Standard Tools/Applications

I’ll probably extend this list as time goes by, but since a few folks have asked me specifically about backup and hard disk cleaning, I thought I would share my finds here.

For backup, I use Cobian Backup. I’ve been using it for a long time now, it has proven to be the ideal background backup application (also a service).

For hard disk cleaning, I use CCleaner. It’s fully-featured and provides a means of cleaning out virtually everything that is unnessary or not required to keep the PC running. It’ll clear down index.dat files, chkdsk fragments, IIS log files amongst many others.

For “Favourites” and URL management, I use URLBase. At the moment I still use version 5.5 which meets most of my needs. Version 6 does look a lot nicer sporting an Outlook look’n’feel. At €29 (Euros) it’s not too expensive either.

If you’re interested in other goodies worthy of note, Scott makes mention of a whole raft of them here and here.

On another note, via here, Omar has a great tip if you are re-building an operating system install and you use Microsoft Outlook: manually migrate your Outlook Autocomplete history (manual version here).