The Tech-pert: Free Software - 3 More Windows Utilities You Need Right Now

Earlier this year I told you about four free Windows utilities that I consider indispensable. Ready for three more? Read on:

Defraggler

Over time, the files on your hard drive get "fragmented," meaning different bits get scattered across different areas and platters. Imagine if you had a 10-page document stored in 10 unique folders in 10 file cabinets, each in a different room. That's the kind of extra work file-fragmentation imposes on your system. And that's why it's important to occasionally defragment your hard drive.

Although Windows 7 has a built-in hard-drive "defragger" utility that runs at scheduled times, there are third-party programs that do a better job keeping your drive optimized. Piriform's Defraggler is one of them. It's fast, compact and free.

Defraggler gives you much more control over what it defrags. For example, to save time, you can defragment individual files and/or folders rather than your entire hard drive. You can even relocate large files to the "end" of your hard drive, where they can be accessed faster. Defraggler also lets you defragment empty space to minimize future fragmentation, and it supports scheduled operation.

On top of all that, it has a simple, attractive interface, making it a good choice for novice users. (Just make sure you disable Windows' Disk Defragmenter so the two programs don't end up competing.)



Google Picasa

Picasa may not be a utility in the strictest sense, but it does solve a major computing headache: keeping all your digital photos indexed and accessible. For starters, it seeks out and organizes every image on your hard drive, so it doesn't matter if you have them spread out over a zillion folders.

Better still, Picasa offers sophisticated face-recognition, meaning it can organize your photos based on the people in them. That makes it much, much easier to find particular snapshots, even if you haven't added tags, descriptive filenames, or the like. (And, let's face it, who takes the time to do that?)

The program also provides image editing and enhancement tools, a wealth of photo sharing options, access to loads of photo printing services, and even some basic movie-making features. My only complaint with Picasa is its interface--which is not what I'd call user-friendly. But if your digital photo collection is out of control, this is an effective way to tame it.

Outlook Duplicate Items Remover

If you're an Outlook user, chances are good you sync the program with your smartphone, Google, and other devices and services. Consequently, it's not uncommon to end up with duplicate contacts, calendar entries, notes, and so on. Unfortunately, finding and removing all those dupes can be a major pain.

Outlook Duplicate Items Remover (ODIR for short) quickly eliminates duplicate contacts, calendar entries, tasks, notes, and even e-mails. It's free, and it works. Plus, it supports all versions of Outlook, even 2010.

Self-proclaimed cheapskate Rick Broida has been a technology writer for over 20 years. He has authored over a dozen books, including, most recently, "How to Do Everything: Palm Pre." Currently he writes the Cheapskate blog.