Since time immemorial, computer users have had problems sharing large files. Whether trying to fit Sim City on floppy disks, uploading binaries to newsgroups or sharing home movies via email, you may well have suffered the inconvenience of a file that's just too big for what you're trying to do.

This is where HJSplit comes in. It's a remarkably simple and easy-to-use little application which can split any file you like into parts of a predefined size, so that sharing them or storing them is made easier. It can also join split files back together and compare parts to see if they're the same.

Based in just one small executable (there's no installer for this old school app!), the utility weighs in at a piffling 300kb and doesn't have the world's best design. But it works surprisingly well and splits files into chunks of your chosen size, very quickly indeed. Its joining, comparing and MD5 tools all work just as efficiently.

A small but very effective little utility which will split and rejoin any file you like.

Download HJSplit 2.3 in Softonic

Back up software has gone through something of a boom of late. With the huge increases in storage, more and more of us are on the look out for reliable, stable file protection. GoodSync is such a program - it offers fast, automated back up, synchronisation and restore between multiple devices - all in a relatively simple and easy-to-use environment.

Upon first launching GoodSync, you're immediately prompted to select source and destination folders (essentially, your original file folder and the new one you'd like to use as a backup location). The destination folder could be on the same computer, on an iPod, a network drive or any other external storage device. We tested GoodSync with a network drive and found it exceptionally fast.

Additionally, GoodSync's automation feature does exactly what you'd hope for: automatic synchronisation and backup with a raft of configuration options. If, like me, you're backing up important work documents to a network drive, you can easily pick how often this job should be done, to do it just on shutdown, or to allow the task scheduler to handle the job.

You can choose either to back up an entire folder (or folder system) or just specific files. This, along with GoodSync's effective duplicate controls, means that for a simple tool, this program offers you a highly customisable back up and sync solution, enough to offer any user true peace of mind.

A reliable and effective back up solution. Highly recommended.

Download GoodSync 7.2.9 in Softonic

If you've been working on a Word document for a long time then it's a nightmare when it suddenly corrupts or won't open.

The reasons for this are numerous and usually it's not your fault. If you've ever received any of the following messages then you'll know what I'm talking about: "The document name or path is not valid. Try these suggestions. Check the file permissions for the document or drive. Use the File Open dialog box to locate the document."; "Word cannot open the document."; "Word cannot open the document: user does not have access privileges."; "When you attempt to open a Microsoft Word 97 document into Microsoft Word version 6.x or 7.x, the document contains garbage characters." Repair My Word can come to the rescue if you've suffered any of these error messages and has the ability to repair Microsoft Word 6.0, Word 95, 97, 2000, XP, and 2003 for Windows. To use it, you simply open the corrupt Word file, preview the recoverable text in the preview window and save this text to a new error free Word file. However, don't expect miracles from this software because it doesn't work in all cases and in addition, even if it can, the rescued document is often a jumbled mess of words of symbols.

If you've ever lost a Word document to corruption or file error, then this is definitely worth a try.

Download Word Repair 1.0.0.49 in Softonic

The Google Desktop application allows users to search their desktop content quickly and easily. Praised for its ingenuity and criticised for its intrusiveness, Google Desktop brings the power of Google’s search engine technology to your PC.

After installing the application, you’ll have to give it some time to index the files on your PC, including emails, photos, chats, contacts and calendar events. Google Desktop will index the first 10,000 words in the first 100,000 documents on your PC. The application supports the majority of file types and you can decide which ones to index, or omit protected files, using the preferences menu.

In its latest version, which is compatible with Windows Vista, Google Desktop has been given a new transparent look, providing a pretty sleek feel to your PC. Your search results will appear in your browser (in the familiar Google web page format) and a small preview button allows you to view results without actually clicking on the corresponding link. Results are as precise as we’ve come to expect from Google searches, however we were slightly disappointed to learn that the application doesn’t offer logical 'OR' support or substring search. On another note, Google Desktop is not limited to your PC as you can cross index content from multiple machines and share some panel items with your friends.

