Tools

A super-powered Task Manager from Microsoft Sysinternals: shows every running process, the DLLs and handles it has open, and which process owns a file or folder.

How to use: Run it to hunt down what is locking a file, spot suspicious processes, or trace high CPU/handle usage. Right-click a process → “Check VirusTotal” to scan it. No install — just run the exe.

Reads a drive’s S.M.A.R.T. health data and reports overall condition, temperature, power-on hours, and reallocated-sector counts for HDDs and SSDs.

How to use: Open it and check the health status (Good / Caution / Bad). “Caution” usually means failing sectors — back up and replace the drive. Great first check on any suspect disk.

A graphical front-end for smartmontools. Reads S.M.A.R.T. attributes and, crucially, lets you run the drive’s built-in self-tests (short and extended).

How to use: Use it when you want to actively test a drive, not just read its stats — run a Short Self-Test for a quick verdict or an Extended one to surface bad sectors.

Classic disk utility for benchmarking transfer rates, viewing S.M.A.R.T. info, and running an error (bad-sector) scan across the surface of a drive.

How to use: Run the Error Scan tab to map bad blocks on a suspect HDD. The free version covers the essentials; HD Tune Pro adds more tests.

The de-facto standard for measuring a drive’s sequential and random read/write speeds.

How to use: Pick the target drive, set the test size, and run. Use it to confirm an SSD is performing at spec or to compare drives. Quick sanity check after a clone or firmware update.

A free, bootable disk-cloning and imaging environment. Clones a whole disk or partition, or saves it as a restorable image.

How to use: Write the ISO to a USB stick (see Rufus), boot from it, and follow the prompts to clone disk-to-disk or disk-to-image. Ideal for migrating to a new SSD or mass-deploying an image.

⚠ It works at the block level — pick source and destination carefully; the wrong direction will overwrite the disk you meant to keep.

A Windows disk-imaging and cloning tool with a friendly GUI, scheduling, and rescue-media creation.

How to use: Create a full disk image before a risky change, or clone an old drive straight onto a new SSD from within Windows.

⚠ Macrium retired the free edition; current versions are paid (with a trial). Verify licensing on their site before relying on it.

A Sysinternals tool that turns a live physical disk into a VHD/VHDX virtual disk file — a physical-to-virtual (P2V) capture — while Windows is running.

How to use: Use it to snapshot a physical machine into a virtual disk you can boot in Hyper-V/VirtualBox, or to grab a quick portable copy of a system.

Create, resize, move, merge, and format partitions with a GUI — more capable than Windows’ built-in Disk Management.

How to use: Use it to shrink/extend volumes, reclaim unallocated space, or reorganise partitions without wiping data.

⚠ Partition operations carry data-loss risk — back up first. Confirm the current free/Community edition on Paragon’s site.

A long-standing free tool for recovering deleted files and lost data from drives with damaged or deleted partition tables.

How to use: Point it at the affected drive and scan for recoverable files. Recover to a *different* drive than the one you are scanning.

⚠ It is legacy/unmaintained. For active work, the maintained open-source TestDisk/PhotoRec is a stronger choice (linked as official below).

Performs a low-level (full, zero-fill) format of a drive, wiping every sector — useful for repurposing a disk or forcing bad sectors to be reallocated.

How to use: Use it to completely erase a drive before disposal/reuse, or to try to revive a disk throwing bad-sector errors.

⚠ This is destructive and irreversible — it erases ALL data. Triple-check you have the right disk selected.

The go-to CPU and memory stress test (via its “Torture Test”), pushing the processor to maximum load to expose instability or overheating.

How to use: Run the Small FFTs torture test to hammer the CPU, or Blend to stress CPU + RAM. Watch temperatures alongside it (see HWMonitor).

⚠ It drives the CPU to maximum heat. Ensure cooling is adequate and monitor temps — stop if it thermal-throttles or overheats.

A free Windows-based RAM tester that checks system memory for errors without needing a bootable disk.

How to use: Run it to validate new RAM or diagnose random crashes/BSODs. For an exhaustive test, a bootable memory tester (e.g. MemTest86) run overnight is stronger.

A GPU stress test / “power virus” that renders a punishing furry-donut load to push graphics cards to their thermal and power limits.

How to use: Use it to test GPU stability and cooling, or to check for artifacts on a suspect card.

⚠ It pushes the GPU harder than any real workload — monitor temperatures and stop if it runs too hot. Not for unattended long runs on marginal cooling.

Reads hardware sensors — CPU/GPU temperatures, fan speeds, voltages, and power — in one live window.

How to use: Keep it open while stress-testing (Prime95/FurMark) to watch temperatures in real time and catch overheating before damage.

The fastest, simplest way to turn an ISO into a bootable USB stick — Windows installers, Linux live media, Clonezilla, rescue disks, and more.

How to use: Pick your USB drive, select the ISO, click Start. Use it to make the bootable media for most other tools on this page.

⚠ It erases the target USB stick — make sure you select the right one.

The industry-standard network scanner: discovers hosts, open ports, running services, and OS fingerprints on a network.

How to use: e.g. `nmap -sn 192.168.1.0/24` to list live hosts, or `nmap -sV <host>` to fingerprint services. Includes Zenmap (GUI) on Windows.

⚠ Only scan networks and hosts you own or are authorised to test — unsolicited scanning can breach acceptable-use policies or law.

A tiny NirSoft utility that lists every device currently connected to your local Wi-Fi/LAN, with IP, MAC, and device name.

How to use: Run it to quickly see who/what is on your network and spot unknown devices.

Reads the Windows product key (both the installed key and the OEM/BIOS-embedded key) from the current PC.

How to use: Run it before a reinstall to record the machine’s Windows key. No install needed.

Recovers the passwords of Wi-Fi networks a PC has previously connected to and saved.

How to use: No tool needed for one network: run `netsh wlan show profile name="SSID" key=clear` in an admin terminal. For a full list, NirSoft’s WirelessKeyView does the same across all saved profiles.

⚠ Only recover keys on machines you own or are authorised to service.

A bootable Linux tool (“Offline NT Password & Registry Editor”) that blanks or resets a local Windows account password when it’s been lost.

How to use: Write it to a USB stick, boot the locked PC from it, and clear the target local account’s password. For local accounts only.

⚠ Use ONLY on systems you own or are explicitly authorised to service. It does not work on BitLocker-encrypted volumes without the recovery key, and cannot reset Microsoft-account (online) logins.