View full feature set and download here.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is my top recommendation. This great application has a stellar reputation for identifying and removing all types of malware and test results always place it near, or at the top, in its class. It is a simple program to understand and use and a great choice for helping cleanup an already infected machine or as a backup on demand scanner.

Download: 3.75MB

Supports:  Windows 2000, XP, Vista (32/64 bit)

SuperAntiSpyware runs a very close second and also provides thorough detection and removal. Always amongst the best in test results and is also easy to understand and use. Another good choice.

Download:  6.00MB

Supports:   Windows 98, ME, 2000, 2003, XP, Vista.

Special Mentions.

A-Squared is another with exceptional detection rates although removal can often be problematical. As well as the problem with A-Squared’s inability to automatically clean some of the more virulent infections is its reputation for reporting a comparatively high number of false positives. Add to this the huge download size, some 54.45MB, and it really doesn’t rate as a top contender.

Ad-Aware is still very popular and I shall never understand why. I suppose it must be a hang over from the old days when this was just about the only option. Ad-Aware’s detection rates are only reasonable and most of what it detects is fairly harmless (cookies). Considering there is no real time protection included and detection rates are at best ordinary, the 35+MB download seems pretty much like a waste of space to me. Not recommended.

N.B. It should be noted that, because these types of applications do not include any real time protection and therefore have no processes to run in the background, there is no need to have them starting with Windows.

My LockBox is relatively small (1.3MB download), very easy to use and quite effective. My Lockbox includes the following features;  password protect almost any folder, instant protection – no file scrambling or moving to another place, lockbox folder is inaccessible even by the system administrators, lockbox folder is inaccessible both locally and remotely, lockbox folder can be protected in Windows safe mode.This from the site:

“The protected folder (lockbox) is hidden from any user and application of your system, including Administrator and System itself. It is impossible to access the lockbox not only from the local computer, but also from the net.

The program is extremely easy to use. You can set the lockbox location and the password during the setup procedure. After the setup is done, lockbox will be hidden and locked until you enter the valid password.

My Lockbox Control Panel allows you easily change basic lockbox parameters: lockbox location, protection status, password.”

Auslogics Registry Cleaner has previously been available as part of the commercial ‘Auslogics BoostSpeed’ suite but has now been released as stand alone freeware. This from the site:

“The quality of this free registry repair software is guaranteed by the long and successful history of Auslogics Software products. This registry cleaner has been part of the award-winning Auslogics BoostSpeed for a few years and is one the most stable and reliable registry repair programs on the Internet.”

Well of course they are going to say that but the fact is, a lot of reviewers and ‘experts’ back up that statement.

Please Note: All software of this type should be used with extreme caution. Having orphaned/leftover entries in the registry is never, generally, going to create any problems. On the other hand, the inadvertent deletion of just one essential entry can be catastrophic.

“PixFix can effectively locate and recover deleted photos from hard disks, cameras, USB memory sticks and media cards, even when they’ve been reformatted or corrupted.

PixFix technology is also capable of reconstructing fragmented image files and is capable of recovering deleted photos which many other photo recovery software utilities cannot begin to find, including RAW files.”

Please Note: The free version limits photo size to a maximum of one megabyte (1MB). However, there is an upgrade available which adds the ability to recover larger photos (above 1MB). The upgrade costs $9.95 and, considering the importance of some personal memories, is (IMO) not a huge ask.

The download page includes a full set of features and comparison chart (against the Premium version) which can be viewed here.

All details and the download link can be accessed on Gizmo’s Tech Support Alert site here.

“Part scrapbook, part “to-do” list (or to-buy list), Ript mimics the actions of ripping, piling and arranging scraps of information. If you can see it on your computer, you can “rip” it. Simply drag and drop images and text from the internet or your computer and arrange them however you please — making it easy to compile, print and share your handiwork.”

‘Scraps’ can be resized, rotated and even flipped over so you can make notes on the back. Any text can be edited and each item’s right click menu includes options to print, email, save as, paste and delete.

I cannot locate a list of supported browsers on the product page but comments from users suggest Ript works well with both IE and Firefox but images may be problematical using Chrome.

When you visit the site make sure to click on the “Quick Start’ link there for more information.

The main features I was looking for were; a built-in editor and the ability to capture scrolling windows. This excluded a few of the more popular utilities such as Gadwin PrintScreen and Snapshot. That is not to say these products are inferior and in many cases, if simplicity and ease of use is the main criteria, they may well suit many users quite nicely:

PicPick is my top selection for the ‘average’ user, it’s quite user friendly with plenty of features. Right clicking on the system tray icon displays a menu for capturing; full screen (with support for dual monitors), active window, fixed or freehand region and window control (auto scroll). The capture can then be saved to a file, copied to the clipboard or opened in the built-in editor, which is similar to MS Paint but with added functionality.

PicPick rounds off with some nice little tools including a; colour picker, magnifier, pixel ruler, protractor, crosshair and whiteboard.

Screenshot Captor is another very good choice and includes access via either context menu or hot keys. Capture modes include; Multimon (multiple monitors), Desktop, Active Window, Region, Windows Object and Auto Scroll. Screenshot Captor’s main window includes a thumbnail browser and an image editor with access to a comprehensive set of tools for resizing, cropping, adding text, border, shadow, frame, arrow and highlight, etc. Also includes a quick screenshot emailer menu. There are quite a few more options available for the more experienced user including access to a collection of external tools.

Here is one which does not quite match the criteria but is definitely worthy of a mention for it’s other abilities:

Free Screen Capturer was obviously named by someone with a sense of humour but it is a very good and useful utility. There is no accompanying editor and it cannot handle scrolling windows but it is very easy to use. Now here are the good bits; besides capturing single screenshots of full screen, current window, selected window and region, Screen Capturer also captures sequences of screenshots as animated demos that can be emailed to others or put on the Web. It is a great tool to create brief tutorials and an excellent way to capture details when contacting technical support when any application malfunctions or crashes.  Also included is a very easy to use direct capture to email feature which automatically creates a new email with the captured image attached. Output formats include; BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, TIFF and WMV (for demos). Definitely worthy of consideration.

Record Everything Record a commentary or PC sounds while recording the screen. Record a window, region or full screen. BB FlashBack Express free screen recorder has an easy to use interface that makes it a breeze. Review your recording frame by frame with the movie player.

Screencast Sharing The BB FlashBack Express free screen recorder has one-click upload to YouTube, Blip.tv, Viddler and Revver. Share your movie by sending a URL or embed it in a webpage.

Flexible Publishing Save recordings in Flash or AVI formats with full control over file size and quality. Customizable, media-player style playback controls in Flash exports.

Webcam Recording Give your presentations the personal touch with picture-in-picture webcam video. The BB FlashBack Express free screen recorder records from your webcam while it records your screen. Easy.