Useful IT Tools

My background is in Information Technology, and throughout my career I’ve stumbled across numerous useful tools.  Here are some of those tools, and how to obtain them.  You’ll notice I gravitate towards free, but I’m not afraid to spend a little bit of money if I believe in a product.  Click on the title of the software to be taken to the product webpage.

TreeSize Free –Disk Space Usage Analysis

This program shows how your disk space is being used.  I’ve used this several times in IT, when a server is running out of space.  I’d open the program and scan the hard drive, it would show me which directories are taking up the most space.  This was very helpful, because 99% of the time those directories were employee’s network drives.  I could even drill down to the file level and talk to the employee about what was taking up so much space.  This tool was very helpful in the time when disk space was a precious commodity, now I don’t use it as much, but it still comes in handy.  There are other versions available, TreeSize Personal from $24.95 and TreeSizeProfessional from $54.95.  I was able to do everything I needed with the free version.

Radmin – Internal RemotePC Control

This is a very lightweight remote control software that allows you to connect to PCs within your network environment.  This isn’t free; however, I highly recommend it for IT support staff.  Basically the server program, which is the part that is installed on the PC you wish to control, runs in the notification area of the task bar, and can permissions can be setup based on a username and password.  The viewer program, which is the program used to view the remote PC, allows for multiple connections and you can control, view, file transfer, chat, reboot, and more the remote PC.

TeamViewer –External Remote PC Control

Pretty much everyone knows about TeamViewer, but I’m listing it anyways, as it is very simple to use, and isn’t just for scammers.  That’s right, a ton of scammers use TeamViewer to take control of people’s PCs.  But when used for legitimate purposes, it can be very handy.  It’s completely free for personal use, and can range in price for business purposes.  TeamViewer allows users to remotely control PCs and other devices such as Android TV, and smartphones.  I use the business version at work, and have had much success with it.  The business version allows you to create custom graphics that will link to the custom software with your business logo and terms and conditions that you create.

Bulk RenameUtility – Easily Rename Multiple Files

This free utility does exactly what the name implies.  You can rename files, including the extension.  You can even change file attributes and timestamps, plus it allows for RegEx.  I use the GUI version, but there is also a command line version available.  There isn’t much to say about this program, I don’t use it all the time, but it does come in handy when I need to use it.

Notepad++ - TextEditor and So Much More

I love this program!  Mostly because I often have the need to manipulate text files, and this is the easiest way to do it.  I use the Macro feature a lot to run the same functions on multiple lines.  Plus if you want to remove all of the lines that contain certain text, it’s easy to “bookmark” the line, then remove all bookmarked lines.  Notepad++ recognizes many coding languages and will format syntax accordingly.  Plus the ability to have add-ons from the open source community makes the uses endless.