www.abithelp.com

CNET wrote:This impressive software provides the same steadfast protection of well-known antivirus programs, yet it's surprisingly free.

Avast Home Edition guards your PC and the network with multiple shields that scan executables and files. You can select parameters for scanning, and even choose wildcards to exclude specific file types. You can adjust the sensitivity level for the program's detectors when it comes to scanning downloaded files, instant messages, e-mails, and a host of P2Ps. Its efficient interface opens up window after window to tweak its settings to your liking, for novice to advanced level protection.

Though it took quite some time to run, we're impressed with this application's boot-time antivirus scan. Fortunately, if you're in a pinch you can bypass it. If malicious contents are detected, Avast comes to the rescue with handy virus cleanup tools. Some decent PC controls are even handed out here. You can block certain URLs and file operations, such as writing to files or even renaming, deleting or formatting them.

With immediate real-time protection, clockwork updates, and much more, this free software is highly regarded in our book.

CNET wrote:Although it lacks a few of the bells and whistles found in other PC-cleaning applications, this free program offers more than enough features to make it a worthy download. CCleaner's interface is logically designed and makes it easy to wipe away your tracks from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Google Chrome from various Windows system areas, and from some third-party applications.

CCleaner doesn't support the large number of extraneous programs that some competitors do, but it can erase traces from such popular programs as Spybot - Search & Destroy and WinZip. CCleaner now offers secure file erasing along with a Registry-cleaning utility that quickly scans for invalid entries before removing them. CCleaner can even back up your Registry before removal, in case it accidentally removes a crucial component, and the download includes a rudimentary feature for uninstalling any program on your machine.

Since this free application handles the majority of PC-cleaning chores and offers a nice extra, we strongly recommend CCleaner to all users, except those who need robust tools to remove supersensitive data.

The Defraggler helps computer users who feel their system is running too slow. This simple program performs a complicated task that streamlines your PC's thought processes, but be prepared for a wait.

This free unlimited download attempts to bring order to your scattered RAM. When a file is created, portions of the item are spread into free spaces throughout the hard drive. As more files accumulate the computer has to work harder to piece together the puzzle that has become your specific file. This results in a slow computer. Defragmenting seeks out all these matching pieces and lines them up, making work easier and faster for the computer.

Defraggler downloads easily and is simple to understand. Its display shows users how much memory is available on their computers and also performs a search to show exactly how many files are fragmented in the entire computer. From here you can choose to defragment all or select specific files for defragmentation. Experts recommend regular defragmentation to keep computers running smoothly, so the Defraggler offers a scheduler to automatically run the program.

Defraggler is easy to understand and performs its job well. There is a strange chart along the top that seems to move for no real reason and is best ignored, but is only a minor annoyance. In addition, be prepared for a long wait time. Defragmenting a computer can take dozens of minutes. Still, if you want to improve computer performance, this is a great place to start.

CNET wrote:Recuva is a free file recovery program that makes it extremely to locate files that were once thought to be lost forever. The wizard-like approach and intuitive user interface will appeal to all user levels.

The program opens with a very sleek, professional user interface. We found it extremely easy to navigate right off the bat, but it does employ a wizard to walk you through the file recovery process. All we had to do was select either the C or D drive, or both, from a drop-down menu. If you have a general idea of where the file may be, you can pick from a list of file paths, including Pictures, Music, Documents, Video, and Compressed files. As soon as we clicked the Scan button, the program immediately went to work, and within seconds, it had pulled up a very long list of deleted files and their respective paths. The program's Advanced view gave us more detailed information of each file, including the file's size and creation time. Recovering selected files was also extremely easy and involved simply checking off the file or files and clicking the Recover button. Within seconds, the file was recovered and saved to our location of choice.

Though we don't think you'll need it, we were disappointed to find that the program doesn't include any kind of Help file. It does, however, include a link to the publisher's Web site, which contains a forum. All in all, Recuva is an excellent choice for anyone in need of reliable file recovery.

CNET wrote:A plucky little piece of freeware that packs a subtle punch, Easeus Partition Manager partitions hard drives like a reigning champ. Loaded with features, EPM runs smoothly and lacks only a glitzy interface.

A row of task icons sits on the toolbar, followed by a Windows XP-style left nav and central pane that shows your hard drives and information about them. To partition a disk, click on one of the drives and then use either the toolbar or the context menu to run the Resize feature. This brings up a slider for adjusting the drive volume sizes. You can also use the text fields to set a partition size precisely. Hit OK to run the resizing, and then run the Create feature. This will allow you format and label the partition in the newly-created empty space. While running, EPM will keeps you informed of the progress of the overall task, as well as the multiple steps it takes in partitioning your drive. A helpful color-key lives in the status bar at the bottom, divvying up drives by type as well as allocation use.

