Unless you have been living in cave you have probably heard of PowerShell.  It is becoming one of the most versatile scripting languages that is available for the Windows platform.  There are versions available that run on XP, Vista, Server 2003, and Server 2008.  You can now use Powershell for simple admin tasks all the way up to managing your entire virtual environment.  It has also been interesting to see how Powershell has grown in the windows community since it has been released.  One great example is the creation of the PowerShell Code Repository (PoshCode.org).  I truly do believe that PowerShell will be here for the long hall.  Over the next several weeks I plan on writing a series about Powershell and why you should be learning how to use it.  I will also be putting up a page that will showcase some of the current PowerShell resources that are currently available.

The best administrator tool I have run across is Ultimate Boot CD For Windows.  The tool is a bootable recovery CD that contains software that letst you do just about anything.  The majority of the software is freeware utilities that get you out of tight places when administrating machines.  I have mainly used the CD to help me reset the local administrator’s account when a client can’t remember it.  I have also used for several other tasks like remving trojans and cleanning ad-ware off of the server.

Benjamin Burrors is the creater of the project which started back in April 2004.  There have been several other people that have helped with the project that are recognized on the projects web site.  If you are interested in finding out more about the tool I wouls encourage you to visit the site.  You will be able to find out everything about it along with some other interesting information.

Project’s Web Site
http://www.ubcd4win.com

Download Mirror
http://www.osfanatic.com/downloads?func=select&id=4