Best Practice Ezine #99 Readers RecommendationsThis week I have another collection of tools and mini-applications recommended by readers. I thank Tim, Sean, John, Allen, Berndt and Johan for extending our range of utilities and thus making those boring computer jobs more interesting. More utilities recommended by Ezine readersSanctuary from Secure Wave – Tim Bolton.Tim Says: We are now using a new application from Secure Wave called Application Control. It basically creates a White List of every exe, cpl, etc etc. If the executable is not on the White List, it will not run. So far Sanctuary has proven very easy to setup and maintain. Secure Wave Say: Sanctuary preserves the security of your environment while dramatically minimizing the inherent risks of downloading or installing new applications. Here’s how it works: When a user attempts to launch a non-centrally authorized executable, a dialogue box will appear that offers the option to deny or accept the launch. If it comes from a trusted and known source, the choice, obviously, would be to authorize. If a dialogue box appears after merely opening an email or an attachment, the choice would be to deny. Free 30 day Evaluation http://www.securewave.com/sanctuary_ACD.jsp EventID from Sean Hook also independently sent by John Darby.Problem, you have an undecipherable event id in one of your logs. Solution, look at the column headings in your Event Viewer, go to the eventid.net site and enter your Event ID and Event Source in the dialog boxes and eureka an answer. Not infallible, but a useful resource for researching those system and application log problems. http://www.eventid.net/search.asp Cmdow – Berndt SchuetzCmdow is a Win32 command-line utility for NT4/2000/XP/2003 that allows windows to be listed, moved, resized, renamed, hidden/unhidden, disabled/enabled, minimized, maximized, restored, activated/inactivated, closed, killed and more. Cmdow is 31kb standalone executable. http://www.commandline.co.uk/ Guy Recommends: Tools4ever’s UMRA Tired of writing scripts? The User Management Resource Administrator solution by Tools4ever offers an alternative to time-consuming manual processes. It features 100% auto provisioning, Helpdesk Delegation, Connectors to more than 130 systems/applications, Workflow Management, Self Service and many other benefits. Click on the link for more information onUMRA. Win Nessus – AllenMentioning nmap last week prompted Allen to draw our attention to Win Nessus. The Win-Nessus project is intended to develop a Nessus server port for win32 platforms, and fully compatible with NASL scripting language and Nessus plugins. And if possible, compatible with the original Nessus clients. When researching Win Nessus, I collected a bonus in the form of re-discovering the Source Forge site. http://sourceforge.net/projects/win-nessus/ Copy Handler – JohanCopy Handler, also known as CH, is a small tool designed for copy/move files and folders between different storage medias (hard disks, floppy disks, local networks, CD-ROMs and many other). Advantages of the program include: copying data at up to 6-7 times faster than standard MS Windows copying (when copying data from one partition to another on the same physical hard disk). You get full-control over the copying/moving process by pause, resume, restart and cancel features. For those who love switches, CH is fully customizable – over 60 detailed options – from setting language (multiple languages) through auto-resume on error, shutting down system after copying finished to very detailed and technical (customizing copy/move thread – buffer sizes, thread priority, …) ending on sounds on specific events. Incidentally, CH and many of the other utilities on this page have won awards. Independent recognition by trade publications is a good ‘Litmus Test’ when you are quickly evaluation a new utility. http://copyhandler.com/index.php?page=ch1desc Free Utilities v Commercial ProgramsPart of me says I am only interested in free utilities. However, the other part of me muses, it’s human nature that if people charge for their program then they will continue to improve an develop a better breed of utility. My conclusion is that the best compromise is from companies who produce ‘lite’ versions, which are free but necessarily limited, backed up by ‘Enterprise’ versions with more robust and in-depth features needed for a production network. My second choice is 30 day evaluation versions where you can get a feel for the utility before deciding to buy. CiscoHave you noticed how rock stars are in fact frustrated sportsmen, while sportsmen all want to be rock stars? Even within sportsmen all runners really want to be footballers. I find there is a similar effect in computing, here am I a minor expert in Windows who would love to explore Cisco. If you too would like to learn Cisco why not start withTrainSignal’s videos and associated learning material. Will and Guy’s HumourDo you have to make a best man speech? Alternatively, you just like wedding humour. Check out our bumper page of of wedding jokes.
Lots of useful utilities• E 200 Stuxnet • Metro UI •Review of Real-time Bandwidth Monitor • Windows 8 Remote Desktop •E 199 Apps •E 197 iPad • E 188 Toast •E 183 Utilities •E 182 Ripper •E 178 LoJack • E 165 Nifty Utilities • E 125 Nifty Tools • E 106 Tips • E 99 Tips • Virtualization Manager • Ezines | 