Google Desktop is not only about search, though. Joining a marketplace already occupied by Apple’s Dashboard Widgets and Yahoo! Widgets, Google Desktop can be fitted with any number of little gadgets. These mini apps perform all kinds of functions, from fetching your mail to jotting down notes or checking up on your local weather. There are hundreds of gadgets to choose from to customize your desktop bar. Our personal favorites are: Google Translate, the Skype plug-in to check your credit and call your contacts, “Am I Blocked” to find out who’s blocked you on IM, Workspace to quickly move between tasks, System Stats to monitor your PC and Games, a selection of Flash games like Tetris and Moonlander.

When running, we found Google Desktop to use up around 30 MBs, but that can quickly increase if you add more gadgets to it. The application is also constantly re-indexing your files to incorporate your modifications and new elements. However you should rarely feel your PC slowing due to indexing.

When you’re dealing with Google, however, you know the main criticism will be about security. Because Google Desktop indexes all your documents, you’re basically opening up your PC and all your personal files to the Moutain View company. What some users fear is that Google could one day take advantage of that access or that a bug in the application would allow malicious users to infiltrate your PC and steal information.

While the intrusiveness of Google Desktop will give some users pause for thought on installing the app, Google Desktop is highly effective and simple to use. The gadgets you can add to its sidebar may not all be essential, but many of them are quite fun and original and let’s face it, the sidebar looks good. Give it a go if you think your PC is a mess and you need quick access to anything.

Download Google Desktop 5.7.802.22438 in Softonic

Recuva (pronounced "recover") is a freeware utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer.

This includes files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or even MP3 players.

It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses.

Download Recuva 1.18 in Softonic

This program will allow you transfer your songs off your iPod to a PC, iDump does come wrapped in installer but you can simply drop the .exe in the root directory on your iPod and run it from there.

Connect you iPod and run iDump and you'll have access to all your songs, select the songs you want to transfer then pick a destination directory and how you would like your songs to be named. And then sit back and transfer all the selected songs to the PC.

Download iDump 1.1.0.23 in Softonic

Universal Extractor is a program do to exactly what it says: extract files from any type of archive, whether it's a simple zip file, an installation program, or even a Windows Installer (.msi) package. This is still a work in progress but so far it's proven quite useful for many happy users.

This application is not intended to be a general purpose archiving program. It will never replace WinRAR, 7-Zip, etc. What it will do is allow you to extract files from virtually any type of archive, regardless of source, compression method, etc.

Its an easy, convenient way to extract files from installation packages, such as Inno Setup or Windows Installer packages, without pulling up a command line every time.

Download Universal Extractor 1.5 in Softonic

Has it ever happened that you try to delete a file, only to receive an error message telling you that the file is in use, or that you don't have permission to access the file, or that the file is write-protected: you can't delete it!

But now you have a new ally. It's called Unlocker and is a simple program capable of detecting the applications and processes that are blocking the file you want to delete, free it and allow you to delete without any problems.

Download Unlocker 1.8.7 in Softonic

When you mistakenly delete some of your dearest photos from the camera or any removable device you feel like the most stupid person in the world. You would do just anything to go back in time and rescue those pictures! Fortunately there's no need to sell your soul to the devil or start saving for a time machine. Simply download this neat tool and let it do the job for you!

Free Art Plus Digital Photo Recovery scans any media drive (be it a memory card, an USB memory key or a camera directly plugged to your PC) and recovers all deleted photos. It's so easy as selecting the drive you deleted the pictures from and choosing a folder to save recovered images. Plus, it supports the most popular graphic formats.

The program includes some other recovery tools that may be useful in case your memory card appears to be corrupted. The interface is quite easy to use, and the main window shows some misleading links to other apps written by the same author (I say misleading because they look like buttons for the program's functions).

