IT Tools

The 6 tools you need to Be Your Own IT

1. AVG Anti-Virus - Keep Yours as well as others computers virus free!
2. Memory Upgrade Tool - discover what type of Memory your computer takes and if your upgrading someone else this is the only place to go
3. Newegg Electronics Ordering - The best site for replacing or upgrading almost any part either for yourself, or for resale.
4. Password Recovery Tools - A whole host of password recovery tools, including wireless key finders, windows logins, and much more:All Free.
5. Sysinternals - Yes their owned by Microsoft now, but they still have a huge list of free utilities that can help you troubleshoot either yours or a potential customers computer
6. Ultimate Boot CD - There are CPU tests like CPU Burn-in. Memory diagnostic tools like Memtest86. There are hard drive wiping tools like Darik’s Boot and Nuke and many others popular utilities that can help you diagnose computer problems on your own. All you need to do is download the CD and burn the .iso image to a CD. There are limitless troubleshooting applications here.

Windows Tools

1. Windows Update - Used to get all the latest Microsoft Windows Updates downloaded automatically to your computer. Has a lot of benefit but use with caution stick with the critical updates typically

Data Back Up & File Recovery Software

1. Drive Image XML V1.21 - Backup Your hard drive, copy one hard drive to another and more
2. File Hamster - Free real time backup and archiving of your files while you work
3. Photo Backup LE - Easily back up all your valuable photos. Notice the free version is on the bottom of the page
4. Undelete Plus - Easily recover accidently deleted files
5. Kryptel Lite - Easily permanatly delete files from your hard drive

Hard Drive Utilities

1. Auslogics Disk Defrag - A free program to help defragment and organize your hard drive
2. Darik’s Boot and Nuke - DBAN is a simple, yet powerful utility that will wipe clean most hard drive’s after booting to a floppy disk. This is a great tool for fast formats or shredding of data when selling or throwing out your PC.
3. Cleanup Assistant -A freeware software program that performs various hard drive maintenance tasks, including cleaning, finding large and duplicate files, shredding documents and much more.
4. HD Clone 3.2 - The freeware version is great for transferring data from one hard drive to another. It runs on a bootable floppy or CD that it creates and allows you to easily clone your old drive onto your new drive.
5. Seagate DiskWizard - Seagate’s tool used for installing new Seagate hard drives in computers.
6. Western Digital Data Lifeguard - Diagnostic and other utilities for Western Digital hard drives only. Select your drive model from the list and download
7. MaxBlast - Maxblast is Maxtors hard disk utility. This utility will help users format and copy data from one drive to another in new installations of Maxtor hard disks..

Memory Utilities

1. Memtest86 - Memtest is considered one of the best memory diagnostic utilities out there. This free tool will allow you to make a bootable CD or floppy disk that runs the program automatically when you turn on your PC. By running this program for a few hours you will be able to pinpoint hardware problems with your memory that may have been causing your computer to crash
2. Windows Memory Diagnostic - Windows Memory Diagnostic is a great tool you can download if you do not have Vista (Included in Vista). Download and put the program on a disk. Insert the disk and reboot to that drive and let the diagnostic check your RAM for errors.

Registry Cleaners

1. RegSeeker 1.55 -This Registry program allows you to scan for bad and duplicate files, clean the registry and even optimize the Operating System. It’s available for all versions of Windows.
2. Eusing Free Registry Cleaner - Eusing Free Registry Cleaner is a free registry repair utility that allows you to clean and repair your computer’s registry with a few simple mouse clicks. The Windows Registry is a crucial part of your PC’s operation system.
3. CCleaner - CCleaner is a free system optimization and privacy utility. CCleaner removes unused files from your computer which allows Windows to run faster. It also frees up valuable hard disk space. For privacy, CCleaner also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history

Network and Internet Troubleshooting

1. Network Speed Test - Help determine what kind of performance your network is getting and also diagnose any potential speed issues with your or your clients internet conenction
2. Winsock Fix - Used to solve a variety of internet connection issues. I’ve used it many times to fix computers damaged by spyware or virus’s or computers that just plain cannot access the internet. Has just plain saved my life many times
3. Microsoft Network Monitor 3.1 - The Microsoft Network Monitor is a utility that helps you analyze what is happening on your network behind the scenes
4. AnalogX Fast Cache - This program improves connection speed by caching DNS on your local computer. Each time you go to a web page or perform any other Internet task, your PC contacts DNS servers on the Internet. By caching these servers on your local machine you should, theoretically, connect faster.
5. Network Stumbler - NetStumbler (also known as Network Stumbler) is a tool for Windows that facilitates detection of Wireless LANs using the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g WLAN standards. It runs on Microsoft Windows 98 and above. A trimmed-down version called MiniStumbler is available for Windows CE.