Utilities / Tools
- Duplicates
- Disk Health | HDD = Hard Disk Drive, SSD = Solid State Drive
- Help = Support... (Technical support)
- Microsoft & Windows ...
- Windows Explorer - File Explorer - Disk Utilities - File Management
- Remote Access utilities ...
- Resource Sources
- Desktop customization tools
- Shortcuts ...
- Uninstallers - Uninstall programs - Unlocking programs
- WinSize = Windows' size and position ...
- Licence - Registration - Serial Number
-
- Backups ...
- Mailto ...
- Caps Lock annoyance - How to kill CapsLock on your keyboard.
- Top 10 free downloads @ AskWoody -|- AskWoody subscription
- Calendars
- Cloning - Disk Image - ISO/IMG/etc.
- Compression = Compressing archive files = security = encryption
- File compression: Since it takes less time for smaller files to be transferred over the Internet, files are often compressed or made smaller.
- When you download a compressed file (*.zip, etc...) you must uncompress or unzip it.
- When you download an executable program file (*.exe), it does not need WinZip. It is able to uncompress itself when you run it.
- NanaZip
- 7-Zip
- *.zip, 7-Zip, 7z, RAR
- WinRAR
- PKZIP
- WinZip
- Five Apps: Compress and manage archive files - TechRepublic
- see: 7-Zip, ALZip, PeaZip, WinRAR, Universal Extractor
- Crapware = "If you buy new PCs from OEMs, you are probably all too familiar with the plague known as "crapware": the useless applications that come installed with Windows. Crapware wastes space, often ties up your RAM and CPU power, and can be a pain to get rid of."
- Desktop customization tools
- Search - Start Menu Alternatives
- See also: Searches ...
- Desktop Search Utilities = Off-line search utilities to search your computer or your network.
- Start Menu - Windows ...
- Under Settings > Search > Searching Windows > Classic (set search to Classic, which only applies to Libraries and Desktop, or choose Enhanced indexing to search the whole computer).
- R-click on the Taskbar > Search > Hidden
- Just touch the Windows key and start typing to find anything on your computer.
- Default Apps by file type
- Date / Time / Region
- PowerToys
- Everything
- Everything
- Other search tools
- Drivers
- See also: Hardware ...
- Video cards = Graphics cards ...
- Intel Driver & Support Assistant
- Identify your products and get driver and software updates for most of your Intel hardware.
- DriverView: Loaded Windows Drivers List
- To create a spreadsheet file containing detailed information about all the installed drivers, you would use the command:
- Driverquery /fo csv /v > alldrivers.csv
- DriverView is a lightweight utility with a simple GUI interface for viewing detailed information about all the installed drivers on your system. There's no installation procedure, just download the zip file, extract the executable DriverView.exe, and run it.
- Driver-Drivers Windows95/98/2000/NT Complete Driver Hardware Search
- DriverGuide.com (printer drivers, cdrom drivers, modem drivers, sound drivers, mouse drivers, monitor drivers, etc.)
- Drivers
- Driver Support
- Top 10 Best Driver Updater Tools For Optimum PC Performance
- Duplicates
- Codecs ...
- Data Recovery Tools = Recover deleted data files
- Download the complete Website - Offline browsing
- Error message windows
- Disk Health | HDD = Hard Disk Drive, SSD = Solid State Drive
- File System
- How to interpret SSD or HDD SMART in an advanced way
- Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select Wear
- PowerShell > Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select Wear > Wear=5 means the SSD is about 5% worn out
- How to check SSD health on a Windows PC
- How to check your SSD health
- How to Check Your Hard Drive's Health | PCMag
- Windows 10 to Start Warning Users of Imminent SSD Failure | PCMag
- Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 20226 - Settings > System > Storage > Manage disks and volumes > Properties (where the Drive Health information is located).
