I have a lot of Windows PCs in my life. Some are dedicated to work, others run media servers around the house, and one of my favorites is an old machine I turned into a retro gaming arcade cabinet. When you manage that many systems, you end up collecting all kinds of utilities over the years. My toolbox is full of apps for repairs, maintenance, diagnostics, and the usual experiments that come with being a lifelong tinkerer.

If something breaks on a Windows PC in my family or circle of friends, I am usually the one who gets the call. Over the years I have become the default tech support guy, and that means I spend a lot of time hunting down strange errors, slowdowns, and the kind of odd behavior that rarely shows up in Microsoft’s help docs. I have written before about the tools I rely on to fix Windows, including a few standouts from the Sysinternals Suite that have saved me more times than I can count.