Other useful features include partition copying, a boot disk creator, a Properties option that will tell you everything from the physical geometry of the drive to the serial number, drive letter swapping, and password protection. In testing these features, the only glitch encountered occurred when a task had completed and the program window hid behind other active program windows. This did not, however, affect the use or execution of EPM, and we recommend it unequivocally for partitioning tasks.

CNET wrote:Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective freeware antimalware tool. It's a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 8 minutes even with other high-resource programs running. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps.

The app has some nice features rolled in, too. It supports multiple drive scanning including networked drives, context menu options including a scan-on-demand for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files. The interface is simple, but pleasant-looking and well-organized. Tabs live just below the oversized logo, with few options per tab to keep down the clutter. The installation process was fast enough, but interestingly offered up the well-kept changelog and an instant definition file update.

Do note that the real-time protection is restricted to the paid version, as is the scheduler for updates and scans. Overall, though, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a responsive malware remover that does what it should with a minimum of fuss.

Dmitry_Postrigan wrote:
A complete guide on recovering your hard drive’s factory capacity. At the end of this article there is a link to our program that recovers factory capacity of any hard drive.

“My hard drive has mysteriously became smaller! How can I restore its full capacity?”

There are several common reasons of why your hard drive might lose some megabytes or even gigabytes:

Your Operating System does not support LBA48 addressing mode
You are mixing binary and decimal gigabytes
Your motherboard has created a hidden area on your hard drive to store a backup of the BIOS binaries
Your PC/Laptop manufacturer has created a hidden area on your hard drive to store a backup of the Operating System installation files (needed for automatic restore functionality)
You have used some software that sets HPA (Host Protected Area), messes with DCO (Device Configuration Overlay), or switches off LBA48 support
You have misplaced a jumper on the drive
There was Magic involved

Now I will go through these things one-by-one and provide some more details.

Operating System does not support LBA-48 addressing mode
Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows ME will not support big drives (>137GB) even if you install all hotfixes. There are ways to get around this problem, but since these Operating Systems are rather rare nowadays, I do not see the point of writing about them.

Windows 2000, 2003 and XP do not support big drives by default; you will have to install the latest service pack in order to get big drives working properly on these OS.

Windows Vista does not have any issue with big drives.

Binary and decimal gigabytes
Hard drive manufacturers use decimal gigabytes while operating systems use binary gigabytes. One decimal gigabyte contains 1 000 000 000 bytes (1000 x 1000 x 1000), whereas one binary gigabyte contains 1 073 741 824 bytes (1024 x 1024 x 1024) — that’s more than a 7% difference! So, your 300 GB hard drive will show up in Windows as a 279 GB hard drive.

Motherboard creates HPA
Motherboard can create a so-called “Host protected area” on your hard drive to store its data. Usually this area is not bigger than 10 megabytes, so there is nothing to worry about.

PC/Laptop manufacturer creates HPA
Manufacturer of your PC can create a “Host protected area” on your hard drive to store an image of the original operating system and programs. This area is used when you want to restore the original state of your desktop PC or laptop without using CD/DVD disks. Usually this area is quite large (8-20 GB).

In this case, to restore the original capacity of the hard drive with the HDD Capacity Restore tool that we include in this article, you may need to remove the hard drive out of its original PC/laptop and temporary attach it to another PC. This is needed because most BIOSes will disable HPA/DCO operations to ensure that nothing can reset or damage that hidden area.

Software that has the ability to control HPA and DCO
For example, MHDD. This software allows you to set a Host protected area on your hard drive, so the hard drive will report less capacity to both BIOS and Operating System. MHDD can also access DCO (Device Configuration Overlay), and that allows you to not only change hard drive’s capacity, but also switch some hard drive functions, such as LBA48 support, Security commands support and others.

Some manufacturers (for example, Dell and HP) use DCO to reduce capacity for marketing needs. Example: they need to ship 1000000 computers with 40GB hard drives, but they only have 80GB drives in stock. They will use their own DCO tools to lock capacity to 40GB.

Jumper settings that limit hard drive capacity
Most hard drives have a special jumper setting that allows you to limit their capacity to either 32 or 128 (137) gigabytes.

Magic cases
These include things like HDD firmware bugs (believe me, there are plenty of them). *Add me to this list, Greybear.

Also, sometimes a damaged Master Boot Record may cause the BIOS and/or the Operating System to misdetect the true hard drive capacity. In this case you would need to use a zero-fill tool.

