25 Windows Hidden Tools You Seldom Use

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name 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.

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