Download the network management program. Programs for system administrators, programs for the network

Free program for changing network settings. The program is intended for non-commercial use and in the free version allows you to create up to six profiles containing different network configurations.

Changing created profiles in NetSetMan (short for Network Settings Manager) is very easy - just select the tab with the desired settings and click the "Apply" button.

You make the necessary settings in separate profiles in advance, and then simply switch to the desired one when you change the connection method!

Key Features

NetSetMan allows you to change:

IP- computer address on the Internet.

DNS- a system that associates domains with IP addresses.

Hosts- a text file with instructions for redirection.

• IP addresses;
• DNS, WINS and SMTP servers;
• computer name and workgroup;
• Wi-Fi settings;
• network printers;
• entries in the Hosts file;
• some system properties (monitor operating mode, sound devices and power configuration).

In addition, NetSetMan can execute any BAT, JS or VB scripts, allowing you to change almost any settings available from the command line and/or third-party programs!

Comparison with analogue

NetSetMan has a paid PRO version, but the differences between them are minimal. In fact, by paying €18, you will receive:

Proxy- an intermediate server between the computer and the Internet.

• the right to use NetSetMan on a work PC;
• activate an unlimited number of settings profiles;
• functions of changing the proxy server, network domain and browser start page.

Therefore, it seems to me that it would be more successful to compare NetSetMan with a third-party application called WinAgents HyperConf:

In fact, the WinAgents HyperConf program is a kind of analogue of NetSetMan for system administrators, since it is designed not only for automatically changing network settings, but also for maintaining these settings in working order.

And the license for it is sold for at least 10 cars. Therefore, for the average user, working with NetSetMan will be preferable.

Program installation

NetSetMan is installed like all programs: you download the archive, open it and run the installer, and then follow the wizard’s prompts.

During the first stages of installation, you will need to select the application language and accept the terms of the license agreement, after which you will be faced with the following choice:

There are three possible installation options here:

1. The standard installation is the way NetSetMan will be installed on the system, like all regular applications. That is, in the Program Files folder (by default), a directory with the program will be created, which will contain all the files necessary for work. In this case, the utility settings will be saved in the system registry.
2. Update - allows you to install a newer copy of the program on top of the one you already have installed. This method will only be available if you have already used NetSetMan before.
3. Extract files. This method allows you to simply unpack all program files into the directory you specify. In this case, nothing is written to the registry, and you can use NetSetMan as a portable application.

We'll probably finish installing the program in the standard way, although if you are a fan of portable software, you can complete the installation in a third way :).

Creating your first profile

After the installation of the program is completed, its working window will appear in front of us:

It consists of a menu bar (at the top), a row of buttons (to the right of the program name) and six tabs, which, in fact, contain all possible settings.

In order to create the first settings profile, you need to call the context menu of the required tab (for example, Set 1):

First of all, let's rename our tab to something convenient and understandable. To do this, click “Rename” and in the window that opens, enter a suitable name, for example, call the tab “Home” :).

After this, we will need to go to the context menu of the tab again and activate the “Get all current settings” item there.

This action will automatically fill in all fields with the settings that you currently use to connect to the Internet:

In addition, you can automatically fill in the required fields by clicking the arrow button located to the right of the required field (see screenshot above).

Working with the program

So, we have our first profile ready - it’s time to create another one so that you can switch between them.

I have a connection at home from a city local network, so as an example I will give the settings that I have to use if I want to connect to the Internet at my parents:

DNS server- a program that processes DNS queries.

As you can see, for the Internet to work, we usually only need to know our IP address and the IP of our DNS server (which in this case is the modem). However, there are also more complex cases that NetSetMan will help us deal with.

MAC address(English) Media Access Control) - unique device number on the network.

The first such case is the problem of changing the MAC address of the network card.

Usually this need does not arise, however, if you have to work in several local networks, where traffic is distributed to the physical addresses of network devices, then you will not be able to do anything without this function.

Officially, NetSetMan does not yet have such a feature (although the author announced its implementation in the next beta version), but it is possible to execute almost any script, which significantly increases the functionality of the program!

