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If you think Process Monitor is just a more complete alternative to the standard Windows task manager, you’re wrong. This is a exhaustive control tool, mainly intended for system administrators, which tracks all the activity in Windows file system and Registry in real time.

So when you run it (no installation required, but it does ask for administrator rights) you’ll get a constantly increasing list with all the processes taken place in your computer in real time. In fact, there’s so much information to absorb that it makes you feel a bit lost.

Process Monitor includes many tools to manage this list: filters, a nice search tool, extended information about each process and many more. As I said, it’s definitely a tool for advanced users.

Download Process Monitor 2.7 in Softonic

Download Wise Registry Cleaner 4.82 in Softonic

If you have private information that needs deleting, you shouldn’t make do with just the Recycle Bin. You need to make more of an effort to ensure that your confidential details stay confidential.

Moo0 FileShredder is a handy program that does just that. The application opens a small interface that can be expanded to see the precise details of each deletion method. There is also a blank area, which is where you drag your unwanted files to. You chose from one of the four levels of deletion – from Shred Once to Vaporize – and drag over your file. Bear in mind that dragging it into Moo0 FileShredder is all you need to do in order to delete it forever, so make really sure that you’ve picked the right file!

Moo0 FileShredder hasn’t got many options, but the ones it does have are quite useful. You can set the program to close by simply clicking the middle mouse button, or expand or reduce the window by right-clicking. Moo0 FileShredder is also available in a variety of languages, and leaves a relatively small footprint on your machine. If you need to delete confidential files on a regular basis, it’s a very good bet.

Moo0 FileShredder – a slick program that does what it says on the tin.

Download Moo0 FileShredder 1.06 in Softonic

Do you want to open or print a Microsoft Word document, but don’t have the program installed? With Word Reader, you have a free, lightweight program that will open and print documents in seconds.

Ideal for netbooks, or anyone who doesn’t want Microsoft Word installed. Not everyone uses word processors, after all. You can’t edit documents at all, but Word Reader opens files mostly without problems, and opens faster than a big word processor too. There are few options, like background color and font size, but little else.

Word reader’s only big problem seems to be a bug with the full screen view – it often crashes when you try to exit. Printing is as simple as it could be, and clicking the highlight button means you can save anything in the document to your clipboard, to use however you want. Most documents open fine in Word Reader, but there are occasional formatting problems, which aren’t a problem if you only want to read something, though if you want to print it is annoying.

Word Reader isn’t perfect, but works well as a quick way to open up Word documents

Download Word Reader 5.2 in Softonic

PeaZip is a handy compressing and decompressing tool with a plain interface and support for more than 25 different formats.

PeaZip is a bit confusing. It seems to be quite easy to use at first sight, but its simple interface doesn’t look like any other compressor you’ve ever seen before. The toolbar and menus are not very intuitive, but nothing you can’t get over with just a little practice.

The best thing about PeaZip is that it’s perfectly embedded in Windows File Explorer. You can even select which program commands show up in context menus and therefore create a perfect toolbox to suit your needs.

PeaZip supports all major formats, performs checksum integrity tests and is thoroughly documented. On the downside, there’s one feature you’ll miss: the ability to create RAR files.

With PeaZip you can compress and uncompress files in a variety of formats, though its interface may take you a while to master.

Download PeaZip 2.7.0 in Softonic

Download Directory Lister Pro 1.19 in Softonic

When you have a dozen different applications running at the same time on your computer, you need something else than just a simple icon when using Alt-Tab to switch between them.

With VistaSwitcher you get exactly what you’re looking for: a full, real-time preview of all currently active apps and windows on your system, every time you press the Alt-Tab hotkey. VistaSwitcher enables you to switch between apps and windows in a much more comfortable way, knowing exactly what’s running on your system and where you’re headed to.

You can configure VistaSwitcher to replace the standard Alt-Tab combination, or use it as just an extra way to switch between programs. The program can be launched not only via Alt-Tab, but also with a customizable keyboard hotkey and VistaSwitcher’s icon on the system tray.

The program includes a configuration menu to tweak its behavior and appearance. You can also filter specific applications so that they’re not included in the Alt-Tab menu.

Need a more powerful, visual way to switch between active apps and windows on your system? VistaSwitcher is the program you’re looking for.

Download VistaSwitcher 1.0.2 in Softonic

With PureSync you can easily synchronize data between two different sources in a variety of ways.

