A Tech's software toolkit (2-12-2007)

KGhaleon

Not talking about hardware, but rather, software tools that we use on a daily basis at my job. I usually carry a bunch of CDs around with me, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to share with you guys. Help each other out.
Post some suggestions if you think there's anything I should include. These are my personal tools:

*Operating system discs=
Windows 2000, XP pro/home, Server, Linux distros, Unix, etc. A Knoppix liveCD, for a bootable linux OS. I also have Knoppix STD now.

*98 and NT boot disks, as well as some DiskCopy floppies for copying partitions between drives. I also have a lot of blank floppies available.

*128MB and 512MB USB thumb drives. I have some more tools on the smaller one(winzip, WipeDisk, Hijackthis, DriveCopy files, help documents, antivirus/spyware utilities, etc). I have msconfig on there as well, since 2000 doesn't normally have it installed. The larger thumb drive I like to carry around for larger files.

*Winternal-- Allows you to boot into an ERD Commander-ish interface where you can erase user passwords and make changes to the operating systems on available partitions. Knoppix also works in the same way.

*Keyfinder. So I can view or change CD keys on a machine if necessary. Sometimes my boss gets new CD keys for machines.

*Data recovery software--Easyrecovery, Davory, file recovery and pro 2006 edition, file rescue, recover NT, etc

*Anti-Malware tools:
AVG-free and Avast! for virus protection.
Ewido 4, Adaware SE and Microsoft defender(Windows) for spyware protection. We also have others we use if needed: Spyhunter, Spysweeper, CWShredder, Hijackthis, etc (dozens, one doesn't find them all)
--other antivirus tools include: ClamWin, Bitdefender, A-squared and others. I run them if I have too, as well as some internet scans(panda/trend micro) if I feel the job isn't complete.

-->Note: Norton, McAfee, etc all suck. Don't use them anymore. O_o
Stuff like AVG-free/Avast easily finds 80% more when ran. AVG is also free.

-->Note2: I turn off Windows restore point before running scans, to ensure that the bugs don't come back. Turn it back on once the system is clean. You should do this after cleaning the system, and not beforehand...so if you screw up something, you can fall back on the windows restore points.

Firewalls: *Sunbelt's Kerio personal Firewall 4
*Comodo's Comodo Firewall
*ZoneLab's ZoneAlarm
*Agnitum's Firewall (have yet to try it)

*Executive Diskeeper. It defragments the drive and runs *much* faster than the default one that comes with windows. You can also set it to run automaticly in the background to keep the computer defragmented on a daily basis...since you know the middle aged women in the accounting department next door won't bother running it.

*TuneUp utilities 2007. A new one I just added which has over 15+ different functions ranging from file recovery to disk cleaning and defragmentation of drive space and memory. It cleans the registry and performs a thorough checkup of the entire system. It's excellent and I've been impressed with it...try the trial version.

*ABF Outlook Backup/Express: for backing up Outlook and outlook express data

*Dr. Hardware 2006--something my boss uses. I haven't used it.
*Print screen 32-- never use it, my boss does.

*Registry fixes--Registry clean, registry cleaner, registry first aid, registry fixes, and registryFix.com programs. Also PC-Doctor, which we use a lot.
Note: TuneUp utilities has a feature that cleans the registry, and does a *good* job at it.

*Norton Ghost--9.0 and 2003 editions.

*Microsoft Office 2000 and XP edition. Also have a copy of OpenOffice.

*Misc. software: Adobe acrobat, AOL(for customers) and others. Planning to add Firefox for not particular reason. I also have Penetration testing tools(ethereal, packetyzer, kismet, airsnare, airsnort, snort, etc)...but I don't use them for my job. Random CEH stuff.

I'm just going by memory, so I'll fill in the rest when I have access to my toolkit tomorrow.

KG

Megadeth4168

Just a couple quick ones that have come in handy for me as well....