- Best 7 Free Tools to Check SSD Health
- Three Ways To Check Hard Disk Health on Windows
- ------------
- Your SSD's manufacturer gave you a free tool that's better than anything Microsoft offers
- Check Disk (chkdsk) - Read Event Viewer Log | Tutorials
- Clear Disk Info - OlderGeeks.com Freeware Downloads
- Core Temp - Free Download - OlderGeeks.com Freeware Downloads - temperature-monitoring tool
- CrystalDiskInfo
- (Windows, free, also in portable version).
- GSmart - (Windows, macOS, Linux, free and geared towards advanced users).
- Hard Disk Sentinel - HDD health and temperature monitoring = hdsentinel
- (Windows, very complete, with continuous monitoring and alerts).
- Hard Disk Sentinel - HDD health and temperature monitoring - $53
- Estimated remaining lifetime; SMART; Disk information; Nice interface; Free trial; US$30/CA$47/PC or US$53/5PCs
- Lifetime License! Never pay again for any new versions (of the same type).
- HDD Scan
- HD Tune (Windows, paid with trial, more performance-oriented and surface testing).
- HWiNFO Sofware
- HWMONITOR | Softwares | CPUID - a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages, temperatures, powers, currents, fans speed, utilizations, clock speeds ...
- Intel Memory and Storage Tool (GUI) - intelMAS - Doesn't provide much useful info.
- Open Hardware Monitor - No installation. Portable. Just run the download. - Doesn't provide much useful info.
- Samsung Magician Software ...
- S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Tools download | SourceForge.net - CLI only (no GUI)
- S.M.A.R.T. - Wikipedia
- SSDlife Free
- SSDLife Pro - $26/1PC, $40/2PCs
- Many broken links on this site. Pages missing. No support.
- Problem finding drives on some systems.
- Victoria HDD Utility
(and SSD)
- SpaceSniffer
- WinDirStat
= Windows Directory Statistics
- WizTree
- Windows
- Winaero Tweaker - $0
- Manage disks and volumes - detect hardware abnormalities for NVMe SSDs
- Settings > System > Storage > Manage disks and volumes > Properties, where the Drive Health information is located. There you'll see the estimated remaining life of the drive, its current temperature, and any warnings in red text. There's also the option to "Back up now" for convenience.
- See also: SMART
- WMIC
- Deprecated
- References
-
- Clipboard
- Browsers - utilities
- jgbishop/colt: Firefox add-on that makes it easy to copy link text and locations. - GitHub
- Link Text and Location Copier - Firefox add-on
- Copy URL + Title extension - Opera add-ons - Not nearly as good as IEB. Only for Opera and Google Chrome.
- CoLT: Firefox extension for copying link text - CoLT (short for "Copy Link Text") - $0
- IE Booster by Paessler
- Software to extend the context menu of MSIE. Show all forms and applets, page source, hyperlinks, images, style sheets, image information, current frame, resize browser window and more. Free 30 day trial.
- IEBoooster.exe - 1.5 (old, out of date, free)
- MSIE-9 - IEB will copy Title as (<A href="">Title</a>) but will not copy Title as (<A href="URL">Title</a>). This is a big disappointment. IEB is not being updated at all.
- Possible substitues for IEBooster don't work, for example:
- Fifty fabulous downloads to speed up your PC — Part 1 | IT Business
- Ways to Solve "Error While Deleting Key" Problem When Editing Restricted Registry • Raymond.CC | Run > RegEdit
- 7-Zip - see Compression
- AusLogics - How to Speed Up Your Computer-Best Software to Increase PC Speed
- Born Geek
- Cleanup
- Defrag = Defragment your hard disk
- DiskState - by Geekcorp DLL Library
- Dreamweaver by Adobe
- File Managers - Windows Explorer Replacement - see Disk Utilities Folder Size
- Format your hard disk using DOS
- Freshdevices.com - All (license: All, sorted by Date, page 1)
- FTP / FTPS (Secure FTP) ...
