Free Tech Support Software Tools

Nine Portable Tech Support Software Utilities

All of these handy programs are free, but they also share another important common factor. They don't require any installation, because they're designed to be portable. The ability to run them directly from the USB drive is important for several reasons. First, on a badly infected system, sometimes you can't even install new software. A virus may be blocking the introduction of new software, or the Windows installer may be broken. Also, some programs require administrator privileges to install, which presents a hurdle if the admin password is unknown.

#1 -- Malware infection (viruses, spyware and other nasties) is one of the most common problems. Some malware even disables the security software found on the infected hard drive. In such cases, a portable antimalware program stored safely on a USB drive is a lifesaver. ClamWin Portable is a free Windows antivirus that can be run from a USB drive without installing it on the target system. It detects and eliminates viruses and spyware; automatically updates its signature database; has a scan scheduling feature; can be integrated with Windows Explorer to scan individual files; and can strip infected attachments from Outlook email.

#2 -- If you run into a problem that ClamWin can't fix, check out MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM). This free malware scanner has a reputation for being able to find and fix some of the toughest virus and spyware infestations. Unfortunately, there is no portable version, but if you are able to download it, MBAM has "chameleon technology" to help it sneak past those viruses that actively try to prevent anti-malware security from activating.

#3 -- Sometimes all a sluggish system needs is a good disk defragmentation. Ultimate Defrag is a free portable disk defragger that lets you defragment any drive in a variety of ways. In addition to stitching fragmented files back together, this app can optimize the placement of frequently used files on your drive. After downloading and installing Ultimate Defrag, just copy its entire directory over to your USB drive. (For even more speed tips, see my article Make Windows Run Faster.)

#4 -- A bloated or disorganized Windows registry is another common cause of poor system performance. In more serious cases, a corrupted registry will prevent Windows from starting up. The Wise Registry Cleaner Free Portable edition scans the registry and fixes obsolete or incorrect registry entries. It makes a backup of the registry before scanning, so you can roll back changes if necessary. This program can be launched directly from a USB drive.

#5,6 -- Some programs cannot be uninstalled by the Windows "Add/Remove Programs" function. For those stubborn clingers, try the Revo Uninstaller program. Note the link to the portable version at the bottom of the download page. If you are trying to rid a brand-new system of all the unnecessary junk programs that came installed on it, try the free PC Decrapifier utility. Both can be launched directly from a USB drive.

#7 -- There are some good all-in-one system tuneup tools out there, too. One of the best is the IOBit Toolbox. It scans for and fixes spyware, and does a deep scan for viruses and other security vulnerabilities. The ToolBox will find and fix registry errors, clean up disk-clogging junk files, optimize Windows and hard disk settings, and a lot more.

#8 -- In cases where Internet Explorer is not functioning, and no other browser is installed, the portable version of Mozilla Firefox will help you get access to the Web, so you can find diagnostic information, updated drivers, or any additional software you may need. Since it runs from your flash drive, the portable Firefox won't leave anything behind (cookies, history, cache) on the machine where you run it. You can also customize the portable version with your bookmarks and Firefox extensions.

#9 -- In a similar vein, if Microsoft Word is totally hosed (or no office suite is installed) the portable AbiWord word processor will do very nicely as a substitute. AbiWord has all the important features you'd expect to find in a word processor, it can read and write MS Word files, and is also compatible with Word Perfect, OpenOffice and RTF format.

Bootable Rescue Disks

Sometimes a virus infection or other problem prevents you from booting directly from a system's hard drive. In these cases, you need a bootable recovery/rescue tool on a CD or USB drive. AVG offers a free rescue kit for downloading (http://askbobrankin.com/avg_rescue_cd.html) and disinfecting your system. Boot your system from the AVG Rescue CD, and it'll automatically scan your computer's hard drive for viruses and quarantine them.

For badly borked systems, you can boot up from a Windows 7 Recovery Disk (on a CD or USB drive), and repair your operating system. The recovery disk will help you do a System Repair (which attempts to fix problems that are keeping Windows from starting), a System Restore (roll back to an earlier point in time when things were working) or a System Image Recovery (recover using a backup image).

So what's in your wallet, uhh, I mean portable toolbox? Post your comment or question below...