The script can be created in advance (and then simply opened), or you can write it directly in the window of a special built-in editor, to access which you need to activate the “Script” item in the desired program tab and click on the button to the right of the item name:

Let's look at working with scripts using a specific example. By default, the Command Line does not have a function for changing the MAC address, but it can be implemented using a third-party console program - macshift.

You will find this utility in the archive with the NetSetMan program. All you need to do is unpack the files "validmacs.h" And "macshift.exe"(third file is optional) to the root of the disk C:\ or to a folder C:\Windows.

Console(English) console) - window for entering text commands.

Thus, you have the opportunity to change the MAC address of the network card through the console. Now the small matter is small - you need to write scripts.

The syntax of the macshift commands is very simple: macshift -i "Connection name" 2889-82-002B (required address).

We enter the line (changed to the MAC address you need) into any editor such as Notepad and save it as a BAT file.

Now all that remains is to open the created file in the NetSetMan script editor (see screenshot above). Moreover, the execution time of the script can be set both “Before” changing the settings and “After”.

Hosts file management

Next to the “Script” item there is the “Hosts” item. Activating it allows us to make changes to the system file of the same name, which is responsible for resolving and redirecting the addresses specified in it.

One of the options for using the function of editing this file may be to restrict access to certain sites from your PC.

For example, I suggest “banning” the site vk.com :).

This can be achieved by assigning the local host address to the site (by default 127.0.0.1 ). We activate the “Hosts” item in NetSetMan and using the button on the right (with the ellipsis) we open the window for editing the system host file:

Now, following the syntax, on each new line we first write the local host address, and then, separated by a space, the address of the site to which we want to block access.

After generating the list, click the “Finish” button.

The most important thing is that NetSetMan does not touch the standard host file entries, but can both add and remove site addresses added through the program.

Thus, you can create a profile, for example, for your children, in which you can limit their ability to access certain sites!

Managing system properties

The last function that I would like to draw your attention to is “System Properties”. By activating this item in the NetSetMan window, you will be able, using a profile, to change not only network settings, but also some monitor, sound and power settings:

We've figured out the capabilities of NetSetMan, so it's time to try using the profiles we created. To do this, just go to the desired tab (profile) and click the “Apply” button. in the upper right part of the program window:

This will open a window in which all actions performed by the program will be displayed.

Above the list of actions is a progress bar for applying new settings, and above it is a “Cancel” button, which will change to a “Finish” button when the network configuration is complete.

Click the last one and you will have a completely reconfigured Internet connection at your disposal!

Additional tools and program settings

So, above we have already figured out the operating principle of the NetSetMan program and examined in detail some of its capabilities. Now it's time to get acquainted with some non-essential, but sometimes necessary functions. We'll talk about the buttons on the toolbar. There are only three of them:

1. Profiles. This button opens the profile management window. Unfortunately, in the free version we cannot delete any of the six profiles, but we can rename them.
2. The note. This button allows you to leave short entries (up to 256 characters) with comments on the active profile. Here you can, for example, insert the text of the script so that you can restore it if the file is lost (see screenshot above).
3. Auto switch. This button opens a window in which we can configure automatic switching to a Wi-Fi profile when a signal from an open network is detected.

Without proper attention, we are left with only the menu bar.

The first item - “Profile” - activates a menu similar to the context menu described at the beginning of the section about creating the first profile. Therefore, there is no point in describing it separately, and we move on to the second point - “Options”:

Here we have three sub-items:

• import;
• profile export;
• and the “Settings” itself.

For example, if you forgot to set the interface language to Russian or want to disable NetSetMan autostart, then you can do it here.

Also pay attention to the “Administration” tab. With its help, you can activate encryption of all data stored in the program!

The third menu item - “Tools” - contains some standard links to built-in system network connection management tools and more:

The last thing I want to talk about is the ability to work with NetSetMan in “Compact Mode”:

To switch to this mode, just click on the corresponding inscription in the upper right corner. It is worth noting that you cannot edit profile settings in this mode, but switching the network configuration is much more convenient (at least in my opinion) :).