Sometimes a very broken hard drive may report wrong capacity. In this case there is nothing you can do about that.

Solutions. Restoring factory capacity

1. Check jumpers. Consult with manufacturer’s instructions and set jumpers to the proper position.
2. Check your OS, does it have all updates installed?
3. Check disk partitions. Run Windows Disk Management console and see if there is any free space that is not used by any partition.
4. If steps 1—3 did not help, then we have a very cool tool that analyzes your hard drive’s LBA48, HPA and DCO status and recovers factory settings (see below).

HDD Capacity Restore Tool
We’ve came up with a freeware tool that handles LBA48 mode setting as well as HPA and DCO features. It does everything automatically: it extracts the factory capacity; then it restores the factory LBA48, HPA and DCO settings.



Download HDD Capacity Restore Tool.
Supported OS: 32-bit versions of Windows XP/Vista/2003

All you have to do is to run it and click “Restore Capacity”. The program will do the rest.

CNET wrote:Auslogics Registry Cleaner is a good choice for home users who have some familiarity with the Windows Registry. This no-nonsense application performs quickly and reliably, with good backup and restore features combined with user guidance.

Registry Cleaner looks for errors such as missing files or devices and invalid entries in categories like as Add/Remove Programs, Fonts, Shortcuts, and Virtual Devices. The application, which presents a wizard-like approach, defaults to the recommended quick registry scan option. This will scan six problem areas. Advanced users can choose from 10 additional categories, such as Classes & Active X Objects and Software. Scanning is quick--a couple of minutes for a registry of 80,000-plus keys--and fixing is even faster. You can view the details of all the proposed changes and uncheck specific ones you don't want made.

As one would hope, Auslogics provides both informational and functional tools to minimize the risk of seriously damaging your registry. When setting up an advanced scan, you can click on each category to read a brief description of what problem the program will be seeking. For example, the program allows you to back up and restore your registry easily, and you can choose how many backups to keep and how long you want them stored. In the Program Settings menu item, you can also identify keys that you want the program to ignore.

At first we were frustrated by a seeming lack of usability features, such as a toggle for selecting or deselecting all check boxes. We eventually discovered that these features are handled through right-click menus. One problem without a fix, however, is the optional report you can view at the end of a clean. All reports are saved with the same filename, so viewing a new one will overwrite the old. Remember to save out these files if reports are important to you, because although you can view the details of past cleans through the program interface, this will be limited to data in a list box that you cannot easily send to someone else.

Although Registry Cleaner appears to work perfectly well, fixing 1,185 problems provided a performance gain of only 2 percent, according to the application. As Auslogics will tell you via in-application ads, you will not maximize your housekeeping gains unless you defrag your registry as well. Luckily, Auslogics provides this service as another free download, or you can purchase the BoostSpeed suite, which contains a number of other optimization tools. (To the company's credit, the free version of Registry Cleaner provides all the functionality of the component found in BoostSpeed.)

Anyone looking for a fast and reliable Registry Cleaner should absolutely try Auslogics Registry Cleaner, but be prepared to download additional optimization tools to realize performance gains fully.

CNET wrote:Join your hard drive fragments together into a tight bunch with this freeware. Auslogics Disk Defrag's interface couldn't be any cleaner or easier to use.

Choose a hard drive from an easy-to-read pull-down menu, and Disk Defrag instantly displays the drive's size, and used and free space. The program even displays a pie graph for visual learners. One click starts the defragmentation process. The program's defrag process screen displays another handy visual. A sector map makes it easy to see how much of the drive is fragmented, allocated, or free. As the program churns away, the defragged sectors are displayed in blue.

We found the program fast, even on older XP systems. A handy HTML report is prepared after each defrag session. A summary displays the total files and folders defragged, while the detail section lists the defrag outcome for each file. We only wish a final sector map was included in the report. Novices to system administrators will love this easy-to-use hard drive defrag program.

CNET wrote:It's hard to tell if registry defraggers and cleaners work, but the Auslogics Registry Defragger looks good. It's hard to gauge if these programs are effective because once you're done using them, you'd need more than a mere store-bought machine with store-loaded programs to judge CPU speed.

When you run it, it tells you that it will perform a registry analysis, after which you will be able to review its registry report, and once that's done with you can run the registry optimization, requiring a reboot to defrag and compact the registry. It's a fairly serious program, and once you begin the analysis it won't let you move the mouse outside the program window. It also "strongly recommends" that users close all other programs while it runs, although this is a standard warning for registry-cleaning apps.

