The utilities and tools listed here have all been recommended by teachers who found them useful. Some of these are free, others are not. The use of any software (especially freeware or shareware) has inherent risks or complications, and we have not tested all of the software listed here. Use these at your own discretion!
Trinity Rescue Kit
This is a data recovery tool that lets you troubleshoot or save data off a machine that has crashed. It is a package of tools that allow you to get in and scan for viruses, reset passwords, edit the registry and more.
Ultimate Boot CD
From this site, you can download the "Ultimate Boot CD" - an extremely useful tool that offers a slew of utilities including CDROM-based diagnostic tools. Free.
Ghost
Norton Ghost creates an image of everything that's on a computer. It's great for backing up data and programs, and can be used to put a uniform image on all the computers in a lab, given that they have the same or very similar hardware configurations. Requires license fee.
Partition Magic
This disc partitioning tool, also from Norton/Symantec, allows you to "create, resize and merge partitions on your hard drive without destroying data." Free-to-try; license required for continued use.
ERD Commander
This software allows you to boot a dead machine and recover OS and file data. You can download an emergency version of the product from this site, but the software is not free; you're supposed to pay for it later.
Spybot
Very popular tool for rooting out and eliminating spyware on your computer. It's offered by volunteers and is free, though they do request donations to help support the effort.
MBAM
MalwareByte's Anti-Malware is another anti-spyware tool that is frequently updated and by trusted accounts very effective in identifying and removing harmful programs.
Microsoft Defender
Microsoft is also now offering free anti-spyware software, called Defender.
Ad-Aware SE
This software offers " advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components. Currently available as a free download.
Camtasia
Create video tutorials, software demonstrations, and presentations using this handy tool. Some of the student-created demos on this CD were created in part using Camtasia. Proprietary and fee-based, but a free trial version is available to download for limited use.
Knoppix
Demonstrate Linux to your students without ever installing anything to your hard disk! KNOPPIX can be used as a Linux demo, educational CD, rescue system. The link above opens in German. Click on the American/British flags for the English version.
Open Office
A free, open source office applications suite. Can run on Linux or on Windows.
K12LTSP
A version of Linux geared toward education. Great for setting up an open source computer lab using donated machines working off a single powerful server. Lots of support is offered from this site.
Delpart
This little DOS utility can be a great help if you're having trouble re-formatting a hard drive and reinstalling an operating system. It will get rid of Linux or NTFS partitions.
Boot Disk Site
This web site offers boot disks for just about any Windows OS.
BHO Demon
Protect your Internet Explorer from "Browser Helper Objects" - some of which may be adware or spyware.
Space Monger
Keep track of the free space on your computer.
CORE FTP
Free FTP software.
FTP Surfer
Another free FTP program - the one we use.
Hijack This
A program that detects homepage hijackers and deletes them.
Smoothwall
Free firewall program. Some teachers have used this to partition their classroom off from the school network, allowing students to have Internet access without having access to other school network resources. Check with your tech staff before attempting this!
The Open CD
A collection of free, open source applications and other software.
System Rescue CD
This System Rescue CD includes qtparted and the ntpasswd utility on it.
