I am sure just about everyone here knows what MSConfig is and use it often when optimising a system or removing a virus.
While working with MSConfig, we untick many of the entries that don’t need to start when the computer boots but now you are left with a bunch of unused entries. This is especially true with virus infections.

This is where MSConfig Cleanup comes in. MSConfig is a small and freeware and application that scans the startup configuration and allows you to remove any item that has previously been disabled by MSConfig.
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BlueScreenView is a small, freeware and portable application that scans all of the minidump files that are created when Windows experiences a “Blue Screen of Death”. It will display the information about all the crashes in one table with the minidump filename, the time and date of the crash, basic information about the crash (as in the BSOD message) and the driver or module that possibly caused the crash.

The main benefit of using BlueScreenView over other minidump reading applications is that it does not require the Microsoft debugging tools (which are 16 – 225mb in itself) which makes this application small, quick and portable. This tool is definitely worth having in your kit to track down the cause of BSOD’s.
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While not technically a “repair tool”, many people believe that Microsoft Offices new “ribbon” toolbar needs to be fixed. “UBitMenu: Classic Menu” brings back the classic menu that users were used to from Office 2003 and previous versions. It actually creates a new tab in the current Office 2007 tabbed system so you can easily switch between the classic menu and the current ribbon menu if you wish. This application is free if it is used in a home enviroment and costs 10 euros if it is to be used in a business enviroment.
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After you do a clean install of Windows, you go to the Device Manager and discover the dreaded question mark next to an “Unknown Device”. You could just download the driver for this device, but you don’t know what it is! This is where PCIDatabase.com comes in handy.
PCIDatabase.com is website to help you identify unknown PCI devices without using any special software.
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RootRepeal is a small, portable and freeware application that is designed to uncover rootkits. This tool has been picking up popularity with security groups like Systernals. This is a tool for advanced users only who know what the normal Windows drivers, processes and services are. If you don’t know what you are doing you can easily render a computer unbootable.

RootRepeal has the following features:
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Xpy is a small, portable and freeware registry tweaker with an emphasis on tweaking privacy and security settings. It has the ability to disable Windows communicating with Microsoft (WGA, crash reports, usage tracking, automatic updates etc..), disable services which are not used in most cases, remove Windows Messenger, tweak Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player and many other settings you would expect in a registry tweaker.

This application comes with a few nice features such as the ability to save and load profiles so you can apply the same tweak setup to multiple computers without having to re-select all the tweaks you wanted to do. The application will also make a Windows Restore Point before it makes any changes in-case something doesn’t go well.

Xpy works on Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003. There is also a Vista/Server 2008/Win7 version called Vispa.
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For this weeks repair tool of the week I am going to be mentioning two applications that compliment each other and manage the attachments in the email application “Outlook”.
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Adobe Flash Uninstaller is a small, portable application designed to forcefully remove all versions Adobe Flash. While this tool isn’t particularly exciting, it has come in handy a few times on computer repair jobs. The last time I had to use it I had a client who couldn’t play Youtube videos because they got the message:
“Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Macromedia’s Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.”

I checked to see that Adobe Flash was installed and it had been installed. I suspected it was corrupt or something so I removed it using Add/Remove Programs and reinstalled it, same problem. So I used this application to forcefully remove Flash. I then reinstalled Flash and it worked like a charm.
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VirtualBox is a free virtualization product which allows you to run another operating from within your current one. While this is technically not a “repair tool”, it is very useful to computer technicians for testing and training purposes. For example, I used virtualization software to create a Windows XP virtual machine and infected it with a virus so I could show Technibble readers via video how to manually remove a virus. Once I was done creating the video I rolled back the virtual machine state and it was a fresh copy of Windows XP again. I also use a virtual machine to test all of the Repair Tools of the Week I recommend.

Computer Technicians can do the same and break or infect an operating system to learn how to fix it without the concerns of damaging live operating systems. VirtualBox is one of the easiest virtualisation software to use since all you really have to do is install the software, press New and follow through the prompts such as what OS you want to install and how much hard drive space you want to give it. You can tell it to use your real CDRom drive to load an operating system on it or you can even mount an ISO which will emulate a CDRom disk.

If you want to learn how to remove viruses, fix certain problems, experiment with other operating systems such as Linux without the fear of messing up your current operating system, this is a great way to do it and increase your skillset.
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In past “Repair Tool of the Week” articles I have posted about a few of the removal tools for the most common antiviruses like Norton, AVG and McAfee. Of course, there are many more antiviruses than these and it wouldnt make sense to have a post for each one so I have compiled a single large list of antivirus removal tools. This makes it easier for you to download them all at once to carry around with you on your USB drive.

I have also included a “More Information” link for most of them that takes you to the tools page in case the download link becomes broken in the future or you want to make sure you get the latest version. As of the date of this post, these are the most recent versions of the removal tools.
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