Must-have utilities for your Windows toolkit

Jessica Dolcourt, Senior Editor November 5, 2009

How often do you think about the background systems that make your computer run smoothly and surely? As with most foundations, generally only when they're broken or faulty. We've assembled seven free software utilities to help keep your system in top form in times of turbulence.

There's Glary Utilities, which wraps a Registry cleaner, memory optimizer, and start-up manager in one. When files go missing, an app like Pandora Recovery can often help retrieve them. CCleaner wipes away Internet tracks, while Smart Defrag is the best disk defragger we've seen to date.

Then there's 7-Zip, which supports a range of compression file types to read and/or write files in RAR and ZIP formats, and more. The straightforward SyncBack backup program is ideal to help keep home users and small businesses from losing valuable files in the event of a system crash. We round out the collection with Revo Uninstaller, an uninstaller with multiple power levels for completely removing unwanted programs down to their traces.