Saturday, November 04, 2006

Ultimate List of FREE Software from Microsoft!

So its a cold, dreary November day. I'm still recovering from some ailment or another involving lots of mucus. What do you think old Justin's doing? Worrying about that strange grinding noise coming from the dishwasher? No, I'm reading about free Windows stuff, of course!

Oh my Gosh, I've got to try the Microsoft Memory Diagnostic Tool! This is an excellent alternative to the RAM test utility that I described a month or two ago. That one involved burning a CD or creating a boot floppy and then booting from it, well this one does too - nope, being an elite computer tech ain't easy.

And my life would not be complete without the Windows Command Line Port Scanner! For those not in the know, this means that Microsoft made a tool that can return information about itself and other computers' networking states and capabilities. Sound complicated? It's not! Imagine you can't get your mail from mail.yourmail.com and you're not sure that you have the right server - aim this tool at your mail server, let it rip, and see what services are really offered by that server.

The Windows Installer Cleanup Utility has saved my hide several times - this is useful when you uninstall an application, check, see that most if not all of it is gone, but still see its entry in the Add/Remove Programs dialog. I've gotten the most mileage out of this when confronted with HP All-In-One applications and drivers that won't reinstall after being uninstalled.

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