Advantages and disadvantages of the program

• simplicity of the interface;
• convenient system for changing profiles;
• expanding the functionality of the program by executing scripts;
• the ability to quickly automatically obtain current settings;
• Access the most popular built-in Windows features.

Flaws:

• there is no built-in function for changing the MAC address of the network card;
• There is no built-in task scheduler.

conclusions

If you are a modern laptop owner and often use it when traveling to access the Internet, then NetSetMan is an indispensable tool for you that will allow you to forever forget about the inconveniences associated with changing network settings.

If you yourself are not very good at configuring network settings, then you can always ask your friends or colleagues (for example, an office system administrator :)) to do this just once, and then always enjoy uninterrupted access to the Internet!

Afterword

In the modern world, there are probably practically no people left who do not use computer technology in one way or another. Most people today have more than one PC at home... Moreover, the second computer is most often a laptop.

Of course, with modern capabilities for almost universal access to the Internet, laptops are still the most successful solutions for replacing a full-fledged office (and even multimedia) PC.

However, all the variety of options for connecting to the Internet has one (and sometimes very significant) disadvantage - the need to change the connection settings every time.

Let's say you use a laptop as a work machine at home, in the office and with friends. At the same time, at home you “sit” on an ADSL connection, at work on a “local” connection, and with friends on a “dedicated” connection. Your laptop also has Wi-Fi, which can be used to surf open networks...

And for each case, you have to go into Network Connections every time and tinker with the settings! Scary? Of course :) But today we learned how to rid ourselves of this nightmare once and for all with the help of a fairly simple, but practically irreplaceable utility, NetSetMan.

P.S. Permission is granted to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.

Greetings to all readers.

Most computer games (even those that came out 10 years ago) support multiplayer play: either over the Internet or over a local network. This, of course, is good, if not for one “but” - in many cases it will not be possible to connect to each other without using third-party programs.

There are many reasons for this:

For example, the game does not support playing over the Internet, but there is support for local mode. In this case, you must first organize such a network between two (or more) computers on the Internet, and then start the game;

Lack of a “white” IP address. It's more about organizing Internet access by your provider. Often in this case it is impossible to do without using software at all;

The inconvenience of constantly changing the IP address. Many users have a dynamic IP address that is constantly changing. So, in many games you need to specify the IP address of the server, and if the IP changes, you have to constantly enter new numbers. To avoid this, special tools will come in handy. programs…

In fact, we’ll talk about such programs in this article.

GameRanger

Supports all popular versions of Windows: XP, Vista, 7, 8 (32/64 bits)

GameRanger is one of the most popular programs for playing games on the Internet. Supports all the most popular games, among them there are all the hits that I simply could not help but mention in this review:

Age of Empires (The Rise of Rome, II, The Conquerors, Age of Kings, III), Age of Mythology, Call of Duty 4, Command & Conquer Generals, Diablo II, FIFA, Heroes 3, Starcraft, Stronghold, Warcraft III.

In addition, there is simply a huge community of players from all over the World: more than 20,000 - 30,0000 users online (even in the morning/night hours); about 1000 created games (rooms).

During installation of the program, you will need to register by indicating your work email (this is mandatory, you will need to confirm your registration, and if you forget your password, you will not be able to recover your account).

After the first launch, GameRanger will automatically find all installed games on your PC and you will be able to see games created by other users.

By the way, it is very convenient to look at the server ping (marked with green bars:): the more green bars, the better the quality of the game will be (less lags and errors).

In the free version of the program, you can add 50 friends to your bookmarks - then you will always know who is online and when.

Works in: Windows XP, 7, 8 (32+64 bits)

A rapidly gaining popularity program for organizing online games. The principle of operation is somewhat different from GameRanger: if you go into a created room there, and then the server starts the game; then here each game already has its own rooms for 256 players - each player can launch their own copy of the game, and the rest can connect to it as if they were on the same local network. Comfortable!

By the way, the program contains all the most popular (and not popular) games, for example, here’s a screenshot of the strategies:

Thanks to such room lists, you can easily find friends for many games. By the way, the program remembers “your rooms” that you entered. In addition, each room has a good chat that allows you to negotiate with all the players on the network.

