I have been working in the IT field “professionally” since 2007. Before that, I was running a production and recording studio (on the side) for years, not really knowing that I was training myself for a career in IT. In high school, before the Internet boom, I was completely focused on art. So, my skills have become spread out like butter across the bread of Art and Information Technology. Try to imagine Patrick Warburton in a blue rubber suit saying that last line.
My training in IT is almost entirely self learning and I’m not a very social person. Therefore, some of my methods are my own and my terminology tends to get behind. I prefer to seclude. But I am very open to conversation and sharing knowledge. So, I will share some of the tools that I use on the job. If you have questions or comments, feel free. Let me know about tools that you think I should try out or put on this list. There is always something new popping up on the net:)
Anyway, I will begin to compile a list of tools and info that I like to keep handy when going about my day.
THE LIST
ADAM’S TOP TEN (In a hurry? Tools & study materials to jump start your IT career.) PC Tools AOSS (LiveCD, Virus Scanner, File Recovery, Disk Destroyer)
Linux Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora (And there are others… many others.)
BitDefender System Rescue (Live Virus Scanner and File Recovery
Avira System Rescue (LiveCD, Virus Scanner)
CCleaner
http://www.speedtest.net/ (Put your Internet Service Provider to the test.)
Professor Messer (FREE IT Certification Training. Certification is not a must but the info is invaluable!)
TOOLS (A list of my frequently used tools. All Free of course.)
7ZIP
HotSwap!
unhide.exe (Unhides files & folders after virus attack.)
File Type Association Restore (Restores default file association after virus attack.)
Turn off Autorun (Directions for disabling the Autorun feature in windows.)
Security
PC Tools AOSS (LiveCD, Virus Scanner, File Recovery, Disk Destroyer)
Avira System Rescue (LiveCD, Virus Scanner)
BitDefender System Rescue (
PC Tools Firewall (Looked like they might stop supporting this so here is the actual file.
PC Tools Threat Fire (Anti Threat Technology. Works with any AntiVirus.)
Avira Free
Avast Free
ClamAV/Immunet (Open Source Anti-Virus)
Spybot Search and Destroy (Anti-SpyWare)
Spyware Terminator (Great all-in-one security suite! Then they recently changed it… way to go Crawler.)
OPHcrack (Recovers windows passkeys. Big help when you are unable to locate the admin)
Disk Utilities
PC Tools AOSS (LiveCD, Virus Scanner, File Recovery, Disk Destroyer)
Knoppix
GParted
Parted Magic
Clonezilla
Drive Image XML
active@killdisk (Free Disk eraser)
Hirenz
Ultimate Boot Disk
Networking
Backtrack (Network penetration testing. Advanced.)
Putty
Wireshark
SOFTWARE (General software that I recommend giving a try.)
Moxilla Firefox
IRON (Google Chrome browser clone… without the google tracking and control devices.)
Linux Ubuntu or Fedora etc. (Seriously… you haven’t tried Linux yet?)
EDUCATION / CAREER (Gotta learn somehow.. and here’s how to do it.)
Training Videos
Professor Messer
CBT Nuggets
Books
Head First Labs
Mike Meyers
Resources
Google
Wikipedia
Tom’s Hardware
PRODUCTIVITY
Office Support
Libreoffice
Thunderbird and Lightning