Disk & File Tools

ImgBurn is a lightweight CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!

It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:

• Read - Read a disc to an image file
• Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
• Write - Write an image file to a disc
• Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
• Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing

ImgBurn supports a wide range of image file formats - including BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, ISO, MDS, NRG and PDI. It can burn Audio CD's from any file type supported via DirectShow / ACM - including AAC, APE, FLAC, M4A, MP3, MP4, MPC, OGG, PCM, WAV, WMA and WV. You can use it to build DVD Video discs (from a VIDEO_TS folder), HD DVD Video discs (from a HVDVD_TS folder) and Blu-ray Video discs (from a BDAV / BDMV folder) with ease. It supports Unicode folder/file names, so you shouldn't run in to any problems if you're using an international character set.

ImgBurn supports all the Microsoft Windows OS's - Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT4, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 and Windows 7 (including all the 64-bit versions). If you use Wine, it should also run on Linux and other x86-based Unixes. It's a very flexible application with several advanced features that are often lacking in other tools, especially when it comes to burning DVD Video discs. It supports all the latest drives without the need for updates (including booktype / bitsetting / advanced settings on many of the major ones - i.e. BenQ, LiteOn, LG, NEC, Plextor, Samsung, Sony).

There is an image queue system for when you're burning several images (which you can automatically share between multiple drives if you have more than one) and an easy-to-use layer break selection screen for double layer DVD Video jobs. The Automatic Write Speed feature allows you store your favourite burn speed settings on a per 'Media ID' basis, right down to a drive by drive level. Data captured during the burn (write speed, buffer levels etc) can be displayed / analysed using DVDInfoPro. Whilst ImgBurn is designed to work perfectly straight out of the box, advanced users will appreciate just how configurable it is.

FBackup has a simple interface and guides you through the process of defining a backup job using a friendly wizard that asks you:

• Where do you want to store the backup (the destination).
• What do you want to backup (the sources).
• How do you want to run the backup (using full backup that zips the files, or mirror backup that doesn't zip them).
• When do you want to run the backup (you can schedule it to run autmatically or run it manually).

Once a backup job is defined you can run it manually by pressing the Backup button (or F6), or if you added a scheduler it will run automatically. FBackup can easily back up sources from local drives (including USB connected drives) to destinations such as USB/Firewire connected devices or mapped network locations. It creates either standard zip files (when using the full backup type), or exact copies of the original sources without any compression (using the mirror backup type). The best thing about this freeware backup software is that it protects your data for free.

FBackup is a backup software free for both commercial and personal use. This means that you can save some money by not having to buy another backup program.

You define a backup job, set it to run automatically, and forget about it. FBackup will automatically run the backup at the scheduled date, so you have the benefit not only of having your data protected, but you'll also save precious time.

When using the full backup type, the sources will be archived using standard zip compression. FBackup uses ZIP64 compression, which means that it can create zip files over 2GB in size. Furthermore, you can protect the zip file by requiring a password for extracting data from it.

If you don't want to have the files stored in one zip file, FBackup can make exact copies of the backup sources. Since FBackup will also back up empty folders, you can use this backup type to create in the destination a "mirror" copy of the original files.

For each backup job you can define an action to execute before or after the backup. As an example, you can set a "Clear backup" action before the backup runs, so that all the previous backed up files will be cleared before loading the new ones. As an after-backup action, you can set it to stand by, log off, hibernate or even shut down the computer once the backup successfully finished.

The two main functions of a backup program are the backup and restore operations. FBackup makes them easy for you, by offering friendly wizards. You start a new backup wizard, select what, where, how and when to backup, and the backup is ready to run. If you have to restore files, you'll open a restore wizard and it will ask you where you want the files to be restored.

FBackup automatically checks for updates weekly, so you'll know when a new version is released. The option to check for updates can be disabled, but we recommend to let it enabled so that FBackup will be up-to-date.

By default the location where your backups will be stored is the local windows partition. To be sure you have a secure backup, you'll need to store the backups on other destinations supported by FBackup (such as an external USB/Firewire drive, or on a mapped network drive). This way, if your computer would suffer a hardware failure, you'll have your data safe on an external location.

You can load plugins for backing up or restoring specific programs' settings or other custom data (like game saves, email data, etc.). Once loaded in FBackup, these plugins will add in the Predefined Backups list the sources needed to be backed up for that particular program. You can see a list of all the available backup plugins here: Free Backup Plugins.

If a file is in use by another program at the time of the backup, FBackup will still be able to back up that file, because it uses the Volume Shadow Service that Windows provides. So, as long as you're on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server or Windows 7, FBackup will back up those open files. As an example, you will be able to back up your Outlook emails and settings without closing it first.

FBackup is a free data backup software, it is not recommended for full system backup (disk image backups).

PeaZip is an open source file and archive manager capable of extracting most archive formats both from Windows and Unix worlds, ranging from mainstream ones as 7Z, RAR, TAR and ZIP to experimental ones like PAQ/LPAQ family - currently the most powerful compressor available. PeaZip supports creating archives with a wide range of compression and encryption standards and allows to export job definition as scripts to bridge the gap between GUI and console applications, and let the user pick the best of the two worlds. It's a reliable solution for most of the archive types you may met, and will help you in finding the right tool for a wide range of specific needs if you are searching for speed, maximum compression or strong encryption.

You can use PeaZip on all Windows version and on Linux (PeaZip is a desktop neutral application) with the same features and look and feel; moreover, for both platforms, PeaZip is also available as standalone, portable application not needing installation. You can bring PeaZip with you and rely on it on multiple platforms.