Result: a good alternative to GameRanger (and perhaps GameRanger will soon be an alternative to Tungle, because Tungle is already used by more than 7 million players around the world!).

Of. website: http://www.langamepp.com/langame/

Full support for Windows XP, 7

This program was once unique in its kind: nothing simpler and faster to set up could simply be found. LanGame allows people from different networks to play games where such an option is not provided. And for this you don’t need an Internet connection!

Well, for example, you and your friends are connected to the Internet through the same provider, but in online game mode, you cannot see each other. What to do?

Install LanGame on all computers, then add each other’s IP addresses to the program (don’t forget to turn off the Windows firewall) - then all you have to do is start the game and try to turn on the online game mode again. Oddly enough - the game will start multiplayer mode - i.e. you will see each other!

Although, with the development of high-speed Internet, this program is losing its relevance (because even with players from other cities you can play with a very low ping, despite the lack of a local connection) - and yet, in narrow circles it can still be popular for a long time.

Hamachi

Works in Windows XP, 7, 8 (32+64 bits)

Hamachi was once a very popular program for organizing a local network over the Internet, used in many games for multiplayer mode. Moreover, there were very few worthy competitors.

Today, Hamachi is more needed as an “insurance” program: not all games are supported by GameRanger or Tungle. Sometimes, some games are so “capricious” due to the lack of a “white” IP address or the presence of NAT devices - that there are simply no alternatives to playing through Hamachi!

Overall, a simple and reliable program that will be relevant for a long time. Recommended for all fans of rare games and those connected to the Internet through “problematic” providers.

Alternative programs for playing online

Yes, of course, my list of 4 programs above did not include many popular programs. However, I was based, firstly, on those programs with which I had experience working, and, secondly, in many of them the online players are too small to consider them seriously.

For example, Game Arcade- a popular program, however, in my opinion, its popularity has been falling for a long time. There is simply no one to play with in many games; the rooms stand empty. Although, for hits and popular games the picture is somewhat different.

Garena- also a fairly popular program for playing on the Internet. True, the number of supported games is not so large (at least in my repeated tests - many games could not be launched. It is possible that now the situation has changed for the better). As for hit games, the program has gathered a fairly large community (Warcraft 3, Call of Duty, Counter Strike, etc.).

That's all, I will be grateful for interesting additions...

Local networks are no longer something unusual, as they were at the dawn of their creation. The advantages of such networks are obvious. Users of computers connected to a single local network will have access to shared files and folders and can easily exchange necessary information, edit documents, play games using command modes, etc. However, this only applies to computers that are connected to each other using wires and quite a large amount of “iron” equipment. But what to do when the computers are quite far from each other? This is where software products for creating virtual local networks come to the rescue. Among them, quite often there are completely free programs. Downloading free programs for creating local networks and installing them on your computer is not a problem now. As they say, there would be a desire. Among the free burnouts for local networks of such applications, two main types can be distinguished. The first type allows you to create a virtual private network in such a way that one of the computers will act as a server. And this also includes programs that use computers alternately as the main server. Data exchange in this case is carried out using P2P (peer-to-peer) technologies, that is, using the universal BitTorrent protocol. The second type includes programs where the role of the central server is performed by a remote server of the software manufacturer. Here you only need to register on the manufacturer’s website. If we talk about free programs of this kind, then, in comparison with paid analogues, they allow you to create networks with the connection of about one and a half dozen computers or accounts. It is clear that paid analogues can create networks connecting even several hundred computers. However, for home use or small offices, 15-20 users are completely sufficient. It must be said that networks created using such applications have all the capabilities of conventional wired networks. And the setup, in most cases, is very similar. The difference in such programs may also be that sometimes one computer is bound to only one specific IP address. In some other cases, the IP address may be assigned automatically. To work on such a network, you will only need a program installed on your computer. Some free programs for creating private virtual networks even allow you to use the registration data of many Internet messengers, for example, Jabber accounts. However, the capabilities of such programs are quite similar. Some additional features may differ, such as the presence of built-in chats or short text messaging capabilities. It seems that today, virtual networks are still preferable, since they allow computers located even in different parts of the globe to be united into a single network. On our website you can download the most modern programs for creating local networks.

