Top IT Pros are using This tools

IT professionals are unique, like snowflakes. Degrees, training, intelligence, creativity, and experience all matter, but they combine to craft distinctly specific skill sets. Perhaps that's one reason there are so many utilities and tools driving the support industry. In fact, there are so many that shopping for just the right tool can be overwhelming. So I asked several IT pros to list the tools they depend on -- and I received some surprising results. Their lists are (almost) as unique as they are. Try matching the following IT pros to your job role and skills. Perhaps their lists will help you narrow your search for useful tools and utilities. The good news for all of us is that most of these tools are freeware. 

Note: Comments in quotes belong to the IT professional.   

John Bartow, consultant

                        John Bartow's areas of expertise are network and PC security, which he provides via his consulting firm, WinHaven Computer Consulting Services . Because he's onsite so much, he carries the following tools with him at all times: 

                         RoboForm Pro and Portable : Password manager, form filler, and password management. 

                         CCleaner : File system and registry cleaner.

                         Autoruns:  Startup process manager; shows programs configured to run during system bootup or login.

                         Process Explorer : Lets you see which handles and DLL processes are open.

                         Vipre : Antivirus, malware, and rootkit software. 

                         Spybot S&D : Suite of PC security products. 

                         SIW : Software Information for Windows; gathers and displays detailed information about system properties and settings. 

                         DotNet cleanup tool  (dotnetfx_cleanup_tool): Aaron Stebner's tool Automated cleanup tool for removing the .NET Framework.

                         Auslogics Disk Defrag : Hard drive defragmenting software. 

 Auslogics Registry Defrag : Registry defragmenting software.

 Sterling Camden, consultant

                        Camden Software Consulting, in Bainbridge Island, WA, specializes in migrating existing applications to new technologies. (Its owner, Sterling Camden, also hosts TechRepublic's  IT Consultant  blog.) Vim and Ruby products are his favorite tools, but Camden relies on several others, which he keeps on a laptop that goes everywhere he goes:

                        Vim : "Powerful" text editor. 

                        Google Chrome : Windows browser that's getting a lot of good reviews. 

                        Ruby : "One of the most popular scripting languages."

                        Synergy/DE : Suite of advanced cross-platform software tools for Windows, UNIX, and OpenVMS. (Camden consults for Synergex, the vendor.)  PVCS Configuration Builder: Automates and a

                        PVCS Version Manager : Source control.

                         PuTTY : Telnet and SSH for Windows and

                         FileZilla : Open source FTP client and server. 

                         VMware : Virtualization technology products.

                         Visual Studio 2008 : Suite of development tool

John W. Colby, consultant

                        John W. Colby specializes in business analysis, database design, and programming. He is a past president and a current board member of Database Advisors, Inc ., an online technical support group. Currently living in North Carolina, Colby uses various remote access tools to provide consulting services to clients around the country: 

                         C2DbFW3G: Custom framework for Access.

                         MZ-Tools : Enhanced programming tools for VB and VBA programmers. 

                         LogMeIn Hamachi : VPN service. 

                         VNC : Integrated security. 

                         VMware Infrastructure : Virtualization for individual machines and servers. 

                         Comodo Internet Security : Firewall and Antivirus suite. 

                      ThreatFire : Antivirus software.

 Donna Cook, applications analyst 

                        An analyst in the medical industry, Donna Cook  uses the following tools to work through the myriad projects she manages:

                         CSVed : Manipulate Excel files (.xls). "…great tool for anyone who hates Excel."

                         Copernic Desktop Search : Windows Desktop Search tool. 

                         Irfanview : Fast graphic viewer/conversion tool for Windows.

                        eCleaner : Strips HTML symbols, formatting codes, and so on. 

                        CoreFTP : Free, user-friendly, secure FTP application for Windows.

                        SiSoft Sandra : Gathers information about a machine.

                        Lan MonitorSendToAny : Displays information about every network adapter on your computer. : Extends the Windows Send To menu to include anything on your Program

 Deborah Elam, consultant Specializing in SQL and VB.NET applicatio

                         

                         DNS source script : Creates DSNs from code. "…moving computers and new users requires mu

maintenance." 

 Steve Erbach, software development  

Steve Erbach supplies custom software for the printing ind

                        tools: 

                         HardCopy : Screen capture utility. "…relaxed shar

                         Paint.NET : Image and photo editing software.

                         ColorPic : "Superb" pop-up color picker control

                         Irfanview : Fast graphic viewer for Windows.

                         Windows Grep : Graphical text search and rep

                         CPU-Z : Quickly review information about system's devic

                         FireBug : Web debugging tool. "… absolutely outstanding…no

normal;">                       
 SpinRiteAutoHotKey : Data recovery.  : Automate key