Load and run Sysinternals tools direct from the internet

The Sysinternals Windows system utilities have long been available as a complete package, but Microsoft is now providing them individually at http://live.sysinternals.com for direct download as .exe files.

The tools can also be directly downloaded as zip files from http://live.sysinternals.com/Files. So anyone who knows what he's looking for can avoid a weary plod through Microsoft's Sysinternals web site, which has now been integrated into Technet.

Microsoft also states "We're excited to announce the beta of Sysinternals Live, a service that enables you to execute Sysinternals tools directly from the Web without hunting for and manually downloading them." However, since many of the tools will be used under administrative privilege, heise Security have reservations about the wisdom of using this option. Browsing the web from an administrative account is in general to be avoided.

We do not know whether the new web site will remain permanently available, as the read.me file says this is only a test of alternative distribution mechanisms.

Microsoft bought Winternals and Sysinternals just two years ago. That company was founded by Marc Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell, both of whom have long been highly regarded in the Windows world, and who created the original Sysinternals tool set in 1996. One of the original Sysinternals tools that is notably absent from Microsoft's live.sysinternals.com page is NTFSDOS – a very useful utility that can mount and access NTFS file systems from a DOS boot disk. It is however still available on some shareware sites.

(mba)