1. STINGER (McAfee)
2. All of the Symantec Removal tools (Don't take too much space and do come in handy)
3. LSPFix
4. Trojan Hunter
5. F-Secure Blacklight Rootkit scanner

Usually add Hijack this to the list as well.
Just for good measure I usually install Spywareblaster and sometimes depending on the PC ect... I will replace the HOSTS file with one from somewhere like mvps.org.

evanderburg

1. Ultimate Boot CD
2. Windows Password cracking CD
3. Backtrack (remote-exploit.org)

RussS

OS disks
Office Disks
UBCD
Bootable Ghost CD
Bart PE Disk (probably my handiest tool - will be purchasing a licence for the Avast PE disk soon as it rocks)
Data Revovery Disk

Utilities Disk with Winzip, Winrar, Filemon, Adobe Readers, Tweakui, Network Disgnostics, Software Firewalls, Burn in and Stress Tests, Network Diagnostic Tools, Assorted Web Browser versions, W98 USB Drivers, Open Office, W98 Shutdown Patches, RNAV Tools, Pasword Recovery Tools, LSP Fix

Spyware/Virus Disk with Stinger, Symantec Removal Tools, Adaware, SpybotSD, Ewido, Spyware Doctor, CW Shredder, Hijack This, F-Secure Blacklight Rootkit scanner, Trojan Hunter, Avast, Antivir


Probably a few other things that I can't remember too.

KGhaleon

Those are some good additions, anyone else some suggestions?

I just wish they compiled all those Symantec Removal tools into one download. ;_;

KG

sprkymrk

Most of the suggestions mentioned are good ones for a traveling tech, but being a LAN Admin I don't need most of what is being mentioned here. My tools either exist on my servers or are network related (example: pstools by Foundstone),

About the only thing I make sure and keep handy is some sort of boot disk, those already mentioned are great choices - especially a linux boot disk for resetting the local admin password on machines. However, I'll try to add my 2 cents without repeating what others have mentioned:

Dell Resourse CD's - drivers, utilities, bootable diagnostics (we are an all Dell environment) Win98 boot disk with the addition of smartdrv.exe and readntfs.exe Linux boot CD (see comment above) Custom ghost boot CD for multiple network card drivers Utilities CD with "safe" cmd.exe, md5sum, netstat, nbtstat, pstools, fport, netcat, ipconfig.exe, net.exe and arp.exe in case a system is suspected to be compromised, you never know if any of these command/exe's are safe to run from the machine's hard drive. (think: rootkits) coroner's toolkit Portable Firefox (runs from your USB Thumb Drive):

http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/browsers/portable_firefox

KGhaleon

Interesting. Yeah, I work on NT networks 90% which is why there is focus there. Portable Firefox...o_o

KG

KGhaleon

I'll boot this up.

I added Memtest and Windows memory diagnostic to my toolkit, since I needed some tools for testing RAM. I should also note that I carry a small USB NIC with me(w/drivers) in case the machine I'm working on doesn't have one. This saves me lots of trouble, though it's not exactly a software tool.

I've been playing with TrojanHunter recently, but I'm not sure if there are any better ones available.

KG

Lee H

Hi

i have only one addition to the massive list, symantec AI setup. I use it on a regular basis when i need to install software to clients

lee h

drpower555

Nice. My favorite tool is nbtscan. If you havent used it, check it out. I also like to carry a loaded 4G usb stik. Also superscan by foundstone. The new Tenable Nessus is nice, or even Sam Spade to mention a few.

KGhaleon

I've started playing around with a lot of X-ways software, and I've found things like this to be good when you want to find out what websites people have visited:

*X-way Trace

I had a job a while back that required me to use it and I found thousands of websites that had been visited over the course of 3 years or more.

KG

Slowhand

I carry a lot of the same tools already mentioned, with one notable addition: Hiren's Boot Disc, which is in version 8.0 at the moment.

bighornsheep

I use most of what you guys have, plus these here:

Powertoys: TweakUI
Multilanguage pack (MUI)
network redistributables of directX, WinXP SP2
Nero Burning ROM
Font packages
Maxtor MaxBlast 3
Seagate HDD Tools
WD HDD ToolKit

and these sometimes become most invaluable;
USB enclosure for 3.5"
USB enclosure for 5.25"
2.5" to 3.5" adapter.

drpower555

I forgot to mention my favorite screen capture tool, MWSnap! Its free and its good. Been using it for years without any problems.

Plantwiz

Not so much a single tool, but a resource for a number of LiveCD downloads:

http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

rcoop

Just to add a couple more recommendations (some have probably been mentioned above):

Winternals (Regmon, Filemon)
Portable Skype
BulkRenameUtility
Sam Spade

Take Care,
--RCoop

rcoop

Oh and if you ever need to register ActiveX DLLs or OCXs, regsvr.reg is a fine addition to your toolkit.

