Mike’s Recommended Software List

Memtest86+
The king of aggressive RAM testing. MEMTEST86 tells you without any question if
you’ve got bad RAM. Memtest86 cannot run under Windows, so it comes as a bootable
ISO image.

Use: If I suspect a bad RAM stick, I fire up this program.

User Safety: Very safe

Created by: Chris Brady - www.memtest86.com

SpeedFan
SpeedFan queries your system, locates every fan in your PC that’s controlled by the
motherboard, and enables you to control them. It also gives very detailed S.M.A.R.T.
information on your hard drives. If you’re gutsy (or crazy) you may also overclock your
CPU using SpeedFan, but you should only do this if SpeedFan recognizes your
motherboard (and even then, I never use this feature).

Use: Speedfan is used for tracking/adjusting all the fans on a system from a single
interface and for checking on the health of your hard drives.
User Safety: CAUTION - Shutting off fans will overheat system. Overclocking could
damage the CPU.

Created by: Alfredo Milani Comparetti - www.almico.com/speedfan.php

EasyBCD
EasyBCD is the ultimate bootloader and bootloader management tool. That said,
EasyBCD won’t necessarily work with all versions of Windows—always make sure
you're using the latest version available.

Use: EasyBCD helps you troubleshoot boot issues with Windows.

User Safety: CAUTION- Changing your boot files can make your system unbootable.
Lead developer: Mahmoud H. Al-Qudsi – NeoSmart Technologies

EMET Setup - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=200220&clcid=0x409

Microsoft has introduced its new solution against attacks that exploit common security
flaws in applications. Enhanced Mitigation Evaluation Toolkit or EMET enables
developers and administrators to provide additional security for their applications. EMET
works great for shops that rely on legacy software or commonly used third-party titles
that are prone to abuse.
Use: EMET provides extra protection for your PC.
User Safety: Safe, but may require some research.
Created by: Microsoft Corp.

GPU-Z

GPU-Z gives you all the information you could want about your video card. You’ll notice
that GPU-Z is similar to another of my favorite tools—CPU-Z—but it focuses
specifically on video hardware.

Use: Use GPU-Z to identify your video card/GPU, monitor video performance.
User Safety: Very safe
Created by: www.TechPowerUp.com

HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

The HP USB Disk/Drive Format Utility formats flash drives to FAT, FAT32, and NTFS
partition types. Additionally, it can create a bootable flash drive by using system files
from Windows 98 startup-disks.

Use: Use the HP USB Disk/Drive Format Utility to create bootable USB drives (DOS)
and to format USB drives.
User Safety: Very safe
Created by: Hewlett Packard

HWMonitor

From the makers of CPU-Z, HWMonitor reads a PC’s main health sensors (voltages,
temperatures, and fan speed) and presents this information in an easy-to-understand
format. Simple to install and use, HWMonitor gives you quick information about your
system without going into the CMOS Setup utility.

Use: Use HWMonitor to identify system components, monitor system performance.

User Safety: Very safe
Created by: www.cpuid.com

ISOdisk

ISOdisk enables you to create virtual CD/DVD drives (up to 20 of them), mount an ISO
disk image, and access the files on it as if it a real CD or DVD. ISOdisk not only enables
you to mount disc images, but it also creates ISO images from CD-ROM discs.

Use: Use ISOdisk to create/mount ISO files.

User Safety: Safe
Created by: ISODisk.com

RAMMAP - http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/RAMMap.zip

RAMMap provides advanced physical memory usage analysis for Windows. It presents
usage information in different ways on its several different tabs. Ever wondered what’s
taking up all your memory? RAMMAP can show you.

Use: Use RAMMap to gain understanding of the way Windows manages memory, to
analyze application memory usage, or to answer specific questions about how RAM is
being allocated.
User Safety: Very safe
Created by: Sysinternals and (in part) Alex Ionescu

Windows 7 USB-DVD Tool-

http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clustera/framework/w7udt/1.
0/en-us/Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe
When you choose to download most software from the Microsoft Store, you have the
option of using Download Manager or downloading from your browser. However, when
you purchase Microsoft Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store, you have an additional
choice to make: whether to download a collection of compressed files or to download an
ISO file. If you choose to download an ISO file (so that you can create a bootable file
from a DVD or USB flash drive), copy your Windows 7 ISO file onto your media and
run the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. After you do this, you can install
Windows 7 onto your computer directly from the USB flash drive or DVD.

Use: The Windows 7 USB-DVD Tool creates a bootable copy of Windows 7.

User Safety: Very safe
Created by: Microsoft Corp

Vispa

There are many reasons why you wouldn't want your operating system connect to
Microsoft's server, be it for practical reasons or pure idealism. Vispa enables you to
tweak your Windows Vista computer for better privacy and security—you might even
gain better system performance. Beginners might find Vispa confusing, but for
experienced users, it’s a more convenient way of tweaking your operating system the way
you know you want it.

Use: Vispa helps with modifying system performance.

User Safety: CAUTION – Some modifications can make your system unstable
Created by: whyEye.org (Jan T. Scott)