An expected change in clock speed or other performance benchmarks never materialized. Resource-intensive Internet browsers and e-mail clients may be piggish, but they're necessary and don't load any faster or slower than normal after running the reg defrag. Until a registry defragger or cleaner can demonstrate benchmarkable improvements to a computer, they'll be little more than 21st century snake oil.

CNET wrote:BoostSpeed is an effective all-encompassing utility suite, combining some of Auslogics' popular freeware titles such as Disk Defrag and Registry Defrag with services that they don't offer elsewhere. There's an uninstall manager, a startup manager for boot cycle customizations, RAM and browser optimizers, file shredder, DirectX diagnostic, Windows tweak manager, and several mini apps to manage Windows settings. It also comes with a rescue center that can back up any settings before you change them. No doubt, BoostSpeed gives you your money's worth, at least in terms of services provided. Upgrading also only costs $10, for those who own older versions.

Are they all worth paying for? That depends on what kind of user you are. Most, if not all, of these features are available as freeware from one vendor or another, and generally one in each category is top-notch or nearly so. Some of the lesser tools, like the tweaks manager and the security feature, didn't live up to our expectations. Tweaks focused on basic functions and wouldn't serve as a replacement for TweakUI, while the security feature merely let me know that we had up-to-date security apps installed. Still, the convenience of having all these tools located under one umbrella was hard to argue with, and even the tools that didn't impress did their jobs hitch-free.

Scan speeds for the features new to us included here were comparable with those in Disk Defrag. Users also got the convenience of optionally setting the program to run at startup and live in the system tray, making most of the program's functionality no more than a context-menu click away. The most useful tools are the Disk Defrag, the RAM optimizer, the Registry Optimizer--if you believe that "optimizing" the Registry is more than snake oil--the file shredder, and the performance monitor. The 15-day trial comes unfettered, allowing you to thoroughly judge if this is a program you want.

Auslogic wrote:Restore accidentally deleted files, documents, or images with Emergency Recovery. Don't let months or years of your work disappear with deleted documents, pictures, and other important files. Files deleted from PC, digital camera or memory stick can be restored with high speed and reliability. Files damaged by computer viruses, spyware, or application programs can also be restored.

CNET wrote:Auslogics System Information launches a very clean, very user-friendly interface that offers simple navigation among its categories of system diagnostics. Its tools are arranged according to System, Devices, and Other, covering programs and engines, networks, and device manager. This free utility provides no visual distractions from the info it displays, and any level of user will appreciate the detail it offers from its scans.

In our tests, the app functioned very well, responding quickly with a full spectrum of info about our system. We liked that it broke down system data according to Windows details, user details, system environment, and the various system folders that keep our PC running. We also liked that we could create and save a comprehensive report of our system data in plain text, HTML, or XML.

TrendMicro wrote:Trend Micro HijackThis is a free utility that generates an in depth report of registry and file settings from your computer. HijackThis makes no separation between safe and unsafe settings in its scan results giving you the ability to selectively remove items from your machine. In addition to this scan and remove capability HijackThis comes with several tools useful in manually removing malware from a computer.

Greybear wrote:

EASEUS Partition Manager

PARTITION MANAGER

CNET wrote:A plucky little piece of freeware that packs a subtle punch, Easeus Partition Manager partitions hard drives like a reigning champ. Loaded with features, EPM runs smoothly and lacks only a glitzy interface.

A row of task icons sits on the toolbar, followed by a Windows XP-style left nav and central pane that shows your hard drives and information about them. To partition a disk, click on one of the drives and then use either the toolbar or the context menu to run the Resize feature. This brings up a slider for adjusting the drive volume sizes. You can also use the text fields to set a partition size precisely. Hit OK to run the resizing, and then run the Create feature. This will allow you format and label the partition in the newly-created empty space. While running, EPM will keeps you informed of the progress of the overall task, as well as the multiple steps it takes in partitioning your drive. A helpful color-key lives in the status bar at the bottom, divvying up drives by type as well as allocation use.

Other useful features include partition copying, a boot disk creator, a Properties option that will tell you everything from the physical geometry of the drive to the serial number, drive letter swapping, and password protection. In testing these features, the only glitch encountered occurred when a task had completed and the program window hid behind other active program windows. This did not, however, affect the use or execution of EPM, and we recommend it unequivocally for partitioning tasks.

EASEUS Partition Master Home Edition is a FREE disk partitioning utility for extending system partition, better disk space management, settling low disk space problem under Windows 2000/XP/Vista (for 32bit Only - How to figure out Windows 32 bit or 64 bit?).