Guy recommends:
Free network monitor

Solarwinds' free monitor makes it easy to check the performance and health of a router or firewall.

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Guy's Top 10 Free Tools

1) FreePing
2) Network Monitor
3) Xobni
4) PuTTY (UNIX)
5) WMI Monitor
6) BgInfo
7) Net-SNMP
8) Engineer's Toolset
9) DNS Stuff
10) WinDiff

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Vista jokes

Windows Vista - Show Hidden Files in Explorer

Windows Vista - How to Show Hidden Files in Explorer

Problem: You cannot view any system or hidden files in Vista's C:\drive.  Moreover, when you launch Vista's Explorer you cannot find the Tools menu to change these file settings.

Solution A: Vista's new way is to begin by navigating to the Control Panel.  Select the Appearance and Personalization section, from there, Folder Options --> Show hidden files and folders.

What you should now see is the familiar Windows menu called Folder Options. Click on the View tab and then scroll down to Hidden files and folders.  Select the radio button next to Show hidden files and folders.  While I am at these advanced settings, my preference is to remove the tick next to 'Hide protected operating system files'.

Above is a screen shot of the Vista Control Panel featuring the Hidden files and folders settings.

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Solution B:  Launch the Vista Explorer (Windows Explorer and not IE7).  What I do is press the Windows key + e.  Now press just the Alt key.  Magically, the Alt key causes the old File Edit View Tools menu to appear, under the Tools menu you will find the Files and Folder settings with the View tab.

Above is a screen shot after pressing the Alt key in Vista's explorer.

Sign of Greater Security

While finding the Files and folder settings is a relatively trivial task, it gives a glimpse that increased security impacts every aspect of Vista.  Another point that I would like to make is that the Control Panel has grown in importance and consequently has a modified layout compared with XP.

Where is Boot.ini

No matter what settings you try in Vista's folder options you won't find a boot.ini file with Windows Explorer.  The reason is simple, boot.ini has been replaced by BCD Boot Configuration Data.  You find the BCD file in the Boot folder, however, if you need to make any changes in the boot behaviour use the command line program bcdedit.    See more on BCD

Guy Recommends:  A Free Trial of the Orion Network Performance Monitor (NPM) v10

Solarwinds' Orion performance monitor will help you discover what's happening on your network.  Also this utility will guide you through troubleshooting; the dashboard will indicate whether the root cause is a broken link, faulty equipment or resource overload.  Because it produces network-centric views, the NPM is intuitive to navigate, and you can export the results to Microsoft Visio.

Perhaps Orion's best feature is the way it suggests solutions.  Moreover, if problems arise out of the blue, then you can configure Orion NPM v10 to notify members of your team what's changed and how to fix it.

If you are interested in troubleshooting, and creating network maps, then I recommend that you take advantage of Solarwinds' offer and download a free trial of Orion's Network Performance Monitor.

Summary of Show Hidden Files in Vista Explorer

By default Vista's Explorer does not display system and hidden files.  Probably for security reasons it's not as easy to show these files as in XP.  Fortunately there are not one but two solutions.  Either go to the Control Panel or simply press the Alt key when the Windows Explorer is in the foreground.

Windows Vista Training

Train Signal have an excellent Windows Vista Training Course.  As an MCT trainer, I am a huge advocate of Train Signal’s products.  What impresses is me is that they demonstrate everything that they teach and they stay away from traditional 'lecture-style' training.  If you are looking for a complete DETAILED coverage of Windows Vista, then I highly recommend that you give this course a try.  I have reviewed their 18 hours of videos myself, and I guarantee that you will not be disappointed!

Watch a Vista Training Video Demo.

Windows Vista Troubleshooting:

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