Hidden XP Utilities

Deep inside Windows XP there’s all sorts of forgotten tools and utilities, some of which were carried over from earlier versions of Windows, or left behind by the developers. Here’s a few for you to be getting on with and all you have to do is type the name in Run on the Start menu (without the quotes of course). Most of them are undocumented, though a few of them have some Help files which might help you figure them out but as always you use and try them at your own risk

 

‘charmap’ – the Windows Character Map, the place to look for unusual characters

‘eudcedit’ – create or modify your own characters

‘perfmon’ – versatile system monitor, everything you wanted to know about your PC

‘progman’ – the old Windows 3.1 Program Manager (removed by SP2)

‘rasphone’ – remote access phonebook, used to manage dial-up networking

‘telnet’ -- ancient PC to PC remote command and communications system

‘winchat’ – communications tool for exchanging messages over a network