Resources & Tools
Given the nature and complexity of computer configuration, the writer and webmaster bear no responsibility for problems caused to software or hardware in any form from the application of any of the programs or utilities on this page.
This section includes programs, utilities and tweaks you can apply to your computer. Click on the icon of the program or utility that you want. A box will appear asking if you want to download from the current location or if you want to save to disk. The save to disk allows you to save the program to your own hard drive and install it from there.
IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU BACK UP YOUR REGISTRY BEFORE YOU APPLY ANY OF THESE UTILITIES!
- Programs
- Boot Discs
- Viewers
- Removing Norton & McAfee
- Windows Tweaking Scripts
- Miscellaneous Files & tools
- Help with Hard Drives
ATTENTION! CONFICKER FIX!
Download the Microsoft update program by clicking here. Save it to your Desktop and then double click it and let it run. This will guard against you becoming infected with CONFICKER. If you are already infected, or want to check if you are, run the Malicious Software Repair Tool from Microsoft found here. If you have all Microsoft updates set to install automatically, you are already protected. All major anti virus programs guard against CONFICKER.
Programs
Open Office 2007 documents with any older version of Windows by converting .docx files to .doc files.
This program is for Windows 98 and 98SE users who's computers lock up on shut down, run the utility to solve the issue.
This program converts images to virtually any other image format. It also allows compression and uncompression of pictures and images.
This is a program for backing up your email folders in Outlook Express, as well as your Favorites folder, and any other folders such as something on your desktop.
These files are used to tweak Windows XP so that you can print directory lists. Click the file called Printdir.bat. When asked to Open or Save, select Save. Unzip and save the contents to %windir%\Printdir.bat.
Now click on the Registry Tweak icon and download it to your desktop. Once done, unzip and double click on it and allow it to write the addition to the registry. Once done, you can delete the download. Voila. Right click on any folder and you will now have the option of "Print Directory Listing".
The file titled Who Am I is a program that allows you to instantly see what your I.P. adress is on the Internet, and what channels you go through (i.e. router) to get there. You need Java installed in order to run the Who Am I? program.
You need Java installed in order to run the Who Am I? program. If you attempt to run the program and Java is not installed, you will get a message saying so. In that case, click on the link to the right here to get the Java program download. Download it to your desktop and then double click to install it.
This small utility, courtesy of of Steve Gibson at www.grc.com is the easiest way to avoid the DCOM exploit. Funny that you don't hear much about it, yet it is so BAD.
ScrubXP cleans out all temporary files and registry keys resulting from opening files and or using the Internet. It also clears all cookies, Recently Used lists, and on and on and on. Only works for Windows XP.
Boot Discs
These Boot Disks are courtesy of BootDisk.com. In order to create them, just click on whichever one you want and save it to your hard drive. I like to save things on to my desktop. Once it is downloaded to your computer, place a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive and then double click on the boot disk program you just downloaded.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
This requires 6 floppy disks and is only necessary if you do not have a bootable CD drive or your install disk will not Autorun.
Viewers
What happens when someone sends you a file they have created with a Microsoft Office program such as Excel, Word, Access, or PowerPoint, but you don't have Microsoft Office? Well fear no more. Below are stand alone viewers for these products. Click on the icon of the viewer that you want. A box will appear asking if you want to download from the current location or if you want to save to disk. You must save the disk to your hard drive and then install it from there. These viewers install in all Windows operating systems.
This viewer allows you to view Microsoft Word Documents created with every version of Word from 97-2007.
This viewer allows you to view all Microsoft PowerPoint presentations created with every version of PowerPoint from 97-2007.
This viewer allows you to view all Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets created with every version of Excel from 97-2007.
Removing Norton & McAfee
Most computers today ship with either Norton or McAfee as their anti-virus and/or security suite of choice. Anyone who has used them for any period of time knows how much resources they take up, and once educated, wish to remove them completely in favor of an anti-virus that is much more efficient. I strongly and highly recommend using AVG as your anti-virus program. It can be found at www.grisoft.com and there is a free version which will suit most people. Before you can install it or any other solution, it is highly recommended that you first remove McAfee or Norton products. Anyone who has attempted this knows it is not as straightforward as using the Add/Remove Programs utility. Here then, are the programs to download and run to remove these.
Uninstaller for all Norton/Symantec Products. Click the link and follow the instructions.
