Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Windows Guides’ Rating	User Rating	Compatible with	System
5 out of 5	(24 votes, average: 4.25 out of 5)

PROS: Tuneup Utilities 2012 is built upon years of tweaking and re-tweaking to get the most out Windows with all types of hardware. The Program Deactivator removes overhead from your system by temporarily disabling applications (and their associated processes and services) while you enjoy the benefit of more system resources–for your important tasks. Economy Mode saves battery while you’re on the go. CONS: An upgrade is required each year to get the latest features (like Economy Mode in 2012 and the Program Deactivator in 2011.) VERDICT: If TuneUp released a product for cars, mechanics would go out of business. TuneUp Utilities makes PC maintenance easy–very easy. I recommend this program for users who are not comfortable tweaking and maintaining their PC and would like an easy way to keep things in check and have a PC that runs without unnecessary interruption. PRICE: $29.95 (Upgrade) $34.95 (Full Version as of 11/13/2011) VERSION REVIEWED: TuneUp Utilities 2012 DOWNLOAD: TuneUp Utilities 2012 15-day Trial (aff)

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If you have more than a couple of PCs in your home, it’s easy to get confused and forget which PC you’re working on. For example, on my current home network, it have the following Windows PCs: D7UH, D7UG, LXHM, L7UR, L7UM, PI2R, and PI3R. After a few remote desktop connections, I would get lost without BgInfo.

BgInfo shows key information about your PC right on the desktop. BgInfo is a standalone executable and can be pinned to your Taskbar. Then, when you’re on any PC, you can launch it (if it isn’t already running) to bring up information like: computer name, MAC addresses, computer name, operating system and service pack etc.

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There are a ton of Sysinternals tools for troubleshooting and non-troubleshooting. If you want a collection of troubleshooting tools (very helpful if you’re working outside your PC network at a friends house, a business you’re helping/working for etc.), then you can download the Windows Systinternals Suite. This suite is regularly updated and currently sits at a whopping ~13MB:

Download Sysinternals Suite

Download Sysinternals Suite

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In the previous guide, you learned about the Sysinternals tools. In this guide, you’ll learn how to launch Sysinternals tools from the web. This can save valuable time and give you the tools you need when you need them i.e. you’re at a friends house and they’re asking for help with their PC.

Launching Sysinternals tools from the command line/Run dialog is easy. First, you’ll need the list of names of the Sysinternals tools, which can be found here: live.sysinternals.com

Once you have the name of the tool,  launch the Run dialog (Winkey+R) and type the following:

 \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\toolname.exe

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We like using Sysinternals tools here at Windows Guides; these tools bring core Windows functions together and help you administer to your systems more easily.

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics:

1. What are the Sysinternals tools?
2. How to download and run these tools on your PC
3. Where can I learn more about these tools?

Ever use the Windows Calculator and, because you’re too lazy to write numbers down or commit them to the calculators “memory”, end up with 5 instances of the program running—each with their own numbers that are easily forgotten? Or is that only me?

If you’d like a simple but powerful calculator to perform simple sums, PowerShell may be the tool you are looking for. In this guide, we provide tips for first-time PowerShell users, show you how to perform simple arithmetic using Windows PowerShell, and how to use command history for multi-step calculations and note taking.

Simple Arithmetic with Windows PowerShell

Tip: Open PowerShell by pressing the Windows key on your keyboard, typing power, and pressing the Enter key

PowerShell comes pre-installed on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. If you’re using XP, Vista, or Windows Server 2008/3, download PowerShell here.

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