Network resource viewer

Display all the resources and shares on your LAN in one handy list with this free tool.

NirSoft's NetResView lists all the resources on your Windows-based home or small-business network in a single display, including all computers, disk drives, and printers. It's freeware, too, which puts its capabilities in reach of those who usually need it most. It doesn't give you the ability to configure or alter your LAN or do the other things big-box networking programs can do (for a hefty price). It just centralizes information about your network resources, including admin and hidden shares. Its mission is simple but important, and it meets the challenge.

This standalone utility runs as soon as you extract and click the ZIP program file, so it's totally portable and can be run on any machine. At just over 42KB, it's small enough to fit on virtually any device or storage medium, too. The program opens with a compact, Windows-style dialog that displays all attached network resources, their types, work group or domain, attributes, paths, and more in a customizable list view. Advanced options include the ability to retrieve IP addresses (the default selection) and MAC addresses (by clicking a chec kbox) and set timeout values. Right-clicking any entry calls up a full menu, including the ability to run an HTML report just on selected items. We tried the grid view, which seems to help with large listings; we like the inclusion of a column autosizing option, too. Configuring the interface and tool options and generating reports are about all users need to worry about with this tool.

Using the built-in Windows tools to keep track of your LAN usually means going to each machine, one by one, or buying enterprise-class network software for enterprise-class prices. NetResView collects all the information you need in one place, and it's free.