PeaZip is focused on security and supports multiple strong encryption standards. PeaZip has secure deletion feature, it can verify file checksum and hash, and it supports multiple strong encryption standards, optionally using two factor authentication (password and keyfile) for increased security.

All the shell goodies from windows explorer — none of the hassle! Plus all the features you would expect from a powerful tabbed dual-pane file manager, including Omni-Finder. xplorer² is a file and information manager that adheres to the philosophy "efficiency through simplicity". Without reinventing the wheel, it integrates the best features of Windows' shell architecture in a small, resource efficient package that's instantly familiar to work with. But look a little closer and you'll discover a whole new world under the surface that offers power, precision and flexibility, and will boost your everyday productivity no end!

Unlike explorer, xplorer² allows you to browse more than one folder at a time, using tabs and dual panes. Sorting out and copying files becomes a breeze. You can navigate your shell namespace quickly using favorites, clickable paths (breadcrumbs), easy access to root folders, a tree and a bookmark pane (drop box) etc. You can even save and restore folder groups whenever your workflow deems necessary. Its browsing model scales up well to large folders with thousands of files. It reads fast, offers visual filters and a variety of selection mechanisms that allow you to manage your files effectively.

xplorer² has a quick preview panel that regognises most popular text, graphics, media (audio/video) and document formats (office and PDF). The previewer has a draft mode (tab) that is especially quick extracting text content, and a normal mode that can activate in-place document servers like Microsoft Word using ActiveX technology. In most cases the draft mode is all you'll need, avoiding the overheads associated with ActiveX. xplorer² can collaborate with all your text filters meant for windows indexing service, extracting text from proprietary formats like PDFs, DOCs etc. Such filters also enable accurate text searching within files.

You can browse your folders in all usual view modes, including thumbnails and arranged in groups. Whatever you see in xplorer² can be extracted as text for printing or other book-keeping and report generation.

Omni-finder, the search engine within xplorer², will search for the usual filenames, contained text etc, but it can use all pieces of file information xplorer² can show in its detailed view as search rules. You can search within file comments, picture data, attributes, keywords, practically all shell column handlers supported by your windows OS. Filenames can be fuzzy and text searches support regular expressions.

Windows explorer is notorious for leaving you in the cold whenever errors disrupt a large copy e.g. across the network. You are left wondering which files where copied and how to restore order. xplorer² takes the worry off your file copies with a range of useful options. You can have many parallel background transfers or queue them sequentially. There are several overwrite policies (confirm/rename/check dates), size management, and optional clearing of the read-only attribute when copying from CDs.

You can pause and resume transfers, even leave them completely unattended: no questions will be asked and any unexpected events or errors will be logged. This is ideal for network administrators performing routine backup operations. Likewise when you delete files with xplorer² you can skip any "files in use" errors and continue deleting the rest of your files.

xplorer² has many other extended file management commands, like file splitting/merging, a shredder, advanced NTFS awareness (hard and symbolic links, folder junctions, ADS, file comments) and much more. These commands are also available in scrap containers so you can apply them on arbitrary file collections or recursively on subfolders.

With xplorer² you control how many panes you work with, whether the tree is on and so forth. You can even define layouts with different window and toolbar arrangements, one for each particular mode of work. You can customize the main toolbar, for your favorite command buttons. Customizable infobars show information for the selected files so that you can view file details even while you are using a view mode like list or thumbnails.

The lightweight version of xplorer² is not as powerful as the professional version but it shares the same desktop browsing and file management engine, it sports dual panes and folder tabs, and gives many rival paid-for file managers a run for their money — literally!

Auslogics Disk Defrag is a compact and fast defragmenter that supports both FAT 16/32, and NTFS file systems. It is supplied with advanced optimization techniques, which will remedy your system sluggishness and crashes caused by files fragmentation.

This tool will speed up your computer and make it run more smoothly by moving system files to the faster part of the disk and clearing the MFT Reserved Zone from regular data files.

Disk Defrag doesn't only defragment files - it prevents further files fragmentation by merging free space on the disk into a large contiguous block.

You can set the program to run automatically when your system goes idle. It will analyze the disks and defragment them in the background if required. With this feature your files fragmentation will be eliminated as soon as it occurs.

Defragmentation yields better results when implemented on a regular basis. Using flexible scheduler you can set the most suitable time span for defragmenting your hard drives.

Have no time for defragmenting an entire hard drive? With Disk Defrag you can defragment a single file, several files or a folder.

Disk Defrag is supplied with a powerful engine, which can easily defragment large disk volumes of several terabytes, as well as several drives simultaneously.

Smart defragmentation algorithms allow Disk Defrag to run much faster than similar defragmenters and consume less system resources.

Create an exact copy of your PC including the operating system, applications, user settings and all data. Paragon Backup & Recovery can do differential backups, scheduling, automatic data exclusion and cyclic backups.

• Support of all present day techniques to store backup images
• Disk backup to save not only all on-disk information but also the system service structures. It is ideal for making a backup image of an entire hard disk (including GPT-discs!) or system partitions to guarantee the operating system’s working capability
• Differential backup to a sector image to only archive changes since the last full sector-based image, thus considerably saving the backup storage space. To restore this kind of backup you will require a full image and one of its differentials
• Restore an entire disk, separate partitions image
• Create bootable USB Flash drive, CD or DVD to recover your PC on demand
• Recovery Media Builder: builds a new "recovery media" to boot from in case of an unbootable system