What I Use–Part 2

This is a continuation of the article I started last week on the hardware and software I personally use on my computers. As I said last week, I hope you find it of value.

Utilities (Continued)

1. General Utilities: The Swiss Army Knife of utility software for me is Glary Utilities. It has way too many tools to list here, but some of them are: Disk analysis, Duplicate File Finder, Empty folders finder, file shredders, file encryption, startup manager, memory optimizer, and registry cleaner/defrager. One of my favorites is “disk analysis.” I use it to analyze a hard drive to see what might be taking up so much room on the drive. It gives me a complete list of folders and files along with a pie chart to help figure things out. Another free program.

2. Defrag Software: For a long time I used a free program, Auslogics Disk Defrager. It’s a great program that works faster than most. But since I switched to Windows 7, I use the disk defragmenter that come built-in with Windows. It runs automatically once a week in the middle of the night. Disk defragmentation is not as important as it once was, but I think it still should be done occasionally. Now, with Windows 7, I don’t worry about it.

3. Partitioning Software: This is something you don’t use very often, but when you do use it, you want a program that is safe and won’t destroy the data on existing partitions. A while back I used one program that will go unnamed that destroyed all the data on a partition while I created a new one. I now use Minitool’s Partition Wizard. I recently used it on one of my computers and it performed as advertised and the existing partitions were kept safe. It is also a free program. PS: Windows 7 does have a built-in partitioning program, but it does not have the functionality of Partition Wizard.

4. PDF Reader: I cannot say this strong enough…DO NOT USE ADOBE READER. There are so many security holes in it with new ones being found on a weekly basis, making your computer vulnerable to viruses and other malware. That being said, I recommend using Foxit Reader, a fast program that is much, much safer and only 10% the size of the bloated Adobe Reader. I am also experimenting with Nitro PDF Reader, but it is too soon to give it my total recommendation…but it does seem to have more functionality than Foxit and so far I like it very much.

5. CD/DVD Burning: I looked long and hard at several programs before I found Ashampoo Burning Studio 6. This remarkable, free program offers several options for burning different types of CD’s and DVD’s: data, music, movies, ISO and more. It will also burn Blue Ray discs. Heartily recommended.

More to come next week.