You like messing around with your PC, right? The deeper you can drill into
its insides, the better. And the right tools can dig into the far reaches of
the Registry or uncover obscure portions of the file system, improving performance
and avoiding trouble. I can tell you all about some of those tools--and they're
free--so read on...

Pull Your PC Out of Its Trance

The Hassle: My system boots, but immediately after the icons appear
in the System tray, the machine completely jams up. For exactly 4 minutes, only
the mouse works--and then the PC snaps out of its trance and behaves normally.
Any ideas?

The Fix: To troubleshoot a quirky system, you have to investigate what's
going on behind the scenes--what files are loading, say, or what applications
are modifying the Registry. For insight, you need the triplets: Filemon,
Regmon,
and Process
Explorer, all from Microsoft's Sysinternals.com.
Filemon reports on every file that opens, closes, or gets accessed; and it records
and time-stamps each action that an application takes. When troubleshooting,
watch a particular program's behavior just before a freeze. Filemon's report
is usually enormous--an amazing number of files open and close--but you can
set a filter to watch specific filenames or documents. Regmon handles similar
duties to Filemon's, except that it monitors the Registry, watching for new
Registry entries. Regmon is immensely useful if you're trying to track down
spyware or malware and need to see the Registry location where it's hiding.
The last tool, Process Explorer, resembles Windows Task Manager, but with muscles.
It tracks everything that's running, including programs, services, and process
trees. Pick up all three free tools from our Downloads
library.

But wait--when you're troubleshooting, even three sleuthing utilities might
not be enough to track down the problem afflicting your system. Enter XP's File
System Utility. You'll need administrator rights and a love of Windows esoterica
to use this Command line tool, also known as Fsutil. It collects tons of data
on your FAT and NTFS file system tasks. Fsutil is already loaded on your PC;
access it from a CMD box. But first, scroll to a couple of enlightening pages
from Microsoft
TechNet and ITzero
for lots of tips on how best to use the utility.

Kick Start Your Internet Connection

The Hassle: My router is ancient, and I often have to unplug it to reset
it. Should I just bite the bullet and replace it?

The Fix: When equipment starts getting a little long in the tooth, you
can't always tell if the time has come to give it the heave-ho. To help you
decide whether to replace your router, use Microsoft's Internet
Connectivity Evaluation Tool, a freebie that tests router capabilities.
Among other things, the tool tests for Internet connectivity, NAT capabilities,
traffic congestion, TCP high performance, and multiple simultaneous connections.

Oh, and if you do decide to get a new router, here's a tool that'll help if
you ever lose your router's wireless network keys--the WEP or WPA codes. (We've
all been there, right?) NirSoft's free WirelessKeyView
lets you recover them all, saving everything to a file or right onto your clipboard.

Quick tip: The old trick for kick-starting a stalled cable modem is
to unplug it from power for 5 minutes. But that gambit doesn't work on newer
modems--the kind that handle phone, data, and TV transmissions, such as with
Comcast's Triple Play service--because they have a battery inside to keep phone
service working during a power outage. To get these devices back on track, you
have to power off the modem, remove the battery (check the manual for instructions),
and wait 5 minutes before reinserting it.

Beep Throat: Understand Your PC's Coded Messages

Have a DOA system? I'll bet that you hear a few beeps when you try to boot
it. These Power-On Self Test codes (aka POST codes) offer a wealth of information
about your PC. For instance, one long and one short beep indicates a problem
with your system board. One long and three short beeps could mean that a memory
chip isn't seated properly. But many of the codes need to be matched to a specific
BIOS. That's where BiosCentral.com
comes in: It lists tons of BIOS manufacturers' POST codes.

» posted by abennett

PC World

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