This section of the website is a collection of tools we commonly use for system tune-up, virus removal and other useful utilities we use a lot. We do NOT recommend that you use these without our assistance as these are powerful utilities that will make fundamental changes to your system. Answering the prompts incorrectly can have unexpected and undesirable results. If you choose to use any of these tools on your own, you do so at your own risk.
Our PC Tune-Up Collection
This group of tools are the ones we routinely use to help our customers improve performance on their computers.
- CCleaner
Download CCleaner
Accumulated junk files that Windows fails to clean up can slow your system down, sometimes a lot. CCleaner is one of our favorite tools. It’s simple to use and, when used routinely, cleans up the junk files and keeps your system from slowing down. - Defraggler
Download Defraggler
As Windows saves files it often saves them in fragments on your hard drive instead of together in one place. Defraggler is another one of our favorite tools. It’s simple to use and, when used routinely, rearranges those files to keep your system from slowing down. - Malwarebytes
Download Malwarebytes
Malware is a common problem and Malwarebytes is one of our favorite tools for making sure you have no uninvited “Guests”.
Virus removal
- Microsoft Security Essentials
Download Microsoft Security Essentials
Antivirus software is an imperative on an internet connected Windows computer. This is a free and effective antivirus system from Microsoft that is simple to use. - Sophos Free Antivirus for Mac Computers
Download Sophos Antivirus
Gone are the days when you don’t have to worry about viruses on your Mac desktop or laptop. The Sophos Antivirus is free and does a great job of keeping you safe. - Malware Bytes Anti-Rootkit Tool
Download Anti-Rootkit Tool
Removes and repairs the latest rootkits and the damage they cause. - Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
Download Removal Tool
Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool allows a complete and up-to-date set of virus signatures that can be utilized in an offline mode. The current version of the program must first be downloaded and then run on the infected machine. For machines infected in a way that target this program and kill it, rename it to “fixme.com” and run it. - Microsoft Offline Virus Scanner
Download Offline Virus Scanner
This utility allows for scanning an infected computer offline without removing the drive and scanning it from another computer. It’s helpful but occasionally misses some infections so it is not the definitive virus removal tool. It does help kill the rootkit type viruses so you can get the system up to a point where the remaining infections can be dealt with. It requires a blank USB drive at least 1 gig in size. - ComboFix
Download ComboFix
ComboFix is a powerful tool for battling some of the nastiest viruses out there. It can also create serious problems if used incorrectly. This link is here only for our tech’s convenience. Do NOT run this program unsupervised, even if you think you are fairly technical. - ADW Cleaner
Download ADW Cleaner
This utility is very helpful getting rid of some of the more persistent bugs like AdChoices.. - HijackThis
Download HijackThis
The name sounds like it could be something bad, but it’s a very good tool to help us spot programs that hijack start-up options in your computer. - TDSSKiller
Download TDSSKiller
This is a utility from Kaspersky Labs that targets certain rootkit viruses. - aswMBR
Download aswMBR
This is a utility from Avast that targets rootkit and other types of viruses. - IP version 6 Checker
Launch IP version 6 Checker
This is a simple test to verify that your system is compatible with the changes to the way your computer connects to the Internet. - Norton Power Eraser
Download Norton Power Eraser
It’s simple to use the utility from Norton that finds and removes a large number of viruses.
Frequently Used Software
- Adobe Flash
Download Adobe Flash Player
Adobe is essential to nearly anything video related on the web, but it breaks a lot and they seem to be updating it constantly. This link allows easily downloading the most current version. - Adobe Reader
Download Adobe Reader
Like Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader is used everywhere and this is a convenient link to get the latest version. - FileMail for sending large files via email
Link to FileMail service
Once in a while, you find yourself needing to send someone a large file but you don’t want to sign up for DropBox or deal with the complexities of Google Drive or OneDrive, etc. As long you don’t send a lot of files in any given month. If you or your company have a need to send lots of large files, they have subscription plans available.
Another service that is always free is We Transfer and their website is www.wetransfer.com. - BullZip Printer
Download BullZip
A commonly needed ability is to create a PDF file from another document. Most systems that will do this for you tend to be too expensive if all you need is a couple of quick PDF files. This utility from BullZip allows you to easily create PDF files by simply printing the source document to the BullZip printer and saving the result to a PDF file on your computer. You can download it for free, but they have an option for donating to their projects. They do some good stuff, so we would encourage you to make a donation. - PDF Forge
PDF Forge Home Page
Another great tool for creating and managing PDF files. The free version is very feature rich and the full version offers some very good features at a reasonable price. . - CheckTLS
Run CheckTLS from the site
This website provides a handy tool that allows you to check your own email as well as an intended recipient to ensure that the messages you exchange will be encrypted as they traverse the Internet. That’s critical if you are sending sensitive information that you don’t want to be viewed by anyone other than the intended recipient. This is very crucial for HIPAA compliance. - SyncToy
Download SyncToy
We use this utility a lot to help people back up their data from their hard drive to an external backup, along with a host of other purposes. - Windows Repair
Download Windows Repair
This utility from Tweaking.com fixes a long list of the little things that get messed up in Windows and cause weird problems. - Microsoft SysInternals
Download SysInternals
This is a utility from Microsoft that allows you to inspect everything running and programmed to auto-start so you can find and remove renegade code. - Open Office
Download the Open Office suite
If you need word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. but don’t want to pay for an expensive office suite, this is a good choice. It’s fully compatible with all the major commercial office products. Best of all. it’s free. - Windows 10
Download Windows 10
This is where we go to get the self-install downloads. This is her for the convenience of PC Tech staff and it is NOT advisable to try and run any of these tools without guidance.