Hamachi is one of the most famous tools for creating virtual private VPN networks. Using this program, you can easily establish an encrypted connection over the Internet between remote computers, simulating a local network connection. By running the Hamachi service, users will be able to share equipment - printers, webcams, etc. You can download the program for free on our website and install it on your computer with Windows 7, 8 or XP.

SHAREit is a popular cross-platform program from Lenovo, designed for convenient data exchange between different devices connected to the same wireless network. Thanks to this program, you can easily transfer files between Windows computers.

TeamViewer is a free Windows program that allows you to remotely control your computer via the Internet. This is one of the most popular utilities for such purposes. In literally a matter of seconds, the program will provide you with a visual connection to your computer from anywhere in the world. You can download the program for free in Russian using a direct link from our website.

TeamSpeak is a program for devices running Windows, designed for organizing multi-user voice conferences over a local or global network using VoIP technology. TeamSpeak is aimed primarily at gamers communicating with each other during online games, but can also be used by employees of various organizations for conferences and meetings.

Wireshark is a free functional sniffer program for Windows designed to analyze network traffic of various types of computer networks, including PPP, Ethernet, FDDI, Token-Ring and many others. The program is a fairly easy-to-use utility with low system requirements, which has wide functionality and is easy to use.

Home media server (UPnP, DLNA, HTTP) is a modern free program on Windows for the convenience of viewing various media files on your computer on a TV, tablet, player, or other devices with a network connection or Wi-Fi. Based on the multifaceted experience of Internet development, the program is able to function regardless of the operating system used in the device.

Built-in OS administration tools are not always convenient or often do not have sufficient functionality, so the system administrator's arsenal is replenished over time with useful utilities, add-ons and scripts that significantly simplify everyday tasks. It is doubly gratifying when the solution found not only helps to cope with a specific problem, but is also distributed free of charge.

Advanced IP Scanner

The system administrator must know everything about the systems running on the network and quickly gain access to them. Advanced IP Scanner, designed for fast multi-threaded scanning of a local network, helps to cope with this task. AIPS is provided completely free of charge, without any reservations. The program is very simple and easy to use. After starting, AIPS checks the IP addresses of the network interfaces of the host on which it is installed and automatically enters the IP range into the scanning parameters; if the IP does not need to be changed, then all that remains is to start the scanning operation. As a result, we get a list of all active network devices. For each, all possible information will be collected: MAC address, network card manufacturer, network name, user registered in the system, available shared resources and services (shared folders, HTTP, HTTPS and FTP). Almost all scanning options can be customized, such as changing the speed or excluding scanning of a certain type of network resource (shared folders, HTTP, HTTPS and FTP). You can connect to any resource with one click; you just need to mark it in the list. AIPS is integrated with the Radmin program and during the scanning process it finds all machines running Radmin Server. The scan result can be exported to a file (XML, HTML or CSV) or saved in “Favorites” (drag-and-drop supported). In the future, if you need to contact the desired client computer, you do not need to scan the network again. If the remote device supports Wake-on-LAN, you can turn it on and off by selecting the appropriate menu item.

NetWrix, a company specializing in developing solutions for auditing changes in IT infrastructure, offers ten free and very useful utilities designed to significantly simplify the administration of Windows OS. For example, NetWrix Inactive Users Tracker allows you to solve one of the pressing security problems - the presence of inactive accounts that no one uses for some time (fired employees, business trips, job transfers, temporary accounts, etc.). HR personnel rarely warn the IT department about changes, and such an account can easily be used by an attacker. The utility periodically checks all accounts in domains and reports those that have not been accessed for a certain time. In the Free version, it is possible to specify only a warning by e-mail as actions (it is enough to set the SMTP parameters), the admin performs all other operations manually, although a warning is sufficient in our case. In the paid version, the following are available: automatic setting of a random password, account deactivation and moving to another OU, OU filter for searching for accounts. A PowerShell cmdlet get-NCInactiveUsers is separately offered, which allows you to get a list of inactive users (the “lastLogon” attribute is checked) and simplify the writing of corresponding scripts.