PureSync synchronizes content between folders on different drives, creates backup copies of selected folders and helps you extract photos from your digital camera and other devices you can connect to the computer. You can create multiple syncing tasks, each of them with its own name and configuration options, and set them to work according to a schedule or only when you manually start them.

PureSync is very easy to use: a step-by-step wizard guides you through the whole process of creating each syncing task. The program’s interface displays a summary of all the actions applied to files and folders, using a color code to distinguish different types of synchronization.

PureSync supports also incremental backup copies – that is, copies only those files that have changed – and can be seamlessly integrated with Windows Explorer.

With PureSync making backup copies, transferring photos to your PC and syncing data across different folders can be much easier.

Download PureSync 2.1.6 in Softonic

There are times when you need to schedule a given task on your PC: lock your user session, run a certain program, even shut down the system. And all of these tasks require a timer.

Marxio Timer is the perfect tool to program your computer to perform certain actions without needing your constant attention. The program lets you select the type of task and the moment when it should be done, and includes some additional features such as showing a countdown window or taking a screenshot.

With Marxio Timer you can choose between actions such as turning off the PC, locking your user session, displaying a customized text (perfect for desktop alarms) or running a selected application, among others. When it comes to choose the moment this action should take place, you also have several possibilities to choose from: at a selected hour, after a certain time has elapsed, after certain idle time… Unfortunately there’s no option to trigger actions depending on CPU usage.

Marxio Timer includes a very interesting feature: the ability to save user profiles and even create a desktop shortcut for them for later use.

With Marxio Timer you can easily schedule your computer to perform different actions according to a user-defined period of time.

Download Marxio Timer 1.11 in Softonic

Download Disk Bench 2.5.3.2 in Softonic

Download Smart PC Professional 5.5 in Softonic

If Windows already features a tool to uninstall programs, why should you install a third-party tool for that same purpose? Easy: because with some of them, like KUninstall, you get extra features the Windows default uninstaller doesn’t include.

After extracting the program anywhere on your hard drive, KUninstall scans the system and displays a list with all installed applications. A right-click on any of these entries will reveal a context menu from which you can uninstall the selected app and view detailed information about it, among other options.

Another nice feature in KUninstall is the ability to identify any running process and perform different tasks with it. Simply drag the crosshair icon on top of any window or app and KUninstall will display a message with the process’s complete path and buttons to uninstall, locate or kill the process.

Besides not requiring installation, KUninstall is also much faster than the Windows default uninstaller and, as you can see, includes interesting functions that make it well worth a try.

With KUninstall you can not only remove unwanted apps from your system, but also obtain more information about them.

Download KUninstall 0.3 in Softonic

Defraggler is one of the best desfragmentation programs out there. The software allows you to defrag your entire hard drive, or individual files – unique in the industry. This compact and portable supports Windows applicationNTFS and FAT32 file systems. Defraggler is a easy way to improve your computer perfomance; and it’s free
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Blue screens of death are a bit frightening, because they usually appear without prior notice and most importantly, because it’s hard to know what they really mean.

With BlueScreenView that last issue can be easily solved. This little app recovers the dump file created by any blue screen of death you’ve had lately and displays is again, so that you can look into the error message and look for possible solutions on Google.

BlueScreenView doesn’t require installation and is pretty straightforward – which is good, since it doesn’t include any documentation. The program can display the saved dump files as drivers list or just as the original blue screen, and also generate a report in HTML with all the info displayed on the interface.

If you’re getting frequent blue screens of death, BlueScreenView can help you find the solution by displaying those error messages on a more user-friendly interface.

Download BlueScreenView 1.11 in Softonic

Sometimes having a simple tool that’s specifically designed for a certain function is better than dealing with a massive application.

The guys over at Nirsoft have specialized in creating simple tools like this, and have managed to produce a impressive collection of standalone, highly efficient tools that get straight to the point and can help you solve many different tasks. The only problem is that up until now, you had to manually choose the ones you wanted to download right on the developer’s website.

Luckily you can now use NirSoft Installer, a special tool that shows the list of all available Nirsoft apps and lets you choose which ones you want to download and install. The program includes several ready-made filters – like the possibility of installing only Windows 95/98 programs only – but also lets you create a custom selection.

Once you have chosen a few apps, NirSoft Installer will take care of the job. The only drawback to this handy utility is the lack of data about the NirSoft tools: either you already know them, or you’ll have to check the developer’s site for more information about what each individual tool does.

If you’re a fan of NirSoft utilities, you’ll love this piece of software: an automatic installer for your favorite NirSoft tools.

Download NirSoft Installer 1.32 in Softonic