Filling in the gaps in Windows Vista/Server 2008

SysInternals Suite

The legendary collection of utilities from the equally legendary Mark Russinovich (and friends), the SysInternals (now part of Microsoft) Suite of tools and applications should be standard equipment for any serious IT professional. The Autoruns utility, by itself, makes the suite worth the download, and Process Explorer leaves Windows Task Manager looking like amateur rubbish.

Script Elevation PowerToys

This collection of shell and command line extensions makes working with UAC much more pleasant. Working much like the "sudo" or "su" commands under Linux, the "elevate" command line utility allows you to launch any new application with elevated privileges directly from a CMD.EXE window. Likewise, the various shell handlers add useful elevation options to the context menus of Windows Script files, PowerShell commandlets, MSI packages, and so on.

Crap Cleaner

What can I say about Crap Cleaner? It does the job, cleaning-out all of the usual Windows "crap" culprits (temp files, cookies, history entries, cache files) and checks the Registry for the most obvious broken associations and orphaned keys. The tool is highly configurable and integrates neatly with the Windows shell via context menu options on the Recycle Bin and elsewhere. Good stuff!

Of course, the above list is by no means exhaustive or complete. There are a variety of tools I use in passing, and I'm always on the lookout for new utilities to make my life easier. One of the places I check-in on regularly is the FileForum Web site and its sister site, BetaNews. Both provide a vast catalog of Freeware, Shareware, and Commercial Demo programs, with the latter focused on prerelease versions and incremental test builds. Definitely worth a visit -- I check-out BetaNews at least once a week and use FileForum to hunt down new utilities if/when I have an unmet requirement. Enjoy!