WinAudit Freeware

WinAudit is a free utility from Parmavex Services that allows you to perform a full system audit. Does not require installation, can be executed in command line mode. The program has a simple and localized interface; it supports running on all versions of Windows, including 64-bit. Data collection takes approximately a minute (the duration of the process may vary depending on the operating system and computer configuration), and the resulting report consists of 30 categories (customizable). As a result, the administrator can receive data about the system, installed software and updates, indicating the version and vendor, connected devices; a list of open network ports (number, service, program, etc.) and open folders; active sessions; security installations; access rights to the periphery; information about accounts and groups; list of tasks/services; startup programs; log entries and system statistics (uptime, memory, disk usage). You can also search for specific files by name. For example, to find music and videos on the user’s hard drives, it is enough to specify the appropriate extensions (avi, mp3, and the like). The result can be opened as a web page, exported to a file of many popular formats (txt, XML, CSV, PDF) or to a database (using a wizard, all popular ones are supported: MS SQL, MS Access, MySQL, Oracle and others), send by e-mail and print.

Accounting for computers using CheckCfg

The problem of accounting for office equipment and software used is acute in any organization. You can solve it in different ways, one of the options is offered by developer Andrey TatukovCheckCfg. This solution periodically collects data about hardware, OS and programs, including CPU type, amount of RAM, disk space, S.M.A.R.T. status. And so on. At the same time, CheckCfg easily copes with several hundred computers. The result is displayed in a convenient tree form, and local directories are easy to access. Each PC can be assigned an inventory number, and if necessary, it is easy to generate a report in RTF format.

CheckCfg is a whole complex of programs. CheckCfg is responsible for directly collecting data about the computer, which runs when the OS starts and writes the result to a file. Information is managed and archived using the Sklad accounting program, which processes the files created by CheckCfg and saves them into its database, after which reports can be generated. Using the Sklad_w program, you can conveniently view current computer configurations and basic data on office equipment (by IP addresses, CPU, Memory, software). To analyze changes in the PC configuration and notify the administrator about this, another utility is used - Doberman. Perhaps the setup will not seem entirely trivial, since you have to manually create the necessary configuration files, but the detailed description on the site and the available templates allow you to figure everything out without any problems.

MailArchiva Open Source Edition

Some mail servers, like MS Exchange, have mail archiving functions that allow you to find old messages if necessary, including to identify leaks of confidential information when investigating incidents. In other cases, you have to provide these functions yourself. A solution option is the development of MailArchiva, compatible with most modern mail servers (Lotus Domino, MS Exchange, MDaemon, Postfix, Zimbra, Sendmail, Scalix, Google Apps). Archiving via SMTP, IMAP/POP3, WebDAV and Milter protocols is supported (the program has a built-in SMTP and Milter server, IMAP/POP client). To avoid collecting all mail, you can create any archiving rules. Three levels of access to saved data are implemented - user (only your own mail), administrator (settings and your own mail) and auditor (all mail, can be limited by rules). The Open Source version of MailArchiva also includes intuitive search functions, including attachments (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OpenOffice, PDF, RTF, ZIP, tar, gz). MailArchiva runs on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X.

Performance Analysis of Logs

In case of problems with system performance, it is quite difficult to detect the bottleneck using the standard Windows Performance Monitor without experience. In order to figure out what metrics need to be taken and how to correctly interpret the result, you will need to carefully scour the documentation. The PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs, pal.codeplex.com) utility greatly simplifies the search for bottlenecks. Once launched, it looks at logs and analyzes them using built-in templates. Currently, there are settings for most popular MS products - IIS, MOSS, SQL Server, BizTalk, Exchange, Active Directory and others. After launch, the administrator in the PAL Wizard activates the necessary counters by simply selecting a template from the list of proposed ones, indicates the current server settings (number of CPUs, etc.), the analysis interval and the directory for saving the result. After some time, a detailed report will be issued in HTML and XML, containing a description, counter name and indicators (Min, Avg, Max and Hourly Trend). The report can then be easily copied into any document. But you will still have to further understand the collected parameters yourself. Although if PAL shows that the characteristic is in the green sector, there is no need to worry. The request itself is saved in the PowerShell script PAL.ps1, which can be saved for later use. Templates are XML files; Taking any of them as an example, you can create your own version. The built-in PAL Editor is available for editing parameters in the template.

