To put it simply, Sysinternals Suite is a set of all the Sysinternals Utilities bundled in one download alon with their help files wherever they exist. The suite, like the tools, is absolutely free.
Installation & Requirements
No installation is required for the suite. You will simply have to download the zip file, create a new folder and extract its contents in there. You can also extract individual utilities whenever you need them but the files take little space anyway. Most if not all of the tools can be used in every version of Windows.
Interface
Because of the fact that the suite has more than 70 tools in it, we cannot talk about all of them. Instead, we are going to highlight some of the most important utilities while also talking about what the suite brings in general. First of all, whenever you open a utility for the first time, you will need to confirm the license agreement. This is a very small thing and it should not be too annoying but it is there. Furthermore, if you want more information on a single utility and it does not have a help file, the Sysinternals Suite should provide additional info.
The amazing thing about the Sysinternals Suite is the variety of tools. Some of them are very technical, requiring knowledge of computer systems and networks. A lot of them are command line tools that require additional technical knowledge and are hard if not impossible to work with for the average casual user. Others, however, are extremely simple, using graphical interfaces and detailed help files to guide you through their inner workings. Everyone can get something out of these tools, whether you are looking to troubleshoot your system or just customize some of its aspects so let us take a look at some of the tools.
Desktops: An incredibly simple utility that will let you create up to four virtual desktops just like that. You can change between the desktops through keyboard shortcuts or through the system tray icon and it requires no installation at all. Files and folders you create in one desktop are shared between each of them but you can customize the way the desktop looks, including the file and folder placements without affecting the other ones.
AccessEnum and AccessChk: Both of these tools will let you see the permissions of various things in your computer. The difference is that the first is in a graphical interface but is more restrictive on the things you can do while the other one is a command line tool that is far more powerful.
Contig: If you cannot be bothered to defragment your whole system, you can use this utility to defragment individual files and directories. This should really be used in your frequently used files and folders.
Autologon: A very simple yet amazing tool that lets you bypass the password screen when you log in. Extremely useful when you are locked out of your computer.
Junction: Probably the easiest way to create symbolic links with very simple to understand features yet very powerful as well.
Process Monitor and Process Explorer: Two of the most popular Sysinternals utilities, these two tools together will let you monitor each and everything that goes on in your processes, including the registry keys, files and other objects they use in real time.
BgInfo: A very fun but also useful utility that can customize your desktop background with IP addresses, your computer’s name, your network and more. You can fully configure the info that the program displays and even preview it before actually enabling it.
Pros
-An insane variety of tools
-Troubleshoot any issue in your computer
-Utilities that range from simple to extremely advanced and powerful
-Anyone can find something useful in this huge array of tools
-The tools work in pretty much any computer
Cons
-Overwhelming information for the casual user
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the Sysinternals Suite is one of the best, free set of tools out there. You will be very hard pressed to find an easily accessible suite that offers as much utility as this one and with the same variety of programs.