Please, bear in mind that photo recovery is not a miracle task that will always solve the issue. It all depends on how much time has passed after you deleted the pictures and, above all, if you have been using the drive where they were stored. In any case, you should definitely give this tool a try. You're not wasting any money and you may be able to recover your photos. Is there anything more valuable than that?

Recover photos deleted by mistake from your camera, memory card or USB removable device.

Download Art Plus Digital Photo Recovery 3.0 in Softonic

You'd be forgiven for thinking that Pandora Recovery is associated with the Pandora Genome music project but in actual fact, this utility has nothing to do with music.

It's quite simply, a file restoration utility that attempts to help you when you've accidentally deleted a file. Pandora Recovery can recover files permanently from the Recycle Bin simply by using the Shift + Delete keys bypassing. What's more, it can recover files that were deleted, according to the developers, up to a month after they were deleted. However, it's very unlikely you'll be able to recover something that's been deleted so long ago because a file "deterioration" (although the developers claim users have been able to recover files 5 years after deletion!).

This may all sound a bit far fetched although when you delete a file on a FAT32 or NTFS file system, its content is not totally erased from disk. Only the reference to file data in File Allocation Table or Master File Table is marked as deleted which means that sometimes you can make it visible again. The types of file you can recover are quite wide ranging including pictures, songs, movies and documents. Note though that you have a much greater chance of recovering data lost after the program has been installed because it scans your hard drive and builds an index of existing and deleted files and directories (folders). This gives you much greater control over which files to recover.

There are no guarantees that Pandora Recovery can help you restore accidentally deleted data but if there is any trace of it left, Pandora should be able to give it a damned good go.

Download Pandora Recovery 1.3.7 in Softonic

Xbox Commander is an advanced yet easy-to-use program allowing you to browse your Xbox, the computer's drives or an FTP server. The application lets you create a backup from any directory on your hard disk drives in Xbox ISO (xISO) format. These Xbox ISO files can be either backed-up to a CD or DVD.

Any downloaded or created Xbox ISO files can be extracted to the Xbox. The program also gives you the ability to upload any file or directory from the computer to the Xbox or FTP server. The app can make use of the "Boost Mode" of the Avalaunch dashboard. This makes it possible to upload the contents of the Xbox iso at speeds up to 11 MB per second.

Download Xbox Commander 2 in Softonic

In these days of gargantuan file sizes, it can sometimes take an age to transfer files around due to their size. Despite it's rather arrogant-sounding name, The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner is great for chopping data into handy bite-sized chunks (that's 'bite' with an 'i' for the purposes of those who thought I just made a spelling boo-boo).

It's perfect for stuff like backing up lots of data to DVD because it lets you quickly divide files into smaller sizes. You simply specify the size of the file and the location you wish to save it to then you can optionally assign a password. Once this is done, a single mouse-click will see all of the data magically divided. Joining up the data again is equally straightforward, and if the password-protection has been enabled you'll need to enter this to proceed with the operation. For added convenience, all of the options within the program are available from a right-click context menu.

Although it's very fast, I can't prove that The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner actually lives up to its name. However, what I do know is that it provides a simple way of breaking large amounts of data into smaller pieces.

Download The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner 3.2 in Softonic

In these days of gargantuan file sizes, it can sometimes take an age to transfer files around due to their size. Despite it's rather arrogant-sounding name, The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner is great for chopping data into handy bite-sized chunks (that's 'bite' with an 'i' for the purposes of those who thought I just made a spelling boo-boo).

It's perfect for stuff like backing up lots of data to DVD because it lets you quickly divide files into smaller sizes. You simply specify the size of the file and the location you wish to save it to then you can optionally assign a password. Once this is done, a single mouse-click will see all of the data magically divided. Joining up the data again is equally straightforward, and if the password-protection has been enabled you'll need to enter this to proceed with the operation. For added convenience, all of the options within the program are available from a right-click context menu.

