Personal Computer World

7-Zip 4.42

Freeware

File archiver with a high compression ratio. The program supports 7z, ZIP, RAR, CAB, ARJ, LZH, CHM, CPIO, RPM, DEB, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, and Z formats. The compression ratio in the new 7z format is 30 per cent to 50 percent better than the ratio in the ZIP format. All you need to manage your archived files.

Requires: Windows 2000 or XP

AutoRuns 8.61

Freeware

Shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

Directory Opus 6.2

Full Product, previously sold for £34

Directory Opus goes beyond the simple file manager metaphor, and offers you a complete replacement for Windows Explorer plus many other programs for handling FTP, ZIP, Viewing files and images, running slideshows and more. It provides you with all this within fully-configurable environment.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

Registry Mechanic 5.2

Full Product, previously sold for £19.95
120 x 95 screengrab

The Registry on a new PC is compact, efficient, containing only the entries required to run your installed applications. And that's great, but this happy state of affairs doesn't last long. Over time it'll consume more RAM, and take a little longer to locate Registry values, slowing your PC down. If you want to restore your system to full working order then reach for Mechanic.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP

Adobe Acrobat Reader 8

Freeware

View and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files on a variety of hardware and operating system platforms. The new version of Acrobat Reader provides a host of features that enable you to submit Adobe PDF forms created with fillable form fields in such applications as Adobe Acrobat 8 Pro and Form Designer.

Requires: Windows 2000/XP

Everest Home Edition 2.2

Freeware

System information and benchmarking tool with full hardware & software information. Built-in hardware database and physical information for CPU, motherboard, hard disks, optical drives, chipset and much more. On-screen info, printed, or saved as a report in HTML or text format.

Requires: Windows 98SE, 2000, Me or XP