Windows Tweaking Scripts
Don't let the title scare you away. These are very easy scripts to run, courtesy of the great folks that have written them. They have come from various sources, all identified in the scripts themselves. In order to use these, just click on them and download them to your desktop. Double click on them to open the zip file and then extract them to your desktop and double click on them to perform their indicated functions. Don't be worried if they set off your anti virus programs. Just tell the program to allow the entire script to run once. These scripts have all been tested and are virus free.
Look in the blue bar at the top of the Internet Explorer page. See the title? It usually says Microsoft Internet Explorer. You can make it say anything you want with this tweak.
Not sure where your Outlook Express mail files are stored? Use this script to easily locate your Outlook Express mail files and folders for backup.
If you have ever installed and then uninstalled certain browsers or programs, you may not be able to open images anymore. This script restores your computer's capability to open images.
This script allows you to force Outlook 2000 to allow attachments of your choosing.
This script allows you to force Outlook 2002 (XP) to allow attachments of your choosing.
This script allows you to force Outlook 2003 to allow attachments of your choosing.
If you ever choose to use the registry edit tool to lock off access to your registry, you will need this to unlock it again!
Download this script to your desktop, and then whenever you want to create a restore point in Windows XP without the normal hassle, just double click on the icon.
Miscellaneous Files & tools
Here you will find files and various things that I may refer to in my manual to make life easier.
In the section of my manual regarding repairing your XP registry, I refer to two batch files that automate a pile of commands, saving you a great deal of typing. They are both here. Download and unzip to use.
If you have ever installed and then uninstalled certain browsers or programs, you may not be able to open images anymore. This script restores your computer's capability to open images.
This link allows you to see when the web page you are viewing was last updated. Right click on the words "Page Date" to the right, and select "Add to favorites...", or "Bookmark this link", then save it where you want. To use, when you are viewing a web page, click on Favorites at the top of the page, and then click on the Page Date favorite.
Have you ever been told that such and such a .DLL was missing? This link goes to an awesome website that will help you replace lost or deleted .DLL, .VXD, and other system files. Just follow the instructions on the page.
Help with Hard Drives
In this section, you can find instructions and utilities to perform various functions on your hard drive. Just find your brand of hard drive and click on the icon. A new window will open up and you will find diagnostic programs to test your drive, as well as programs that will partition and format your drive. Before you head over to those pages though, there are a few things you need to understand about installing your hard drive. Besides physically installing your new hard drive, you need to answer one simple question. Is this new hard drive to be used as a boot drive with a full copy of a Windows operating system, or is this new drive merely being added to a computer with an existing boot drive? I strongly suggest that if you are here for assistance with hard drive installation and/or formatting, you first download and read through the document marked Setting Up and Formatting Hard Drives. It will walk you through setting up your BIOS for boot options, as well as step by step installation of drives and/or Windows Operating Systems. I recommend reading the document first is because chances are that if you are simply installing a drive or formatting, you may not need any of the tools below. All you will need is probably included in the document.
Click on the link to the right to download my paper on setting up and formatting hard drives. You will need Adobe Reader, which you can get by clicking HERE if you don't have it.
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with Maxtor & Quantum drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
For jumper settings, CLICK HERE. On the top right hand corner of the page, you will see Hard Drive Models. Look on the list to find your hard drive model. Click on it, then click on either Installation/Installation Guide, or preferably Installation/Jumper Settings if it is there. If you do not see your hard drive listed, CLICK HERE. Locate your drive and click on the link and then look in the drop down menus that appear for either Jumper Settings, or Installation Guide.
In the case of Maxtor and and their old cousins Quantum, support is very good. Not only are there utilities to diagnose problems with your hard drive, but there are also utilities available that allow you to format and partition your hard drive for any Windows operating system, as well as the NTFS or FAT32 file system.
If you believe you are having problems with your hard drive, you can download this utility. It will test for potential hard drive surface problems (e.g., bad clusters, bad sectors, partitioning/formatting problems, etc.) and drive recognition problems (e.g. hard drive that is not recognized by the operating system). Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
Once you have downloaded it, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the Powermax program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can simply reboot your computer with the floppy disk in the drive, and the program will start automatically.
POWERMAX HARD DRIVE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
This diagnostic tool will only run in DOS. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
If you need to format and partition a hard drive and you don't want to do it the long, hard way in DOS with fdisk, then this is the tool for you. This utility allows you to take a hard drive, brand new or otherwise, and format it, as well as assign drive names, and choose your file system (NTFS or FAT32). It also has an option to do everything automatically, once you tell it the operating system you are using.