Officially supported by Win7, but works on all OS from MS, starting with WinXP (32/64). For installation you will need PowerShell v2.0+, MS .NET Framework 3.5SP1 and MS Chart Controls for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.

Create an access point with Virtual Router

The situation when a computer with a Wi-Fi card needs to be turned into an access point is by no means uncommon today. For example, you need to quickly deploy a WLAN or expand your Wi-Fi coverage area. Initially, the wireless card was designed to operate in only one of two modes: point-to-point, when clients connect to each other, or as an access point. In Win7/2k8 (except Win7 Starter Edition), it became possible to virtualize network connections (Virtual Wi-Fi technology), which allows you to create several Wi-Fi modules with your own settings using one physical Wi-Fi adapter. In this way, the computer can be connected to Wi-Fi and at the same time act as an access point (SAPoint, Software Access Point). The connection to such a virtual hotspot is protected using WPA2. You can turn a PC running Win7/2k8R2 into an access point using the Netsh console utility, through the Network and Sharing Center, or using the Virtual Router application, which has an intuitive GUI and very simple settings. After starting Virtual Router, you just need to specify the SSD and password for the connection, and then activate the access point. If necessary, you can also stop the hotspot by pressing one button. Additionally, the window displays the current connections to the point; for each you can set its own icon and change some parameters.

Managing RDC connections - RDCMan

The Remote Desktop Connection snap-in is designed to remotely manage servers and PCs running Windows. If you need to establish many RDP connections with different settings, then working with it becomes inconvenient. Instead of methodically saving individual settings for each remote computer, you can use the free tool Remote Desktop Connection Manager RDCMan, which automates this process. After launch, you should specify the RDP connection settings, which will be used by default and inherited by all connections. Here we set general credentials, gateway, screen settings, security settings and much more. Next, we create the required number of system groups (for example, by purpose, location, OS version), for each of them you can specify specific connection settings. And the last step is to populate the groups with systems. To add a server, you only need to enter a domain name; if any parameter differs from the group settings, you can immediately override it. If necessary, systems can be easily moved between groups by simply dragging and dropping. If there are many systems, it is easier to create a text file, specifying one name per line, and then feed the workpiece to the utility. Now, to connect, just select the desired server and click “Connect” in the context menu. You can activate multiple connections at the same time and switch between them.

Free Active Directory Tools

Managing Active Directory settings using standard tools is not always easy or convenient. In some situations, a set of utilities Free Active Directory Tools, developed by ManageEngine, will help. The kit consists of fourteen utilities launched from one shell. For convenience, they are divided into six groups: AD USer Report, SharePoint Report, User Management, Domain and DC Info, Diagnostic Tools and Session Management. For example, running Empty Password User Report will allow you to get a list of accounts with empty passwords, GetDuplicates will get accounts with the same attributes, CSVGenerator will save Active Directory account data to a CSV file. Other features: report last logon time, retrieve data from AD based on a query, report on SharePoint installations, manage local accounts, view and edit domain password policies, get a list of domain controllers and their roles, manage their replication, monitor them work (CPU load, RAM, hard drives, performance, etc.), managing terminal sessions and much more.

