Free-to-use remote machine tool

PsTools is a free and open-source utility created for Windows, allowing users to execute processes on remote machines. This is an entire suite of remote desktop apps that are made available as a bundle. From execution to termination, it has a specific tool for all your needs, making it a small yet critical part of IT monitoring and support services.

PsTools is notorious for triggering false security alarms despite being developed by Microsoft itself. It is perfectly safe and works exceptionally well, much like a barebones alternative to AnyDesk or RustDesk.

For efficient control of remote devices

Coming at only 3.9 MB, PsTools can be surprising because of the apps and features included in the package. There are 14 separate apps included, from PsExec which runs processes remotely, to administrative apps like PsService for monitoring and PsShutdown for suspending processes. While it is streamlined and easy to use, it can get tedious at times since certain functions require a specific app, instead of having everything together.

Also, while it is a Windows utility, it doesn’t support legacy systems anymore. Specifically, it needs these requirements on both the sender and receiver systems. It requires Windows 8.1 client, Windows Server 2012, or Nano Server 2016—or their later versions. Aside from being easy to install and run, it also includes an HTML help file to guide first-time users to better understand the capabilities of each program.

As mentioned, one of the main user concerns about this app is its tendency to set off anti-virus alarms. This stems from the package’s history of being used by certain malware instances, compromising the files included in the separate apps. On the plus side, it has improved its integrity and new apps and functionalities are added on top of the basic package.

Intended for professionals

The package’s barebones aesthetics and its highly technical capabilities might make it tedious for casual users, but it’s impressively adapted for professional uses, especially those working on Windows platforms. Its separate apps allow for compartmentalization and easy distinction of the tasks, plus new features are added every now and then. Aside from the minor inconvenience of tripping antivirus alarms, it’s good software overall.

This collection of tools allows you to manage remote systems as well as the local one. The “Ps” prefix in PsList relates to the fact that the standard UNIX process listing command-line tool is named “ps”, so this prefix has been adopted for all the tools in order to tie them together into a suite of tools named PsTools.

These are the tools included in PsTools:

• PsExec – execute processes remotely
• PsFile – shows files opened remotely
• PsGetSid – display the SID of a computer or a user
• PsInfo – list information about a system
• PsKill – kill processes by name or process ID
• PsList – list detailed information about processes
• PsLoggedOn – see who’s logged on locally and via resource sharing (full source is included)
• PsLogList – dump event log records
• PsPasswd – changes account passwords
• PsService – view and control services
• PsShutdown – shuts down and optionally reboots a computer
• PsSuspend – suspends processes
• PsUptime – shows you how long a system has been running since its last reboot