Once you have downloaded it, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the maxblast3 program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can boot to this disk at any time with the hard drive you wish to work on, and the program will start automatically.
MAXBLAST HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION UTILITY
This installation tool will only run in DOS. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with Seagate & Connor drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
Jumper settings are in two places. For most current drives, the jumper settings are HERE. Otherwise, you can go HERE. Look down the left column and click on the link for your model number set.
MMMMMMM....How do I love Seagate? Let me count the ways.....
By far, in my opinion, Seagate is the creme de la creme of hard drives. Being someone who is sought out for hard drive repair and data recovery, I see a lot of hard drives. I so very rarely see a Seagate come across my desk. The extra $10.00 you might pay for a Seagate over anything else is positively the best $10.00 you will ever spend. As well, disk support is second to none, in my opinion. Seagate has so many different options available for disk management, that you just may want to format drives for the sheer pleasure! Ok, maybe I am getting a little carried away. Seagate has utilities to diagnose problems with your hard drive, as well as utilities that allow you to format and partition your hard drive for any Windows operating system, as well as the NTFS or FAT32 file system. As if that wasn't enough, for those of you that don't have floppy drives anymore, they also offer their fare in the form of an .ISO image so that you can make a bootable CD! Still not happy? How about an ONLINE disk set up tool for those of you that are adding a second drive and only have dial up!
If you believe you are having problems with your hard drive, you can download this utility. It will test for potential hard drive surface problems (e.g., bad clusters, bad sectors, partitioning/formatting problems, etc.) and drive recognition problems (e.g. hard drive that is not recognized by the operating system). Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
Once you have downloaded it, in the case of floppy disk users, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the seatool program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can simply reboot your computer with the floppy disk in the drive, and the program will start automatically. You will need two floppy disks. In the case of CD users that want to make the .ISO image, download the image to your desktop, then use your CD burning software to create the CD. Click on the "Instructions for .ISO images" to get step-by-step instructions on creating a bootable .ISO image CD.
SEAGATE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL - BOOTABLE FLOPPY VERSION
This program is meant to start via a bootable device. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
SEAGATE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL - BOOTABLE CD (.ISO IMAGE) VERSION
Instructions for creating a bootable CD from the .ISO image.
This program is meant to start via a bootable device. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
If you need to format and partition a hard drive and you don't want to do it the long, hard way in DOS with fdisk, then here are more reasons why Seagate is the best. Listed below are three different ways of doing things. You can download and create either a bootable floppy or bootable CD, or you can download and install a program on your computer that will install second and subsequent drives on the computer from the Windows environment, or you can simply use the online tool so you don't have to download anything of great size (perfect if you are on dial up). Click on the links below for the version you want.
SEAGATE HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION TOOL - BOOTABLE FLOPPY VERSION
This program is meant to start via a bootable device. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
SEAGATE HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION TOOL - BOOTABLE CD (.ISO IMAGE) VERSION
Instructions for creating a bootable CD from the .ISO image.
This program is meant to start via a bootable device. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
SEAGATE HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION TOOL - WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT VERSION
This program is meant to run in windows. Once the file is downloaded, double click on it to start the program installation.
SEAGATE HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION TOOL - ONLINE VERSION
Follow the instructions presented courtesy of the Seagate website and ensure that you READ EVERYTHING BEFORE YOU START!
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with Western Digital drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
FOR JUMPER SETTINGS ON WESTERN DIGITAL DRIVES, CLICK HERE.
In the case of Western Digital, support is very good. Not only are there utilities to diagnose problems with your hard drive, but there are also utilities available that allow you to format and partition your hard drive for any Windows operating system, as well as the NTFS or FAT32 file system.
If you believe you are having problems with your hard drive, you can download the Data Lifegaurd utility. It will test for potential hard drive surface problems (e.g., bad clusters, bad sectors, partitioning/formatting problems, etc.) and drive recognition problems (e.g. hard drive that is not recognized by the operating system). Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
Once you have downloaded it, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can simply reboot your computer with the floppy disk in the drive, and the program will start automatically.
DATA LIFEGAURD HARD DRIVE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
This diagnostic tool will only run in DOS. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
If you need to format and partition a hard drive and you don't want to do it the long, hard way in DOS with fdisk, then this is the tool for you. This utility allows you to take a hard drive, brand new or otherwise, and format it, as well as assign drive names, and choose your file system (NTFS or FAT32). It also has an option to do everything automatically, once you tell it the operating system you are using. Western Digital has two ways of doing this. You can either create a bootable floppy diskette, or if you are merely adding a second or subsequent drive to your existing one, you can download a version of the program that will run from within Windows.
