Essential Windows-Tools

[alphatonez]

This is a list of some essential tools for various situations like emergencies or system maintenance:

Sysinternals tools
All tools are free to use and do not require an installation. Just start the executable and go.

• AutoRuns

Similar to msconfig, but shows all autostart places in one list. Clean up those hundreds of autostarting programs, which installers have silently put into your system over the years.

• Process Explorer

Replacement for the taskmanager. Unlike the windows taskmanager, the process explorer also shows hidden tasks and allows you to kill tasks, that can't be killed with the windows taskmanager.

• PsTools

A set of command line utilities. You can e.g. start or kill a task on another computer in your local network, shutdown or restart a computer in your local network and much much more.

• TcpView

Shows all internet connections of your currently running programs and services.

There are many more small, handy tools on their website, worth to checkout. They can be very helpful in case of a virus infection. Until today i could get rid of any virus by using those tools.

Website & download
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/

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Piriform tools
All tools are free to use. There are also portable versions for e.g. usb-sticks, which don't require an installation.

• CCleaner

Helps you to clean up your machine. Deletes temp files from windows and also the programs you have installed. Can even compress the Thunderbird and Firefox databases. You can also cleanup your registry by letting the program delete old registry entries from programs you already deinstalled andmuch more.

• Defraggler

A defragmentation program for your harddisk which is different. You can defragment single files too instead of defragging the whole drive everytime. You might also choose only to defrag free diskspace, to have one single block of free space to keep new fragmentation to a minimum. Your desired defrag method, can be schedule if you like it.

• Recuva

A filerecovery tool. Ever deleted a file and emptied the trash? If you have this program installed and do not write anything new to the harddisk, chances are pretty good that you can recover what you just deleted. Installing this program after you've accidentally deleted something you still need, might overwrite exact the needed position in your harddisk making the recovery impossible. So install the recovery tool as soon as possible to have it ready when you need it.

• Speccy

A system information tool, which shows all your installed hardware. Can also show the temperature of certain CPUs, mainboards, HDs (SMART) and other temperature sensors. One very helpful option is the ability of an export of your installed hardware into a textfile. So if you need someone to help you with a program, just sent him the exported hardware list, instead of having to write down everything manually. The program often knows the names of the components better than we humans do, unless you really can remember every single bit you put into your machine over the years.

Website & download
http://www.piriform.com

[Audi01]

Great thread

Easus Partition Master Home Edition (free) is another I'd add.