- GoodSync | File Sync & Backup Software - CA$40/yr
- Now available in both 32- and 64-bit versions for Windows and OS X as well as for USB flash drives, GoodSync can synchronize and or backup files on local drives, CIFS shares, FTP servers, WebDAV servers, Secure FTP (SFTP) servers, and Amazon S3 as well as Windows Mobile and Pocket PC devices (does anyone still use Pocket PC?). It can also copy locked files, encrypt files using the Windows Encrypting File System, handle symbolic links by either copying them or "drilling down" so the actual file is copied, copy NTFS Access Control List attributes, and perform line-by-line file comparisons using an external DIFF-like utility (such as WinDIFF ).
- HiBit System Information - OlderGeeks.com Freeware Downloads - AskWoody.com -|- AskWoody subscription
- HWiNFO - Free System Information, Monitoring and Diagnostics Link and Text copiers
- IObit - PC system utility and security software
- Free Trial then $$
- JAM Software
- TreeSize Free - $0
- TreeSize (Free, Personal, Professional)
- TreeSize Edition Comparison | JAM Software
- TreeSize Personal - US$25 - Free Trial 30 days - Will also scan network drives. - Perpetual licence, but updates and support are good for only 12 months. (US$35/24 months, US$43/36 months, US$52/60 months)
- TreeSize Professional - US$55 - Free Trial 30 days - Will also scan network drives. - Perpetual licence, but updates and support are good for only 12 months. (US$78/24 months, US$96/36 months, US$114/60 months)
- Jaangle - tagging and library support LastPass - Password Manager, Form Filler, Password Management
- Lin
- MemTest86 & MemTest86+ - by LogMeIn
- Memtest86+ | The Open-Source Memory Testing Tool
- memtest.org - $0
- MemTest86 - Offical Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool - memtest86.com by PassMark Software - Free or Pro-USD$44
- Memtest86+ is unrelated to 'Memtest86', a closed-source `Freemium` software released in 2013 by PassMark Software Pty Ltd.
- Boots from a USB flash drive to test the RAM in your computer for faults.
- Mike Lin OfficeRecovery Home Page (GOT AN IMPORTANT OFFICE FILE... CORRUPTED? State of the art data recovery software for Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and Exchange files! FREE demos.) Partition your HDD or SSD ... PC Hell: Computer Hints and Tips to bring you back from the edge PC Pitstop Tune-up your PC with this free Internet utility PDF - see Adobe ... PicPick Support Center - screen capture tool, intuitive image editor, color picker, color palette, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair and even whiteboard PingPlotter
- Microsoft Doesn't Back Up the Windows Registry Anymore
- Microsoft has confirmed that starting with Windows 10 version 1803 it no longer performs automatic backups of the Windows Registry.
Microsoft only disabled the feature rather than removing it and you can turn the automatic registry backups on again. Microsoft refers to this as "legacy backup behavior" and it requires you to do the following:
Load the Registry Editor by typing regedit.exe in the Start menu
Navigate to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Configuration Manager
Right-click Configuration Manager and create a new Dword (32-bit) Value
Name the new value EnablePeriodicBackup
Double-click EnablePeriodicBackup and set the value to 1
Reboot your PC
- MSConfig
- r2 studios - Startup Delayer, etc.
- Remote Control Software
- Rename
- Search - Start Menu Alternatives
- SHELL EXTENSION CITY - more than 2,000 ways to customize Windows- One thing to note: Shell Extension City doesn't test every program. Make sure you understand what you're getting yourself into before you do any hacking. SIW | System Information for Windows by Gabriel Topala Startup
- SiSoftware – Windows, GPGPU, Android, iOS analysers, diagnostic and benchmarking apps - SANDRA = System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant ($0)
- SpeedUpMyPc - see UniBlue
- Tech-Recipes: A Cookbook Full of Tech Tutorials - Howtos and Tutorials about all things tech
- TreeSize
- TweakNow PowerPack (Windows)
- The registry is a special file in your hard disk that hold most of Windows settings data. Wish to improve your Internet speed or display message at Windows log-on? No problem, those tasks can easily be done by simply editing the registry value. Unfortunately, registry is not a friendly place for most people. Changing a wrong value in the registry may cause an unpredictable problem to your Windows. This is why novice users should not edit registry value directly using a registry editor by them self. In TweakNow WinSecret, we have gathered the most popular Windows XP/Vista registry settings and provide them for you in an easy and safe user interface.
