Whether you are an automotive mechanic or a top IT professional, you need to have the right tools for the job. Unlike an automotive mechanic however, you don’t have to spend tens of thousands of your hard-earned dollars on the tools you need. The basic tools you need for IT and PC support duties on the Windows operating system are free to download from CNET.com. Below are a few examples:
HwiNFO32
One of the first things you need to determine in any type of support operation is what the machine you will be working on is made of. HwiNFO32 is a hardware recognition utility that will provide you with all the specs and information you need, and then some; from what type of CPU it has to hardware performance parameters.
Ccleaner
A very common support tasks is cleaning the system of unused files and invalid registry entries, providing for more available disk space and faster overall performance. Cclneaner will do an excellent job at that as well as totally cleaning out the browser history and even uninstalling applications.
Recuva
Oftentimes you will be in a situation where you need to recover lost or deleted files. Recuva was developed for just that purpose. It has a simple to use wizard type interface and can restore all types of files from simple text documents to videos, and everything else in between. You can restore files from removable disks and thumb drives as well as restore files that were deleted by viruses and crashes.
Defraggler
When a computer system is running slow a disk defragmentation tool should help speed things up quite a bit. When a computer file is created, it is broken up into pieces and spread out throughout the systems hard drive. When the file needs to be retrieved it needs to be pieced back together. Defraggler will basically line up all the pieces together making the system perform better. It has an easy to use interface that allows you to pick and choose either various files or folders to defragment or the entire drive. You are also allowed to determine where on the drive you would like to store particular files, as well as scheduling the procedures to take place in the background as it can take quite some time to perform.
7-Zip
Many support tasks will require the use of compressed or “zip” files. Compressing the files will allow them to be transferred more rapidly and take up less space. 7-Zip will provide no nonsense no frills compression and decompression capability that should suit the needs of almost everyone.
FileZilla
The necessity to transfer files to or from an FTP site or server will undoubtedly arise at some point. File transfer protocol has become the staple method of delivering patches, drivers and hot fixes. Filezilla enables you to perform these tasks with ease.
Almost everyone will find themselves tasked with some sort of computer problem. For the IT support professionals or just the average “do it yourselfers,” there are some tools you just can’t do without, and in some cases they just happen to be free.
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