Five free tools that will transform your PC

Everything: Amazing Search Like macOS

If there’s one element PC enthusiasts can envy in the macOS camp, it’s the amazing Spotlight search system that allows you to find any file at confusing speed. The majority of Windows users are still satisfied with the original Windows Explorer search – an insanely slow gas factory, not to mention the fact that it often fails to locate the document you want.

But fortunately, this is not a fatality thanks to all, a tool that can radically change the way you use your device. The concept couldn’t be simpler. Just let this open source applet index your storage, and you’re done; You can now locate any file in less time than it takes Windows Explorer to find out what is expected of it.

Everything provides multiple bookmarks and display styles to browse results efficiently. It also supports classic parameters like OR or AND, as well as a host of other useful features to narrow your search. And unlike the original Windows search, this software will not humiliate you by presenting you with a Bing search result instead!

Suffice it to say that if you spent your days searching for the original Windows search, this little orange magnifying glass can quickly become your best friend; For our part, we wouldn’t be able to function without it. To try to adopt it!

You can download everything for free from its publisher’s site Voidtools.

The Language Pack Which provides French translation is available at this is the address.

PowerToys: The Unknown Hard Block

This is a tool that has been unfairly avoided by a large portion of the users: the PowerToys group. This is a set of small utilities that make a big difference in everyday life by allowing you to customize Windows. The advantage is that it is built directly into the operating system and is therefore locally translated into French.

For our part, there are three tools that we use regularly. the first, always on top, allows you to pin a window so that it is always on top. A perfect complement to the Pense-Bête app notes, which have an annoying habit of hiding under a pile of windows.

Second, keyboard manager, is a real boon that makes it easy to reset keyboard keys, and without going through a complex tool for beginners like AutoHotKey. It is even possible to change the shortcuts that already exist and choose which programs these changes should apply to. You paid for every key on your keyboard, it’s time to make them all profitable!

Our top three are completed by PowerRename. It is a tool that will do wonders for those who regularly work with large groups of files with strange names. It allows to easily rename several items at once, without ripping the tendon crease by repeating the same process for hours. Decorating on the cake allows you to do this selectively using regular expressions.

In addition to these three items, PowerToys also includes 9 additional utilities that may all be useful depending on your uses. Some make it easy to find and resize images on the go, customize window docking areas, create color palettes, and more! The full list is available here.

PowerToys is available as a Windows app in this is the address.

SpaceSniffer: Better watch out for redundant files

This is a problem that awaits all users at the juncture, including the best organized: when you regularly work on the same device, free space can start to run out. Instead of letting your weak hard drive suffocate, the solution might be to perform a manual cleanup by deleting the redundant files yourself.

But this approach is painful and time-consuming. And in some cases, it is very difficult to keep track of the largest files. For all these reasons, many developers have built utilities to free up space. But very few of them are as intuitive and capable as our personal favorite, SpaceSniffer.

Like everything above, this program is very simple. Simply launch it and choose the disk or disks to be analyzed. From there, the device will have to be given time to set the respective support; After a few minutes at the most, it will present you with an interactive map of your storage space.

The window is automatically divided into rectangles whose size is directly proportional to the size of the folder or file in question. The program also takes care of automatically prioritizing all of these, and does so in a very smart way. So we can, at a glance, immediately identify the problematic elements.

All you have to do is navigate through this rather old, but very practical and intuitive interface to get rid of the elements that contaminate your device. A great little program that will save you time and space.

You can download SpaceSniffer from this is the address.

Sandboxie: Virtualization Made Easy for Everyone

It’s well known: the first line of defense between a malware and its target is the user behind the keyboard. But sometimes, even the most vigilant Internet user will have a hard time deciding whether a program, archive or file poses a security risk.

When in doubt, more advanced users can turn to a virtual PC thanks to programs like VMWare or VirtualBox. This allows the suspicious file to be opened in a kind of digital quarantine where a potentially malicious program does not risk putting your computer at risk.

But those who don’t want to bother setting up a virtual machine can also use virtualization with a small program called Sandboxie. This tool allows you to simulate any process on the fly; In short, this means that when in doubt, you can easily run any program or open any file in a closed and secure environment.

The interface is in English which isn’t the most intuitive, and it’s not entirely ideal for beginners. But for all other users, this is a very useful type of program in the computer toolkit, for example when it comes to opening a questionable attachment.

Sandboxie is available in this Tabuk. Note that it is better to prefer the installation of the “Classic” version for beginners.

Rekova: the last stronghold

Accidentally deleting a photo of great sentimental value, a work document, or any other important file can have serious consequences in our age where our lives are largely digital.

It’s not in our habit to sing the praises of Piriform, but we should be aware that CCleaner editor has done a fine job with Recuva, its data recovery software. For our part, it actually allowed us to discover profiles that would otherwise be lost forever after a very hasty emptying of trash.

It is clearly very, very far from the most expensive solutions and specialized professional services. As far as it can be said right away: you should not expect to recover months of deleted files as if nothing happened to them. In fact, there is no guarantee that you will be able to restore your file as is, even if it was deleted a few seconds ago. Also note that recovery is more risky if the file has been deleted from the SSD.

But you can’t expect more from an easy-to-use program that has a free version, knowing that data recovery is a big deal. It is no coincidence that professional solutions are billed at staggering rates.

In the event of a problem, we recommend that you try your luck with Recuva. At worst it would be a sword in the water. At best, you can breathe a sigh of relief.

You can download Recuva from the site CCleaner.