- See also: TweakUI ... - (PowerToys)
- Uniblue SpeedUpMyPC - Speed up your computer
- The scan is free. However, it won't fix anything unless you purchase it.
Uninstall doesn't work completely. You need to delete files. You need to make sure it isn't in your Startup folder.
Is this spyware?
- Victoria - Hard Disk Utilities - Softpedia
Uninstall programs / Remove programs
- Uninstalr - The Best Uninstaller for Windows
- $0
- Storage tool | How to use Windows 10's Storage tool to find out the size of the hibernation file--and much more - TechRepublic
- MyUninstaller: Alternative to the standard Windows Add / Remove module - $0
- Take an inventory of what's installed so you'll know what to reinstall when you have your Windows 7 machine up and running. A quick way to do this is with NirSoft's MyUninstaller, a freeware utility which lets you dump out a complete list of all formally installed applications to a text, XML or HTML file. This gives you a manifest to follow when you want to reinstall what's needed. If you can't remember product keys for Office and the like, the same fellow's also written a tool to dump product keys for many common MS applications.
- The MyUninstaller utility is a standalone executable. It doesn't require any installation process or additional DLL's. Just copy the executable file to any folder you want, and run it.
After your run it, MyUninstaller loads the list of the installed applications from the Registry, and gathers information about each installation item. The loading and analyzing process might take between 5 and 15 seconds and even more, depending on your hardware, operating system, and the quantity of the installed application on your computer.
- After the analyzing process is finished, MyUninstaller displays the details of all installed applications on your computer. Be aware that some columns, like version, product name, company and others, are displayed for most installed applications, but not for all of them. In rare cases, It's also possible that wrong information about an installed application will be displayed.
- Windows FAQ ...
- Norton products ...
- Spyware ...
- Revo Uninstaller
- Security ...
- Locked files = access denied = permission denied = write-protected = file in use - Delete Files - Annoying Error Messages
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied | a Tech-Recipes Tutorial
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.
- After you have done a fresh install of Windows Vista or Windows 7, you might encounter the “you don’t currently have permission to access this folder” warning, meaning you’ve lost your folder access privileges. Most frequently, this happens when you try to access a folder on a partition other than the current Windows partition, and that folder retained the permissions/user privileges from the previous Windows install.
- Solutions
- Microsoft PowerToys - File Locksmith
- Unlocker
-
Warning! - This program installed about a dozen unwanted garbage programs ("optional bundled software") during its installation.
-
If you don't want to go through uninstalling/deleting extra programs, then make sure you read and unclick where needed. Be careful!!
-
Unlocker has been noted for including optional adware that can be deselected during the installation process. (i.e. Read slowly and carefully during the installation process!!!)
-
Norton Internet Security reports that
-
"Softonic is a potentially unwanted application that may download additional software on the computer." NIS removed/deleted the file "softonicdownloader_for_ws-ftp.exe" and the file "unlocker1.9.2.exe".
- "Type: Potentially Unwanted App | Publisher: Softonic | Risk Impact: Low"
- Risk Detected
WS.Reputation.1 | NIS
- McAfee did not flag this program as risky or dangerous.
-
Conclusion: This is a great little program. Very simple and easy to use. BUT, you must be really REALLY careful while installing it in order to ensure that a lot of other junk programs don't install with it. Be careful during installation.
- Problem caused by Unlocker -"not enough server storage is available to process this command" E | Velocity Reviews
- On the computer you are attempting to connect to, Set the IRPStackSize
back to the default (15). Perform the following steps:
1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\lanmanserver\parameters.
3. Double-click IRPStackSize (or if this registry setting doesn't exist, create it with type DWORD and ensure the case is correct).
4. Change the base to decimal, set the value to 15, and click OK.
5. Reboot the computer
- ACL = Access Control Lists of files:
cmd > cacls ----- CACLS is now deprecaated, please use ICACLS
- Process Monitor = procmon ...
