Free PC utilities - Part 1

We all know about the hidden costs involved in buying a car: there's road tax, insurance, petrol, parking charges and servicing to worry about - and that's just the start. Thankfully, when you buy a computer you don't have the same kind of concerns, but you may still find yourself shelling out for various pieces of software once you've paid for a PC.

While your computer might not need regular servicing, utility software will ensure that it stays in good working condition and can provide handy extra functions. If you buy boxed software products from any of the big brands to carry out these functions, you could be looking at a sizeable investment just to keep your PC in good shape.

There are, however, plenty of alternatives to big-name brands that will do the job just as well for a fraction of the price, or even for free. Boxed, branded utilities can cost anywhere between £50 and £100 in the shops.

In this feature we will be looking at 50 essential utilities you can download from the internet that will help you with security, data backups, disc burning, file management and internet usage - none of which will cost anywhere near that much.

ANTIVIRUS AND FIREWALL

ZoneAlarm
ZoneAlarm is one of the simplest firewalls to use and it is free for home users. Once installed, whenever a new program on your PC wants to access the internet you can choose to allow or deny access on a once-off or permanent basis. That way, you can control exactly which programs can connect to the web and which can't.

It also warns you of incoming communications from the internet, so you'll know if someone is trying to gain access to the data on your computer. Of course, once you have chosen a setting for a program, you can easily change it within the software at a later date if needed. The settings also allow you to instruct ZoneAlarm whether to allow access to other computers if your PC is connected to a network.
Free (paid-for version has extra features)
4.8MB

AVG Antivirus
AVG consists of three parts, the first of which is the Resident Shield. This works in the background and checks files on the PC's hard disk, as well as floppy disks, CDs and files accessed over the internet or a network.

It will alert you if it detects a virus and the Email Scanner works with email applications including Outlook, Outlook Express and Eudora to tell you if any incoming mail contains a virus or potential virus.

Lastly, the Boot-up Scanner checks the main sections of the PC for potential viruses before you begin using it, right at the moment when it starts up.
Free (paid-for version has extra features)
5MB

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal
An antivirus package with automatic updates to keep your PC safe.
Free trial, then $24 (about £13)
11.3MB

Avast! Home Edition
A three-part virus scanner, free for home use, that quarantines suspect files.
Free
6.2MB

Trustix Personal Firewall
A simple but powerful firewall with a pop-up ad blocker and spyware remover built in.
Free trial, then $40 (about £22)
3.1MB

Ad-aware
Make sure there's no software on your PC spying on your web-surfing habits.
Free
2.1MB

Spybot Search and Destroy
Scan your PC for spyware and adware.
Free
4.2MB

SpyHunter
Finds spyware on your computer, although the demo version does not automatically get rid of it.
Free (paid-for version kills spyware automatically)
2.4MB

COMPRESSION, PC EFFICIENCY AND PARTITION CREATION

WinZip
WinZip compresses and decompresses Zip files, probably the world's most popular compression format. Compression software is useful as it can be used to 'shrink' large files, such as image files, so they can be sent as email attachments, for example, without clogging up your internet connection.

Windows XP already reads and writes Zip files, but WinZip will give you far greater control over what you are doing. It lets you control the level of compression applied, maintain any folder structure within the compressed files, and makes use of a simple drag-and-drop interface.

It will also allow you to make self-extracting Zip files that will decompress themselves, so you can send Zip files to people without WinZip or Windows XP on their computers. They simply have to double-click on the file and it will do the rest.
Free to try, then $29 (about £16)
2.3MB

BootIt Next Generation
Fixing Windows problems isn't always simple, and there are times when it is simpler to reinstall Windows and the rest of your software and start afresh. It's never an easy thing to do but BootIt will help you get through the process with the minimum of hassle, making it easy to set up partitions on your hard disk.

Even before disaster strikes, you can use BootIt to make sure you have separate partitions set up for your Windows files and for your own documents and other data. This makes recovering data easier in the event of a crash. However, because it deals with all the data on your hard disk, take care when you are using it.
Free trial, then $35 (about £19)
0.6MB

WinBoost
Automatically tweaks settings in Windows 95, 98 or Me to make the software more efficient and easy to use.
Free trial, then $30 (about £17)
1.5MB

WinAce
Allows you to compress and decompress a wide range of files.
Free 30-day trial, then $29 (about £16)
3.4MB

BACKUP AND RECOVERY

7-Zip
Uses its own format for compressing files but recognises other common file formats too.
Free
0.9MB

Argentum Backup
Argentum Backup is a tiny download but is a powerful tool and comes with a set of templates to allow you to get to grips with backing up your PC straight away. You can back up the registry, your emails and address book, your My Documents folder and most other parts of the system as you require.
Free trial, then £17
0.9MB

Seatools
Seatools can check a PC's entire hard disk for errors, because it runs from a floppy disk instead of from within Windows. If you insert the disk when you start the computer, it will automatically load and run the checking program. Because it loads independently of Windows, it can check drives in great detail without upsetting drives that Windows might also be using.
Free
5MB

Belarc advisor
Get a detailed audit of the software on your PC and identify any upgrades that you need to make.
Free
0.6MB

SiSoft Sandra
Find out exactly what's inside your PC without removing the case and diagnose potential problems.
Free
7.4MB

PC Inspector File Recovery
Recover lost and deleted files and disk partitions.
Free
3.8MB

Version Backup
Allows you to make system backups and archive them for easy retrieval.
Free
1.9MB

Workgroup Backup
Save time by letting your computer make backups while the system is idle.
Free
2.4MB

SECURITY

Simply Safe Backup
Back up your files to CD or DVD and apply encryption to keep your data safe.
Free
2.3MB

A-Lock
Encrypt your messages with this nifty little program that sits in the System Tray until you need it. A-Lock encodes your messages so that they can only be read by the intended recipient. The free version gives you 56-bit encryption, enough to deter casual snoopers, but the paid-for version will encrypt messages at 128 bits, which is significantly harder to crack.
Free (paid-for version offers stronger encryption)
0.3MB

Eraser
When you delete a file in Windows, all that happens is that Windows removes a record of the file, and it can be recovered if needed. With Eraser, when you delete files from your hard disk, they stay deleted.

If you're selling a computer, or allowing others to use it, you may not want the new user to see your personal documents. Eraser will see to it that they don't.
Free
0.8MB

ImageHide
Hide secret text messages inside images to send to family and friends.
Free
1.1MB

Active KillDisk Free
Securely erase all the data on a hard disk - use with caution.
Free (paid-for version has extra features)
0.9MB

Invisible Secrets
Six applications, including standard encryption, to make sure your data stays secure.
Free trial, then $40 (about £22)
2.8MB