Although it's very fast, I can't prove that The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner actually lives up to its name. However, what I do know is that it provides a simple way of breaking large amounts of data into smaller pieces.

Download The Fastest File Splitter and Joiner 3.2 in Softonic

From time to time, you get an faulty program uninstallation that leaves certain left-over files that are later impossible to delete because according to your system, they are still in use and cannot be removed. To wipe these files once and for all, use Pocket KillBox. With this program, you can select the file that you would like to delete and once the computer is restarted, it will delete the file before it can be classed as "in use".

Download Pocket KillBox 2.0.0.588 in Softonic

Changing the name of a large group of files individually can be a real pain in the butt. You may find that files transferred from your digital camera to your hard drive are in order, but their names consist of a group of letters and numbers that usually don't identify the pics themselves. Plus, after you transfer the files from your camera and delete them from it's memory, the next set of pics taken with your camera can have the same name as the files you've just uploaded. Different pictures, same name! Flexible Renamer by Naru will take a batch of files and give them the name of your choosing.

Flexible Renamer is an excellent file utility that takes large groups of files and allows you to change their names in bulk. Complete with numerous configurations, you'll wonder why you've always changed your file names manually!

Download Flexible Renamer 8.0 in Softonic

Smart Flash Recovery is a data recovery tool for Windows operating system that supports the FAT 16/32 file system. The software easily recovers data from any type of storage media - flash drives, USB drives, digital cameras, memory stick, PC card, multimedia card, secure digital card.

Smart Flash Recovery can recover any deleted files, including MS Office files, photos, mp3 and zip files, even if the partition table is lost!

Download Smart Flash Recovery 3.7 in Softonic

DataRecovery could be the key that lets you undelete files that have been deleted by accident. This application is able to analyze your hard-drive (supports FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS) and locate files that have been deleted, offering you the option to undelete them.

How is this possible? Simple: because Windows doesn't actually delete files without overwriting the part of the physical disk where the file was located. With this program, retrieving deleted files will not always be possible, but it may just be enough to get what you want.

Download DataRecovery 2.4.3 in Softonic

Toucan is a simple tool with which you can synchronize contents between your hard drive and a portable memory device. Well, in fact you can use it with any other drive –even mapped network drives, as long as the program has support for it.

Its tabbed interface makes it very easy to use. Besides synchronizing with four different methods, the program also makes compressed backup copies (even incremental ones) and allows you to encrypt and decrypt data. These three functions are pretty straightforward, but I couldn't figure out the utility of the fourth tab, "Portable Variables". Only after browsing the program's directory I could find some help inside App\toucan\help.

Download Toucan 1.1.2 in Softonic

Creating batch files (those with the BAT or CMD extensions) is sometimes a time consuming process. With this program however, you can create your own batch files with amazing simplicity. With it, you can create, modify and duplicate batch files as many times as you want via the program's "listing" function. For those who write their own programs or have to create batch files on a regular basis, it will save a lot of precious time.

Batch File Maker is also able to output batch files to a destination of your choice or simply save them to the desktop or System32 folder of your operating system. This latter way is very useful because it allows you to execute the batch files from the Command module. There's not much to fault in this program since it does a very simple job although it could do with some kind of progress bar to let you know the stage your conversion is at.

Download Batch File Maker 1.5 in Softonic

The digital music revolution is all well and good, but listening to music on your computer isn't without its problems. One of the most annoying things about storing large amounts of music on your PC is that it's very easy to pick up duplicate files, making a real mess of your iTunes library. Duplicate Music Files Finder solves this problem at the mere push of a button, carrying out a search of all your audio files and pinpointing doubles.

Not only can it worm out duplicate music files but the program also looks for redundant files of other types, helping you to cut the crap from your machine. You can also search for bad file names or misspelt tags, correcting them in just seconds. Overall, Duplicate Music Files Finder is a great way of quickly getting shot of doubled-up music.

Download Duplicate Music Files Finder 1.6 in Softonic