Download - Cleaning & Tweaking
Autoruns
Microsoft Sysinternals - (Freeware)
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.
Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option helps you to zoom in on third-party auto-starting images that have been added to your system and it has support for looking at the auto-starting images configured for other accounts configured on a system. Also included in the download package is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV format, Autorunsc.
Autoruns works on all versions of Windows including Windows XP 64-bit Edition (for x64) and Windows Server 2003 64-bit Edition (for x64).
CCleaner
Piriform - (Freeware)
CCleaner (formerly Crap Cleaner) is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused and temporary files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster, more efficiently and giving you more hard disk space. The best part is that it's fast! (normally taking less than a second to run) and Free.
Cleans the following:
- Internet Explorer Cache, History, Cookies, Index.dat.
- Recycle Bin, Temporary files and Log files.
- Recently opened URLs and files.
- Third-party application temp files and recent file lists (MRUs).
Including: Firefox, Opera, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, Office XP, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip and more... - Advanced Registry scanner and cleaner to remove unused and old entries.
Including File Extensions, ActiveX Controls, ClassIDs, ProgIDs, Uninstallers, Shared DLLs, Fonts, Help Files, Application Paths, Icons, Invalid Shortcuts and more... Backup for registry clean. - Windows Startup tool.
If you like and use this software then it is polite to make a donation to the author.
Defraggler
Piriform - (Freeware)
From Piriform, the company that brought you CCleaner and Recuva... they now bring you a file defragmentation tool... Defraggler!
It differs from other defrag tools on the market, by enabling you to quickly and simply defrag the files you want to, without having to process the whole drive. Simply run it, select the file and defragment in seconds. No more struggling with the Windows defragmentation tool!
- Defrag Individual Files
- Compact and Portable
- Vista Support
- Locate Files on the Drive
- Freeware
And remember like all Piriform products, Defraggler is completely free for both corporate and individual use.
JkDefrag
J C Kessels - (open Source)
Free (released under the GNU General Public License) disk defragment and optimize utility for Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/X64. Completely automatic and very easy to use, fast, low overhead, with several optimization strategies, and can handle floppies and USB disks/sticks.
Included are a Windows version, a commandline version (for scheduling by the task scheduler or for use from administrator scripts), a screensaver version, a DLL library (for use from programming languages).
O & O Defrag
O & O Software - (Freeware)
O&O Defrag 2000 is a freeware Windows defragmentation tool. It is completely integrated into the Microsoft Management Console as a snap-in and can be used to replace the standard Windows 2000/XP defragmentation software.
Partitions can be analyzed and manually defragmented with the SPACE defragmentation function. You have now the possibility of showing clusters in the "faded" mode: the clusters are displayed in a brighter or darker color according to how full they are and their content. With the Cluster Inspector you can view the cluster contents and display fragmented files.
PC Inspector File Recovery
Convar - (Freeware)
PC Inspector File Recovery 4.0 is a data recovery program and file undeleter. Recover deleted files with this great freeware utility.
Here are some of the new features:
- Supports the FAT 12/16/32 and NTFS file systems.
- Finds partitions automatically, even if the boot sector or FAT has been erased or damaged.
- Recovers files with the original time and date stamp.
- Supports the saving of recovered files on network drives.
- Recovers files, even when a header entry is no longer available. Competition products cannot recover such files.
Process Explorer
Microsoft Sysinternals - (Freeware)
Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.
The Process Explorer display consists of two sub-windows. The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'll see the handles that the process selected in the top window has opened; if Process Explorer is in DLL mode you'll see the DLLs and memory-mapped files that the process has loaded. Process Explorer also has a powerful search capability that will quickly show you which processes have particular handles opened or DLLs loaded.
The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work.
Process Explorer works on Windows 9x/Me, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Server 2003, and 64-bit versions of Windows for x64 processors, and Windows Vista.
Recuva
Piriform - (Freeware)
Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!
- Simple to use interface - just click 'Scan' and choose the files you want to recover
- Easy to use filter for results based on file name/type
- Simple Windows like interface with List and Tree view
- Can be run from a USB thumb drive
- Restores all types of files, office documents, images, video, music, email, anything.
- Supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, NTFS5 , NTFS + EFS file systems
- Restores files from removable media (SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MemoryStick, Digital cameras, Floppy disks, Jaz Disks, Sony Memory Sticks, Compact Flash cards, Smart Media Cards, Secure Digital Cards, etc.)
- Restores files from external ZIP drives , Firewire and USB Hard drives
- It's fast, tiny and takes seconds to run!
Tweak UI
Microsoft Corporation - (Freeware)
Part of Microsoft's free Powertoys collection of utilities, TweakUI gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.
Version 2.10 requires Windows XP Service Pack 1 or Windows Server 2003.
Unlocker
Unlocker - (Freeware)
Unlocker is the solution to the following types of Windows error messages
- Cannot delete folder: It is being used by another person or program
- 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.
1. Simply right click the folder or file and select Unlocker
2. If the folder or file is locked, a window listing of lockers will appear
3. Simply click Unlock All and you are done!