Which remote command execution tool is described as free but not natively installed on all Windows machines?

• A. at
• B. schtasks
• C. psexec
• D. WMIC

Answer: (C)

Remote command execution on a remote system relies on a lightweight utility you can run to start a process there and get its output back. PsExec fits this role exactly. It’s a free tool from Sysinternals that admins can download and use to launch commands on remote Windows hosts, but it isn’t installed by default on Windows machines—you have to obtain it separately and place it where you can run it.

The other options are built into Windows and serve different purposes. The at command is mainly for scheduling a one-time command, not for ad-hoc remote execution. Schtasks is for scheduling tasks, including on remote machines, rather than executing arbitrary commands on demand. WMIC is a native management tool that can run commands remotely, but since it’s included with Windows, it doesn’t match the “free and not natively installed” description.

So the best match is PsExec.