If you choose the bootable diskette, download it to your desktop, then insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can boot to this disk at any time with the hard drive you wish to work on, and the program will start automatically.
If you choose the Windows version, download it to your desktop, then double click on the program you just downloaded. Follow the instructions for installing the program, and you can then configure your new hard drive through the program.
WESTERN DIGITAL HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION UTILITY - BOOTABLE FLOPPY VERSION
This installation tool will only run in DOS. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.
WESTERN DIGITAL HARD DRIVE INSTALLATION UTILITY - WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT VERSION
This program is meant to run in windows. Once the file is downloaded, double click on it to start the program installation.
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with Fujitsu drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
I am not a big fan of Fujitsu drives, and one of the reasons is because their online support is woefully lacking. Their hard drive utilities are a perfect example. They don't even have a format and partition utility. You are stuck with running the format and partition while you are installing your operating system. Of course this only works if you are installing Windows 2000 Pro, XP, or Vista. If you are installing an older Operating System such as Windows 95, 98, 98 Second Edition, or Millenium Edition, you have no choice but to do it the long way through the boot disks that are available.
asons is because their online support is woefully lacking. Their hard drive utilities are a perfect example. They don't even have a format and partition utility. You are stuck with running the format and partition while you are installing your operating system. Of course this only works if you are installing Windows 2000 Pro, or Windows XP. If you are installing an older Operating System such as Windows 95, 98, 98 Second Edition, or Millenium Edition, you have no choice but to do it the long way through the boot disks that are available.In the meantime, a diagnostic disk is available, even though it hasn't been updated for ages. Its purpose is to test the integrity of your hard drive and check it for physical problems. Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
SAMSUNG DRIVE FITNESS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
This diagnostic tool will run both in Windows and in DOS. I highly recommend that you run it in DOS. To do this, once you have downloaded the tool, copy it to a boot disk. Once you have done this, boot your computer with the boot disk. Once you have it booted to an A:\ prompt, type shdiag.exe and press enter. Just follow the instructions from there.
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with Samsung drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
For jumper settings, click HERE. Click Computers and Related in the Product Group box, then just follow the menus towards the right as they appear.
I am not a big fan of Samsung drives, and one of the reasons is because their online support is woefully lacking. Their hard drive utilities are a perfect example. They don't even have a format and partition utility. You are stuck with running the format and partition while you are installing your operating system. Of course this only works if you are installing Windows 2000 Pro, or Windows XP. If you are installing an older Operating System such as Windows 95, 98, 98 Second Edition, or Millenium Edition, you have no choice but to do it the long way through the boot disks that are available from my Assistance Page.
In the meantime, a diagnostic disk is available, even though it hasn't been updated for ages. Its purpose is to test the integrity of your hard drive and check it for physical problems. Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
SAMSUNG DRIVE FITNESS DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
This diagnostic tool will run both in Windows and in DOS. I highly recommend that you run it in DOS. To do this, once you have downloaded the tool, copy it to a boot disk. Once you have done this, boot your computer with the boot disk. Once you have it booted to an A:\ prompt, type shdiag.exe and press enter. Just follow the instructions from there.
Click on the link to expand/collapse and view assistance information with IBM & Hitachi drives, including setup and troubleshooting.
For jumper settings, CLICK HERE. Once there, select your model and then look for something like an Installation Guide.
I used to really like IBM drives, but since Hitachi has taken over, I am less than impressed. They seem to have fallen by the side of the same road as Fujitsu and Samsung. They used to offer support for disk installation, but now you are out of luck. If you are running Win 9.x or ME, you must install your hard drive the hard way. Fortunately, they still offer their disk fitness tool to at least diagnose problems with your hard drive.
If you believe you are having problems with your hard drive, you can download this utility. It will test for potential hard drive surface problems (e.g., bad clusters, bad sectors, partitioning/formatting problems, etc.) and drive recognition problems (e.g. hard drive that is not recognized by the operating system). Click on the title below to download the program to your computer. We recommend you save it to your desktop so it is easy to find.
Once you have downloaded it, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, and double click on the DFT.exe program you just downloaded. Once it has created your bootable floppy disk, you can simply reboot your computer with the floppy disk in the drive, and the program will start automatically.
DISK FITNESS TEST HARD DRIVE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL
This diagnostic tool will only run in DOS. Do not attempt to run this program in Windows.