There are times that I don’t have the laptop with me, so I have created a couple of CDs with the same tools but this means that I then have to install the software and sometimes debug when things don’t work right. In some cases, installing the software isn’t what I would prefer to have to do. Is there another option besides the two that I have used?
In trying to keep the necessary tools with me when working on user or network problems on the company network, I started out by keeping a laptop with me with the tools I normally use installed. There are times that I don’t have the laptop with me, so I have created a couple of CDs with the same tools but this means that I then have to install the software and sometimes debug when things don’t work right. In some cases, installing the software isn’t what I would prefer to have to do. Is there another option besides the two that I have used? — Via the Internet
You can look at two other options. Using a Knoppix CD (or one of the similar options that are available in the Linux arena) you can get access to the local file system of a desktop or laptop computer in most cases and look at most network issues.
If you need/want to operate in a Windows environment, look at BartPE, which allows you to operate in a Windows XP PreInstall environment. This requires that you have a additional license of XP that you can use along with BartPE to create a bootable XP CD with the tools that you would like to have available.
Both of these options allow you to do things such as scan for viruses and/or spyware without having any of the local files active so you can have a way to fight the malware on a bit more of a level playing field. Microsoft has a PE (Preinstall Environment) CD kit that is also an option but this is available only to enterprise license customers. After placing several calls to Microsoft, I was unable to obtain one of these to be able to give you more information about it.
I also came across a couple options that use USB flash drives. If you use the keywords “portable apps” using your favorite search engine, you will begin to see what I am talking about (also see Mark Gibbs’s Gearhead articles on USB). The idea is to have an environment (available for Windows environments for the most part from what I found) that allows you to have most of your favorite applications running from a USB flash drive without having to install anything on the target computer that you are working with.
One option that I found that gives you a good foundation to start with is Portable USB Apps. You will want to have at least a 1 GB flash drive to start this one. There are several good apps to look at here as a starting point. You will also find additional links to other software packages that aren’t available on this first site that I mentioned.
There are several anti-virus scanners that can run directly from a flash drive that are nice to have when you are trying to see if any viruses are active locally that the currently installed AV software isn’t finding. If you are having problems installing updated AV or other software, being able to run something that doesnt requiring any installation might be just enough to get the workstation to a point that you could use your regular utilities to totally eradicate the problem the workstation is having.
Another option in the flash drive area is offered by U3. This is a combination of software and a slight addition to the manufacturing process of a USB flash drive. You can download an assortment of utilities and applications that run totally off of the flash drive. Not all flash drives can work with the U3 offerings. You can tell if your flash drive supports this by looking for a U3 logo somewhere on the flash drive itself. There is are quite a few applications and utilities that you can download from the U3 web site or follow links to other sites where you can get the software. Cacetech offers a turnkey package with a collection of utilities that run from a flash drive (either U3 or a non U3 flash drive) that give you additional resources when trying to resolve problems either on the local computer or somewhere on your network.
As you can see, you have several different possibilities to investigate. As larger flash drives become available and come down in price, using flash drives as a starting point to transport and run applications from becomes a better option.
