Thursday, September 2, 2010

Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL) Tool

Ever have a performance problem, but don't know what performance counters to collect or how to analyze them?  The PAL (Performance Analysis of Logs) tool is a powerful tool that reads in a performance monitor counter log and analyzes it using known thresholds.

Features

  • Thresholds files for most of the major Microsoft products such as IIS, MOSS, SQL Server, BizTalk, Exchange, and Active Directory.
  • An easy to use GUI interface which makes creating batch files for the PAL.ps1 script.
  • A GUI editor for creating or editing your own threshold files.
  • Creates an HTML based report for ease of copy/pasting into other applications.
  • Analyzes performance counter logs for thresholds using thresholds that change their criteria based on the computer's role or hardware specs.

http://pal.codeplex.com/

Rockbox

Rockbox is an open source firmware for mp3 players, written from scratch.  Rockbox is a replacement firmware for the iPod, iriver, Cowon, and many other devices.  What the firmware does is extends the functionality and features of your current digital music player.

http://www.rockbox.org/

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

NMCap

NMCap is a command-line executable that is included within Microsoft’s Network Monitor installation.  It allows for network capture via a non-GUI method such as a batch file.  The command nmcap /displaynetwork will show the available network cards.

nmcap1

The command nmcap /network * /capture /file C:\users\swalker\desktop\test.cap will capture all traffic on all network cards, and will place the data within a file called test.cap.

nmcap2

The command nmcap /network * /capture “tcp.port == 80” /file C:\users\swalker\desktop\test.cap will capture traffic only using TCP port 80 for all network cards, and will place the data within a file called test.cap.

nmap3

One option is to create capture files based on file size.  This would prevent the creation of one large single file.  The command nmcap /network * /capture /file C:\users\swalker\desktop\test.chn:1MB will capture traffic on all interfaces and create a series of 1 MB files.

nmap4

After using the command above, several separate files will be created after a period of time.

nmap5 

The individual files can be combined into a single file after the fact.  The command nmcap /inputcapture test.cap test(1).cap test(2).cap test(3).cap test(4).cap /capture /file out.cap will combine the various individual files into one file.

nmap6

After the command is used, a new single file with all of the captured data should be present.

nmap7

To see more sample options, use the command nmcap /examples.  For example, the command nmcap /network * /capture  (!ARP AND !ICMP AND !NBTNS AND !BROWSER) /File NoNoise.cap creates a capture file excluding several traffic types.

Restore default libraries within Windows 7

If you attempt to modify the default libraries within Windows 7 and wish to go back to the initial default values, open Windows Explorer.  Right-click on the Libraries icon and select “Restore default libraries.”  This will not affect any custom library entries that may have been created.

default_libraries

How to create a “God Mode” shortcut within Windows 7

A shell shortcut (nicknamed the “God Mode”) was discovered to work with Windows 7.  It is simply a list of every single Control Panel feature.  To enable this view, right-click on the Desktop and select New –> Folder.  Copy and paste the following text as the name:

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

godmode1

After hitting the return key, the icon of the folder should change.

godmode2

If the shortcut is accessed, a list of all Control Panel features should be present.

godmode3