Image Forensics : Error Level Analysis. Raerth comments on Reddit what are THE essential programs to have on your computer? People Search. Iwata: Don't chalk up poor software sales to piracy. Open source anti-theft solution for Mac, PCs & Phones – Prey. Praetox Technologies - Software. Ten Terrific Troubleshooting Tricks and Tools - PCWorld. The bad news: PCs have been around for 30 years, and they still find in new and unusual ways to break.
The good news: I've discovered a kitbag full of tools that troubleshoot and fix perplexing tech problems. The Hassle: The last time I manually updated Windows (by clicking Start, All Programs, Windows Update), I got the dreaded 'Initialization Error 0x80040FF2' pop-up. The Fix: I could have read Microsoft's engrossing Windows Update Troubleshooter page (requires Internet Explorer). But instead of plowing through that blizzard of links, I whipped out DjLizard's Dial-a-fix, a multipurpose utility that repairs all sorts of PC problems.
For instance, the program deals with Windows Update woes, corrects installer errors, restores missing Registry entries, and fixes Secure Sockets Layer glitches. The Hassle: USB devices usually play nicely. The Fix: To find out why, run USBInfo, a utility that identifies and tests every USB port on your system and each device plugged into it. Top 10 Free Computer System Recovery Tools. I've done a lot of data recovery (and then I learned that backups are worth their weight in gold).
My one relevant comment then my experiences. Gparted recently started coming with Clonezilla ([gparted.sourceforge.net]), so it can not just mess with partitioning, but also clone disks and make images, kind of like an Acronis live CD. I've had really good success with r-studio. It is about $80, but works like a charm on fat & ntfs drives. It also does ext2/3, but not as well. For a linux disk I've had pretty good success with Stellar Pheonix Linux Data Recovery. And if you just deleted the partition (whoops), you can always just grep the drive (grep -a -B 1 -A 5 /dev/hda1 jpg) or first dump the contents of the drive to a text file and look through it (grep -a /dev/hda > hda1dump.txt).
15 free security programs that work. PC World - From the moment you switch on your PC, your system faces countless Internet-borne dangers, including spyware attacks, viruses, Trojan horses, home-page hijackers, and hackers trying to weasel their way into your system. And the Internet isn't the only source of trouble. Anyone with access to your PC can invade your privacy by prying into which Web sites you visit -- and learning a great deal more as well. But fighting back is easy. We've found 15 great pieces of software -- firewalls, spyware busters, antivirus software, rootkit killers, and general Internet security tools -- designed to protect you against any dangers that come your way.
They're free, they're powerful and they're easy to use. Preventing and Eliminating Malware From firewalls to antivirus software to tools for combatting rootkits and spyware, here are some great downloads to protect your system against malicious attacks.