Today the 5th stumble I came across with was Mikel Alexander’s ComputerSight website and more particularly his 10 free tools every IT needs post.
With this list he’ll explains the tools he’s using every day so he can do his job on an easier way.
I’m glad I came by this stumble because I’m in the IT myself, so I can compare it with my knowledge and tools I use daily.

1. Logmein.
He’s right about this. If you’ll have to give some remote support and Microsoft’s RDP isn’t working, this is for sure one tool you can use to check the remote system.

2. PSTools from Microsoft.
With these tools you can info from remote systems via the command prompt. I’m not using these tools in particular. If I need some quick remote info I mostly use the ‘rexec’ command. This also allows you to execute commands on a remote machine and display the result on your command prompt. It’s a bit like the ‘net admin’ command like on IBM’s OS/2 environment, but the ‘net admin’ command is much much better.

3. Ultimate boot cd.
Again a tool you can’t live without if you’re working in the IT. A series of useful tools burned on 1 bootable cd so you can for example rescue your disk, recover deleted files, …
I’m using Hiren’s boot cd for this. It’s pretty similar, but I think it’s easier to use, but that’s my personal opinion.

4. Daemon tools.
For me personal this is the first tool I install after a fresh install of my OS. A few weeks back I Installed Vista Enterprise x64 and had some trouble installing the latest version of daemon tools. So a little tip for those who have the same trouble, don’t install the latest version of Daemon Tools on your Vista 64-bit, but install version V4.09HE. This version has an older STPD driver then the newest Daemon Tools and that’s the reason why it didn’t work on my 64 bit Vista. Oh, Daemon tools is a virtual cd/dvd rom player where you can mount images with. I can’t live without it!

5. Firefox.
I admit it’s a lot better than Internet Explorer, and although I also installed it, I use Maxthon browser for my daily surfing pleasure. I started using Maxthon somewhere in 2004. You can read all about this in my previous post: “Ever heard of Maxthon?”
Firefox I most of the times use for the great plugins it have for when your developing a new website. The Firebug and Web Development tool is a must install tool for FF.

6. AutoIt.
I never heard of this before, but I’m certainly going to take a closer look into it. On first sight it can come in handy for tasks that are always the same.

7. USB Apps.
This can be taken very broadly, but I think he most likely means the portable apps. They surely can come in handy for repairs.

8. TrueCrypt.
If you don’t want that other can read your files, this is the tool to use.

9. Synergy.
With this tool you can use the same mouse and keyboard on multiple pc’s with their own monitor. You just move your mouse pointer from 1 screen/pc to your other screen/pc.
Very handy.

10. CCleaner.
Cleans your temp files and your registry for not needed or used regkey’s.
I use regclean for this, but Regclean doesn’t clean temp files.

In the whole we both use the same or very similar tools, like I expect most of the system engineers will. If you got some other great freeware tools, that are worth a look, leave a comment and I’ll certainly look into it.

Remember from every 5 comments in my Stumbling Friday posts, I’ll choose one winner who’ll get his/her site stumbled by me.

On the last Stumbling Friday post, sadly there was only 1 commentator, but this made it very easy to pick a winner. Thx for the comment Sarah, hope you’ll receive some traffic from my stumble.

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