5 Free PC Maintenance Programs Worth Downloading

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bloodroses

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Jan 27, 2013
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Very good list here. I use CCleaner and Revo on a regular basis. I used to use Auslogics disk defrag, but decided the built in windows one is good enough. I've only used Recurva a couple times in panic situations and never really kept important information on my computer to worry about needing eraser.


To drethon,

By deleting stuff in DOS, it is like deleting a file in windows and emptying the recycling bin. While the file may no longer be in the directory structure, it still may physically reside on the disk and possibly still be retrieved with programs like Recurva. What Eraser does is zero writes over that data multiple times after deletion, thus making sure that the data is gone for good.
 

zero2dash

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Piriform Defragger > Auslogics Disk Defrag.

Auslogics is now adware shilling it's pay version.
Defraggler is freeware.
 

zero2dash

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Piriform Defragger > Auslogics Disk Defrag.

Auslogics is now adware shilling it's pay version.
Defraggler is freeware.
 

soccerplayer88

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Heh, nearly all of those made my list of software I use on a regular basis for work.

With the exception of Eraser (I use Darik's Boot and Nuke) and Auslogics Disk Defrag (I also prefer Piriforms Defraggler).

Recuva has worked wonders in the past (even on formatted drives) and recovered information my client has lost. CCleaner is also a handy tool since you can dictate what gets removed and what stays.

You guys should check out Hiren's Boot CD sometime. My most precious piece of software I still keep on a disk, plus loads of other features to get you out of a tight spot when your OS starts acting up.
 

dalethepcman

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I personally would have MBAM on the list as well, and while auslogic partition master is great, I would recommend against any type of de-fragmenting program for non-techie users. The last thing you want to do to an SSD is defrag it, and if a user doesn't know whats int heir machine they could easily kill their drive in a few months by scheduling nightly defrags.
 

Soda-88

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When you install, uninstall, download and delete files from your PC, each action leaves behind "fragments" of data on your hard drive. By defragmenting this data, you can free up space and make more efficient use of the space you have.
Uh, no? Fragmentation refers to big files filling up the smaller holes left behind by deleted files. Defragmenting will never free up space, it just rearranges the fragmented files into consistent sequences.
 

sincreator

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I used to use CCleaner all the time, until I realized it was causing windows files to get corrupted. I used to have Windows updates fail to download/install constantly and didn't know what caused the issue in the first place. It somehow stopped hyperlinks from working by doing something to windows file associations as well. I had to go to the control panel and assign all the individual preferences for opening programs for windows again... I also had the program delete the MOM.exe file as well, which is needed for AMD drivers to install and the CCC to work properly. This would cause major headaches. I haven't had one issue with windows since I stopped using that garbage, and I used to have to format and reinstall every 3 or 4 months because of it. I know for sure that it was CCleaner, because I could run a system restore to a date before I ran it and everything would be fine again, UNTIL right after I would run CCleaner again. I've been on this install for almost 2 years now with no issues at all since I stopped using CCleaner. I will never recommend or install CCleaner again. I actually recommend against using it...
 

sincreator

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I used to use CCleaner all the time, until I realized it was causing windows files to get corrupted. I used to have Windows updates fail to download/install constantly and didn't know what caused the issue in the first place. It somehow stopped hyperlinks from working by doing something to windows file associations as well. I had to go to the control panel and assign all the individual preferences for opening programs for windows again... I also had the program delete the MOM.exe file as well, which is needed for AMD drivers to install and the CCC to work properly. This would cause major headaches. I haven't had one issue with windows since I stopped using that garbage, and I used to have to format and reinstall every 3 or 4 months because of it. I know for sure that it was CCleaner, because I could run a system restore to a date before I ran it and everything would be fine again, UNTIL right after I would run CCleaner again. I've been on this install for almost 2 years now with no issues at all since I stopped using CCleaner. I will never recommend or install CCleaner again. I actually recommend against using it...
 

cmartin011

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Never used any of these programs. My basic repair kit windows platform includes glary registry repair, malwarebytes , spybot search and destroy file shredder. AVG for antivirus zone alarm for firewall. Anyone need more than that for basic computer use I give then ubuntu or xubuntu. Any questions?
 

softplacetoland

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@otacon72

Wow, that must be olne hell of a great argument. I guess you should call Mark Twain stupid for his opinion about what to do when you think like majority.
 

softplacetoland

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@otacon72

Wow, that must be olne hell of a great argument. I guess you should call Mark Twain stupid for his opinion about what to do when you think like majority.
 
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