25 Windows Hidden Tools You Seldom Use

Are you a Windows XP User ? How many utilities do you know that is built-in Windows XP ? Notepad, Wordpad, Character 25 Windows Hidden ToolsMap, Calculator, Microsoft Paint, these are the few utilities that I usually use.But out of blue,Windows Xp is a fully loaded package which has a lot of apparently hidden utilities which are seldom accessed by a basic or normal computer users ; and trust me,they still pack a lot of punch. 

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name (i.e. charmap) and press Enter.

Character Map (charmap.exe) - Very useful for finding unusual characters.

Disk Cleanup (cleanmgr.exe) – The usual Disc cleanup.

Clipboard Viewer (clipbrd.exe) - Views contents of Windows clipboard.

Dr Watson (drwtsn32.exe) - Troubleshooting tool,runs when windows crashes.

DirectX diagnosis (dxdiag.exe) - Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards.

Private character editor (eudcedit.exe) - Allows creation or modification of characters.

IExpress Wizard (iexpress.exe) - Create self-extracting / self-installing package.

Microsoft Synchronization Manager (mobsync.exe) - Appears to allow synchronization of files on the network for when working offline. Apparently undocumented.

Windows Media Player 5.1(mplay32.exe) - Retro version of Media Player, very basic.

ODBC Data Source Administrator (odbcad32.exe) – Database connection utility for support with external servers,create ODBC data sources,to administer remote databases or for supporting the ODBC database utility in Visual basic language.

Object Packager (packager.exe) - To do with packaging objects for insertion in files, appears to have comprehensive help files.

System Monitor (perfmon.exe) - Very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for budding uber-geeks only.

Program Manager (progman.exe) - Legacy Windows 3.x desktop shell.

Remote Access phone book (rasphone.exe) - Documentation is virtually non-existent.

Registry Editor (regedt32.exe or regedit.exe) – For making custom changes or hacking the Windows Registry.

Network shared folder wizard (shrpubw.exe) - Creates shared folders on network.

File signature verification tool (sigverif.exe) - This tool will search the operating system and identify any unsigned device drivers installed on the system. It will also verify all signed device drivers.

Volume Control (sndvol32.exe) - I've included this for those people that lose it from the System Notification area.

System Configuration Editor (sysedit.exe) - Modify System.ini & Win.ini just like in Win98! .

Syskey (syskey.exe) - Secures XP Account database, use with care, it's virtually undocumented but it appears to encrypt all passwords, I'm not sure of the full implications.

Microsoft Telnet Client (telnet.exe) – Built in telnet client which can be used to connect to servers to sent emails or to hack :) This is disabled in in vista  but you can re-enable it by going to

Control panel –> Programs and Features –> Click "Turn Windows features on or off" on left –> Scroll down and check "Telnet Client.

Driver Verifier Manager (verifier.exe) - Seems to be a utility for monitoring the actions of drivers, might be useful for people having driver problems. Undocumented.

Windows for Workgroups Chat (winchat.exe) - Appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available.

System configuration (msconfig.exe) - Can use to control startup programs,make changes to startup of XP.

Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) - Used to manage group policies, and permissions.Its an Administrator only tool.

More Windows Xp Tips,tricks and hacks - Go to windows XP section

I hope it was informative.I would like to hear your comments on the above topic.

Cheers and keep learning.

 

Posted by XERO . Various sources. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED .

2 comments:

  1. I used to use win chat in school in the very old days, chatting to my mates in strict IT teachers classroom where talking wasn't alowed. Also does anyone else remember the games that were in a very old version of word and excel, you had to type the word "blue" in 12pt and set colour to blue and then go to help, about word or excel and click on the logo for the software and a little hidden game would pop up. many an hour wasted on these little gems. peace

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  2. nice one thanks 

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