It is simply a registry file (double click on it and it adds some settings to your registry so that whenever you right-click on a DLL or OCX file within Windows Explorer, a register and unregister item appears on the context sensitive menu.

Here is the text of the reg file (hopefully it will display okay), so simply copy the following code and save it into a file with the extension .reg (preferrably regsvr.reg, since this is what the author calls it):

REGEDIT4

; regsvr.reg, Copyright (c) 1997-1998, Chris Sells.
; All rights reserved. NO WARRANTIES ARE EXTENDED. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.
; P.S. Enjoy and send comments to [email]csells@sellsbrothers.com[/email].
;
; History:
; 5/13/99:
;   Took out registration for embedded .tlbs in DLLs and EXEs
;   as it became too annoying.
;
; 1/12/98:
;   Added support for .tlb and .odl files using VC6's regtlib.
;
; 10/25/98
;   Replaced %1 with %L to get long file name support.
;   (Thanks to Sergey Tetkin <SergeyT@vest.msk.ru> for the suggestion!)
;
; Sometime in early 1997: 1st release
;   Don, Tim, Keith and I were sitting around at a GCOM talking about
;   what a pain it was to perform self-registeration and couldn't I
;   add a shell extension to augment the context menu (I had written
;   the Win95 course)? I said I could do even better than that and
;   this regfile was born.

; Register and Unregister COM DLLs and OCXs
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.dll]
@="dllfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.ocx]
@="dllfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\shell\Register COM Server\command]
@="regsvr32 \"%L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\shell\Unregister COM Server\command]
@="regsvr32 /u \"%L\""

; Register and Unregister COM EXEs
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Register COM Server\command]
@="\"%L\" /regserver"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Unregister COM Server\command]
@="\"%L\" /unregserver"

; Register COM TLBs
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tlb]
@="typelib"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\typelib\shell\Register TypeLib\command]
@="regtlib -q \"%L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\typelib\shell\Unregister TypeLib\command]
@="regtlib -q -u \"%L\""

; Register COM TLBs listed in ODL
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.odl]
@="odlfile"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\odllib\shell\Register Imported TypeLibs\command]
@="regtlib -q -o \"%L\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\odllib\shell\Unregister Imported TypeLibs\command]
@="regtlib -q -u -o \"%L\""

; Register COM TLBs in DLLs
;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\shell\Register Bundled TypeLib\command]
;@="regtlib -q \"%L\""

;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\dllfile\shell\Unregister Bundled TypeLib\command]
;@="regtlib -q -u \"%L\""

; Register COM TLBs in EXEs
;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Register Bundled TypeLib\command]
;@="regtlib -q \"%L\""

;[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\Unregister Bundled TypeLib\command]
;@="regtlib -q -u \"%L\""

Take Care,
RCoop

KGhaleon

I'll bring this back, since I have new additions to throw into my first post. I also appreciate the tools mentioned in this topic.

KG

ally_uk

Windows 95,98,2000,XP
Linux Distros - Unbuntu, Xubuntu, Debian, DSL, Austrumi (Good for NT Password hacking)
Unix - FreeBSD
Mac OS 10

AVG
Spybot
Zone Alarm
Aida 32
Rock XP
Mem Test
Pc Check
DBAN
Ultimate Boot CD
Open Office

External USB hard drive with 20 gigs worth of drivers

That's All I carry :0

Practiced2Death

Have but one word.......

JBones

sprkymrk

Maximum PC magazine's March 2007 issue had an article on this topic, including hardware. They had some nice, but expensive, ideas including a small monitor (forget the make/model). I'll dig up the mag again and see what all they listed and post the best stuff.

KGhaleon

That's interesting, never heard of something like that. I'll update this list tomorrow if I can find time from work.

KG

KGhaleon

Went ahead and added this to my blog...now I need to organize it. <_<; I also found this page which may be useful:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic7602.html

KG

Ahriakin

A few more, either free or with free "lite" versions.

IOBit Defrag
Linkscanner
EEye Blink
Mandiant Red Curtain
NoScript for Firefox.

keithqsr

Thanks for this

shodown

well I'm more a Cisco guy so my tool set is a little different

Notepad++
Kiwi Cat tools
Secure CRT
VNC Viewer