounds for over 8 years - how many techies have not at least heard the name if not used it in some way.
It sounds like a fantastic tool. Too bad there's no link to download it. There are plently of links to download toolbars and other crapware, but no boot CD. I will really need the boot CD to fix all the viruses, trojans and malware I will get trying to find a way to downoad it.
Yes Hiren's is free to download but, there is alot of software on there that is commercial (not even shareware) software.
One more to add to the mix...
Unitrends is now in Virtual Appliance form, and two free editions are available:
Free Edition
Protect 4 VMs (VMware or Hyper-V)
Instant recovery of virtual machines.
File-level recovery of files and folders.
Rotational archiving to disk, tape, NAS and SAN.
Automated backup scheduling with flexible strategies.
Download Free Edition: http://www.unitrends.com/unitrends-enterprise-backup/download?src=TechRepublic
NFR Edition
Eligibility: VCPs, VCIs, vExperts, MVPs, MCPs
Protect 2 sockets and 2 physical servers
Phone, email and online support
1 year expiration (renewable along with certification)
Download NFR: http://www.unitrends.com/unitrends-enterprise-backup/download?src=TechRepublic
Unitrends is now in Virtual Appliance form, and two free editions are available:
Free Edition
Protect 4 VMs (VMware or Hyper-V)
Instant recovery of virtual machines.
File-level recovery of files and folders.
Rotational archiving to disk, tape, NAS and SAN.
Automated backup scheduling with flexible strategies.
Download Free Edition: http://www.unitrends.com/unitrends-enterprise-backup/download?src=TechRepublic
NFR Edition
Eligibility: VCPs, VCIs, vExperts, MVPs, MCPs
Protect 2 sockets and 2 physical servers
Phone, email and online support
1 year expiration (renewable along with certification)
Download NFR: http://www.unitrends.com/unitrends-enterprise-backup/download?src=TechRepublic
Hey Jack (and TechRepublic readers!) For obvious reasons, I'm a bit biased, but I am curious why Spiceworks (http://www.spiceworks.com/) isn't listed above your list of the best free IT tools. Was this article limited to single-purpose tools and not complete software solutions? Would love to get your thoughts. Thanks!
-Jason S from Spiceworks
-Jason S from Spiceworks
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