Cisco VPN 3000 client, WinXP, wierd problems

Using Cisco VPN client v4.0.2(D) and WinXP SP1+a gazillian patches.
My machine does not respond to PING. Checked the obvious stuff. Had ZoneAlarm shutdown, XP Internet connection firewall off/etc.
(and having problems where once in a while I hit Start-Run or try to launch a program and it takes 15-30 seconds before it seems to do anything -- jury is still out whether this is related to the PING issue.)
Anyway, I've learned recently that the Cisco VPN client includes a firewall feature and has the option to always run it, not just when the VPN is connected. I found this check box in options, unchecked it and bingo - I can PING my machine and use TFTP to upgrade my routers again.
This simple little thing has been driving me crazy. Sometimes that's how it goes.

Group Policy Inventory (GPInventory.exe)

Download details: Group Policy Inventory (GPInventory.exe): "File Name:gpinventory.msi
Download Size:306 KB
Date Published:10/3/2003
Version:1.0.1361.27800

Overview
Group Policy Inventory (GPInventory.exe) allows administrators to collect Group Policy and other information from any number of computers in their network by running multiple Resultant Set of User Policy (RSOP) or Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) queries. The query results can be exported to either an XML or a text file, and can be analyzed in Excel."

Windows XP::Tweaking Memory Management

Common Computer Problems and possible fixes:: "Problem: How can I increase performance with Windows XP?
Possible Solution: Disable Kernal paging using the following regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\SESSION MANAGER\Memory Management.
Click on the Memory Management folder and right-click the LargeSystemCache entry. Select Modify, and type 1 in the Value Data field.
If you have 512MB or more of RAM, you should also locate the DisablePagingExecutive entry and ensure it is set to 1 as well. (This setting keeps as much information as possible loaded into RAM rather than to the swap file.)"

Links::Regular Expressions

PCRE: Writing regular expressions on your own
- A great example of creating regular expressions
I don't do regex's all day every day. But I often find myself in a situation where one would come in handy to search & replace in Textpad or to script something. I find my self looking for tutorials/etc at these times to get myself back up to speed.