IT Pro Tuesday #234
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Welcome back to IT Pro Tuesday!
We're looking for your favorite tips and tools we can share with the community... those that help you do your job better and more easily. Please reply or leave a comment with your suggestions, and we'll be featuring them in the coming weeks.
As always, we’re updating the full list on our website here. Enjoy.
A Training Resource
Chris Greer's YouTube Channel attempts to demystify the area of network troubleshooting with Wireshark and other packet shredding tools. You'll learn specifics on how to comb through packet traces to solve problems and identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Appreciation for this suggestion goes to Dramatic_Golf_5619.
Another Free Tool
ExplorerPatcher enables you to customize elements of the Windows 11 environment, including the taskbar, start menu, context menu, command bar, Alt-Tab window switcher, tray menus, search and more. Another great suggestion from DisturbedUnit.
A Tip
AgainandBack shares some advice on avoiding printer jams, "It has to do not only with the finish on one side of the paper, but the "curl" of the paper. Hold an unpackaged ream by one end in your hand, and you'll see that it curls down more easily with one side up than it does with the other side up. The paper should be loaded into the tray with the more easily curling side facing down." And WirelesslyWired adds, "This becomes extremely important in the large high speed printers and copiers that the whole office uses. It's not as big of a deal in the slower desktop printers, although putting the paper in the right way helps reduce jams somewhat in them too. And it helps with the paper curl."
Yet Another Free Tool
LinSSID allows you to scan for wifi networks in Linux. Exposes the network name (SSID), MAC address, channel, security type (WPA2, WEP, WPA2/SK) and signal strength in an organized fashion. Our thanks go to anna_lynn_fection for recommending this tool.
One Last Free Tool
portchecker.io is a simple utility that can check the port status by querying any specified hostname or IP address, in order to help you locate and diagnose connection problems. Credit for this recommendation goes to DunedainRanger007.
P.S. Bonus Free Tools
Hexinator is pro-level hex editor for Windows and Linux offering automatic file decoding to the hexidecimal format. Includes the ability to automate routine tasks via Python scripts as well as comparing binary files, calculating checksums, decoding numbers and displaying a histogram of binary files. Kindly recommended by Lake3ffect.
Visual Subnet Calculator is a nice way to help yourself visualize a particular subnet and how you can subdivide it into smaller ones. OhioIT explains, "It puts the largest subnets in the middle and smallest on the outside. You can join some of the subnets by clicking in the 'Join' column and they'll start collapsing."
Have a fantastic week and as usual, let us know any comments.