Comodo Time Machine

The ability to restore a system using the System Restore component has been built into Windows, starting with XP, but its functionality is, to put it mildly, limited, so third-party applications are often used for backup. The free utility Comodo Time Machine (comodo.com) allows you to roll back the OS to any previous state. Moreover, it will work even if the OS has completely stopped loading. During the process, CTM creates restore points (manually or on a schedule), all changed system files, the registry, and user files are entered into them. This is a big advantage over System Restore, which saves and restores only system files and the registry. The first copy has the maximum size; the remaining copies store only changed files. In order to save free disk space, you should periodically create a new checkpoint by deleting old archives. To make it possible to restore the OS, information about the CTM is written to the boot sector; To call the corresponding menu, just press the Home key. You can also restore the OS state according to a schedule, for example, configure the behavior of the utility so that every reboot it automatically rolls back to a “clean” version of the system. This will be useful, for example, in an Internet cafe, where users leave a lot of garbage in the system. In addition to a complete OS restore, the utility provides the ability to obtain an earlier version of any file from the archive. Search is implemented, so you can find the necessary data without any problems.

Amanda

The problem of centralized data backup from workstations and servers running Windows and *nix can be solved using AMANDA Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver). Initially, the program was created to work with tape drives, but over time the developers proposed a mechanism called “virtual tapes” (vtapes), which allows you to save collected data to hard drives and CD/DVDs. AMANDA is a convenient add-on to the standard Unix dump/restore programs, GNU tar and some others, so its main characteristics should be considered based on the capabilities of these basic utilities. It works according to a client-server scheme. All available authentication methods are used to access computers: Kerberos 4/5, OpenSSH, rsh, bsdtcp, bsdudp or Samba password. To collect data from Windows systems, a special agent or, alternatively, Samba is used. Compression and encryption (GPG or amcrypt) of information can be performed both directly on the client and on the server. All settings for reservation parameters are made exclusively on the server; the delivery includes ready-made templates, so it’s quite easy to understand.

Core Configurator 2.0 for Server Core

The initial setup of a server running Win2k8/R2 in Server Core mode is done in the console using commands. To simplify the task, OS developers added an interactive script SCONFIG.cmd to R2, which allows you to configure basic system parameters. An alternative is available on Codeplex - a wonderful configurator Core Configurator. For it to work you will need the components NetFx2-ServerCore, NetFx2-ServerCore and PowerShell. After running Start_CoreConfig.wsf we get a menu, in it we find several items that provide access to basic settings that would have to be managed from the command line: product activation, setting screen resolution, clock and time zone, network interface, setting permissions for remote RDP connections , managing local accounts, Windows Firewall settings, enabling/disabling WinRM, changing the computer name, workgroup or domain, setting up roles, components, Hyper-V and launching DCPROMO. If you check the “Load at Windows startup” checkbox, the program will load along with the system.

Exchange 2010 RBAC Manager

Exchange 2010 introduces a new role-based access model that allows you to finely control the level of privileges for users and administrators depending on the tasks performed. The only negative is that built-in management tools using PowerShell cmdlets may not seem convenient and understandable to everyone. More advanced capabilities are available in the free Exchange 2010 RBAC Manager tool (RBAC Editor GUI, rbac.codeplex.com), which offers a clear graphical interface for configuring the properties of all roles. Understanding its features will not be difficult even for a beginner. The program is written in C# and uses PowerShell. To work you will need Exchange 2010 Management Tools installed.

PowerGUI

As soon as it appeared, the PowerShell command shell won the sympathy of Windows admins, who had long been in need of a tool that would automate many tasks. With the first versions of PowerShell, Microsoft developers were unable to offer a more or less functional editor, so several third-party projects filled the niche. The best of them today is PowerGUI, which provides a convenient graphical interface for effectively creating and debugging PowerShell scripts. At the same time, the authors offer ready-made sets of scripts for solving many problems - they can be used in your developments.

Multi-Tabbed PuTTY

The free PuTTY client is well known to administrators who need to connect to remote hosts via SSH, Telnet or rlogin. This is a very convenient program that allows you to save session settings for quick connection to the selected system. The only inconvenience is that with a large number of connections, the desktop becomes loaded with many open windows. This problem is solved by the Multi-Tabbed PuTTY add-on, which implements a tab system.

INFO

PuTTY was originally developed for Windows, but was later ported to Unix.

Conclusion

Often there is no need to rack your brains over solving a certain problem: most likely, other administrators have already encountered it and offered their own option - a specific utility or script for which you don’t even have to pay.