The Fix Is In: Top Windows Utilities
Sure, Windows has its own built-in set of utilities. But you can do better. We examine dozens of third-party utilities to find the best tools for fine-tuning your PC.
Undo/Undelete: Back From the Brink
If you revise documents frequently, get Undo
& Recover. If you're willing to spend $70, consider
GoBack--an incredible time machine that allows you to
recover from even the most debilitating viruses and
crashes.
Most Windows apps have undo functions. And you can fish for deleted files
in Windows' own Recycle Bin. But a whole subgenre of utilities goes far beyond
this level of functionality, letting you recover the last 100 saved versions
of a Word document or reproduce the contents of an entire trashed hard drive.
Save and Still Undo
Three utilities--Aladdin Systems' FlashBack, PGSoft's Save Butt, and Kiss
Software's Undo & Recover Toolbox 2--let you recover old, saved versions
of almost any document in your system. If you want to revert to the version
of a Word document you saved a week ago, all three of these utilities can
do the job.
Of the three, Undo & Recover Toolbox works the best. It automatically
tracks all files on your system, including the Registry. In contrast, Save
Butt automatically tracks only documents registered to applications on the
Windows Start menu; you can, however, add new file types manually by using
a System Tray applet. FlashBack makes you register specific document types
by dragging each into a FlashBack file window. Undo & Recover and FlashBack
both track an unlimited number of file versions; Save Butt tracks the most
recent 99.
Undo & Recover Toolbox gives you more ways to recover old files. A
Quick Undo menu in the System Tray lets you reverse the last five saves to
your hard drive. The Undo Storage Wizard lets you view and select deleted
and changed files by name or application. And the Start Over feature automatically
restores the Windows Registry and system configuration files. Our only complaint:
Undo & Recover doesn't track changes made in DOS sessions. And at $40,
it's pricey.
The Ultimate Undos
Three other utilities--PowerQuest's Lost and Found, OnTrack's Tiramisu,
and Wild File's GoBack--surpass simple revision tracking, letting you restore
files lost to viruses, hardware failure, or a slip of the finger on the Delete
key.
GoBack is our favorite undeleter. The program keeps a sector-by-sector
record of all changes written to a hard disk from Windows or DOS, which it
stores on a special, protected section of your hard drive. So if a virus trashes
your disk on Tuesday, GoBack can return your system to its Monday state and
(once you've cleaned it of viruses) restore the files you modified before
the crash. At $70, it isn't cheap. But for that kind of time-machine functionality,
we'd say it's worth it.
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Undo & Recover Toolbox
2
street pricing: $35A-$40
Kiss Software
888/454-7726
www.kissco.com
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Save Butt 1.20
street pricing: $30A-$38
PGSoft
800/549-9001
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Tiramisu Data Recovery
3.04
street pricing: $195 (with unlimited
machine license and unlimited recoveries)
OnTrack Data International
800/872-2599
www.ontrack.com
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