Category: Tools
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Favorite things in 2022
As has become my habit over the past few years, I’m once more looking back at the year that has past, and the things that have made that year. Your mileage may vary, but these have all become very useful to me. There it is; four things that have made my year better, each in…
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EDC and what’s in my bag?
It’s been a good, long while since I last did a post on my EDC loadout, and I feel like it’s about time I add another instalment. First up is what I carry on my person: Phone – currently an iPhone XR Multitool – currently a Leatherman Wave+ Flashlight – currently a LedLenser P2 Wallet…
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Look up AD User Password expiration date
A little while ago, I had a user call in and ask when their password would expire. Luckily, this information is readily accessible if you know where – and how – to look. Here’s how: Open a command prompt Enter the command net user %USERNAME% /domain Read the information from the results: In addition to…
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Effective collaboration tools
Last week, I wrote about the importance of establishing a routine, and of keeping in touch with your team. I did not, however, talk about specific tools. This is the post where I do that. Without further ado, here are the tools I’ve been using: One-to-one, many-to-many Discord An excellent tool for voice and text…
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Software Spotlight: Spacemonger
Some software comes and goes, and other software is there for you for the long term. Spacemonger is one of the latter category. Simply put, it scans a hard drive and shows you what’s on it using blocks to represent relative file/folder size, like so: I first came across it back in 2007 or so,…
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Find out what user has a file open
One of the questions that pop up every now and again, yet not often enough for me to consistently remember how to do it, is some variant on “What user is blocking my file access?” A user will typically call in, complaining that they are unable to open/edit/delete a given file on a file share,…
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Exporting AD group members’ display name
Five years ago, I showed you how to export a list of members of an Active Directory group, using a command line query. One issue I’ve run into using this query, is that I get their user name, not their actual name, which tends to make the resulting list hard to parse. As I had…
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Windows: Quickly find system information
For a number of reasons, I often find myself needing to find information about a system that can be somewhat difficult to source, such as when it was last rebooted, or when the system was installed originally. Luckily, there’s a tool to help us out, called System Information. A command line utility, systeminfo.exe, offers a…
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A better Remote Desktop experience
Content note: several years after this was published, Microsoft discontinued RDCMan, having identified a security bug in the system. On my Macs, I have been using CoRD for a long, long time. It allows me to predefine any number of remote desktop servers, credentials included, so that I can connect to any one of them at…
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My EDC setup
EDC, short for Every Day Carry, has become a common term to many, myself included. The underlying philosophy of “what do I need to bring with me on a daily basis” is an interesting one, and one which has prompted me to think about what I bring with me on a day to day basis. While the specifics…