U13_D2 Comparison of tools

Tool	Software/ Hardware	Description
Multimeter	Hardware	A multimeter is an electronic tool that can measure various electrical units. It can be used to measure voltage (alternating of direct), current (amps) and resistance (ohms); these tools are often used to trace if power is actually reaching a particular component and, if not, narrow down the area where the break in the power might cables be.
Network Multimeter	Hardware	Similar to the standard multimeter, but designed specifically for testing Ethernet based networks and the cabling. Network multimeters can be used to find which switch port an Ethernet socket is connected to in large networks by sending a pulse to the switch that will make the port LED flash. They have the ability to display the distance from the socket to a break in the cable (within a few centimetres), which can greatly reduce the amount of cable that needs to be checked. Patch cables can be plugged straight into the tester and it will test the cable for breaks and give information such as weather the cable is straight through or crossover. Finally the tester can be connected directly to a NIC to test for faults with the card itself.
BIOS (Basic Input- Output System)	Software	The BIOS has many features that allow a user to monitor or configure a computer. From the BIOS a user can monitor things such as the temperature of components and the speed of system fans. The BIOS is what generates beep codes, these are audible codes that can inform a user of problems; the number of beeps and the time between each one will relate to a specific fault; this can vary between motherboard manufacturers. Another often used feature of the BIOS is the boot device order; if a machine is not booting up due to a corrupt operating system, for example, then the BIOS can be used to choose an alternative device, such as a USB stick, to reinstall the OS.
Task Manager	Software	Built into Windows operating systems, task manager has many options for troubleshooting computers. The applications tab will show a full list of applications and allow a user to force the application to quit if it stops responding. The processes tab will display all processes currently running for all users, unnecessary processes can be terminated. The performance monitor tab will show processor and RAM usage, useful information when trying to discover why a PC is running slowly. The networking tab lists all network adaptors and shows the utilisation (as a percentage), speed and current state of the adaptors. Finally the users tab lists all users logged on locally or remotely, if the machine is a server; administrators can disconnect or log off users.
Wireshark	Software	Wireshark is a packet analysing application that can be used to monitor data packets; the contents of these packets can be viewed if desired, this is useful to network administrator who find data is not traveling around a network as expected.
Winaudit	Software	Winaudit can audit individual machines or entire networks; it displays large amounts of information about devices, such as installed hardware and software. Users can see if the hardware is running as it should and important information, e.g. driver details. Software information displayed includes details such as when it was installed and what version it is, handy to see if any updates are required.
Device Manager

Software

Device manager is a feature of Windows operating systems that shows a list of all installed hardware. Device manager will show if a device is not working or if the drivers are out of date, it will also show any unknown devices and from here a user can install the correct drivers (see image to left). If a device is suspected of being faulty it can be disables from here with having to physically remove it. Double clicking on a device will open a new menu offering further information, such as current status or more detailed driver details.

Disk Manager

Software

Disk manager is a Windows operating system tools that will display all storage devices installed to a computer. A user can create, delete or resize partitions in disk manager; also devices can have their drive letters reallocated and partitions can be formatted. Disk manager will display removable devices, e.g. external drives or USB memory sticks and devices with removable media, e.g. DVD or BLU-RAY drives.

Event Viewer

Software

Event viewer lists all events that the computer encounters. It will log the source of the event, the date and time and give it an ID. It will also highlight if there has been an error with any particular event.

Disk Defragmenter	Software	Disk Defragmenter makes computer run faster by rearranging data on a hard disk so it is stored in a more logical, and therefore easier to find, order. It works by moving saved data into gaps left by data that has been deleted; it will also put data that has been spread across different parts of the drive together in one section. Disk defrag colour codes the data on the hard disk; red shows fragmented files, these are files that have been split into pieces and scattered about the drive; blue shows contiguous files, these are files that are still together in one piece; green show unmovable files, these are files that cannot be moved by the defragmenter, e.g. system files; and white shows any free space on the drive.
NB, Device Manager, Disk Defragmenter, Event Viewer and Disk Manager can be accessed by right clicking My Computer in the start menu and selecting Computer Management from the drop-down box.
System Restore	Software	System restore is a feature of Windows operating systems that allows a user to restore the machine to an earlier period, it is essentially a back-up and restore program; restore point will be automatically made at pre-determined intervals of a user can make set a restore point manually at any time. System restore is often used when a new update causes the system to become unstable, the machine can be restored to a configuration that was known to be working.