Top IT Pros are using This tools

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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
                        and keystrokes."
                         Process Explorer : Lets you see which handles and DLL processes are open. "Excellent and detailed information…"
                         FileMonProcess MonitorRootkitReveale  and : Monitor Windows.
                         Belarc Advisor : Profile system -- iInstalled softwar
                        benchmarks, and more. 
                         WinPatrolWin2PDF : Improve system performance.  : Install PDF fun
                         XML Notepad 2007 : Browse and edit XML
                         MZ-Tools : Enhanced more than a million driver u
                         Disktective : Disk-space reporting. 
                         KeePass : Password manager.  
                         ToDoList : NET-based to-do list. 
                         TreePad : Personal Information 
                       Athur Fuller, business an
uruller specializes in MS-SQL development and dobutor to TechRepublic). He's the author of four books on d
Fuller spent most of last year working (yeah… righ
                        keep his clients happy:   NoteTabxPlorer2 : Award-winning text and HTML editor. "Try this and you will never again load NotePad."   : Trouble
                         
rt cLachlan, president of Lexacorp Ltd., in Papua New Guinea, manages the development of information . Since he's living in par
                         IrfanviewPolestar Virtual Printer : Fast graphic viewer/conversion tool for Windows.  : Virtual PDF and image printer.
                         Foxit Reader : "Fast" PDF reader with "neat" capabilities. 
                         AutoIt : "BASIC-like" scripting language for automating W
                         PowerBASIC : A Windows compiler. "…small, fast, no depe
                        ZTree  : "The best file/directory manager out there."
                        VirtualBox : Virtualization products for x86 systems. "Great for developintesting in others."
                         FireFTP : FTP client plug for Firefox. 
                         NetSetManPro : Network settings manager. "I can go to any of my clients' sites and hook my laptop into their network
                
         Kren Rosenstiel, Web dev
en osenstiel designs and develops Web sites for small businesses and nonprofit organizations, with an e in accessibility features.  Her list is short, but specif
 UltraEdit: "…an excellent all-around program
                         UltraCompare : Compare and merge files, directors, documents, zip archives, and so on.  
Francisco Tapia, database administrator 
                        ncio Tapia maintains and monitors 26 SQL Server systems in a manufactu
gine, performance is a huge issue for Tapia, who likes to develop his own monitoring applis surity policies for system applications and products (SAP) systems. Tapia also markets a c
product that monitors SQL Server systems. Tapia is a magician wRed-Gate products: 
                         SQL BackupCompresses and encrypts SQL Server backups; "… fairly inexpensive and it just works." SQL PromptSQL Respons :   : Intelligent code completion and layout for SQL Server. "Accelerates all my programming.
                         SQL Compare : Moves SQL Server data from development to production. 
                         SQL Diagnostic Manager : Monitors SQL Server. 
                         on Tydda, IT technician 
                         more than a decade of experience in first-, second-, and third-line IT support, aceutical research and development in the United Kingdom. He al
un of time fixing his friends' broken computers. Tydda
 Ad-Aware: The original anti-spywa
                         Spybot-S&D: Detects and removes spyware.  ZoneAlarm: A suite of security products. 
                         AVG Anti-Virus : Antivirus and Internet security. 
                         Startup Control Panel : A simple user interfacestart your computer. 
                         Process Explorer : Lets you see which han
                         Trojan Hunter : Protects system from Trojans.
                         MalwareBytes Anti-Malware : Detects and removes malware "where others fail."
                        : an Waters, business systems business process management systems (BPM
                        ' company, ProMation Systems, Inc., develops paies that want to be more competitive and effect

 MZ-Tools: Enhanced programming tools
                         Find & ReplaceAccess Analyzer : Add-in for Microsoft Access that lets you quickly rename design objects.   : Provides extensive documentation and analysis of Microsoft Access databases. 
                        errors. 
                         rew Wutka, network administrator 
                        w Wutka is a network systems administrator with database and programming skills. Currently, he provide
efense, space, photonics, telecommunications, and medical industries. When he can't find just the right , Wtka sometimes writes his own (such as MoveWindows, in his list below). Here are some of his favorites:
 Remote Administrator (radmin): "Great tool for ad
                         MoveWindows : Custom application that captures all of the open windows on your machine. "Handy for multiple monitor issues when an application gets lost." 
                         
                         

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