- How to fix “You don’t currently have permission to access this folder” or any folder access in Windows
- Windows Explorer > R-click on folder you can't access > Properties > Security tab > Advanced button > Owner tab > Edit button > check Replace owner on subcontainers and objects
- Windows Explorer > R-click on folder you can't access > Properties > Security tab > Edit button > Add button > Check names button
- In Windows 7 getting error 'Access denied' when copying a file - Microsoft Answers
- LockHunter is a free 64/32 bit tool to delete files blocked by any processes
- Locked Files Wizard
- Login As Administrator > Windows Explorer > Tools > Folder Options > View tab > Uncheck “Use simple file sharing”
Find the folder that won't let you in > Right-click on it and choose Properties > Security tab > Advanced button > Owner tab > Select your new user account and check the “Replace owner on subcontainer and objects” box
You'll get a perverse message saying something along the lines of “You don't have permission to view the contents of this folder, but do you want to give yourself ownership and full access?” (!) > You do, so click Yes > Wait > Wait > Wait
- MoveOnBoot Free - Allows you to copy, moves or delete files on the next system boot - Softpedia
- Process Explorer from Sysinternals. It has a "Find Handle" command that can search for open files and tell you what program has it open.
- Take Ownership
- TuneUp Shredder
- WhoLockMe - Windows Explorer Extension - $0 - WhoLockMe - It doesn't kill any processes, but it does tell you who has “locked” the file you are trying to delete.
- VideoLAN - VLC: Free streaming and multimedia solutions for all OS! - simple, Spartan controls, built-in codecs for almost every file type imaginable, and a large and vocal online support community
- Virtual Machine = VM
- CPU
- CPU-Z | Software | CPUID - AskWoody Plus – 22.33.0
- WCPUID is a program that displays detailed information about your CPU. it shows Frequency, Multiplier, Chipset Info, Cache information, System info and a lot more. it also includes several tweaks (if available for your chip) like disabling the Intel processor serial Number, Cache latency, AMD Athlon Level 2 cache speed settings and others. In addition, WCPUID includes a real-time CPU speed clocking gauge.
- WinBatch: Macro Scripting Total Windows Automation of System, Networking, and Software Applications. (US$105)
- File Explorer (MSFE) = Windows Explorer (MSWE) - Disk Utilities - File Management
- WinUtilities - see YL Software - 30-day trial or purchase $40
- Wondershare
- Infographic: Protect Your Data When Moving to iOS 8, iPhone 6 - PCMag
- ZIP - see Compression
Resource Sources for Tools
- Storage space management
- How to Clear Your Update Cache on Windows 11 and 10
- ExtremeTech
- InformationWeek News Connects The Business Technology Community
- IT Business Canada
- MakeUseOf.com
- PCMag.com | The Latest Technology Product Reviews, News, Tips, and Deals | PCMag
- The Best Tune-Up Utilities | PCMag
- God mode
= Windows Master Control Panel
- Right-click on the desktop and select New > Folder. Re-name the new folder with this bit of code: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
or
Create shortcut in desktop with value
explorer shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} and name it whatever you like.
(Since 2017 GodMode no longer accepts an argument before the dot to give it a file name. Functionality remains unchanged, but you can no longer (re)name the file. This applied to both existing GodMode shortcuts as well as those created after the update. Annoying.)
- Windows 7: The Top 10 Hidden Features | PCMag
- To turn on God Mode, create a new folder on your desktop--or anywhere you'd like--and name it: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}. Don't include the final period. The resulting folder will contain 270 items, representing virtually every configurable option in Windows 7.
- Wordpad - TXT, RTF, ODT (OpenDocument Text) files used by the free OpenOffice.org word processor, DOCX files created in Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010 - (Although WordPad can't understand all the complex formatting)
- Reliability Monitor
- Problem Steps Recorder
- PC World - Downloads, Freeware & Trialware; Utilities, Spyware, Antivirus & Pricing From PC World
- SSH
- TechRepublic
Microsoft Windows Tools & Utilities
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